Bill Hader


Stefon on Weekend Update

Born: June 7, 1978 (age 43); Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Alma mater: Scottsdale Community College

William Thomas Hader Jr. (born June 7, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and director. He is the creator, producer, writer, occasional director, and star of the HBO dark comedy series Barry (2018–present), for which he has won two and been nominated for three Emmy Awards.

Hader's initial success was for his eight-year stint (2005–2013) as a cast member on the long-running NBC variety series Saturday Night Live, for which he received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations and a Peabody Award. He became known for his impressions and especially for his work on the Weekend Update segments, in which he played Stefon Meyers, a flamboyant New York tour guide who recommends unusual nightclubs and parties with bizarre characters with unusual tastes. He is also the star and producer of the IFC mockumentary comedy series Documentary Now! (2015–present) which he co-created along with Fred Armisen and Seth Meyers.

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Early life

Hader was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on June 7, 1978, the son of dance teacher Sherri Renee (née Patton) and air cargo company owner, restaurant manager, truck driver, and occasional stand-up comedian William Thomas Hader Sr. He has two younger sisters named Katie and Kara. His ancestry includes Danish, English, German, and Irish, and he discovered in a 2016 episode of Finding Your Roots that he is a descendant of royal figures such as Charlemagne and King Edward I. Hader attended Patrick Henry Elementary School, Edison Junior High, and Cascia Hall Preparatory School. He says he was a "spaz kid" in elementary school, who had "a hard time focusing in class" and "was always joking around." With a feeling of not fitting in, he filled his time watching movies and reading. He appreciated Monty Python, British comedy, and the films of Mel Brooks originally being shown many of these by his father. He made short films with friends and starred in a school production of The Glass Menagerie. He was unable to gain admission to top film schools because of his "abysmal" grades, so he instead enrolled at The Art Institute of Phoenix, and later Scottsdale Community College. His first job was as a Christmas tree salesman. He also worked as an usher at a Tempe cinema, which allowed him to see films for free, but he was fired for spoiling the ending of Titanic (1997) for unruly viewers. At Scottsdale Community College, he met Nicholas Jasenovec, who later directed Paper Heart (2009).

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