• Judd Apatow is an award-winning film writer, director and producer, who has established his unique style of comedic films such as The 40 Year Old Virgin, Superbad and Knocked Up. Apatow's brand of comedy often includes a heavy dose of improvisation from the actors and typically involves a similar pool of actors that consistently appear in his films. Some of the actors that commonly pop up are Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, and Jonah Hill.

  Apatow's production company, Apatow Productions, is producing Ghostbusters 3.

• 1. Born: December 6, 1967
  2. Home Town: Syosset, New York
  3. Spouse: Leslie Mann
  4. Children: 2 Daughters, Maude & Iris
  5. Awards: 1 Emmy win, 2 Cable Ace wins
  6. Founder: Apatow Productions
  7. Attended: University of Southern California
  8. Used to do stand-up comedy

• Film Career

  Although he started in television by producing Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, Apatow's career really took off in film after the success of the Will Ferrell comedy The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Soon after, he directed the smash hit The 40 Year Old Virgin, which starred Steve Carell and really began to establish the Apatow comedy style. More success followed when Knocked Up (writer/producer/director) and Superbad (producer) were both released in the summer of 2007, kicking off a string of movies with the Apatow name stamped on them, including Walk Hard and Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

• Controversy

  Some of Apatow's movies have been criticized for their portrayal of female characters, most notably by Knocked Up star Katherine Heigl who said: "It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys."

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