# Simon Helberg

Simon Maxwell Helberg (born December 9, 1980) is an American actor and comedian. From 2007 to 2019, he played Howard Wolowitz on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019), and won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for the role. His performance as Cosmé McMoon in the film Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. Helberg has also appeared on the sketch comedy series MADtv as a cast member in season 8 (2002–2003), and his other film roles including Old School (2003), Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007), A Serious Man (2009), and Annette (2021).

## Early life

Simon Maxwell Helberg was born on December 9, 1980, in Los Angeles. His parents are actor Sandy Helberg and casting director Harriet Helberg (née Birnbaum). He was raised Jewish, "Conservative to Reform but more Reform as time went on."
Helberg attended middle and high school at the Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California, with Jason Ritter, who later became his roommate at New York University. He attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he trained at the Atlantic Theater Company.

## Career

Since the early 2000s, Helberg performed with comedian Derek Waters as the sketch comedy duo Derek & Simon. In 2007, the two starred together in Derek and Simon: The Show, a web series they created with comedian Bob Odenkirk for the comedy website Super Deluxe. They previously made two short films "Derek & Simon: The Pity Card" (co-starring Zach Galifianakis and Bill Hader) and "Derek & Simon: A Bee and a Cigarette" (co-starring Casey Wilson and Emily Rutherfurd) and had a pilot deal with HBO in 2005. One of Helberg's earliest jobs in television was briefly joining the cast of MADtv for one season in 2002.
Helberg appeared in the 2002 feature film Van Wilder as one of the geeky students for whom Van Wilder was throwing a party. He had a minor role in the 2003 movie Old School. In 2004, he was in two episodes of Reno 911!: Student Driver in "Raineesha X" and Hooker Buying Son in "Not Without My Mustache". He had a small role in the sixth episode of Quintuplets, "Get a Job", as a man called Neil working behind the counter at a shoe shop where Paige and Patton were working.
In 2004, he appeared in the film A Cinderella Story, starring Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray. Helberg played the minor role of Simon in George Clooney's 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck, where he had one line. In 2005, he had a bit part on Arrested Development as Jeff, an employee of the film studio where Maeby worked. From 2006 to 2007, he had a minor supporting role as Alex Dwyer in the drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. In 2006, he appeared in a series of comical TV commercials for Richard Branson's UK financial services company Virgin Money. He played a small role in the 2007 film Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story as a Jewish record producer.
In 2007, Helberg was cast as Howard Wolowitz, in the CBS comedy series The Big Bang Theory. Forbes placed him third in its world's highest-paid TV actors list in 2018, his revenues rising to $23.5 million in that year.
He appeared as the character Moist in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and had a small role in the pilot episode of the Judd Apatow-produced sitcom Undeclared. In the 2009 Coen brothers film A Serious Man, he played junior Rabbi Scott Ginsler. He had a minor role in the season 4 finale of The Guild as one of the Game Masters.
In 2016, Helberg starred alongside Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant in Florence Foster Jenkins, directed by Stephen Frears; he played pianist Cosmé McMoon and his performance was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. Not only did Helberg act in the film, he also played the piano. Helberg next starred in Annette, opposite Adam Driver.

## Personal life

Helberg married actress Jocelyn Towne, the niece of screenwriter Robert Towne, on July 7, 2007. They have a daughter and a son.
Helberg has been friends with Nathan Hamill, son of actor Mark Hamill, since he was 9 years old. Helberg has been friends with actor Jason Ritter since he was 12 years old. They went to college together and continue to work together when given the opportunity.
Through his wife Jocelyn, who is a French citizen through her French mother, Helberg himself became a French citizen to obtain the role of the Conductor in French director Leos Carax's English-language debut Annette, which opened the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Note |
| 1999 | Mumford | College Roommate | |
| 2002 | Van Wilder | Vernon | |
| 2003 | Old School | Jerry | |
| 2004 | A Cinderella Story | Terry | |
| 2005 | Good Night, and Good Luck | CBS page | |
| 2006 | Derek & Simon: A Bee and a Cigarette | Simon | Short film; also writer and producer |
| 2006 | The Pity Card | Simon | Short film; also writer and producer |
| 2006 | Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas | Al | |
| 2006 | The TV Set | TJ Goldman | |
| 2006 | For Your Consideration | Junior Agent | |
| 2007 | Careless | Stewart | |
| 2007 | Evan Almighty | Staffer | |
| 2007 | Mama's Boy | Rathkon | |
| 2007 | Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story | Dreidel L'Chaim | |
| 2009 | A Serious Man | Rabbi Scott Ginsler | |
| 2011 | The Selling | Young Husband | |
| 2011 | Let Go | Frank | |
| 2013 | I Am I | Seth | Also executive producer |
| 2014 | We'll Never Have Paris | Quinn Berman | Also director, writer and producer |
| 2015 | Hollywood Adventures | Translator | |
| 2016 | Florence Foster Jenkins | Cosmé McMoon | |
| 2021 | Annette | The Accompanist | |
| 2022 | As They Made Us | Nathan | |
| 2022 | Space Oddity | Dmitri | |
| 2025 | For Worse | Mediator | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Note |
| 2001 | Popular | Gus Latrine | Episode: "Coup" |
| 2001 | Cursed | Andy Tinker | Episode: "And then Jack Became the Voice of Cougars" |
| 2001 | Ruling Class | Fred Foster | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2001 | Son of the Beach | Billy | Episode: "It's Showtime at the Apollo 13!" |
| 2001 | Undeclared | Jack | Episode: "Prototype" |
| 2002 | Sabrina, the Teenage Witch | The Spokesman | Episode: "Time After Time" |
| 2002 | The Funkhousers | Donnie Funkhouser | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2002–2003 | MADtv | Various | 5 episodes |
| 2003 | Less than Perfect | Arthur | Episode: "It Takes a Pillage" |
| 2003 | Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales | Adam | Television special |
| 2004 | Quintuplets | Neil | Episode: "Get a Job" |
| 2004 | Reno 911! | Hooker Buying Son | Episode: "Not Without My Mustache" |
| 2004 | Reno 911! | Student Driver | Episode: "Raineesha X" |
| 2005 | Unscripted | Simon / Casting Assistant | 2 episodes |
| 2005 | Life on a Stick | Vinnie | Episode: "Liking Things the Way They Aren't" |
| 2005 | Arrested Development | Jeff | Episode: "Meat the Veals" |
| 2004–2006 | Joey | Seth Tobin | 4 episodes |
| 2006 | The Jake Effect | Bill Skidelsky | Episode: "Flight School" |
| 2006–2007 | Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip | Alex Dwyer | 14 episodes |
| 2007 | Derek and Simon: The Show | Simon | Main role; also co-creator, writer and producer |
| 2007 | The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman | Matt Menard | Episode: "Bad Luck Brad" |
| 2007–2019 | The Big Bang Theory | Howard Wolowitz | Main role |
| 2008 | Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog | Moist | 3 episodes |
| 2010 | The Guild | Kevinator- Official Game Master | Episode: "Guild Hall" |
| 2010–2011 | Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil | Ronaldo (voice) | 3 episodes |
| 2011–2016 | Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness | Bian Zao (voice) | 8 episodes |
| 2013 | Drunk History | Frank Mason Robinson | Episode: "Atlanta" |
| 2014 | The Tom and Jerry Show | Napoleon (voice) | 9 episodes |
| 2015 | Comedy Bang! Bang! | Himself | Episode: "Simon Helberg Wears a Sky Blue Button Down and Jeans" |
| 2021 | Dug Days | Squirrel (voice) | Episode: "Science" |
| 2021 | Young Sheldon | Howard Wolowitz (voice) | Episode: "An Introduction to Engineering and a Glob of Hair Gel" |
| 2023 | Poker Face | FBI Agent Luca Clark | Episodes: "Time of the Monkey" and "The Hook" |
| 2023–2024 | American Dad! | Dr. Revanche / Creep (voice) | 3 episodes |

### Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2010 | Doctor Cerberus | Franklin Robertson | L.A. Theatre Works, Los Angeles, United States |
| 2010 | How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying | Bud Frump | Reprise Theatre Company, Los Angeles, United States |
| 2013 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Demetrius | L.A. Theatre Works, Los Angeles, United States |
| 2016 | God of Carnage | Alan | L.A. Theatre Works, Los Angeles, United States |
| 2018 | Lenin's Embalmers | Boris | L.A. Theatre Works, Los Angeles, United States |
| 2018 | It's a Wonderful Life | George Bailey | Pasadena Playhouse, Pasadena, United States |
| 2021 | The Murder on the Links | Captain Hastings | L.A. Theatre Works, Los Angeles, United States |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Nominated work | Category | Result |
| 2010 | Teen Choice Awards | The Big Bang Theory | Choice TV: Male Scene Stealer | Nominated |
| 2012 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | The Big Bang Theory | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Nominated |
| 2013 | Critics' Choice Television Awards | The Big Bang Theory | Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series | Won |
| 2013 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | The Big Bang Theory | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Nominated |
| 2014 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | The Big Bang Theory | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Nominated |
| 2015 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | The Big Bang Theory | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Nominated |
| 2015 | Teen Choice Awards | The Big Bang Theory | Choice TV: Chemistry | Nominated |
| 2016 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | The Big Bang Theory | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Nominated |
| 2017 | Golden Globe Awards | Florence Foster Jenkins | Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture | Nominated |
| 2017 | Santa Barbara International Film Festival | Florence Foster Jenkins | Florence Foster Jenkins | Won |
| 2017 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | The Big Bang Theory | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Nominated |
| 2024 | Astra TV Awards | Poker Face | Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series | Nominated |