Billy Eichner
Billy Eichner (; born September 18, 1978) is an American actor, comedian and producer. He is the star, executive producer, and creator of Funny Or Die's "Billy on the Street", a comedy game show that aired on truTV. The show earned Eichner a nomination for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host in 2013. He is also known for playing Craig Middlebrooks on the sitcom "Parks and Recreation", Mr. Ambrose the Librarian on the animated TV series "Bob's Burgers" and Timon in the 2019 remake of "The Lion King". Early life and education. Eichner is  a native of Queens and grew up in Forest Hills. He was born to a Jewish family and had a Madonna-themed bar mitzvah. He has an older half-brother. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1996, and from Northwestern University in 2000 with a BA in Theater. Actor Robin Lord Taylor was his college roommate. Career. Eichner gained attention as the host and writer of "Creation Nation: A Live Talk Show", a critically acclaimed stage show in New York. He also appeared on "Conan" as a special correspondent in original video shorts and as himself on Bravo's   with Andy Cohen, "Last Call with Carson Daly", "The Wendy Williams Show", and "Fashion Police" with Joan Rivers, among others. Eichner has been a voiceover guest star in several episodes of the animated TV series "Bob's Burgers" as Mr. Ambrose, the Librarian. He has been a regular performer at New York City's Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. In 2011, Eichner starred in the show "Billy on the Street". The show aired on truTV, was created by Funny or Die and is available on HBO Max. In this show, Eichner goes around the streets of New York City, asking people  random questions, or having them compete in trivia games. He often has famous celebrities on his show that will compete in games or go around the streets with him. On August 5, 2013, Eichner guest starred in the sixth season of "Parks and Recreation". Eichner's first episode aired on October 10, 2013. He stars as Donna's Eagleton counterpart, Craig Middlebrooks, who joins the Pawnee Parks and Recreation Department when Pawnee absorbs Eagleton. He became a series regular in episode four of the seventh season of the show. During the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards show in 2014, Eichner appeared  with show host Seth Meyers on the streets of New York, interviewing random people. Eichner starred in a Hulu original series titled "Difficult People" with Julie Klausner, and executive produced by Amy Poehler, The project was originally set up at USA Network. The series began airing on August 5, 2015. In 2016, Eichner appeared in "", released on May 20. In 2017, he joined the cast of "American Horror Story" for recurring roles in its seventh and eighth seasons. In 2019, Eichner provided the voice of Timon in Disney's live action remake of "The Lion King", from director Jon Favreau . Eichner said that Timon "[is] such a great role that allows you to do so much. But... the bigger the project and the bigger the names that you're working with, the more you have to ignore it. If you get to the soundstage and you're thinking, 'Oh my God, what a full-circle moment! Nathan Lane did it originally! Beyoncé's in this!' then you're paralyzed creatively. You just have to put that out of your head in order to get the job done." In July 2020, Eichner announced that he and Tom McNulty were developing a  film biography of fellow Northwestern University alum Paul Lynde called "Man in the Box", with Eichner portraying Lynde. In March 2021, Eichner announced that he is currently writing and starring in the film "Bros", which tells the story of two gay men with commitment issues who decide to settle down with each other. Being produced by Universal Pictures, it is set to be the first adult-oriented LGBT movie ever produced by a mainstream film studio. In August of that same year, Amazon Studios announced that they had bought the rights to develop the film "Ex-Husbands", starring Eichner and  co-written by him and Paul Rudnick. Personal life. Eichner is Jewish and gay. He is currently single and lives in Los Angeles. Politics. Eichner is a Democrat. On February 1, 2018, Eichner announced a new initiative called Glam Up the Midterms, during that night's episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in conjunction with Funny or Die and with the support of several late night hosts including Sarah Silverman, James Corden, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O'Brien, John Oliver, Chelsea Handler, Robin Thede, and Andy Cohen. Glam Up the Midterm's purpose was getting people to vote in the November  6, 2018, midterm elections, especially millennials, of whom only 12% voted in the previous midterm election. Eichner joined the progressive political organization Swing Left as senior advisor starting in 2019 and endorsed Elizabeth Warren in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries.