Derek Waters
Born
Derek Matthew Waters

(1979-07-30) July 30, 1979
Lutherville, Maryland, U.S.
EducationCommunity College of Baltimore County
Occupations
Years active2002–present

Derek Matthew Waters (born July 30, 1979) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and director. He is best known for his work on the television series Drunk History (2013–2019), which earned him eight Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

Early life

Waters was raised in Lutherville, Maryland.[1] Waters is Jewish, dyslexic, and was in special education in school.[2] As a child, he aspired to be a professional baseball player, but didn't make his high school team, and so became a Little League umpire.[2] He attended Towson High School in Towson, Maryland, graduating in 1998.[3] The following year, he went to Second City in Toronto, Canada, 1999 to study sketch and improv comedy.[4]

Career

After moving to Los Angeles, he worked at Tower Video, a job he liked since he had never been exposed to independent movies before.[2] He has performed sketch comedy in Los Angeles since 2000, and for many years was part of the comedy duo Derek & Simon with Simon Helberg. The two starred together in the web series Derek & Simon: The Show on the comedy website Super Deluxe, which they created with comedian Bob Odenkirk. They 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.

In 2003, he co-starred in the ABC series Married to the Kellys.

Waters has appeared on television programs such as The League, Funny or Die Presents, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Nick Swardson's Pretend Time, Maron, Happy Endings, Suburgatory, The Sarah Silverman Program, Santa Clarita Diet, and The Middle. He has also appeared in films such as The Brothers Solomon, Hall Pass,[5] For Your Consideration, and This Means War. Waters also voiced the self-centred, non sequitur-spouting weasel Dipster in the 2012 Shut Up! Cartoons series Weasel Town, starring with Jason Ritter.[6]

Waters co-created and hosts the Comedy Central series Drunk History. The show originally started as a series of shorts for Funny or Die. The show has won multiple awards, such as the jury prize in short filmmaking at the Sundance Festival and was nominated for seventeen Primetime Emmy Awards, garnering Waters seven nominations.[7]

Influences

Some of Waters's influences are Mark Borchardt and Christopher Guest.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Charles, Josh; Mulvihill, Amy (September 2015). "Josh Charles and Derek Waters". Baltimore. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Modell, Josh (July 15, 2014). "Drunk History's Derek Waters answers our 11 Questions (drunk)". TV Club. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Towson High Alumni Association Website". Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  4. ↑ Buder, Emily (January 16, 2019). "The Man, the Myth, the DIY Legend: 'Drunk History' Creator Derek Waters". No Film School. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  5. ↑ Fernandez, Jay A. (February 24, 2010). "'Hall Pass' adds a pair". Hollywood Reporter. Vol. 413, no. 26. p. 4.
  6. ↑ Weasel Town on IMDB
  7. ↑ "CLIPS". Hollywood Reporter. 413 (9): 2–6. January 29, 2010.
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