Bob Odenkirk

Robert John Odenkirk was born in Berwyn, Illinois, to Barbara (Baier) and Walter Odenkirk, who worked in printing. His ancestry includes German and Irish. He grew up in Naperville, IL, the second of seven children. He worked as a DJ for WIDB, his college radio station at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Three credits shy of graduation, he moved to Chicago. He began work there in local improv workshops. He also did open-mic stand-up comedy for several years. In Chicago, he became friends with 'Robert Smigel' (qv), who would later help him become a writer for _Saturday Night Live (1975)_ (qv).In 1987, Bob was hired as a writer for _Saturday Night Live (1975)_ (qv) and in 1989 he went on to win an Emmy for his writing work. He worked on the show from season 13 to 20 (1987-1995). However, he had trouble getting his work on the air, so he began work as a writer for _Get a Life (1990)_ (qv) starring 'Chris Elliott' (qv). The show was quickly canceled, but he was soon hired as writer for _The Dennis Miller Show (1992)_ (qv). On that show he made his acting debut and was noticed by 'Ben Stiller' (qv), who later hired him as a writer and actor for The 'Ben Stiller' (qv) Show (1992). The show only lasted for 13 episodes, but Bob won another Emmy for his writing.After The 'Ben Stiller' (qv) Show (1992) was canceled, Bob made recurring appearances (1993-1998) on _The Larry Sanders Show (1992)_ (qv) as Stevie Grant, Larry's hyperactive agent. He also wrote for _Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993)_ (qv) during 1993-94. During this time Bob hooked up with fellow The 'Ben Stiller' (qv) Show (1992) writer 'David Cross' (qv), also a stand-up comedian. They started doing sketch-comedy shows together in Los Angeles. In 1995, they got their own show on HBO (_Mr. Show with Bob and David (1995)_ (qv)). The show lasted for four seasons and 30 episodes.After _Mr. Show with Bob and David (1995)_ (qv) ended, Bob wrote _Run Ronnie Run (2002)_ (qv) and directed three feature films (_Melvin Goes to Dinner (2003)_ (qv), _Let's Go to Prison (2006)_ (qv) and _The Brothers Solomon (2007)_ (qv)), and appeared in . After 1998, he also made many guest appearances on TV shows like _Just Shoot Me! (1997)_ (qv), _3rd Rock from the Sun (1996)_ (qv), _Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000)_ (qv), _Ed (2000)_ (qv), _Everybody Loves Raymond (1996)_ (qv), _Less Than Perfect (2002)_ (qv), _Arrested Development (2003)_ (qv), _How I Met Your Mother (2005)_ (qv) and _Weeds (2005)_ (qv). From 2009 to 2013, he appeared on 43 episodes of _Breaking Bad (2008)_ (qv) as Saul Goodman, a shyster lawyer, and, starting in 2015, he reprised that role as the main character in _Better Call Saul (2015)_ (qv).::Mary Connelly<[email protected]>, Tomi, and J. Perkins <[email protected]>