Biography:
Abraham Rubin Hercules Benrubi (born October 4, 1969) is an American actor known for his regular appearances as Jerry Markovic on the long-running US TV drama ER and for his first role as Francis Lawrence Kubiac III, aka "Larry Kubiac" or "Kube", on the early 1990s series Parker Lewis Can't Lose.
Personal life:
Benrubi was born in Bloomington, Indiana, the son of Patricia and Asher Benrubi, who was a radio personality known as "Smash" to the St. Louis radio audience. Benrubi graduated from Broad Ripple High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, the same high school alma mater of David Letterman, former Indiana Lt. Gov. John Mutz, former Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith and New England Patriots star Rosevelt Colvin.
Career:
Benrubi stars as one of the main characters in ABC's show Men in Trees, playing bartender/millionaire Ben Tomasson. This is a role where he is getting noticeably more main dialog and depth than with his previous longtime characters on ER and Parker Lewis Can't Lose, which primarily consisted of supporting dialog and very little depth, despite being very likable characters.
His recurring acting trademarks consists of the charming combination of his impressive 6ft-7in stature and a very soft, humble voice. This was evident early in his career on Parker Lewis, where his character was feared thanks to his big physique and his mean roars and aggressive one-word lines, but whenever he struck up a dialog with Parker his soft voice came through and his character was in fact a misunderstood kid labeled by his physique.
The same soft humble acting was present in his character Jerry on ER who is helpful, cheerful and somewhat of a pacifist. Again this continues in Men in Trees where his portrayal of Ben Tomasson was described as the cuddliest TV character since Jorge Garcia's Hurley on Lost by TV-critic David Bianculli. Other previous work includes playing Mose in the 2003 western Open Range. He frequently voices characters on Adult Swim's stop-motion animation show Robot Chicken.
Benrubi is also known for his significant resemblance to both actor John Goodman and Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Jon Runyan. Benrubi played a young "Dan Connor", the character portrayed by Goodman, in a flashback episode of the Roseanne television series.
Filmography:
- Calvin Marshall (2008) (post-production) .... Coach Dewey
- "Men in Trees" .... Ben Jackson / ... (26 episodes, 2006-2007)
- "Robot Chicken" .... Darth Vader / ... (9 episodes, 2005-2007)
- Robot Chicken: Star Wars (2007) (TV) (voice) .... Darth Vader
- Venus & Vegas (2007) .... Bruno
- Charlotte's Web (2006) (voice) .... Uncle the Pig ... aka Schweinchen Wilbur und seine Freunde (Germany)
- "ER" .... Jerry Markovic (135 episodes, 1994-2006)
- Pizza Time (2006) (TV) .... Bruno
- Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006) .... Erik ... aka Pizzeria Kamikaze
- TV: The Movie (2006) .... Max Gottlieb ... aka National Lampoon's TV the Movie (USA: complete title)
- "Criminal Minds" .... Frank Fielding (1 episode, 2005)
- "American Dad!" (1 episode, 2005)
- Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous (2005) .... Lou Steele
- ER: The Game (2005) (VG) .... Jerry Markovic
- Without a Paddle (2004) .... Dennis
- Open Range (2003) .... Mose
- "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" .... Olaf / ... (2 episodes, 2001-2002)
- ZigZag (2002) .... Hector
- "Going to California" .... Harvey (1 episode, 2002)
- The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) .... Party Man
- War Story (2001) .... Eric
- "Dark Angel" .... Break (1 episode, 2000)
- A Touch of Hope (1999) (TV) .... Dr. Neil Bachman
- "The X Files" .... Big Mike (1 episode, 1999)
- Out in Fifty (1999) .... Spike
- The Rugrats Movie (1998) (voice) (as Abe Benrubi) .... Serge
- I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998) .... Bouncer
- Border to Border (1998) .... Geddy Paretti
- "Sleepwalkers" .... Vincent Konefke (1 episode, 1998)
- Tempting Fate (1998) (TV) .... John Bollandine
- Under Oath (1997) .... Geoff Carmichael ... aka Blood Money ... aka Urban Justice
- U Turn (1997) .... Biker #1 ... aka U Turn - Ici commence l'enfer (France)
- George of the Jungle (1997) .... Thor, van de Groot's Sidekick Thug
- Talking Dessert (1997)
- Twister (1996) .... Bubba
- "Wings" .... R.J. Biggins / ... (2 episodes, 1990-1996)
- Out There (1995) (TV) .... Roy
- Magic Island (1995) (V) .... Duckbone
- Wagons East (1994) (as Abe Benrubi) .... Abe Ferguson
- The Shadow (1994) .... Marine Guard
- "Grace Under Fire" .... Mark (1 episode, 1993)
- The Program (1993) .... Bud-Lite Kaminski
- "Parker Lewis Can't Lose" .... Larry Kubiac / ... (62 episodes, 1990-1993) ... aka Parker Lewis (USA: new title)
- "Married with Children" .... Baby / ... (2 episodes, 1991-1993)
- "Roseanne" .... Teenage Dan (1 episode, 1992)
- Crossing the Bridge (1992) .... Rinny
- "Blossom" .... Francis (1 episode, 1992)
- Angel Street (1992) (TV)
- Diving In (1990)
- "Growing Pains" .... Really Big Kid (1 episode, 1990)