Galifianakis was born in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. His mother, Mary Frances (nee Cashion), is a community arts center owner, and his father, Harry, is a heating oil vendor. His mother has Scottish ancestry, while his paternal grandparents, Mike Galifianakis and Sophia Kastrinakis, were emigrants from Crete, Greece, and Galifianakis was baptized in his father's Greek Orthodox church. He has a younger sister named Merritt and an older brother named Greg.
Galifianakis played Alan Garner in the hit comedy The Hangover and earned the MTV Movie Award for the Best Comedic Performance. He was also prominently advertised in subsequent films that featured him in supporting roles, such as G-Force, Youth in Revolt and the Oscar-nominated film Up in the Air. Galifianakis also starred in the HBO series Bored to Death and hosted Saturday Night Live on March 6, 2010 during the show's 35th season, during which he shaved his beard mid-show for a sketch, and then closed the show wearing a fake beard. He hosted again on March 12, 2011 and shaved his head this time, in a Mr. T-like hairstyle, which was allegedly supposed to be used for a sketch that never aired due to time constraints. In 2010, he starred in several films, including Dinner for Schmucks, It's Kind of a Funny Story, and Due Date. On October 29, 2010, while debating marijuana legalization on the show HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Galifianakis appeared to have smoked marijuana on live television; host Bill Maher denied that it was real marijuana in an interview with Wolf Blitzer during an episode of The Situation Room. In 2011, he reprised his role for The Hangover Part II, which was set in Thailand and voiced Humpty Dumpty in Puss in Boots. Galifianakis starred alongside Will Ferrell in Jay Roach's 2012 political comedy The Campaign. He received critical praise for his performance in the 2014 film Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), in which he starred with Michael Keaton, Emma Stone and Edward Norton. In 2017, Galifianakis voiced The Joker in The Lego Batman Movie. In January 2014, it was announced that Galifianakis and Louis C.K. were developing a comedy pilot for FX.
What was his first mainstream performance?
Galifianakis played Alan Garner in the hit comedy The Hangover and earned the MTV Movie Award for the Best Comedic Performance. Galifianakis played Alan Garner in the hit comedy The Hangover and earned the MTV Movie Award for the Best Comedic Performance. Galifianakis played Alan Garner in the hit comedy The Hangover The Hangover and earned the MTV Movie Award for the Best Comedic Performance. played Alan Garner in the hit comedy The Hangover
played Alan Garner in the hit comedy The Hangover