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A Sketch of Robert B. Weide's Career

After being rejected from USC's film school for the third time, Bob Weide figured he was destined to become a film-maker.

In 1982, at the age of 22, he produced The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell, a documentary tribute to his first love(s) which became one of the highest-rated programs in PBS history.

Two years later, he produced and directed The Great Standups: Sixty Years of Laughter for HBO. In 1986 he received the national prime-time Emmy Award for W. C. Fields Straight Up, honored as the year's Outstanding Informational Special.

In 1989, Weide produced, wrote and directed Mort Sahl: The Loyal Opposition, which aired on PBS' ''American Masters'' series. From 1990-'94 he served as Vice President of Development for Rollins & Joffe Productions (producers of Woody Allen's films) where he executive-produced Larry Gelbart's critically acclaimed political satire, Mastergate for the Showtime Network and Rick Reynolds' one-man confessional, Only The Truth Is Funny. He has also produced the HBO specials But Seriously, Folks and The Lost Minutes of Billy Crystal.

1996 saw the release of Weide's first feature film as writer/producer, Mother Night, based on the novel by Kurt Vonnegut. The film starred Nick Nolte, John Goodman, Alan Arkin, Sheryl Lee, and Kirsten Dunst. Weide also adapted Lois Lowry's Newbery Award-winning novel, ''The Giver'' for actor Jeff Bridges, which is currently in development at Walden Media for 20th Century-Fox.

In 1998, Weide completed a twelve year labor-of-love, his acclaimed documentary Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth. His efforts were rewarded with an Academy Award nomination for Best Feature Documentary, followed in '99 with an Emmy award for the film's editing and an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Non-Fiction Special. Still involved in documentaries, he is part-way through film bios on comedian/ activist Dick Gregory and author Kurt Vonnegut.

In 1999, HBO premiered Weide's comedy special, Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm, a partly real, partly embellished ''mock-umentary'' chronicling the return to stand-up by Larry David, co-creator of Seinfeld. Weide is now the Director and Executive Producer of the series based on this special. The series, Curb Your Enthusiasm, premiered on HBO in the Fall of 2000 to rave reviews and has become HBO's latest comedy hit. The AFI named ''Curb'' the 2001 Comedy Series of the Year.

In 2002, the show received an Emmy nomination as Outstanding Comedy Series, and Weide was nominated as Outstanding Director of a Comedy Series. ''Curb'' also received the Golden Globe Award in 2003 as Best Television Comedy Series.

That same year, Weide won the Emmy Award for Comedy Direction for his Curb episode ''Krazee-Eyez Killa.'' In 2004, the show and Weide's direction were Emmy-nominated once more. Weide was also nominated for the prestigious DGA Award (Directors Guild of America) for Comedy Direction for his episode ''The Carpool Lane.'' 2006 brought another Emmy nomination for the series, and for Weide's direction of ''The Christ Nail'' episode.

Weide recently completed his first feature as director, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, starring Simon Pegg (''Shaun of the Dead,'' ''Hot Fuzz''), Kirsten Dunst, Jeff Bridges, Gillian Anderson, Danny Huston, Megan Fox (''Transformers''), and Max Minghella. Based on the best-selling comic memoir by Toby Young, the film will be released on October 3, 2008.

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