Photo: CleftClips from Los Angeles, CA, United States of America / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Zach Galifianakis is, to my mind, one of the great deadpan craftsmen of his generation. Alan in The Hangover made him a household name, but the role only works because of the years of stand-up discipline underneath it, that uncanny control of silence, discomfort, and timing. His mock-interview work weaponizes awkwardness so completely that even presidents had to play along. What elevates him further is Baskets, where he revealed genuine melancholy and earned an Emmy nomination for what amounted to a clown elegy. A kid from small-town North Carolina who built a career on refusing to be smooth: I find that genuinely admirable, and funnier the longer I think about it.
Overview
Zachary Knight Galifianakis (; born October 1, 1969) is an American comedian, actor and writer. Galifianakis is best known for his role as Alan in The Hangover trilogy (2009–2013). On television, he starred in the FX series Baskets (2016–2019), for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2017.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Zach Galifianakis
- Name (Japanese)
- ザック・ガリフィアナキス
- Reading
- ざっく・がりふぃあなきす
- Born
- October 1, 1969 (age 56)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Libra / Rooster
- Origin
- North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- actor / television actor / screenwriter / film actor / voice actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Wilkes Central High School
- University
- North Carolina State University
Awards & achievements
- MTV Movie & TV Awards
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Actor — see all → · Television actor — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-11
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.