Beginning in 2003, Tambor starred in the television comedyArrested Development as George Bluth Sr. and in some episodes as his twin brother Oscar Bluth. The show was cancelled in 2006, after three seasons, but a fourth season was released on Netflix in 2013. In 2004, Tambor received his fifth Emmy nomination for his work on the show. He lost to David Hyde Pierce for the final season of the sitcom Frasier. Tambor was nominated for a sixth time in 2005 but lost to Brad Garrett for the final season of Everybody Loves Raymond. The second episode of Arrested Development's third season lampooned this loss: Tambor's character's son describes his acting ability by saying, "It's a wonderful performance, Dad. You're a regular Brad Garrett."[citation needed]
Tambor was the announcer for the game show Hollywood Squares in 2002 and 2003. He was the voice of King Neptune in 2004's The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. In the spring of 2005, he starred as George Aaronow in the Broadway revival of Glengarry Glen Ross alongside Alan Alda, Liev Schreiber, and Gordon Clapp. After the cancellation of Arrested Development in April 2006, Tambor signed on to a series with John Lithgow called Twenty Good Years about two men who ponder the preceding 20 years of their lives. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 2006, but was taken off the air after only a few episodes. Also in 2006, he portrayed George Washington on The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd. He starred as "Uncle" Saul in the CBS comedy Welcome to The Captain until its cancellation in March 2008. He has made several cameo appearances on Entourage as a fictionalized version of himself who regularly annoys his agent, Ari Gold. For several years, based on his availability, Tambor has taught a class for actors. He was a longtime teaching associate of acting coach Milton Katselas.
In 2009, Tambor appeared in the animated film Monsters vs. Aliens and in the comedy The Hangover. In 2009, Tambor began playing the recurring character Len Trexler in the sardonic comedy Archer, an animated television series on the FX network. He is a major love interest to Malory Archer played by Jessica Walter – the two formerly playing husband and wife in Arrested Development. Tambor replaced Kelsey Grammer as Georges in the Broadway revival of the musicalLa Cage aux Folles on February 15, 2011, but withdrew from the production after the February 24 performance. Also in 2011, Tambor starred in an indie comedy, Lucky.[8] That same year, he had a minor role in the film Paul with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, reprised his Hangover role for its sequel, and was featured in Flypaper, with Patrick Dempsey and Ashley Judd.
In 2012, Tambor co-starred as Walt, Pete's aspiring musician father on the sitcom Bent starring Amanda Peet and David Walton. In May 2013 he returned to Arrested Development for season 4 and subsequently, season 5 in 2018–2019. In 2017 he played Georgy Malenkov in The Death of Stalin. In May 2017, Tambor released a book entitled Are You Anybody? A Memoir.
Tambor and his wife Kasia have a son Gabriel Kasper, born circa 2006, younger daughter Eve Julia, born circa 2007, and twin sons Hugo Bernard and Eli Nicholas, born October 2009. Tambor also has adult daughters from earlier relationships.[14]
In 2007, Tambor was reported to be a Scientologist.[15] In February 2008, he expressed concern about "Internet reports" about his alleged involvement with Scientology and stated that he "took some Scientology classes at one time, studied Scientology for a while, but no more. I have nothing against it, but I am no longer a Scientologist."[16] In 2017, Tambor disclosed that he had left Scientology abruptly "when he was pressured to leave his second wife."[17]
Sexual misconduct allegations
On November 8, 2017, Tambor was accused of sexual misconduct by his former assistant, Van Barnes.[18] On November 16, 2017, actress Trace Lysette additionally made accusations against Tambor. Of note, both of his accusers are trans women, a fact which later influenced Tambor’s decision to leave Transparent.[19] Tambor responded, "I am deeply sorry if any action of mine was ever misinterpreted by anyone as being sexually aggressive or if I ever offended or hurt anyone. But the fact is, for all my flaws, I am not a predator and the idea that someone might see me in that way is more distressing than I can express."[20] Days later, makeup artist Tamara Delbridge also accused Tambor of sexual improprieties on the set of the 2001 film Never Again. Tambor said he did not recall the incident, but apologized "for any discomfort or offense I may have inadvertently caused her."[21]
By this time, Tambor had left Transparent, saying in a statement on November 19, "Playing Maura Pfefferman on Transparent has been one of the greatest privileges and creative experiences of my life. What has become clear over the past weeks, however, is that this is no longer the job I signed up for four years ago. I've already made clear my deep regret if any action of mine was ever misinterpreted by anyone as being aggressive, but the idea that I would deliberately harass anyone is simply and utterly untrue. Given the politicized atmosphere that seems to have afflicted our set, I don't see how I can return to Transparent."[22] The allegations came after filming for the fifth season of Arrested Development had been completed that same month. Arrested Development's team supported Tambor in his defense against the allegations and his scenes remained within the show.[23]
In his first interview after leaving Transparent, Tambor, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in May 2018, continued to deny allegations that he had sexually harassed his former assistant or Trace Lysette on the series, but admitted to having anger issues throughout his life.[24] He also said that while he was on the show he "worried [himself] to death" about whether he was portraying his transgender character truthfully, and that the stress sometimes made him "difficult" and "mean". Tambor mentioned one "blowup" he had with Arrested Development co-star Jessica Walter during the show's production.[25]
On May 23, 2018, Walter said in a New York Times cast interview that Tambor had verbally harassed her. "He never crossed the line on our show with any, you know, sexual whatever. Verbally, yes, he harassed me, but he did apologize ... In like almost 60 years of working, I've never had anybody yell at me like that on a set."[26][27] When asked whether she had reservations about working with Tambor again, Walter said, "Of course not." "I don't want to walk around with anger," she added. "I respect him as an actor. We've known each other for years and years and years. Of course, I would work with him again in a heartbeat."[28]
^Oppenheimer, Mark (July 15, 2007). "The Actualizer". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 4, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2011. ...are Scientologists, as is Jeffrey Tambor...
^Beck, Marilyn; Smith, Stacy Jenel (February 4, 2008). "The Hollywood Exclusive". LA.com. Archived from the original on January 10, 2016. SCIENTOLOGIST NO LONGER: Tambor is distressed by internet reports that he belongs to the ranks of Scientology members and wants people to know that 'I took some Scientology classes at one time, studied Scientology for a while, but no more. I have nothing against it, but I am no longer a Scientologist.'
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvw"Jeffrey Tambor (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved October 23, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
