David Cross Net Worth

How much is David Cross worth?

About David Cross

David Cross was born on April 4, 1964 and is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer with an estimated net worth of $12 million. Known for his standup work, as well as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Small Soldiers (1998) and Kung Fu Panda (2008), he also created, wrote, executive produced, and starred in The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret. Apart from that he developed and had a prominent role in the Comedy Central animated sitcom Freak Show and has a recurring role in the ABC sitcom Modern Family.

Cross has said his comedic influences have been Bill Hicks, Andy Kaufman, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Lou Costello, Steven Wright, Richard Pryor, and Lenny Bruce.

Cross was born in 1964 in Atlanta, Georgia, but moved around a lot as a child. After returning to Atlanta, he remained for most of his formative years and graduating from a performing arts high school in Atlanta in 1982. Cross soon after moved to New York pursue a career in comedy. He first began performing stand-up comedy at age 17. His first professional television job was as a writer on The Ben Stiller Show in 1993. Most of the late ’80s and early ’90s performing around Boston where he attended one semester of college at Emerson College.

Cross soon became a regular at a New York comedy club called Catch a Rising Star. He was part of a weekly show that involved himself and twelve other comics called “Cross Comedy”. He had previously been a member of another sketch group called This is Pathetic, a group that would have him meeting future Mr. Show cast member John Ennis. Cross Comedy however was what laid the groundwork for the kind of comedy that Cross would eventually find success with at HBO.

He relocated to Los Angeles in the ’90s where he became a regular at the city’s Un-Cabaret nightclub. The burgeoning “alternative” comedy scene was growing, thanks in no small part to comics like Cross, Patton Oswalt and Paul F. Tompkins. The in ’92 Cross took his first professional television writing job with the staff of the short-lived FOX sketch comedy The Ben Stiller Show. Although the show was eventually canceled after just 13 episodes, it was there that Cross would meet Bob Odenkirk. Together, the two would break new sketch comedy ground for the rest of the 1990s.

Then, in 1995, HBO premiered Mr. Show with Bob and David. It was a sketch show conceived, written and performed primarily by Cross and Odenkirk. In its fourth season, HBO began moving its time slot around and ratings began to fall resulting in it not coming back for a fifth season.

They made a spin-off called Mr. Show and, Run, Ronnie, Run. After things not going the way that Cross had wanted them to, he went back to stand-up with his first full-length HBO special, The Pride is Back, debuting in 1999. He released the double-length album Shut Up, You F*cking Baby!, in 2002, which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Comedy Album.

Cross became a character actor in the 2000s, appearing in films as widely varied as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to She’s the Man to I’m Not There.

In 2003, Cross released a behind-the-scenes tour documentary, called Let America Laugh. His second album, It’s Not Funny, was released in 2004.

In 2008, Cross reunited with Odenkirk for a new HBO pilot. The show was called David’s Situation, and was a sitcom based around the comedian and his roommates. However it only ever resulted in a pilot.

In 2010, Cross released Bigger and Blackerer, both a comedy album and stand-up comedy special on Sub Pop.

In August 2011, Cross announced he was engaged to his longtime girlfriend, actress Amber Tamblyn.

Kickstarter co-founder Yancey Strickler revealed that Cross was the first investor in the crowdfunding platform, in 2013. As of 2023, David Cross’ net worth is estimated to be $12 million. In 2018, he created the eight-episode black comedy series Bliss, which was released by the BritBox streaming service.