Daniel Stern

Daniel Jacob Stern (born August 28, 1957) is an American actor, artist, director, and screenwriter. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Marv Merchants in Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), Phil Berquist in City Slickers (1991) and City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly’s Gold (1994), the voice of adult Kevin Arnold on the television series The Wonder Years and the voice of Dilbert on the animated series of the same name. Other notable films of his include Breaking Away (1979), Stardust Memories (1980), Diner (1982), Blue Thunder (1983), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), Coupe de Ville (1990) and Very Bad Things (1998). He made his feature-film directorial debut with Rookie of the Year (1993).

Stern was raised in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, to a social worker Leonard and Cynthia who managed a day care center.[1] His family is Jewish. His brother is television writer David M. Stern. During his years at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, Stern starred in several theater productions, including playing C.C. Baxter in Promises, Promises and Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. Stern applied for a job as a lighting engineer for a Shakespeare Festival in Washington, D.C., but was hired as a walk-on in their production of The Taming of the Shrew, starring Glenn Close.[2] He dropped out of high school in his senior year and soon moved to New York. After taking acting lessons at HB Studio with Austin Pendleton and Herbert Berghof, Stern began his acting career in Off Broadway and Broadway productions, including True West with Gary Sinise and How I Got That Story at Second Stage Theatre with Bob Gunton. He acted in numerous productions at The Public Theater, Ensemble Studio Theater, Cherry Lane Theater, and Manhattan Theater Club.