Birthdate: Oct 22, 1962
Birthplace: Naperville, Illinois, USA
Bob Odenkirk (birthname: Robert John Odenkirk) is best known for his colorful portrayals of shyster lawyer Saul Goodman in AMC’s Breaking Bad (2009-2013) and in the spinoff starring Odenkirk, Better Call Saul (2015-2022), but he has directed as well as acted in three feature films (Melvin Goes to Dinner in 2003, Let’s Go to Prison in 2006 and The Brothers Solomon in 2007) and acted in dozens of others, starting in bit parts in such comedies as Wayne’s World 2 (1993), The Cable Guy (1996), Christopher Guest’s Waiting for Guffman (1996) and Dr. Dolittle 2 and Henry Selick’s Monkeybone in 2001 (2001).
Odenkirk began to land roles in more significant films near the end of the run of Breaking Bad, first in the excellent indie film, The Spectacular Now (2013), with Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Kyle Chandler under James Ponsoldt’s direction, and premiering at the Sundance Film Festival and grossing a robust $6 million for distributor A24.
Odenkirk joined the cast of director Alexander Payne’s comedy-drama, Nebraska (2013), co-starring Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb and Stacy Keach, premiering at the Cannes Film Festival (where Dern won the Best Actor Palme) and nominated for six Oscars (including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor and Supporting Actress) and earning nearly $28 million (on $13.5 million costs) for former distributor Paramount Vantage.
Odenkirk’s next most notable theatrical appearance (after several little-seen indie releases) was a supporting role in director/producer Steven Spielberg’s drama about the Washington Post, The Post (2017), starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, with Sarah Paulson, Tracy Letts, Bradley Whitford, Bruce Greenwood and Matthew Rhys, grossing $180 million (on $50 million costs) for producer-distributor 20th Century Fox.
Bob Odenkirk was part of the voice cast of filmmaker Brad Bird’s anticipated sequel for Pixar/Disney, Incredibles 2 (2018), with the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Samuel L. Jackson, Catherine Keener and Jonathan Banks, returning a robust $1.24 billion worldwide against $200 million costs for Disney and Oscar-nominated for Best Animated Feature.
Odenkirk played a supporting role in the comedy Long Shot (2019), starring Seth Rogen, Charlize Theron, O’Shea Jackson Jr., and Andy Serkis, which premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival but ultimately lost money for Lionsgate, returning a poor $54 million. Then Odenkirk appeared in his first period drama in director/writer Greta Gerwig’s lovely version of Louisa May Alcott’s 1868’s novel, Little Women (2019), starring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, Tracy Letts, Louis Garrel, Chris Cooper and Meryl Streep, nominated for six Oscars (including Best Picture, Actress, Supporting Actress and Screenplay) and grossing a strong $220 million for Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures/Regency.
Odenkirk enjoyed one of his most notable big-screen starring roles as a former government assassin in Universal Pictures’ action movie, Nobody (2021), with Connie Nielsen, Aleksei Serebryakov, RZA and Christopher Lloyd under Ilya Naishuller’s direction, returning positive reviews and even more positive box-office ($57.5 million gross against $18 million costs), leading to Universal’s sequel, Nobody 2 (2025), with new cast members John Ortiz, Colin Hanks, Sharon Stone and Michael Ironside under Timo Tjahjanto’s direction and which grossed a disappointing (based on estimated costs) $43 million.
Odenkirk continued working as a story writer with Nobody screenwriter Derek Kolstad on the crime thriller titled Normal (2025), which he produced with production partner Marc Provissiero, and then led the cast, directed by British indie filmmaker Ben Wheatley, including Henry Winkler and Lena Headey, and which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and was released by Magnolia Pictures.
Bob Odenkirk led the cast of the green-screen-shot remake of The Room (2003) titled The Room Returns! (date to be announced), co-starring Bella Heathcote, Kate Siegel, Mike Flanagan, and Greg Sestero (the only cast member from the original movie) under Brando Crawford’s direction.
Bob Odenkirk was born in Berwyn, Illinois, and raised in Naperville, Illinois, by parents Walter (a printing business employee) and Barbara. Odenkirk has six siblings, including brother Bill, who’s also a comedy writer. Odenkirk graduated early from Naperville North High School when he was a junior, Odenkirk then attended College of DuPage (in Glen Ellyn, Illinois) when he was 16 years old and then transferred to Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and then soon transferred to Southern Illinois University, where he wrote and performed on-air at the college radio station.
Odenkirk left SIU three credits short of graduating but completed his credits at Columbia College Chicago and then graduated with a B.A. in Communications from SIU in 1984; Odenkirk received an honorary degree of Doctor of Performing Arts from SIU. Odenkirk has been married to producer Naomi Yomtov since 1997; the couple has one son, Nate, and one daughter, Erin. Odenkirk’s height is 5’ 9”. Odenkirk’s estimated net worth is $16 million.
Previous (30)
Cousin to Royalty: Bob Odenkirk learned on Henry Louis Gates’s PBS show, Finding Your Roots, that he is the eleventh cousin of Britain’s current King Charles III and descended from an illegitimate son of Frederick Charles, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön.
Suburban Hell: Odenkirk has said that he grew up unhappy in Naperville, Illinois, not only because of an alcoholic father who was “remote and fucked up,” but from a suburb that felt like a dead-end “Nowheresville.”
Near-Death Experience: Bob Odenkirk experienced a near-fatal heart attack in 2021 during filming of the final season on the set of Better Call Saul. It required paramedics to apply a defibrillator three times to restore a regular heartbeat.
People Also Searched For
