As irony would have it, actor David Krumholtz gained celebrity by playing a mathematical genius on the hit CBS procedural, “Numb3rs” (2005- ), even though in real life his math skills have been mediocre at best—a 520 on his SATs after heavy studying was a high watermark. Coming from a long line of failed television series, Krumholtz has been surprised by and appreciative of the success of the crime drama that became the most watched show on Friday nights in 2005. Though his success came at a young age—he was only 26 when the show first aired—Krumholtz had toiled in the business since he was a teenager, landing minor roles in features or regular gigs on shows that were quickly canceled.
Born and raised in Queens, New York to a dental assistant mother and postal worker father, Krumholtz was never particularly interested in acting. But in the early 1990’s, New York seethed with want ads for child actors. At the urging—and caution—of his mother, he answered a casting call and surprisingly landed a large part on Broadway opposite Judd Hirsch in “Conversations with My Father.” Krumholtz spent the nest six months of his life in the production. Immediately following his Broadway debut, he landed another prominent role in the children’s comedy, “Life with Mikey” (1993), starring Michael J. Fox. Later that year, he played the love interest to Wednesday Addams (Christina Ricci) in “Addams Family Values.”
Krumholtz then tried his hand at television, earning a regular gig as the younger son of a conservative talk show host (Henry Winkler) in “Monty” (Fox, 1994). The strange sitcom went off the air in just over a month. In a return to the big screen, he played a wise-cracking foreman on Santa’s factory floor in the comedy hit, “The Santa Clause” (1994), starring Tim Allen. He then gave it another go with television, filming an unaired pilot, “Staten Island 10309” (CBS, 1995), and appearing in an episode of the UPN sitcom, “Pig Sty” (1995). After a couple guest starring roles on the ill-fated “Union Square” (NBC, 1997-1998), he returned to film with a small part in Ang Lee’s excellent suburban drama about teenage angst and family dysfunction, “The Ice Storm” (1997). He then earned good notices for his performance in “The Slums of Beverly Hills” (1998) as the brother of a teenage girl (Natasha Lyonne) leading a nomadic life on the wrong side of the 90210 zip code.
Krumholtz landed another regular spot on the short-lived “Chicago Sons” (NBC, 1997), playing a college dropout constantly hatching get-rich-quick schemes while living with his two older brothers in a Chicago apartment. In “The Closer” (CBS, 1998), he was a copywriter on the staff of a hotshot ad executive played by Tom Selleck. The show was canceled in less than three months. Rounding out the 20th century, Krumholtz had a small part in Barry Levinson’s coming-of-age drama, “Liberty Heights” (1999) and a more pivotal role as a nebbishy teenager trying to help his well-meaning friend (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) win a date with the school’s most popular girl (Julia Stiles) in “10 Things I Hate About You” (1999), a modern take on Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew.”
A brief return to television found Krumholtz in episodes of “ER” (NBC, 1994- ) and “Freaks and Geeks” (1999-2000) before landing a regular gig as a normal guy seeing a therapist who suddenly thinks the world is out to get him in “The Trouble with Normal” (ABC, 2000). It lasted a season. In “The Sidewalks of New York” (2001), another failed attempt by Edward Burns to mimic Woody Allen, Krumholtz played a struggling musician working as a doorman whose bad marriage leads him to develop feelings for a 19-year-old waitress (Brittany Murphy). After being lost in the shadows cast by Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts in “The Mexican” (2001), Krumholtz appeared as a budding porn director in the straight-to-video comedy, “According to Spencer” (2001). A bit part in “Two Can Play That Game” (2001) came and went, followed by a bigger role in the festival comedy, “How I Killed My Neighbor’s Dog” (2001).
In 2002, Krumholtz reprised his elf role for “The Santa Clause 2” (2002), the inevitable sequel to the comedy hit with Tim Allen. He was then seen in a couple episodes of the college comedy, “Undeclared” (Fox, 2001-2002), followed by a couple minor features “Scorched” (2002) and “Cheats” (also 2002). He then had a starring role as the real-life Benny Stillman, a college student-turned-bookie implicated—and later convicted—in one of the largest bribery conspiracies in college sports. After losing another show, “The Lyon’s Den” (NBC, 2003) on the network chopping block, he briefly appeared in “Ray” (2004) and “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle” (2004). Then in 2004, he beat other actors with more proficiency for math to win the role of Charlie Epps on “Numb3rs.” The role as a math genius brought onto a criminal investigations by his older brother (Rob Morrow), an FBI agent stumped by a serial killer, earned Krumholtz plenty of critical kudos and a burgeoning celebrity. The show won the Friday night ratings war and earned a second season on air—a first for Krumholtz. Back on the big screen he had an amusing supporting turn as Mr. Universe, a reclusive information broker who lives on an isolated moon with a comely robotic companion, in the sci-fi adventure "Serenity" (2005) Joss Whedon's surprise extention of his failed Fox TV series.