For over two decades, Lance Barber’s acting career has mostly been on the small screen. However, he has also starred in a few movies on the big screen. Barber, who turned 50 in 2023, has had a passion for acting since he was seven years old. Lance Barber was born and raised in Battle Creek, Michigan.
His father died when he was a year old, and his mother raised him. With a passion for acting at a young age, Barber participated in several of his High School plays at Pennfield High School. After graduating with an associate degree from Kellogg Community College, Barber set his sights on achieving his dreams of being an actor.
Lance Barber Began His Career At The Second City
After watching the Grease musical play at the Barn Theatre, Lance Barber was inspired to become an actor. After graduating from college, he returned to work with them for about a year before deciding to leave Michigan. Barber moved to Chicago and worked with The Second City improvisational comedy troupe for five years. He credits his time with the troupe with improving his acting and improvisation.
He Made His Screen Debut In 2001
After working with The Second City, Lance Barber decided it was best to move West to Los Angeles. In 2001, he made his screen debut in two popular TV shows, ER and Gilmore Girls. On the NBC medical drama, Barber was cast in a guest role as Howard Norden. In his first appearance on Gilmore Girls, he appeared as an unnamed character, an employee who offers to build a runway at the Independence Inn. The second time he appeared on Gilmore Girls was in 2006, playing Hugo Gray. The character is a friend of Logan Huntzberger (Matt Czuchry) and the one who offers Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) a job and opportunity to be a part of the Obama campaign as a correspondent.
Lance Barber Had His Film Debut In 2002
In Lance Barber’s first movie appearance, he went uncredited. Barber played a director in a commercial in the John Schultz 2002 sports comedy Like Mike, with Lil Bow Wow leading the cast. He also appeared as a drunken boy in the drama Tenfold. His next movie project was a short film, making his early years in movies less successful.
Lance Barber’s First Major Role Was In The Comeback TV Series
After a series of guest-starring roles on television and minor roles in movies, Lance Barber landed his first major role in 2005. Cast as part of the main cast in The Comeback, Barber played Paulie G, Valerie Cherish’s (Lisa Kudrow) main antagonist. The Comeback received generally positive reviews from critics and audiences. Barber considers the show his breakthrough role as an actor. The HBO show was initially canceled after the first season but was brought back nine years later for season 2.
Lance Barber in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Lance Barber joined the FX/FXX sitcom in 2010 as Bill Ponderosa. The character was Deandra “Dee” Reynolds (Kaitlin Olson), a High School crush. Bill is also the brother of Maureen Ponderosa (Catherine Reitman). Since their time in High School, Bill has become a drug addict and put on some weight. Although married, he and Dee begin an affair. After it ends, Bill returns to his wife. However, when Dee is pregnant, Bill returns as one of the child’s potential fathers.
Lance Barber Had Guest-Starred In Other Popular TV Shows
Although Lance Barber is famous for playing George Cooper Sr. in Young Sheldon, he starred in several other popular TV shows before it premiered. Barber appeared in single episodes of Joey (as Steve), The Mentalist (as Daniel Cardeira), Monk (as Bill the Deliveryman), and Grey’s Anatomy (as Phil). He also guest-starred on How I Met Your Mother (2012), Key and Peele (2012), Masters of Sex (2014), and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2016). Lance Barber made short recurring roles on Californication (as Nick Lowry), Black-ish (as Dr. Gabler), and The Big Bang Theory (as Jimmy Speckerman/George Cooper Sr.).
Lance Barber’s Career-Defining Role Was In Young Sheldon
Young Sheldon is a coming-of-age sitcom series created as a spin-off prequel to The Big Bang Theory. The show centers around the life of Sheldon Cooper’s early years. Lance Barber was cast as Sheldon Cooper’s father, George Cooper Sr. Since the show premiered on September 25, 2017, Barber has portrayed the character throughout all 7 seasons. Young Sheldon has been Lance Barber’s biggest project of his career.
With season 7 as its final season and looking to converge on its original series storyline, George Cooper Sr. died in episode 12 (“A New Home and a Traditional Texas Torture”). Fans of the show and Barber look forward to the actor’s next big project. If you enjoyed reading about Lance Barber’s career timeline, also check out the career timeline of the MaXXXine star Mia Goth.
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