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Who is Lance Barber?
An accomplished actor with over 60 acting credits to his name, Lance Barber became a household name thanks to his memorable performances on both the small and big screens. One of Lance’s most notable roles came in the hit sitcom “Young Sheldon”, a prequel to the immensely popular “The Big Bang Theory”. In this series, he portrays the character of George Cooper Senior, the father of the young prodigy Sheldon Cooper. According to critics, Lance’s performance is a captivating blend of humor and heart, adding depth and warmth to the show’s portrayal of family dynamics.
Join us as we delve deeper into Lance Barber’s career, his memorable roles, his personal life, and his future projects.
Early life, family, and education
Born under the zodiac sign of Cancer on 29 June 1973, Lance is today aged 50. A native of Battle Creek, Michigan USA, he holds American nationality and comes from a family of Caucasian descent. He was born into a military family, with his father serving as a Military Policeman in the US Army. Unfortunately, his father tragically died in the line of duty when Lance was a year old, so his mother raised him on her own. Lance has no siblings.
When it comes to his passion for acting, Lance went to watch “Grease” when he was seven years old, and fell in love with acting, which he planned to do for the rest of his life. He began performing in high school, and upon matriculating in 1991, he enrolled at Kellogg Community College, where he also acted in college productions while earning his associate degree.
He spent a year performing at the Barn Theatre, one of the oldest American summer theatres, and then he moved to Chicago, Illinois. There, Lance spent five years with The Second City, an improvisational comedy troupe before moving to Los Angeles, California to try his luck on television and the big screen.
Roles in series
Lance made his first television appearance guest-starring as Howard Norden in an episode of the popular medical series “ER” in 2001. In the early 2000s, Lance mostly made an appearance in an episode or two of numerous shows, including “Gilmore Girls” (2001), “What I Like About You” (2002), and “Yes, Dear” (2004), among others.
In the following year, he landed the role of Paulie G. in “The Comeback”, a comedy show about a former highly-respected celebrity who is now trying to rekindle the flames of her once-prominent acting career, but all that she has is some determination and a camera crew, created by and starring Lisa Kudrow. From 2005 through 2014, Lance appeared in all 21 episodes of the series, which had 23 award nominations, including four for Primetime Emmys, and three wins.
Concurrently, Lance was seen as Nick Lowry in less than five episodes of the highly popular comedy-drama “Californication” in 2007, and he guest-starred in hit series such as “CSI: Miami” (2009), “Grey’s Anatomy” (2010), “How I Met You Mother” (2012), and “Hot in Cleveland” (2014). Between 2011 and 2018, he had the recurring role as Bill Ponderosa in the critically acclaimed series “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”.
However, it was his role as George Cooper Sr. that catapulted him to widespread recognition. From 2017 through 2023, Lance was seen in 127 episodes, and his portrayal of the hardworking, caring and often humorous George endeared him to audiences, and solidified his status as a talented character actor. Lance and his co-stars, Iain Armitage (Sheldon), Zoe Perry (Mary), Montana Jordan (Georgie), and Raegan Revord (Missy), become one of the favorite on-screen families.
Fans of the show will be happy to hear that the crew is filming the seventh season of the series, set to be released by the end of 2023.
Roles in movies
Lance made his big-screen debut as Dunken Boy in the 2002 drama “Tenfold”, written and directed by Zachary Zises. In the following years, Lance acted in several short movies before he was cast to play Buddy in the comedy “Bad Meat”, in which he starred opposite Chevy Chase and Billie Worley.
Lance followed with his roles in “The Godfather of Green Bay” (2005), “The Lather Effect” (2006), and “Leatherheads” (2008) before he was cast to play the lead role in the 2010 short movie “Penny”, which was well-rated by the critics and the audience (8.1/10).
He played Comanche in the 2013 action crime-drama “Gangster Squad”, starring Sean Penn, Emma Stone, and Ryan Gosling, which had five award nominations, and some of the audience reviews said that it had ‘great actors, good rhythm and a pretty good story’, although it was rated 6.7/10.
After a few supporting roles in the movies made for television, Lance returned to the big screen playing Crash in the 2021 musical drama “Raunch and Roll”. He played the lead male role opposite William McNamara and Michael Pare, in this story about Roxy Starr’s last show.
Most recently, Lance was seen in the 2023 comedy “Fool’s Paradise”, written, directed by and starring Charlie Day, which didn’t achieve much success.
Wife and kids
Lance is a fairly private individual when it comes to his personal life. He’s not been known to extensively share information about his family in the public domain. What we do know is that he’s a married man and a father of two. His wife Alize is a chef, and they have a daughter and a son, whose names and birth dates haven’t been disclosed.
As of September 2023, the family of four lives in their residence in Los Angeles.
How rich is Lance Barber? Net worth
With a career spanning over two decades, Lance has consistently delivered memorable performances that have earned him a dedicated fan following. His Instagram account has been followed by over 40,000 people, and the critics said that he’s left an indelible mark on small screens with his remarkable talent and charismatic presence.
Thanks to all that, besides fame, Lance has earned a good living for himself. According to sources, as of September 2023, his net worth has been estimated at over $1 million.
