Bob Odenkirk Biography

After three decades of writing sketch comedy, Odenkirk became more famous as an actor, thanks to the role of Saul Goodman in the television series Breaking Bad and its spinoff, Better Call Saul.

Odenkirk came out of the comedy clubs of Chicago in the late 1980s, and got his first writing job with Saturday Night Live in 1987. He left the show in 1991 and joined the short-lived The Ben Stiller Show (with Janeane Garafolo and Andy Dick), followed by four seasons on the cable comedy show Mr. Show with Bob and David (1995-98, with David Cross).

Such jobs defined Odenkirk’s career in comedy: always working on critically praised and influential projects, but never quite hitting the mainstream big time.

He appeared in dozens of guest roles on TV comedies, notably The Larry Sanders Show and How I Met Your Mother, while doing writing and producing jobs for Tenacious D, Dennis Miller, Conan O’Brien, Tim and Eric, and The Birthday Boys.

Odenkirk appeared late in the first season of the hit series Breaking Bad (2009-13, starring Bryan Cranston), but came to be a popular and necessary character through the run of the show.

That led to the lead role in its equally successful spinoff, Better Call Saul (2015-22).

His other acting credits include the TV show Fargo (2015) and the movies Nebraska (2013, starring Bruce Dern), The Spectacular Now (2013, starring Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller), Little Women (2019) and Nobody (2021).