Lee Arenberg has the remarkable ability to morph himself into a wide range of characters, from frightening aliens to lascivious entertainment executives. As a character actor, he has maintained a flourishing acting career spanning almost 20 years, appearing in over 30 movies and numerous television shows.
Arenberg's acting career began at a young age, when he portrayed David in his Hebrew school play, "Killing Goliath", at the age of eight. He notes that the parable could be the title of any actor's chances in this game. A native Angeleno, Lee attended Santa Monica high school with notable classmates such as Sean Penn, Robert Downey Jr., and Emilio Estevez.
Lee's first professional job was in 1986 at the Mark Taper Forum in "Ghetto", a play directed by Gordon Davidson. Within weeks, he was cast in three films, including the role of Norton in the feature Tapeheads (1988) opposite Tim Robbins and John Cusack. Guest appearances on television began in 1987 with the hit sitcom Perfect Strangers (1986),and have continued with memorable roles such as the parking space-stealing New Yorker on Seinfeld (1989) and as the murderous rock promoter opposite Katey Sagal and Sam Kinison in Tales from the Crypt (1989).
Arenberg has also appeared in numerous other television shows, including Arli$$ (1996),Friends (1994),Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987),Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993),and Star Trek: Voyager (1995). He can also be seen in the role of the notoriously huge studio head, Bobby G., on the controversial syndicated comedy Action (1999) opposite series star Jay Mohr.
Lee names his family and friends as his inspirations, and states that growing up on Los Angeles' Westside allowed him to see actors as the parents of friends and classmates, not as just movie stars. He credits "fear of failure" as his main motivation, and admires the talents and creativity of legendary actors such as Paul Muni, Lon Chaney, and Boris Karloff.
Lee also credits much of his development as an actor to his participation in the Actors' Gang, one of Los Angeles' oldest theater companies. The Actors' Gang was founded by Lee in 1981 with Tim Robbins and other friends from UCLA. After 20 years as an actor in the group, Lee recently made his writing and directing debut with Foursome, a play about golf, sex, and witchcraft.
In his leisure time, Arenberg enjoys golf, cooking, blues harmonica, video games, and pitching for his softball team Bubblin' Crude, which is made up of other actors, many of whom are friends from high school. He is involved with St. Jude's Children's Hospital and other children's health causes, and animal rights organizations, participating regularly in fundraising efforts on behalf of those charitable causes.
