Portal:Comedy/Selected biography/28

Jonathan Niven "Jon" Cryer (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor, screenwriter and film producer. He is the son of actress/singer Gretchen Cryer. He made his motion picture debut by starring in the 1984 romantic comedy No Small Affair, but gained greater fame by starring as "Duckie" in the John Hughes film Pretty in Pink. In 1998 he finished writing and producing the independent film Went to Coney Island on a Mission From God... Be Back by Five, which was well received. Even though Cryer gained some fame by starring in these movies, he had not found television success; the shows he had starred in (The Famous Teddy Z, Partners and The Trouble with Normal) all did not last very long, until, in 2003, he was cast to portray Alan Harper on the CBS hit comedy series Two and a Half Men, opposite Charlie Sheen. To date, the actor has received three Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his work on the show.