For his role in the latter, Tambor earned two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series out of three nominations.

[6] Tambor first moved to repertory theater in Milwaukee, later making his Broadway debut in the comedy Sly Fox (1976), appearing with George C. Scott and directed by Arthur Penn.

In 1979, he starred in Norman Jewison's ...And Justice For All, as a lawyer friend of the protagonist, Arthur Kirkland (Al Pacino).

In an early TV job, an ad for Avis Rent a Car System, he was seen running through an airport, mocking O. J. Simpson's "Go, O.J., go!"

On television, he made guest appearances on shows including Taxi, Kojak, M*A*S*H, The Golden Girls, and Three's Company.

In 1981, he appeared in an episode of Barney Miller as a man who was trying to bring exposure to the members of the Trilateral Commission in charge of the coming New World Order.

[7] In 1987, and 1988, he appeared as a regular on the prime time ABC series Max Headroom as Murray, Edison's editor.

Tambor received four Emmy nominations for his performance on the show—all of which he would lose, to Michael Richards for Seinfeld, David Hyde Pierce for Frasier, and his co-star Rip Torn.

Tambor was nominated for a sixth time in 2005 but lost to Brad Garrett for the final season of Everybody Loves Raymond.

The second episode of Arrested Development's third season lampooned this loss: Tambor's character's son describes his acting ability by saying, "It's a wonderful performance, Dad.

In the spring of 2005, he starred as George Aaronow in the Broadway revival of Glengarry Glen Ross alongside Alan Alda, Liev Schreiber, and Gordon Clapp.

He has made several cameo appearances on Entourage as a fictionalized version of himself who regularly annoys his agent, Ari Gold.

In 2009, Tambor began playing the recurring character Len Trexler in the sardonic comedy Archer, an animated television series on the FX network.

In 2012, Tambor co-starred as Walt, Pete's aspiring musician father on the sitcom Bent starring Amanda Peet and David Walton.

[9] Tambor won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy for his portrayal and thanked the transgender community in his speech.

"[20] Days later, makeup artist Tamara Delbridge also accused Tambor of sexual improprieties on the set of the 2001 film Never Again.

I've already made clear my deep regret if any action of mine was ever misinterpreted by anyone as being aggressive, but the idea that I would deliberately harass anyone is simply and utterly untrue.

[23] In his first interview after leaving Transparent, Tambor, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in May 2018, continued to deny allegations that he had sexually harassed his former assistant or Trace Lysette on the series, but admitted to having anger issues throughout his life.