Apatow is the founder of his namesake production company, through which he wrote, produced, and directed his films The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Knocked Up (2007), Funny People (2009), This Is 40 (2012), Trainwreck (2015), The King of Staten Island (2020), and The Bubble (2022).

Through his company, Apatow produced and developed the television series Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000), Undeclared (2001–2002), Funny or Die Presents (2010–2011), Girls (2012–2017), Love (2016–2018), and Crashing (2017–2019).

He also produced the films The Cable Guy (1996), Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), Superbad (2007), Pineapple Express (2008), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), Get Him to the Greek (2010), Bridesmaids (2011), Begin Again (2013), and The Big Sick (2017).

The middle of three children[1] of Maury Apatow, a real-estate developer,[2] and Tamara Shad,[3] who ran the music label Mainstream Records founded by her father, Bob Shad,[1][4] Judd Apatow was born on December 6, 1967[5] in the Flushing neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens, and raised in Syosset, New York, on Long Island.

[13] Apatow's deep interest in comedy dates back to his childhood; his heroes were Steve Martin, Bill Cosby and the Marx Brothers.

[10] He competed in the Johnnie Walker Comedy Search in 1989 directed by Saturday Night Live short film producer Neal Marshad.

In 1992, Apatow appeared on HBO's 15th Annual Young Comedians Special[22] and shortly afterwards went on to co-create and executive produce The Ben Stiller Show for Fox.

Around the same time, Apatow was hired to produce and do an uncredited re-write of the script for the movie The Cable Guy, which was released in 1996 to mixed reviews.

[27] His next script was titled Making Amends, which had Owen Wilson attached to star as a man in Alcoholics Anonymous who decides to apologize to everyone he has ever hurt.

[29] The show was not picked up by Fox, which freed up Apatow to serve as an executive producer of the award-winning series Freaks and Geeks, which debuted in 1999.

[30] In 2001, Apatow created North Hollywood, a pilot that featured Jason Segel, Kevin Hart, Seth Rogen, Phil Hendrie, and Judge Reinhold (playing himself).

[29] In 2004, Apatow produced the feature film comedy Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, starring Will Ferrell and directed by Adam McKay.

[34] In 2005, Apatow co-wrote with Nicholas Stoller the feature film comedy Fun with Dick and Jane starring Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni.

[citation needed] In August 2007, Apatow produced the film Superbad, which was written by Seth Rogen and his writing partner Evan Goldberg.

[37] Apatow served as producer and co-writer along with director Jake Kasdan for the biopic spoof Walk Hard starring John C. Reilly, Kristen Wiig and Jenna Fischer, which was released in December 2007.

[40] In 2008, he served as producer for Drillbit Taylor starring Owen Wilson and Leslie Mann and written by Seth Rogen, which opened in March and earned negative reviews.

Apatow wrote the film, which starred Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen as a pair of standup comedians, one of whom has a terminal illness.

"[51] In 2010, Apatow served as producer on the Forgetting Sarah Marshall spin-off Get Him to the Greek with Russell Brand reprising his role and Jonah Hill returning from the original film, albeit as a different character.

"[59] Apatow produced Wanderlust (2012), starring Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd as a married couple who leave New York City and live in a hippie commune.

[65] Apatow co-produced Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, which was released December 18, 2013, with the plot focusing on "Ron Burgundy's struggle to find his place in the rise of new media and the 24-hour news cycle".

Amy Schumer wrote and starred in the film as "a basket case who tries to rebuild her life"[67] by attempting to commit to a serious relationship with a sports doctor (Bill Hader), after a string of one-night stands with different men.

[68] The Atlantic's Christopher Orr opined that "this is a film that belongs not to its director but to its star, who, if there is any justice in the world, is about to ascend from cult icon to mass phenomenon.

[74] Later that year, HBO picked up Crashing, a semi-autobiographical television series which follows Pete Holmes as he tries to become a stand-up comedian after his wife cheats on him.

[87] Along with documentarian Michael Bonfiglio, Apatow co-directed the documentary May It Last: A Portrait Of The Avett Brothers, which chronicles the making of the titular band's album True Sadness.

[90] After editing together video packages for Garry Shandling's memorial service, Apatow realized that the material was worthy of a full documentary.

[citation needed] In 2022, Apatow, Joshua Church, and Nicholas Stoller co-produced Bros, the first major studio rom-com with an all LGBTQ cast.

The film stars Billy Eichner, Luke Macfarlane, Ts Madison, Monica Raymund, Guillermo Díaz, Guy Branum, and Amanda Bearse.

[104] Apatow met actress Leslie Mann on the set of the 1996 comedy film The Cable Guy, where he served as producer and she was cast as the girlfriend of Matthew Broderick's character.

[111] Additionally, Apatow's book, "Sick in the Head", in which he interviews comedy icons such as Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno, benefitted the 826LA organization.

[114] Apatow has positioned himself at the forefront of the #MeToo and #TimesUp online movements, encouraging alleged victims to come forward while also criticizing people accused.