began his career in the 1990s writing for comedians including David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Dana Carvey, Chris Rock, and Saturday Night Live.

In 2016, he created and starred in his self-funded web series Horace and Pete, and co-created the shows Baskets and Better Things for FX and voiced the protagonist Max in the animated film The Secret Life of Pets in the same year.

During this time he also had supporting acting roles in films such as David O. Russell's American Hustle, Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine (both 2013), and the Hollywood blacklist drama Trumbo (2015).

's Jewish paternal grandfather, Géza Székely Schweiger, had immigrated from Hungary to Mexico; he and his Mexican wife raised their children in the Catholic faith.

left Mexico with his family, they moved back to the United States and settled in the Boston area, initially for a year in Framingham, Massachusetts.

's paternal uncle Dr. Francisco Székely is an academic and an international consultant on environmental affairs who served as Mexico's Deputy Minister of Environment (2000–2003).

Inspired by the work ethic of fellow comedian George Carlin, who had committed to dropping all of his existing material and starting over every year,[58] in June 2006, C.K.

on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in October 2008 titled "Everything's Amazing and Nobody is Happy" became a viral hit on YouTube in 2009, helping his standup career to propel forward.

[74][75] The show features stand-up routines blended with segments partially based on his offstage experiences which address his life as a divorced, aging father.

[77] In season three, episodes dealt respectively with a date with an unstable bookshop clerk (played by Parker Posey);[78] a doomed attempt to replace a retiring David Letterman; an aborted visit to C.K.

joined fellow comedians Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, and Ricky Gervais for a discussion of comedy in Talking Funny, a one-hour television special that aired on HBO.

hosted Saturday Night Live on November 3, 2012, and was subsequently Primetime Emmy Award-nominated for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.

appeared in critically acclaimed films the first being Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine where he played the romantic interest of Sally Hawkins' character.

He returned to host Saturday Night Live on March 29, 2014, and May 16, 2015, and received Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for both episodes.

would write, direct, and star in the film I'm a Cop, to be produced by Scott Rudin, Dave Becky, and Blair Breard, with a budget of $8 million,[110] although he later canceled the project.

co-starred in the biographical drama film Trumbo as a composite character based on five different screenwriters who were blacklisted in Hollywood for their alleged ties to the Communist party during the 1940s.

and actor/comedian Albert Brooks were rumoured to create, write, executive produce, and provide the voices for the two main characters in an animated series pilot for FX.

James Poniewozik of The New York Times said the series "may best be described as a Cheers spec script by Eugene O'Neill: a snapshot of a family—and a country—suffering a hangover decades in the making.

"[119] The self-financed series received a significantly positive reaction from critics, who largely focused on the performances of the veteran cast that includes C.K., Buscemi, Edie Falco, Steven Wright, Alan Alda, and Jessica Lange and C.K.

[130] On April 8, 2017, he hosted Saturday Night Live for a fourth time,[131] where he received strong reviews for his opening monologue in which he tackled white privilege, and bits about a racist chicken, and talking animals.

's behavior toward women in his professional life began to appear on various websites, from high-profile names such as Roseanne Barr, Jen Kirkman, and Tig Notaro.

[137][138] Two years later, in a September 2017 Vanity Fair interview, comedian Notaro cut ties with C.K., a one-time collaborator and producer on her show One Mississippi, saying that he should address the rumors of sexual impropriety, and alluding to an unspecified "incident" between herself and C.K.

released a statement apologizing and admitting guilt, writing, "These stories are true" and saying that while he initially thought "it was okay because I never showed a woman my dick without asking first", he went on to express remorse, stating, "the power I had over these women is that they admired me.

[162][163] His return to stand-up comedy was criticized by comedians, including Aparna Nancherla, Ian Karmel, Allie Goertz, and Judd Apatow as being premature,[163][164] whereas Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Bill Burr, Michael Che, Jim Gaffigan, Janeane Garofalo, Sarah Silverman, Wanda Sykes, Judy Gold, Marlon Wayans, Joe Rogan, and Kurt Metzger supported C.K.

[179][180][181] Following the leak of his new material in December 2018, his future shows would require audience members to lock cell phones and other devices in Yondr pouches, which has become the norm, with comedians Dave Chappelle, John Mulaney, and Aziz Ansari using them as well.

was invited by his longtime friend Dave Chappelle to join him in an installment of his standup series "An Intimate Socially Distanced Affair" at the Wirrig Pavilion in Yellow Springs, Ohio, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

appeared on a number of well-known podcasts,[206] such as The Joe Rogan Experience,[207] Your Mom's House,[208] Long Days with Yannis Pappas, Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank, Flagrant 2, and Are You Garbage?.

has named many comedians whom he admired or who influenced his work, including George Carlin,[27] Woody Allen,[211] Larry David,[212] Joan Rivers,[213] Robin Williams,[214] Steve Martin,[22] Richard Pryor[215] and Bill Cosby.

[228] But he clarified to Stephen Colbert in April 2017 that Trump is not "some new kind of evil" but rather "a gross, crook, dirty, rotten, lying sack of shit", to boisterous approving applause from the Late Show audience.

has also starred in a number of films such as Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine, David O. Russell's American Hustle (both 2013) and Jay Roach's Hollywood blacklist drama Trumbo (2015).