Steven James “Steve” Zahn (pronounced /’z?:n/; born November 13, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. Zahn spent part of his childhood in Mankato, Minnesota, attending Kennedy Elementary School. After attending Robbinsdale Cooper High School, Gustavus Adolphus College, and the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at American Repertory Theater at Harvard University, his first professional acting role was in Biloxi Blues, a Minnesota production at the Old Log Theater; but his first big break came in 1994, when he was noticed by Ben Stiller, who cast him in his picture, Reality Bites. These films garnered him enough respect that he was offered the starring role in the critically acclaimed indie film Happy, Texas (1999). The track, “Shame, Shame, Shame”, criticizes George W. Bush and the American government’s response to the disastrous aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the city of New Orleans.
