Born April 4, 1964, in Atlanta, Cross briefly attended Massachusetts' Emerson College before dropping out to launch his standup career. After relocating to Los Angeles he was tapped as a writer for the Fox network's fledgling sketch comedy series The Ben Stiller Show, making a handful of cameo appearances onscreen before the program was unceremoniously canceled in 1993. Cross and Ben Stiller Show co-star Bob Odenkirk resurfaced on HBO in 1995 with their own sketch series, the groundbreaking Mr. Show with Bob and David. The program later spawned a feature film, Run Ronnie Run, which languished on the New Line Cinema shelf for years before finally earning a direct-to-DVD release, prompting writers/stars Cross and Odenkirk to disown the finished cut.

By this time Cross was already a familiar presence onscreen, earning small roles in films including the 1997 smash Men in Black as well as guest appearances on television sitcoms like NewsRadio, The Drew Carey Show, and Just Shoot Me. He also maintained a thriving standup career, and in 1999 headlined his own HBO comedy special, The Pride Is Back. In 2002, Cross released his first standup CD, Shut Up, You Fucking Baby!, on Sub Pop, earning a Grammy Award nomination for Best Comedy Album. A DVD, Let America Laugh, appeared a year later. Also in 2003 he was cast as flamboyant "analrapist" and aspiring actor Tobias Fünke in the much-celebrated Fox sitcom Arrested Development. It's Not Funny followed in 2004. In 2007 he played the role of Allen Ginsberg in the Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There, and a year later he voiced the part of Crane in the animated film Kung-Fu Panda. In 2010 the CD and/or DVD Bigger and Blackerer became his third Sub Pop release. ~ Jason Ankeny