Jonathan Kolia "Jon" Favreau (/ˈfævroʊ/; born October 19, 1966) is an American actor, filmmaker and comedian. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in Rudy, Swingers (which he also wrote), Very Bad Things, The Break-Up, and Chef. His notable directorial efforts include Elf, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Cowboys & Aliens, and Chef. He also served as an executive producer on The Avengers, Iron Man 3, and Avengers: Age of Ultron. His most prominent television role was that of Pete Becker, Monica Geller's boyfriend during season three of the television sitcom Friends. He produces films under his banner Fairview Entertainment. The company has been credited as co-producers in most of Favreau's directorial ventures.

Early life

Favreau was born in Flushing, Queens, New York, the son of Madeleine, an elementary school teacher who died of leukemia in 1979, and Charles Favreau, a special education teacher. His mother was Jewish (of Russian Jewish descent), and his father is a Catholic of Italian and French-Canadian ancestry. Favreau attended Hebrew school and had a Bar Mitzvah.

Jonathan E. "Jon" Favreau (born June 2, 1981) is a former Director of Speechwriting for President Barack Obama. Favreau attended the College of the Holy Cross, graduating as valedictorian. In college, he accumulated a variety of scholastic honors, and took part in and directed numerous community and civic programs. After graduation, he went to work for the John Kerry Presidential campaign in 2004, working to collect talk radio news for the campaign, and eventually was promoted to the role of Deputy Speechwriter. While working for the Kerry campaign, he first met Barack Obama.

In 2005, Robert Gibbs recommended Favreau to Obama as an excellent speechwriter. Favreau was hired as Obama's speechwriter shortly after Obama's election to the United States Senate. Obama and Favreau grew close, and Obama has referred to him as his "mind reader". He went on the campaign trail with Obama during his successful Presidential election campaign. In 2009, he was named as a White House staff member as Director of Speechwriting.