Zacharius Knight Galifianakis (; born October 1, 1969) is an American comedian, actor, and writer.

Galifianakis was born in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. His cousin Nicholas Galifianakis is a newspaper cartoonist, and his uncle Nick Galifianakis is a former U.S. Congressman. He was raised Greek Orthodox and attended North Carolina State University, pursuing a degree in Communication and Film. He failed a course before graduation and left for New York City in 1992. His original goal was to pursue acting, although he eventually became a stand-up comic.

Galifianakis got his start on television in 1996, when he played the recurring role of a stoner named Bobby in the short-lived sitcom, Boston Common. In 2001, Galifianakis co-starred in the film Out Cold. He has had small roles in Corky Romano, Below, Bubble Boy and Heartbreakers, and has parts in Visioneers and Into the Wild, which are to be released in 2007.

In 2002, he was the host of his own talk show, called Late World with Zach. His next television role was as a coroner named Davis in the FOX drama Tru Calling, which lasted from 2003 to 2005. He has also appeared many times on Jimmy Kimmel Live and has made three appearances on Reno 911! as "Frisbee".

Galifianakis starred as Alan Finger on the Comedy Central show Dog Bites Man, a fake news program that caught people during candid moments as they acted under the impression that they are being interviewed by a real news crew. In addition, he was on an episode of the Comedy Central show, The Sarah Silverman Program, as Fred the Homeless Guy. He also had a recurring guest role as a doctor on the animated Adult Swim show Tom Goes to the Mayor and appeared in the new show Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! in the "Gravy Robbers" sketches as deranged mentor Tairy Greene.

In 2006, Galifianakis was featured in Fiona Apple's music video for the song, "Not About Love". In the video, he is seen lip synching the lyrics to the song. In June 2006 Galifianakis released the single "Come Over and Get It (Up in 'Dem Guts)", a comedic rap/hip-hop/dance song which features Apple's vocals. More recently, Galifianakis performed on a tour called the "Comedians of Comedy" with Brian Posehn, Patton Oswalt, and Maria Bamford. They chose to perform at live rock clubs as opposed to comedy clubs to try to reach a different audience. Much of the tour was taped, and has been featured in both a short-lived TV series on Comedy Central and a full length movie that has appeared at SXSW and on Showtime. A DVD featuring Galifianakis's work, Live at the Purple Onion, was released on March 6th, 2007.

Galifianakis divides his time between two residences, one in Venice Beach, CA, and the other in the foothills of North Carolina, the latter of which is a 60-acre farm that he hopes to turn into a "writer's retreat". It was on this farm that he filmed the music video for Kanye West's song, "Can't Tell Me Nothing".

*Official web site, with biography and photos * *Zach's Myspace Profile *Interview from Brian M. Palmer