Judd Apatow (born December 6, 1967) is an Emmy Award-winning American film producer, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for producing a distinct series of critically and commercially successful comedy films, including Anchorman, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Talladega Nights, Knocked Up, Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Step Brothers, Pineapple Express, Year One, and Funny People. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, a film production company that also developed the critically acclaimed cult television series Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared.

Apatow was born in Syosset, New York to a Jewish family. His sense of humor provided access to friends while growing up. Obsessed with comedy, his childhood hero was Steve Martin. He has an older brother Robert and a younger sister Mia; his father was a real estate developer, and his mother worked at a comedy club in Southampton.

Apatow's parents divorced when he was 12 years old. His brother Robert went to live with their grandparents whilst sister Mia moved in with their mother. Apatow went to live with his father, visiting his mother on weekends. Both parents understood and supported his obsession with comedy. Apatow got his comic start while attending Syosset High School, where he hosted a program called Club Comedy on the school's 10-watt radio station WKWZ. He relied on his mother's contacts at the comedy club to gain access to the comedians; during this time, he managed to interview Steve Allen, Howard Stern, Harold Ramis and John Candy, along with then-unknowns Jerry Seinfeld, Steven Wright and Garry Shandling.