Bill Maher made his big-screen debut in the 1983 American comedy film ‘D.C. Cab’ directed by Joel Schumacher. The film was largely panned by critics but managed to gross over $16 million on a $7 million budget. In 1986, he appeared in the Sondra Locke-directed American drama film ‘Ratboy.’ The film received mostly negative reviews from critics and was given a 25% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. He continued to appear in films like ‘House II: The Second Story’ (1987), ‘Out of Time’ (1988), ‘Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death’ (1989), and ‘Pizza Man’ (1991). In 1993, he became a part of the American late-night, half-hour political talk show ‘Politically Incorrect’ as a host. The show spawned 8 seasons before going off-air in 2002. He was also seen in television series and shows like ‘Weinerville’ (1996), ‘The Larry Sanders Show’ (1997), and ‘Dharma & Greg’ (1997). In 1998, he starred in the American comedy-drama film ‘Primary Colors’ directed by Mike Nichols. While the film opened to wide critical acclaim, it failed to achieve success at the box office. He next appeared in the 1999 Ron Howard-directed American satirical comedy film ‘EDtv.’ The film opened to a mixed reception but was a commercial failure.Â
After starring in films like ‘The Party's Over’ (2001), ‘Tomcats’ (2001), ‘John Q’ (2002), and ‘Pauly Shore Is Dead’ (2003), he launched the television talk show ‘Real Time with Bill Maher’ in 2003 where he also appeared as a presenter and host. In 2021, the show was renewed for 2 more seasons. In 2005, he appeared in the American documentary comedy film ‘The Aristocrats’ directed by Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics. He was next seen in films like ‘Heckler’ (2007), ‘Swing Vote’ (2008), ‘Religulous’ (2008), ‘New Rules: Best of’ (2009), ‘Sex, Drugs & Religion’ (2010), ‘The Campaign’ (2012), ‘Iron Man 3’ (2013), ‘A Million Ways to Die in the West’ (2014), ‘The Interview’ (2014), ‘Ted 2’ (2015), and ‘Gringo’ (2018). His last big-screen appearance was in the 2019 American comedy-drama film ‘Late Night’ directed by Nisha Ganatra. The film received a positive response from critics and grossed over $22.4 million on a $9.5 million budget.