New York native David Herman made his film debut providing some much need comic relief in the teen angst drama "Lost Angels" (1989). As Carlo, a particularly cheeky inmate in a bourgeois psychiatric facility for wayward youth, the young actor gave a stand out performance in a cast including Donald Sutherland and Adam Horovitz (of music's Beastie Boys). A small role in Oliver Stone's "Born on the Fourth of July" came that same year, where Herman played a patient in a military hospital alongside Tom Cruise. After a stint on John Leguizamo's short-lived sketch comedy vehicle "House of Buggin'" (Fox, 1995), Herman proved a versatile comedic actor on Fox's similarly themed "Mad TV" where he spent two seasons (1995-97). His non-specific look (brown hair, medium build, pleasant but unremarkable features) and his knack for imitating voices and mannerisms led to Herman's emergence as the premiere celebrity impersonator of the ensemble, performing zany characterizations including David Hasselhoff, Larry Flynt, Pauly Shore, Regis Philbin and both Bill Clinton and Bob Dole. Herman's vocal talent landed him work providing voices for several characters (from the recurring role of Buckley, Luanne's boyfriend, to various guest voices) on Fox's "King of the Hill" (1997- ), an animated series created by Mike Judge of "Beavis & Butt-head" fame.

His work on the popular series and his established strength as a comedic actor led to a big screen resurgence, with a featured role in Judge's live-action feature debut "Office Space". As Michael Bolton, an unfortunately named computer programmer for the fictional INITECH Corporation, Herman teamed up with Ajay Naidu to portray friends and co-workers of lead character Peter (Ron Livingston), a programmer who hatches a plan to break out of their corporate malaise after hooking up with disenchanted waitress Joanna (Jennifer Aniston). Sporting a hairstyle and eyeglasses about fifteen years past their prime, and employing the carriage of one beaten into submission, he convincingly and comically portrayed an office peon pushed to the limit.