Charlie Kaufman was born november 19, 1958 in New York City to a Jewish family on November 19, 1958, the son of Helen and Myron Kaufman. He grew up in Massapequa, New York before moving to West Hartford, Connecticut where he graduated high school. While attending high school, Kaufman was part of the school's drama club, performing in numerous productions before landing the lead role in a production of Play It Again, Sam during his senior year. After high school graduation, Kaufman attended Boston University before transferring to New York University where he studied film. While attending New York University, Kaufman met Paul Proch, with whom he would write many unproduced scripts and plays. Between 1983 and 1984, Kaufman and Proch wrote comedic articles and spoofs on spec for National Lampoon. His work included parodies of Kurt Vonnegut and the X-Men. Kaufman and Proch tried to get their screenplays produced, sending them to many people in film industry. The only response the two ever received for their work was a supportive letter from Alan Arkin in regards to their screenplay titled Purely Coincidental. In hope of finding talent agents the two began to write spec scripts for television series such as Married... with Children and Newhart. In 1991, Kaufman moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in search of more job prospects. Kaufman got his start in television by writing two episodes for Chris Elliott's Get a Life during the 1991–1992 season.During the 1993–1994 season, Kaufman worked on Fox's sketch comedy show The Edge. Kaufman wrote some pilot scripts while working as a television writer, but none of them were produced. He later worked as a writer for Ned and Stacey and The Dana Carvey Show. He first came to mainstream notice as the writer of Being John Malkovich, directed by Spike Jonze, earning an Academy Award nomination for his effort and winning a BAFTA. He wrote the script on spec in 1994, sending it to many companies and studios, all turning it down. The script eventually reached Francis Ford Coppola, who passed it on to his then-son-in-law Jonze, who agreed to direct the film.

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