The 'GEICO Caveman' John Lehr Is Hunky In Real Life — Look At Him Today

Jun 10, 2022 by apost team

Hollywood has many different types of jobs and roles that require various actors to fill them. Not every role gets the same attention or praise as others. But what if you had talent staring you right in the face and didn't even know it? Have you heard of actor John Lehr? Usually, he is in plain sight; you just may not recognize him. He plays a unique role in one of America's most well-known insurance companies, GEICO. 

Lehr was born in 1965 in Overland Park, Kansas, and eventually attended Northwest University. After becoming a full-time teacher, Lehr stepped into a different role. Aside from his iconic and unrecognizable role for GEICO, Lehr has performed in other familiar hits. The actor has starred in "Friends" and "10 Items or Less." Aside from being on screen, he has also had success as an executive producer for Hulu. The star doesn't just make you laugh on TV; he also loves comedy. 

His successful career is just one of the admirable things about Lehr. He has also overcome a drinking and drug problem and has been sober for over 20 years. While acting as a comedian, he often referenced his wild stories from those times compared to how different yet positive his life is these days. His happiness doesn't just come from his work ethic; Lehr also preaches about his balanced life. After converting to Judaism after meeting his wife, the actor acknowledges that he hasn't been this happy in a long time. Lehr believes with this balance in his life, there isn't anything he can't accomplish in the entertainment industry. In an interview with Forbes in 2019, Lehr spoke candidly about his struggles, and his life today.

Read on to learn more about the man behind the GEICO caveman.

Lehr was born on Nov. 25, 1965, in Overland Park, Kansas – one of the most populated cities in the state. He attended high school at Shawnee Mission West High before moving on to higher education at Northwestern University. Before graduating in 1988, Lehr began working as a substitute teacher in Chicago, Illinois, and later received his teaching certificate, allowing him to work full time as an elementary school teacher at the very same school.

However, it was clear that Lehr had other passions he also wanted to pursue, and he eventually found his way to landing minor roles in films, television shows and, of course, commercials. During his time in college, Lehr was even a member of an improv group and put on his very own one-man show. 

He had actually first started acting professionally back in the early 1990s when he appeared in the TV series “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” in 1994 and an episode of “Friends” the following year.

According to Forbes, Lehr portrayed Chandler’s (Matthew Perry) roommate in the episode “The One With the Flashback” prior to Joey (Matt LeBlanc) moving in. The role was actually extremely critical in the actor’s career, as it helped him land another role shortly after in “Jesse.”

Although his roles weren’t necessarily any type of big break roles or anything that made him instantly recognizable, Lehr continued acting and landing more roles in the following years. While many of them were just small side parts, he did land a few more important roles in TV films and standard films.

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Lehr was also in the movie “The Sweetest Thing” as a man driving a golf cart at a driving range who was hit by golf balls. The film also starred Christina Applegate, whom he had appeared with in the show “Jesse” during its first season in 1998.

Lehr was a series regular on the TV show and it helped him earn enough money to not only get by but to really start making important life changes. “I made $16,000 a week,” he told Forbes. “I had never seen so much money in my life, and I paid off all my student loans with it.”

The actor said that “Jesse” was responsible for getting him “money, health insurance and therapy.” He later landed other roles where he earned even more money, helping him pay off his home and giving him some financial freedom to help raise his family to lead the best lives possible. Before this, though, he still had a ways to go as he worked at making it big in Hollywood.

Lehr began showing more of his creative side as the years went by, showing that he could do more than just act. He was actually the co-creator and the star of the television series “10 Items or Less,” which was a comedy series that was partly scripted and partly improvised. The show depicted Lehr as a not-so-successful businessman returning home to run a family-owned supermarket following the death of his father. “10 Items or Less” aired from November 2006 to February 2009. However, it was canceled after three seasons.

In 2011, Lehr took another shot at creating something – this time a web series called “Jailbait.” It premiered in April of that year and was available for streaming online. Although the series didn’t catapult Lehr’s career any further, it was evident that the actor had a true love for creating shows, and went on to become a co-creator and executive producer of the series “Quick Draw.” He also starred in the show, which was about a Harvard graduate becoming a sheriff in Kansas in 1875. The series first premiered in 2013, but only lasted a total of two seasons, ending the following year.

While Lehr has definitely proven that he has the tenacity to work hard to try to make it big in Hollywood, he has also shown that he is a hilarious man as he has taken plenty of silly roles over the years, one of which brought him an ample amount of fame. However, he was completely unrecognizable in the role.

It’s safe to say that many people may remember one of Lehr’s most iconic roles in the history of his career – the GEICO Caveman. It is a trademarked character created by the auto insurance company that was used in several TV commercials, first beginning in the year 2004.

Surprisingly, the inspiration for the character came from a short story by acclaimed author George Saunders called “Pastoralia,” which is a story that involves two employees who work as cave-people for a failing theme park. It was first published in 2000, receiving great reviews from critics before going on to inspire commercials and ad campaigns in the following years.

At first, actors Jeff Daniel Phillips and Ben Weber were cast to play various cavemen roles, with Lehr coming on later and portraying the most recent version of the character. According to Lehr’s website, he appeared as the caveman in many commercial spots, even including Super Bowl spots with Phil Simms and other campaigns.

Lehr was completely unrecognizable in this role, and it’s not hard to see why based on how much makeup and prosthetics were needed to complete his transformation. Some of this included dental veneers, lace hairpieces and additional body hair, with the entire makeover taking about three hours to complete.

Many of the commercials were short and to the point, but still showed enough of Lehr’s acting abilities that led people to actually become fans of the auto insurance character. Fans were able to get a small glimpse of Lehr’s comedic timing and creativity as he fully immersed himself in the now-iconic role. While most people typically become famous from a TV show or blockbuster film, it’s safe to say that Lehr really made his mark with his role as the GEICO Caveman.

"So easy, a caveman can do it." That was the GEICO Insurance slogan commercial for many years. However, before the financial success and life accomplishment arrived, Lehr wasn't always so happy. 

Talking to Forbes in 2019, he opened up about his past. "I came to LA really unhappy," Lehr said. "I was later diagnosed with depression," he admitted. However, he would soon go on to have a life-changing experience. 

"I was driving on acid, and I got pulled over in Ventura County," Lehr said. "I spent the night in jail on acid. I was looking at serious time in jail. My lawyer told me to get in a program, and I have been sober ever since." 

The star admitted that "Quitting the drugs and alcohol — as hard as it is — is the easy part," Lehr opened up and said. "What's really hard is living without the drugs and the alcohol. I didn't know how to be sober. What people don't realize about addicts and alcoholics, it makes it easier to live with them. Take it away and then the real dragon comes out."

Lehr eventually took another positive turn in the right direction when he met his wife, Jennifer Schloshberg Lehr. She is an author, parent coach and child advocate, according to her personal website. She explained how she felt “woefully ill-prepared for the daunting role of being a parent,” so she decided that she wanted to educate herself. Jennifer went on to take several parenting classes and read up on all types of parenting techniques and practices.

On her site, Jennifer has written blog posts detailing some personal moments in her life, including what it was like being pregnant and giving birth to her and Lehr’s children. The couple currently lives in Los Angeles with their kids and their two dogs.

Lehr’s wife told Danaroc.com that their relationship hasn't always been easy, but it has been more than worth it. "We went to two and a half years of couple's therapy before we got married," she said. "I love that we did that. We were really miserable and yet, we stuck it out and did the work." 

Jennifer went on to speak more about the relationship, as she added, "Now I feel like we are one of the, if not the, happiest couples I know, in terms of a relationship." 

According to Forbes, Lehr's GEICO role as the iconic caveman gave him financial freedom and allowed him and his family to live the life they wanted, such as sending their children to great schools and purchasing homes. 

The undercover icon told Jewish Journal that he has never been happier in his life. "I'm married, I'm sober, I believe in God and I'm a Jew," Lehr told the Jewish Journal. "And for the first time in my life, I'm happy," Lehr added. 

Hitting televisions all around the United States with GEICO starting back in 2004, you can still keep up with Lehr off the big screen. Like most stars, Lehr has popular social media pages. His Instagram account shows excellent insight into his life and what he is up to nowadays. The once caveman posts pictures of family, work and life. He has nearly 1,000 photographs and a quaint following of almost 2,000 fans. 

Lehr still remains passionate about sobriety and often travels to speak with different people and crowds about being sober. He has been sober for nearly 25 years and is an ideal role model for people who have been impacted by alcohol and drug abuse. Lehr now takes his past struggles and turns them into his work. He recently used his past for his stand-up comedy set, "Cold. Sober. Comedy." 

According to Forbes, Lehr talked about his personal and career struggles and his journey to being sober at different universities and institutions, sharing heartfelt words with as many people as possible. He said:

"What I talk about is how to stay sober. (Addicts) just don’t know how to live life on life’s terms. I tell them, 'If you’re not having fun, you’re not going to stay sober. If you can’t find the sweetness and light to life, you’re screwed.'"

On top of that, Lehr is also still working in the entertainment industry! He currently has a podcast called “Generation Gab” where he refers to himself as a “fun dad” and has conversations with the younger generation. However, there hasn’t been a new episode of the series since April 2021. Lehr’s bio on the podcast’s site reads:

“John is a proud member of the Gen X generation. He knows how to use a real map and remembers a time when if you didn’t know something you had to go to the actual library to figure it out.”

According to his IMDb page, he is also still landing jobs as an actor, so more people will hopefully recognize him in his upcoming roles. He is set to play a husband on vacation in the film “The Tarot,” which has already completed all of its production stages. Lehr is also set to portray the role of Jean Carbunkel in the TV movie “The Tingle,” which is still in its pre-production stage.

We can’t wait to see what this star’s future looks like! 

Do you recognize John Lehr from the GEICO commercials? Do you think you'd be able to sit in hair and makeup for hours before filming as he does? If you are a fan of this actor, make sure to send this to other fans too!