The youngest of three brothers, Emanuel grew up in a Chicago household, headed by a pediatrician (his father) and a psychiatric social worker (his mother). He learned to be competitive from his brothers, Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, an oncologist and chairman of the department of clinical bioethics at the Warren G. Magnusson Clinical Center at the National Institutes of Health and Rahm Emanuel, a top advisor to President Bill Clinton and now White House chief of staff for President Barack Obama. Ari's career began as an assistant to Robert Lantz, the veteran New York agent who represented Milos Forman. He moved to Los Angeles in 1987, landing a job in the mailroom of the Creative Artists Agency.