Josh Gad

Josh Gad

Gad on the red carpet at the November 2013 world premiere at the El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles, CA
Born Joshua Ilan Gad[1]
February 23, 1981
Hollywood, Florida, U.S.
Occupation Actor
Years active 2002–present
Spouse(s) Ida Darvish
(2008–present)
Children 2

Joshua Ilan "Josh" Gad (born February 23, 1981) is an American actor best known for voicing Olaf in Frozen and for playing Elder Arnold Cunningham in the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon, and Ryan Church in the television series Back to You. He has also appeared in ER, The Daily Show, Modern Family, New Girl, Bored to Death, and Numb3rs. His film roles include The Rocker, Crossing Over, She Wants Me, 21, Love & Other Drugs, Jobs and Skip Gilchrist in the short lived political sitcom 1600 Penn on NBC.

Early life

Gad was born in Hollywood, Florida. His mother is a realtor and his stepfather is an investment advisor.[1] He was raised Jewish;[2][3] his father is a Jewish emigrant from Afghanistan and his mother is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.[4][5][6] Gad attended the University School of Nova Southeastern University, graduating in 1999. While there, he won the National Forensics League National Tournament Championships for Original Oratory in 1998, and for Humorous Interpretation and Original Oratory in 1999. He then attended the Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts, where he graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drama. During this time, he undertook a semester-long exchange at the National Institute of Dramatic Art.

Career

Gad portrayed news director Ryan Church on the Fox sitcom Back to You, which lasted one season from 2007 to 2008. Gad appeared as a correspondent on The Daily Show on May 5, 2009, and became a regular correspondent on June 2, 2009.[7] He appeared on The Daily Show on November 11, 2009 in a segment titled "Crash for Clunkers" about the effect the Cash for Clunkers program had on demolition derbies.[8] He appeared in a June 27, 2011, segment about the legalization of gay marriage in New York reported from the Gay Pride March in New York City.

In 2008, he played a supporting role in the film 21, and a leading role in The Rocker. In 2010, he had a role in Love & Other Drugs, and a guest role on the Bored to Death episode "Make it Quick, Fitzgerald!".[9] He was cast in the American version of the British sitcom No Heroics.[10] In the pilot, Gad played Horse Force, a former classmate from Superhero College, who can summon horses and works at a bar where the group hangs out. The show was not picked up.[11]

Gad played the role of Elder Cunningham in the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon. His last performance was June 6, 2012. The show opened at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on March 24, 2011.[12] Gad was nominated for the 2011 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical, along with his co-star Andrew Rannells.[13] Both lost to Norbert Leo Butz in Catch Me If You Can.

In 2011, Gad had a cameo appearance in ABC's hit show, Modern Family, in Season 3's Thanksgiving episode. In 2011, Gad voiced "Mondo" in the MTV animated series Good Vibes. He also made an appearance as Bump in the 2011 comedy road trip film Mardi Gras: Spring Break.[14] In 2012, he voiced the molehog Louis in Ice Age: Continental Drift. He also played Bear Claw on an episode of New Girl. In 2012, he starred in the independent romantic comedy She Wants Me.

In 2013, he appeared as Skip Gilchrist in NBC's 1600 Penn, of which he is also a co-creator and executive producer. Also in 2013, he played Andrew (Headphones) in the film The Internship and starred as Steve Wozniak in the film Jobs. The same year, he voiced Olaf in Frozen, re-collaborating with co-songwriter Robert Lopez from The Book of Mormon. In 2014, Gad co-starred in Zach Braff's film Wish I Was Here, playing the main character's brother.

On August 5, 2013, it was announced that Gad will play Sam Kinison in a biopic.[15] He wrote an article entitled "Technology pundit (for a day)", which appeared in USA Today on August 12, 2013.[16] In December 2013, it was announced Gad will star and co-write the film version of Gilligan's Island.[17] In April 2014, Gad and Ryan Dixon will be developing a live action family adventure-comedy for Disney.[18] In 2014, he was also a guest voice on Phineas and Ferb.

In 2015, Gad starred alongside Kevin Hart and Kaley Cuoco in The Wedding Ringer.

Gad currently co-stars alongside Billy Crystal on the FX comedy series The Comedians, which premiered on April 9, 2015.[19]

Gad recently finished production on Sony’s “Pixels” where he’ll star alongside Adam Sandler and Peter Dinklage about video game experts who are recruited by the military to fight 1980s-era video game characters who've attacked New York.

On March 13, 2015, it was announced that Gad will join Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, and Luke Evans in the cast of the Disney live-action film version of Beauty and the Beast as Le Fou.

Personal life

Gad married actress Ida Darvish in 2008. They have two daughters, Ava and Isabella.[20] He is also the godfather of Theo, the son of Bryce Dallas Howard and Seth Gabel.[21] Gad has stated that he loves the traditional aspects of Judaism, but considers himself spiritual and not religious.[2]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2002 Mary and Joe Angel
2007 Watching the Detectives Mark
2008 21 Miles
2008 The Rocker Matt
2009 Crossing Over Howie
2009 The Lost Nomads: Get Lost! Gigi
Miss Piggy
Jose Sanchez
The Clown
Spatula Lover
2009 Big Guy Rodney Short
2010 Marmaduke Bandana Dog Voice
2010 Love & Other Drugs Josh Randall
2011 Mardi Gras: Spring Break Bartholomew T. "Bump" Brown
2012 She Wants Me Sam Baum
2012 Ice Age: Continental Drift Louis Voice
2012 Thanks for Sharing Neil
2013 Jobs Steve Wozniak
2013 The Internship Headphones
2013 Frozen Olaf Voice
2014 Wish I Was Here Noah Bloom
2015 The Wedding Ringer Doug Harris
2015 Frozen Fever Olaf Voice (short)
2015 Pixels Neil Jackson
2016 Angry Birds[22] Chuck Voice
2017 Beauty and the Beast Lefou in pre-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2005 ER Sgt. Bruce Larabee Episode: "Here and There"
2007–08 Back to You Ryan Church 17 episodes
2008 American Dad! Art (voice) Episode: "Pulling Double Booty"
2008–09 Numb3rs Roy McGill 2 episodes
2009 Waiting to Die Simon Movie
2009 No Heroics Horseforce Movie
2009 Party Down Jeffrey Ells Episode: "California College Conservative Union Caucus"
2009 Woke Up Dead Matt 21 episodes
2009-11 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Correspondent
2011 The Cleveland Show Droopy / Pimp (voice) Episode: "Our Gang"
2011 Californication Doctor 2 episodes
2011 Gigi: Almost American Gigi 10 episodes
2011 Modern Family Kenneth Episode: "Punkin Chunkin"
2011 Good Vibes Mondo (voice) 12 episodes
2012–13 1600 Penn Skip Gilchrist 13 episodes, also co-creator and executive producer
2012; 2014; 2015 New Girl Bear Claw 3 episodes
2015 The Comedians Josh
2015 Sesame Street Vincent Van Stop Season 45 Episode 4520 - Bert's Sign Painting Challenge[23]
2015 Phineas and Ferb Wendell (voice) Season 4 Episode 21 - Doof 101

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "PLAYBILL.COM'S CUE & A: Book of Mormon Star Josh Gad". Playbill.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Eric Spitznagel (June 9, 2011). "Josh Gad Has No Formal Musical Training and Five-to-Two Odds That He'll Win the Tony Award for Best Lead Actor in a Musical". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  3. ↑ Ellen Gamerman. "A Missionary From the Borscht Belt". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  4. ↑ "Josh Gad Talks "Gigi: Almost American," "The Book Of Mormon," And Physical Comedy". Complex. March 25, 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Josh Gad combats sadness with laughter". inquirer.net.
  6. ↑ "To Have and Have Knot: Exploring Family Ties in ‘Wish I Was Here’". Jewish Exponent.
  7. ↑ Matt Tobey (6 May 2009). "Josh Gad on the Daily Show". Comedy Central. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  8. ↑ "The Daily Show November 11, 2009". The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Season 14. Episode 145. 11 November 2009. 12 minutes in. Comedy Central.
  9. ↑ jotix100 (15 November 2010). ""Bored to Death" Make it Quick, Fitzgerald! (TV Episode 2010)". IMDb.
  10. ↑ "Freddie Prinze Jr. cast in 'No Heroics". The Hollywood Reporter. March 18, 2009. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  11. ↑ "Scrubs Renewed for Season 9". IGN. 14 May 2009. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  12. ↑ "About the Show". The Book of Mormon Musical. 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  13. ↑ BWW Staff writers (May 3, 2011). "2011 Tony Nominations Announced! 'The Book of Mormon' Leads With 14!". Broadway World. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  14. ↑ "Mardi Gras: Spring Break (2010/2011)". Covering Media.
  15. ↑ "Josh Gad to Headline Kinison". ComingSoon.net. CraveOnline. August 5, 2013. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  16. ↑ Josh Gad's latest role: Technology pundit (for a day). Usatoday.com (2013-08-11). Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  17. ↑ Mike Fleming Jr. "‘Gilligan’s Island’ Movie Relaunch To Star Josh Gad - Deadline". Deadline.
  18. ↑ "Josh Gad Developing Family Comedy-Adventure Film At Disney". Deadline. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  19. ↑ Maane Khatchatourian. "Watch: Billy Crystal and Josh Gad in ‘The Comedians’ First Trailer". Variety.
  20. ↑ Ann Oldenburg, USA TODAY (18 February 2014). "Josh Gad welcomes baby girl". USA TODAY.
  21. ↑ Erin Hill (June 14, 2011). "Bryce Dallas Howard: I've Always Wanted My Dad to Direct Me". Parade. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  22. ↑ "Angry Birds Movie Voice Cast Announced, Includes Game of Thrones and SNL Vets". Yahoo News. 1 October 2014.
  23. ↑ "Sesame Street Season 45 Episode 4520 - Bert's Sign Painting Challenge". Muppet Central Forum.

External links

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