Josh Gad Biography

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

Early life

Gad was born in Hollywood, Florida. He was raised Jewish. He attended the University School of Nova Southeastern University for high school, 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.

Acting 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. 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. 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 with Rainn Wilson. In 2010, he had a role in Love & Other Drugs, and a guest role as Warren on the Bored to Death episode entitled "Make it Quick, Fitzgerald!" Gad was cast with Freddie Prinze, Jr., Paul Campbell, Eliza Coupe, and Arielle Kebbel in the American version of the British sitcom No Heroics. In the pilot, Gad played their former classmate from Superhero College, Horse Force, who can summon horses and works at a bar where the group hangs out. The show was not picked up.

Gad played the role of Elder Cunningham in the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon, playing the role until his last performance on June 6, 2012. The show opened at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on March 24, 2011. Gad was nominated for the 2011 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical, along with his co-star Andrew Rannells. Both lost to Norbert Leo Butz of 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 voices "Mondo" in the MTV animated series Good Vibes. He also made an appearance as "Bump" in the 2011 comedy/road-trip feature Mardi Gras: Spring Break starring Carmen Electra. In 2012, Gad voiced the molehog Louis in Ice Age: Continental Drift. He also played the role of "Bear Claw" on an episode of New Girl. In 2012, Gad starred in the independent romantic comedy, She Wants Me, executive produced by Charlie Sheen also starring Kristen Ruhlin, Melonie Diaz, and Hilary Duff.

As of January 2013, he appears as Skip Gilchrist in NBC's 1600 Penn, of which he is also a co-creator and executive producer. Also in 2013, Gad played Andrew (Headphones) in the film The Internship and starred as Steve Wozniak in the film Jobs, about the life of the Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Gad will star in Zach Braff's upcoming film Wish I Was Here. The announcement was made on May 14, 2013 on the film's Kickstarter page. Gad will play the main character's brother. He is also set to appear in the upcoming Walt Disney Animation Studios film, Frozen as Olaf the snowman.

On August 5, 2013, it was announced that Gad will play Sam Kinison in a biopic written by Rich Wilkes and directed by Larry Charles.

Personal life

Gad married actress Ida Darvish in 2008 and the two have a daughter. He is also the godfather of Bryce Dallas Howard and Seth Gabel's son, Theo. Although Gad loves the traditional aspects of Judaism, he considers himself spiritual but not in any way religious.

Filmography

• Watching the Detectives (2007)
• 21 (2008)
• The Rocker (2008)
• Back to You (TV series) (2007-2008)
• Crossing Over (2009)
• Woke Up Dead (TV series) (2009)
• Marmaduke (2010)
• Love & Other Drugs (2010)
• Good Vibes (TV series) (2011)
• She Wants Me (2012)
• Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012)
• Thanks for Sharing (2012)
• 1600 Penn (TV series) (2012-2013)
• The Internship (2013)
• Jobs (2013)
• Frozen (2013)
• Wish I Was Here (2014)

Writing for USA Today

Gad wrote an article for USA Today which appeared on page 2D on August 12, 2013. It was titled: "Technology pundit (for a day)".