Paul Rudd
Rudd at Hollywood Life magazine's 8th Annual Breakthrough Awards, December 2007
Born	Paul Stephen Rudd (1969-04-06) April 6, 1969 (age 43) Passaic, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, screenwriter, producer
Years active	1992–present
Spouse	Julie Yaeger (m. 2003) «start: (2003)»"Marriage: Julie Yaeger to Paul Rudd" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Paul_Rudd)

Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor, comedian and screenwriter. He has primarily appeared in comedies, and is known for his roles in the films Clueless, Wet Hot American Summer, Anchorman, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Dinner for Schmucks, The Object of My Affection, Role Models, I Love You, Man, and Our Idiot Brother. In television, he appeared on the NBC sitcom Friends, playing Mike Hannigan, Phoebe Buffay's boyfriend and later husband, and is commonly featured on the Tim and Eric show.

Early life[link]

Rudd was born in Passaic, New Jersey.^[1] His parents, both natives of London (England), were Jewish, and were descended from immigrants from Russia and Poland;^[2][3] the family's original surname, "Rudnitzky", was changed by his grandfather to "Rudd".^[4][5] Rudd had a bar mitzvah.^[6] His father, Michael, was a historical tour guide who was formerly the vice president of World Airways, while his mother, Gloria, was a sales manager at the television station KSMO-TV.^[7][8] When he was ten, Rudd's family moved to Overland Park, Kansas, where he was raised; his family also spent three years living in Anaheim, California, because of his father's occupation.^[9][10][11] He attended high school at Shawnee Mission West and college at the University of Kansas,^[12] where he was a member of the Nu Chapter of Sigma Nu.^[13] He spent three months studying Jacobean drama at the British American Drama Academy based in Oxford, U.K.^[14][15]

Career[link]

Rudd made his breakout performance in the 1995 film Clueless, which turned him into a minor teen idol. Additional early-career credits include Wet Hot American Summer, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, The Cider House Rules, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, and The Object of My Affection. He also garnered recognition with a recurring role on the television sitcom Friends as Mike Hannigan, who married Phoebe Buffay. Rudd's Broadway acting credits include The Last Night of Ballyhoo (1997), Twelfth Night (1998), and Three Days of Rain (2006). He guest-starred as a has-been 1990s rock star, Desmond Fellows, on the television series, Veronica Mars, in an episode titled "Debasement Tapes". He voiced the audiobook recordings of John Hodgman's books The Areas of My Expertise and More Information Than You Require. In 2006, he appeared in several episodes of Reno 911! as "Guy Gerricault" (pronounced "jericho"), the coach of a lamaze class, and portrayed a drug lord in the film Reno 911!: Miami. In 2012 he signed to appear on three episodes of NBC's Parks and Recreation as Bobby Newport, a candidate for City Council and a rival of Amy Poehler's character Leslie Knope.

Rudd became a full-fledged comedy star with his roles in Judd Apatow pictures The 40-Year-Old Virgin (directed by Apatow) and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (produced by Apatow). In 2007, he starred as frustrated husband Pete in Knocked Up, his third collaboration with Apatow and Seth Rogen. That year he also starred in both The Oh in Ohio and The Ten, which reunited him with David Wain and Michael Showalter. The former film was a box-office and critical disappointment as was his next starring vehicle, Over Her Dead Body with Eva Longoria. He bounced back with a memorable supporting role as Kunu (Hawaiian for "Chuck"), the drug-addled surf instructor in Nicholas Stoller's Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The film was a hit, as was his next comedy Role Models, where he and co-star Seann William Scott portrayed energy-drink salesmen forced to perform community service in a child mentoring program. Rudd also made cameo appearances in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Year One and Night at the Museum.

Rudd (right) with I Love You, Man co-stars Jason Segel and Rashida Jones at the premiere in March 2009

In 2009, Rudd again appeared with Jason Segel in I Love You Man. He lent his voice to the Dreamworks computer-animated hit movie Monsters Vs. Aliens. In 2010, he reunited with Steve Carell for the first time since Knocked Up for the Jay Roach-directed comedy Dinner for Schmucks.

Rudd has become one of the most popular and marketable stars of Apatow films and the like, often starring with other regulars like Seth Rogen (four films), Jonah Hill (three films), Leslie Mann (three films), Kristen Wiig (three films), Jason Segel (three films), Steve Carell (four films), Elizabeth Banks (five films), and Joe Lo Truglio (seven films).

Running gags on television[link]

As part of a running gag during his appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien and Conan, Rudd has brought a clip from the film Mac and Me, where the wheelchair-using Eric (Jade Calegory) flies off a cliff while Mac watches on, instead of showing clips from the actual film he is there to promote.^[16][17] He also has appeared on stage for Conan O'Brien's live tour.

Rudd also has a running gag on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in which Rudd and Jimmy Fallon appear to be setting up a clip from a film Rudd is appearing in. The clip that follows, however, is a clip from Late Show with David Letterman in which Rudd, in an earlier appearance, and David Letterman set up the clip verbatim to how Rudd and Fallon appeared to set up the clip.

Personal life[link]

In 2003, Rudd married his girlfriend of five^{[citation needed]} years, Julie Yaeger; they have a son, Jack Sullivan (b. 2006), and a daughter, Darby. Rudd frequently travels to Overland Park, Kansas, where he attended high school.^[18] He is a fan of Major League Baseball's Kansas City Royals and National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs, for whom he narrated the 2007 HBO special Hard Knocks. He also frequents University of Kansas basketball games and is a big fan of the Jayhawks.

Filmography[link]

Rudd at the SUNDANCE 2011: Inside The Cosmopolitan Lounge at The Sundance Channel HQ House

Film[link]

Television[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Paul Rudd

• Paul Rudd at the Internet Movie Database
• Paul Rudd at the Internet Broadway Database
• Paul Rudd on National Public Radio