Danny Pudi

Daniel Mark Pudi[2] was born in Chicago on March 10, 1979,[3] the son of programmer and analyst Teresa (née Komendant)[4] and the late Abraham L. Pudi.[5][6] His parents immigrated to the U.S. and became naturalized citizens: his mother came from the village of Pokośno, Poland;[4] whereas his father came from the village of Poduru, India, and was from a Telugu Christian family.[5][7][8] Pudi grew up speaking Polish with his mother and grandmother.[9]

He grew up on the South Side of Chicago with brother Adam and sister Katherine but attended Notre Dame College Prep in Niles, a northern suburb.[7][10] In 2013, he gave the commencement address at Notre Dame College Prep.[11]

Pudi studied dance in Chicago and attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, graduating with a degree in communication and theatre in 2001.[12] At Marquette, he was the first winner of the Chris Farley Scholarship.[12] Beyond paying for a year of school, the scholarship led to him performing at an improv comedy event featuring Jim Breuer and Dave Chappelle, increasing his interest in studying improv.[7] He performed in summer stock theatre in Wisconsin after Marquette, then studied at The Second City in Chicago.[7]

Pudi became a recruiter for an executive search firm before moving to Los Angeles in 2005 to seek television and film roles.[7][13] His home-based job permitted him to attend auditions, helping him avoid the "struggling actor thing in terms of waiting tables, temping and so on". He performed in several television pilots before joining the cast of Community,[7] which he starred in for six seasons from 2009 to 2015.

He has appeared in multiple television advertisements for such products as Snickers, Verizon, McDonald's, T-Mobile, Pokémon, and Far Cry 4.[7][14][13][15] In 2012, he appeared as a celebrity contestant on GSN's version of The Pyramid with fellow Community cast member Yvette Nicole Brown.

In film, he portrayed Arash in the comedy film Road Trip: Beer Pong,[16] which received mainly negative reviews, and starred in the comedy horror film Knights of Badassdom,[17] which was one of the highlights of Comic Con 2011, according to HitFix.com. He starred in the Jones Street Station music video for "The Understanding".[18] He has made cameo appearances in many internet videos, including BriTANicK's "A Monologue for Three". Pudi had a cameo appearance in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and the live episode of Hot in Cleveland.

In the autumn of 2014, Pudi appeared in the Off-Broadway musical FOUND.[19] He played the lead role in The Tiger Hunter, an independent film directed by Lena Khan in 2016 and funded through a Kickstarter campaign.[20] In 2017, Pudi began voicing Huey in the DuckTales reboot.[21] He also appeared as Teddy on the NBC sitcom Powerless in the same year.

Pudi began his role as Brad Bakshi in the web TV series Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet that premiered in February 2020. His theater performance for En Garde Arts' series Uncommon Voices was made public in its earliest stages of development in August 2020. The work in progress is entitled Running which tackles his attempt to piece together his relationship with his father which affected his personal identity, cultural background, and his experience with racism throughout his personal life and career.[22]

Pudi is married to Bridget Showalter.[23] They met while attending Marquette University in their freshman year.[13][7] Their twins, a son named James Timothy and a daughter named Fiona Leigh, were born in January 2012.[8] Pudi is also a runner and has completed several marathons.[7]

Pudi bought a house in Pasadena in 2014.[24]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Danny Pudi.

• Danny Pudi at IMDb
• Danny Pudi on Twitter