Marshall Manesh

Marshall Manesh (born August 16, 1950 in Mashhad, Iran) is an Iranian-American actor.

When Manesh was young, his father died; he was raised by his mother, from whom he feels he got his strength to make it in show business.

He went to the United States in the mid-70s, joined the Persian Theater Group, and traveled extensively throughout the US, Canada and Europe for eight years.

His debut film was True Lies, directed by James Cameron. He has since appeared in more than 100 feature films, in television projects, and in more than 40 commercials.

Manesh has appeared in recurring roles on the television shows Will & Grace, Scrubs, Andy Barker, P.I., Hot in Cleveland, Boston Legal, and, most notably, How I Met Your Mother, where he played taxi driver Ranjit.[1] Though Ranjit was depicted as Bangladeshi in the series, Manesh delivered several lines in his native Farsi language.

He has also guest starred on many shows, including Burn Notice, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Joey, Persons Unknown, The X-Files, Scrubs, ER, JAG, NYPD Blue, Cooper Barrett's Guide to Surviving Life and Prison Break.

Manesh has acted in several movies, including True Lies, Stealing Harvard, The Big Lebowski, Kazaam, The Poseidon Adventure, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (with fellow Iranian-descended actor and friend Omid Djalili), Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan Hero, and the Vampire western A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night.[2]

He made a cameo appearance as the cab driver on Madonna's 2005 video for "Hung Up".

He served as a judge at the 6th annual Noor Iranian Film Festival.