Josh Gad

Early life

Josh Gad was born in Hollywood, Florida on February 23, 1981. His mother is a realtor and his stepfather is an investment advisor, he has 2 brothers and a stepsister. He was raised Jewish; his father is a Jewish emigrant from Afghanistan and his mother is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.

Gad attended NSU University School (then "University School of NSU"), graduating in 1999. While there, he won the National Forensics League (NFL) 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. His signature segments include "The War on Christmas", in which he played an oversexed Benjamin Franklin, and "Chubby Chasers", in which he reported on Michelle Obama's efforts to curb childhood obesity.

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!". He was cast in the American version of the British sitcom No Heroics. 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.

Gad originated 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. 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 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.

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. He wrote an article entitled "Technology pundit (for a day)", which appeared in USA Today on August 12, 2013.

In December 2013, it was announced Gad will star and co-write the film version of Gilligan's Island. In April 2014, it was announced that Gad and Ryan Dixon will be developing a live-action family adventure-comedy for Disney. In 2014, he had a guest voice role on Phineas and Ferb.

In 2015, Gad starred alongside Kevin Hart and Kaley Cuoco in The Wedding Ringer, co-starred with Billy Crystal on the FX comedy series The Comedians, which premiered on April 9, and starred alongside Adam Sandler and Peter Dinklage in Pixels, about video game players who are recruited by the military to fight 1980s-era video game characters who have attacked the earth.

In September 2016, it was announced the Gad will co-write and star in the Amazon limited-series adaptation of the non-fiction book Toy Wars, by G. Wayne Miller, which follows the real-life battle between American toy giants Hasbro, the company behind GI Joe, Transformer and My Little Pony toys, and Barbie-maker Mattel in the 1980s and 1990s.

In A Dog's Purpose, released in 2017, he provided the voice for Bailey. The movie was billed as "a celebration of the special connection between humans and their dogs". Gad also played LeFou in the 2017 live-action film remake of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, co-starring with Emma Watson.

As of July 2017, Gad has two film projects in different states of production. He has completed filming for Reginald Hudlin's biographical drama Marshall alongside Chadwick Boseman and Beauty and the Beast co-star Dan Stevens and is set to play Hector MacQueen in a 2017 film adaptation of Agatha Christie's detective novel Murder on the Orient Express, directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh alongside Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Judi Dench, and Daisy Ridley.

Personal life

Gad married actress Ida Darvish in 2008. They have two daughters. Gad has stated that he loves the traditional aspects of Judaism and celebrates some traditions of his wife's religion, Catholicism, but considers himself spiritual but not religious.