Danny Pudi Biography

Daniel Mark Pudi (born March 10, 1979) is an American actor and comedian, best known for his role as Abed Nadir on the NBC comedy series Community.

Early years

Pudi, who is of Indian and Polish descent, was born and raised in Chicago and grew up speaking Polish. He attended Notre Dame College Prep in Niles, Illinois. He studied dance in Chicago and attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, graduating with a degree in Communication and Theatre in 2001.

Career

At Marquette, Pudi won the Chris Farley Scholarship. Beyond paying for a year of school, the scholarship led to his performing at an improv comedy event featuring Jim Breuer and Dave Chappelle, increasing his interest in studying improv. Pudi performed in summer stock theatre in Wisconsin after Marquette, then studied at The Second City in Chicago. He became a recruiter for an executive search firm before moving to Los Angeles in 2005 to seek television and film roles. Pudi's home-based job permitted him to attend auditions, helping him to 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.

Pudi has appeared in multiple television advertisements for such products as Snickers, Verizon, McDonald's, T-Mobile, and Pokémon.

Pudi portrayed Arash in the comedy film Road Trip: Beer Pong, which received mainly negative reviews, and starred in the comedy horror film Knights of Badassdom, which was one of the highlights of Comic Con 2011, according to HitFix.com.

Pudi starred in the Jones Street Station music video for "The Understanding."

Pudi has also made cameo appearances in many internet videos, including BriTANicK's "A Monologue For Three".

In 2012, Pudi appeared as a celebrity contestant on GSN's version of The Pyramid with fellow Community cast member Yvette Nicole Brown.

In 2013, Pudi gave the commencement address for Notre Dame College Prep.

Personal life

Pudi is married to Bridget Showalter, whom he met in their freshman year at Marquette. Their twins, James Timothy Pudi and Fiona Leigh Pudi, were born on January 12, 2012. He is a runner, and has completed several marathons.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Cop Show	Saffa	Short
2009	Road Trip: Beer Pong	Arash	Direct-to-video
	Nilam Auntie: An International Treasure	Melvin the online surfer	Short
2010	Blowout Sale	Glen	Short
2011	Fully Loaded	Danny
	Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil	Little Boy Blue	Voice
2012	Leader of the Pack	Doug	Short
	The Guilt Trip	Sanjay
	Flatland 2: Sphereland	Puncto	Voice Direct-to-video
2013	The Pretty One	Dr. Rao
	The Knights of Badassdom	Lando	Complete

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	ER	Mahir Kardatay	Episode: "Lost in America"
	Gilmore Girls	Raj	Episode: "Friday Night's Alright for Fighting" "You've Been Gilmored" "Go, Bulldogs!" "French Twist"
	The West Wing	Santos Aide	Episode: "Two Weeks Out"
2007	The Untitled Rob Roy Thomas Project	(Role unknown)	Pilot
2007"2008	Greek	Sanjay	Episodes: "The Rusty Nail" "Highway to the Discomfort Zone" "Move On. Cartwrights" "No Campus for Old Rules"
2008	The Bill Engvall Show	Josh	Episode: "A Reptile Dysfunction"
2008	Giants of Radio	Teddy	Pilot
2009"present	Community	Abed Nadir	Main Cast Nominated - Television Critics Association Awards Individual Achievement in Comedy (2011) Nominated - Critics' Choice Television Award Best Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series (2012)
2011	Cougar Town	Chad (As played by Abed Nadir)	Episode: "Something Good Coming" (uncredited)
	Robot Chicken	Ant Pharoh Fox's Boxes Customer	Voice Episode: "The Core, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover"
	Chuck	Vali Chandrasekaren	Episode: "Chuck Versus the Hack Off"
2013	Hot in Cleveland	Tommy	Episode: "It's Alive"
	Royal Pains	Garrett	Episode: "Pregnant Paws"

Web

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010-2013	Funny or Die	Jerry Habaludubalah Himself	Episode: "Ghetto Prom Emporium" "Where the Magic Happens" "Bizarre Bracket Behavior"
2011	CollegeHumor	Abed Nadir	Episode: "Save Greendale"
2012	The Book Club	Danny	Mail Role Also producer