Nick Offerman Biography

Nick Offerman (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor, writer, and carpenter. He is best known for his breakout role as Ron Swanson in the acclaimed NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation.

Early life

Offerman was born and grew up in Minooka, Illinois. He is the son of Cathy (née Roberts), a nurse, and Ric Offerman, who taught social studies at a junior high school in nearby Channahon. Offerman was raised Catholic. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1993. That year, he and a group of fellow students co-founded the Defiant Theatre, a Chicago-based theatre company.

Career

Offerman lived in Chicago in the mid-1990s, where he participated with theatre companies such as Steppenwolf, Goodman, and Wisdom Bridge. At Steppenwolf, he also worked as a fight choreographer and master carpenter. During this time, Offerman became acquainted with Amy Poehler, who was heavily involved with the Chicago improv comedy scene.

Offerman has appeared in films such as November (2004), Cursed (2005), Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005), Sin City (2005), The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009), and The Kings of Summer (2013).

Since 2003, he has been married to Will & Grace actress Megan Mullally. Offerman guest-starred on Will & Grace during its fourth season as a plumber on the Thanksgiving episode and on King of Queens as a hobo. He has also appeared on his wife's talk show, The Megan Mullally Show. In 2003, he appeared in three episodes of 24 and has guest-starred in an episode of The West Wing.

He can be currently seen on the TV series Parks and Recreation on NBC as Ron Swanson. Prior to this, his most prominent role was as Randy McGee on George Lopez. He was one of the workers in the factory and the love interest of Benny Lopez. In 2003 he appeared in Gilmore Girls in the episode "The Festival of Living Art", and once again in 2005 in the episode "Always a Godmother, Never a God". Offerman was featured in an early episode of the HBO series Deadwood in which he played Tom Mason, attempted assassin of Wild Bill Hickok. Offerman appeared in episode 15 of Monk's third season, "Mr. Monk and the Election", as a helper for the campaign of Natalie Teeger. He also appeared in the 2006 film Wristcutters: A Love Story as a cop who attempts to arrest Shannyn Sossamon's character; Mikal.

In 2007, Offerman co-starred in the Comedy Central series American Body Shop. In 2009, Office producers Michael Schur and Greg Daniels offered Offerman a regular supporting role in their NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. Offerman accepted the role of Ron Swanson, the deadpan, government-hating head of a parks department and boss of Leslie Knope, the protagonist played by Offerman's old acquaintance, Amy Poehler. Slate magazine declared Offerman "Parks and Recreation's secret weapon", and said he regularly stole scenes and "has a gift for understated physical comedy".

Offerman has also been featured in the Adult Swim series Childrens Hospital with Rob Corddry and Rob Huebel. He has said that supporting parts such as that of Parks and Recreation are his ideal roles, and that he draws particular inspiration from Reverend Jim Ignatowski, the character played by Christopher Lloyd in the sitcom Taxi. He appeared in the 2012 films 21 Jump Street as Captain Hardy and Casa de Mi Padre as DEA Agent Parker, and will appear in The Lego Movie as Metalbeard.

Offerman is the voice Axe Cop in the animated series of the same name, premiered on July 27, 2013. In the same year, Offerman portrayed Johnny Cool in the "Boston" episode of Derek Waters' Drunk History on Comedy Central. He appeared in the 2013 comedy We're the Millers, which starred Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston.

Carpentry

In addition to acting, Offerman is also a professional boat builder and has a side business as a wood craftsman. Offerman makes furniture and other wooden structures such as canoes and boats at his woodshop. He also released an instructional DVD in 2008 entitled Fine Woodstrip Canoe Building with Nick Offerman, shot by Jimmy Diresta. Diresta's pay for shooting the DVD was a canoe, the second one Offerman has built. The writers of Parks and Recreation added a fondness for woodworking to Offerman's character.

Personal life

Offerman's wife, actress Megan Mullally, has a recurring role on Parks and Recreation as his character's second ex-wife Tammy. He is good friends with actor Rainn Wilson; the two became friends while auditioning for the same roles early in their careers and remained in touch, with Offerman even building Wilson's kitchen table. Offerman is a fan of the Chicago Cubs and Chicago Bears, and has been featured with fellow actor and Chicago White Sox fan Craig Robinson in a series of commercials for New Era Cap Company.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Groove	Sergeant Channahon
2001	Will & Grace	Nick the Plumber	Episode: "Moveable Feast'
2003	24	Marcus	3 episodes
2003	Mix It Up	Nick the Carpenter
2001-2003	NYPD Blue	Steven Debrees/Billy	2 episodes
2003	The King of Queens	The Man	Episode: "Thanks, Man"
2003-2004	George Lopez	Randy	8 episodes
2005	Life on a Stick	Greg	Episode: "The Gods of TV"
2005	Monk	Jack Whitman	Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Election"
2005	Cursed	Officer
2005	Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous	Karl Steele
2005	Sin City	Shlubb
2003-2005	Gilmore Girls	Beau Belleville	2 episodes
2006	CSI: NY	Joe Green	Episodes: "Cool Hunter"
2007	American Body Shop	Rob	10 episodes
2009	The Men Who Stare at Goats	Scotty Mercer
2012	Somebody Up There Likes Me	Sal
2012	21 Jump Street	Deputy Chief Hardy
2012	Bob's Burgers	Cooper	Episode: "Bob Fires the Kids"
2012	The Cleveland Show	Harris Grundle	Episode: "'Tis the Cleveland to Be Sorry"
2008-2013	Childrens Hospital	Lt. Chance Briggs / Detective Chance Briggs	10 episodes
2013	We're the Millers	Don Fitzgerald
2013	Axe Cop	Axe Cop	6 episodes
2009-2013	Parks and Recreation	Ron Swanson