Dan Fogler

The affable comedic actor Dan Fogler made his name in theater first, when he portrayed the Tony Award winning character William Barfee in the Broadway musical hit "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee". Fogler moved on to voice work for such landmark kid's films as "Horton Hears a Who" (2008) and "Kung Fu Panda" (2008). His trademark head of dark curly hair was seen in a wide variety of television sitcoms like "Man Up" (ABC 2011) and "M'Larky" (Comedy Central 2010). However, Hollywood could never replace Broadway for this Brooklyn boy as he stayed active as artistic director in the ensemble production company Stage 13.

Prior to his work on Broadway, Fogler had dabbled in film, including roles in shorts "Brooklyn Thrill Killers" (1999), "Bust a Move" (2000), and "Hyper" (2002). "Home Field Advantage" (2000) brought him into feature-length films, but he took a break for a few years to work on the play that was to define him, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" on Broadway. The years following his Tony award saw him in a number of small comedy films such as "Dumped!" (2005) and "Slippery Slope" (2006). The Billy Bob Thornton vehicle "School for Scoundrels" (2006) led to his sidekick role in "Good Luck Chuck" (2007) and his first lead role as a down and out professional ping pong player in "Balls of Fury" (2007).

"The Wedding Brothers" (2008) was a light romp that bombed, but Fogler probably was too busy with two voice projects, "Horton Hears a Who" (2008) and "Kung Fu Panda" (2008), to mind. He returned to acting with the cult hit "Fanboys" (2009) before taking a turn at writing and directing in the small budget horror film "Hysterical Psycho" (2009). The year was busy with the '60s period piece "Taking Woodstock" (2009) and a co-starring role in the Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy "Love Happens" (2009). He slid into television through voice work, this time for a couple of episodes of "American Dad" (Fox 2005- ) before co-producing, starring in and even sometimes directing "M'Larky" (Comedy Central 2010), a show that grew out of an episode of "Atom TV" (Comedy Central 2008-10).

The next three years for Fogler were increasingly busy as he balanced TV guest roles, usually in animated shows, with steady film and stage work. His television appearances included a major role in the critically-lambasted sitcom failure "Man Up" (ABC 2011) and ongoing supporting roles in Bryan Fuller's "Hannibal" (NBC 2013) and the '80s-set sitcom "The Goldbergs" (ABC 2013-). His film work included a supporting role in the period-piece comedy "Take Me Home Tonight" (2011) and the animated flops "Mars Needs Moms" (2011) and "Free Birds" (2013). He strayed from his traditional comedic roles in the sci-fi/fantasy films "Hellbenders" (2012) and "Europa Report" (2013), as well as in the thriller "Scenic Route" (2013). In 2013, he returned to his director roots with the comedy "Don Peyote" (2013), which he co-directed with Michael Canzoniero.