Ari Stidham (born August 22, 1992) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his role of statistical genius Sylvester Dodd in the television series ''

Scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

.''

Early life

Stidham was born on August 22, 1992, in

Westlake Village, California Westlake Village is a city in Los Angeles County on its western border with Ventura County. The City of Westlake Village incorporated in 1981 becoming the 82nd municipality of Los Angeles County.Baker, Pam (2002). ''Thousand Oaks Westlake Vil ...

, to a Sephardic Jewish father and an Ashkenazi Jewish mother. His maternal grandparents were from Russia, and his paternal grandparents were from Morocco and the United States. He was raised in an observant

Reform Jewish Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous sear ...

home, and he attended the Center for Early Jewish Education in

Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown. It is named after the many oak tree ...

. He does not identify as religiously Jewish, but he identifies as culturally Jewish. Stidham began playing music at four and performed in theater and musical productions throughout elementary and high school. He later performed with and was a member of

ComedySportz ComedySportz (CSz) is an improvisational comedy organization started in 1984 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by a group of local comedians including Dick Chudnow, Bob Orvis, Brian Green, and others. Match format The traditional format of a ComedySportz ...

Los Angeles

Improvisational comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...

group.

Career

Stidham broke into acting in 2010, with the character Ian in

ABC Family The American cable television, cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and s ...

television series ''

Huge Huge may refer to: * Huge cardinal, a number in mathematics * ''Huge'' (Caroline's Spine album), 1996 * ''Huge'' (Hugh Hopper and Kramer album), 1997 * ''Huge'' (TV series), a television series on ABC Family * Huge (digital agency) * ''Huge'' ...

'', based on a novel of the same name which centered around eight teenagers who had been sent to a weight loss camp. He later auditioned for the part of Sylvester Dodd in the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

series ''

'', despite the role being written for an African-American actor in his thirties, and was cast in the role after a single audition. From 2014 to 2018, Stidham was a part of the main cast for the all four seasons of the series (93 episodes). He also releases music under the name DrTelevision, or DRTV. Additionally, through his production company Stidley Inc., he produces "short form alternative comedy" with Zach Green, including a monthly love comedy radio play ''Dick Duquesne: Tales of a Private Dick''. Stidham founded his company, Sanguinet Films, which was founded in 2016, with Ari at the helm as a producer, writer, and director of the company. He directed their flagship feature, ''Curse of the Siren'', which premiered at Fangoria Fearcon in 2016. In 2018, he played archvillain Grand Moff Levine in a musical stage spoof titled ''Solo Must Die: A Musical Parody''. In October 2019, Stidham presented a comedy and musical celebration and re-telling of the

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

's works titled ''The Edgar Allan Show''. Re-enactments and recitals of 'The Raven', 'The Tell-Tale Heart' and 'The Fall of the House of Usher', were directed by and featured original songs by Stidham.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stidham, Ari 1992 births Living people 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from California People from Westlake Village, California