Daren Maxwell Kagasoff (''KA-guh-sawf''; born September 16, 1987) is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Ricky Underwood on the

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 ...

teen drama series ''

The Secret Life of the American Teenager ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' (often shortened to ''Secret Life'') is an American teen drama television series created by Brenda Hampton. It aired on ABC Family from July 1, 2008 to June 3, 2013. The series received mixed to some ...

'' from 2008 to 2013.

Early life

Kagasoff was born in

Encino, California Encino (Spanish language, Spanish for "oak") is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. History In 1769, the Spanish Portolá expedition, first Europeans to see inland areas of California, traveled north t ...

to Elise Kagasoff (née Levy) and Barry Kagasoff, a diamond merchant. He is the middle of three children; he has an older brother, Justin, and a younger sister, Natalie. Kagasoff is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. Kagasoff graduated from

Montclair Preparatory High School Montclair College Preparatory School, also commonly known as "Montclair Prep", was a school located in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, near Panorama City.Lin, C.J.Valley private school options dwindling." August 17, 2011. Retrieved on August ...

in 2005 where he played on his school's baseball team. While attending school at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

, Kagasoff decided to become an actor.

Career

After deciding to return to Los Angeles, Kagasoff landed the lead role in a local theater production of ''

Suburbia A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

,'' a play that the eponymous 1996 film was based upon. After studying acting, he began auditioning for television and film roles. During one of his first auditions, he impressed producer

Brenda Hampton Brenda Hampton (born August 19, 1951) is an American television show creator, writer and producer. She created, wrote and produced the television shows '' 7th Heaven'', ''Fat Actress'', and ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager''. Biograp ...

so much that she hand-picked him to star as Ricky Underwood in the

series ''

.'' The show ran for five seasons. It was announced on February 24, 2013 that Kagasoff had been cast as Alex in the Fox pilot ''Delirium'', based on

the novel ''The Novel'' (1991) is a novel written by American author James A. Michener. A departure from Michener's better known historical fiction, ''The Novel'' is told from the viewpoints of four different characters involved in the life and work of ...

Lauren Oliver Lauren Oliver (born Laura Suzanne Schechter; November 8, 1982) is an American author of numerous young adult novels including ''Panic;'' the Delirium trilogy: ''Delirium (Lauren Oliver novel), Delirium'', ''Pandemonium (Lauren Oliver novel), Pa ...

. However, the pilot was not picked up to series. Kagasoff co-starred as Trevor in the supernatural horror film ''

Ouija The ouija ( , ), also known as a spirit board or talking board, is a flat board marked with the letters of the Latin alphabet, the numbers 0–9, the words "yes", "no", occasionally "hello" and "goodbye", along with various symbols and grap ...

'', directed by Stiles White and co-written by

Juliet Snowden Juliet Snowden is an American screenwriter, film director, and producer, best known for writing '' Knowing'' and ''Ouija''. She is also known for co-writing screenplays with her husband Stiles White. Career In 2014, Snowden wrote the screenp ...

and White. The film was released in October 2014. In September 2014, Kagasoff joined the cast of the ''

Red Band Society ''Red Band Society'' is an American Teen drama, teen Medical drama, medical comedy-drama television series, developed by Margaret Nagle, that aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox for the 2014–15 United States network television schedule, 20 ...

'', a comedy-drama series on

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

for the 2014–15 American television season developed by

Margaret Nagle Margaret Nagle (born January 12, 1969) is a screenwriter, television producer and human rights activist. She has been nominated for two Emmy Awards and won three Writers Guild of America Awards. Nagle began her undergraduate work at UC Berkel ...

. He had a recurring role playing Kara's love interest, Hunter Cole. The series premiered on September 17, 2014 and was canceled after one season.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kagasoff, Daren 1987 births 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors Jewish American male actors Living people Male actors from California People from Encino, Los Angeles San Francisco State University alumni 21st-century American Jews Montclair College Preparatory School alumni