James Rash (born July 15, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He portrayed the role of Dean Craig Pelton on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

sitcom ''

Community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...

'' (2009–2015), for which he was nominated for the

Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series The Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series is one of the award categories presented annually by the Critics' Choice Television Awards (BTJA) to recognize the work done by television actors. Winners and nomi ...

in 2012. In that same year, he won the

Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay Film adaptation, adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include st ...

and received a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

nomination as one of the writers of ''

The Descendants ''The Descendants'' is a 2011 American comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Payne. The screenplay by Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash is based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Kaui Hart Hemmings. The film stars George Clooney in the mai ...

''.

Early life

Rash was born in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most popu ...

, on July 15, 1971. Both he and his sister were adopted.Interview with Paul F. Tompkins, 'Speakeasy' He attended Charlotte Latin School. After graduating, he spent a post-graduate year at the Lawrenceville School in

Lawrenceville, New Jersey Lawrenceville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Lawrence Township in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States.

. He was a member of

The Groundlings The Groundlings is an American improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school based in Los Angeles. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin, whose improvisational theater techniq ...

, the improv comedy group based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

Career

Rash played Mr. Grayson/Stitches in the 2005 film '' Sky High'', Fenton on ''

That '70s Show ''That '70s Show'' is an American television period teen sitcom that aired on Fox from August 23, 1998, to May 18, 2006. The series focuses on the lives of a group of six teenage friends living in the fictional town of Point Place, Wisconsin, ...

'', and Andrew the "whore house guy" on '' Reno 911!'' He appeared in the final episode of ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Li ...

'', and played Head T.A. Philip in ''Slackers''. From 2009 to 2015, Rash starred on ''

'' as Craig Pelton, the dean of the community college in which the show takes place. Rash and comedy partner

Nat Faxon Nathaniel Faxon (born October 11, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. A frequent presence on comedic films and TV series, he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for co-writing '' The Descendants'' (2011) ...

moved into screenwriting with a pilot in 2005 for a series entitled ''Adopted'', which did not take off.Profile
, charlotteobserver.com; accessed October 6, 2017. They wrote the screenplay for ''

'' (2011), based on the novel of the same name, which appeared on the 2008 edition of the

Black List Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...

(the most popular unproduced scripts in Hollywood at that time). The film was released to critical acclaim, receiving a

nomination and winning the

. However, the final script for ''The Descendants'' was largely re-written by screenwriters and directors Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor. Payne would go on to direct the film. In an interview with ''Vulture'', Payne discussed an agreement between Payne/Taylor and Rash/Faxon. During the awards circuit for ''The Descendants'', Rash/Faxon would deliver the acceptance speeches for all of the awards except the Academy Award; the Academy Award speech would be handled by Payne/Taylor. Both Rash and Faxon co-wrote and co-directed the film '' The Way Way Back'' (2013), which received a standing ovation at its premiere at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

. Parts of the film are based on Rash's teenage life. Rash has voiced the

Marquess of Queensbury Marquess of Queensberry is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. The title has been held since its creation in 1682 by a member of the Douglas family. The Marquesses also held the title of Duke of Queensberry from 1684 to 1810, when it was in ...

for all four seasons of the

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

animated comedy ''

Mike Tyson Mysteries ''Mike Tyson Mysteries'' is an American adult animated television series, and is the first collaboration between Warner Bros. Animation and Williams Street. It premiered October 27, 2014 on Adult Swim. The series features Mike Tyson solving myste ...

''. Since 2017, he has been the voice actor for

Donald Duck universe The Donald Duck universe is a fictional shared universe which is the setting of stories involving Disney cartoon character Donald Duck, as well as Daisy Duck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Scrooge McDuck, and many other characters. Life in the Do ...

character

Gyro Gearloose Gyro Gearloose is a cartoon character created in 1952 by Carl Barks for Disney comics. An anthropomorphic chicken, he is part of the Donald Duck universe, appearing in comic book stories as a friend of Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, and anyone who ...

in the reboot of ''

DuckTales ''DuckTales'' is an American animated television series produced by Disney Television Animation. The original cartoon series premiered on syndication and on Disney Channel on September 18, 1987 and ran for a total of 100 episodes over four sea ...

''.

Personal life

Rash stated he

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

"well over 10-plus years ago" during an interview promoting '' Bros'' in September 2022.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rash, Jim 1971 births Living people 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors 21st-century LGBT people American adoptees American film producers American male comedians American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors American male screenwriters Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners Lawrenceville School alumni LGBT comedians LGBT film directors LGBT male actors LGBT people from North Carolina LGBT screenwriters Male actors from Charlotte, North Carolina Male actors from North Carolina Screenwriters from North Carolina Writers from Charlotte, North Carolina