Maulik Navin Pancholy (, born January 18, 1974) is an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
actor and author who is best known for his roles as Jonathan on ''
30 Rock
''30 Rock'' is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', takes ...
'',
Baljeet Tjinder in ''
Phineas and Ferb
''Phineas and Ferb'' is an American animated musical-comedy television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. Produced by Disney Television Animation, the series was originally broadcast as a ...
'', Neal in the first season of ''
Whitney Whitney may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Whitney'' (2015 film), a Whitney Houston biopic starring Yaya DaCosta
* ''Whitney'' (2018 film), a documentary about Whitney Houston
* ''Whitney'' (TV series), an American sitcom that premiered i ...
'', and as a character named
Sanjay Patel
Sanjay Patel is an American animator and illustrator who has worked in the animation department of various projects, most of them animated films released by Pixar.
Background
Born in London, United Kingdom to Gujarati Indian parents, Pate ...
in both ''
Weeds'' and ''
Sanjay and Craig
''Sanjay and Craig'' is an American animated sitcom created by Jim Dirschberger, Jay Howell, and Andreas Trolf for Nickelodeon. Produced by Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi, the series revolves around Sanjay, voiced by Maulik Pancholy, and his bes ...
''. His
debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...
, ''The Best at It'' (from
Balzer + Bray
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Co ...
/
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...
), is about a gay, Indian American boy coming into his own. In 2022, he released ''Nikhil Out Loud'', which tells the story of eighth grade theater kids rising up against homophobia in their community.
Early life
Pancholy was born in
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...
. He moved around while growing up, living in Ohio, Indiana, and Texas before his family settled in
Tampa, Florida
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...
, where he attended junior high and high school at Berkeley Preparatory School. His family comes from
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
, and his grandparents lived in
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...
.
He is a 1991 graduate of the
Berkeley Preparatory School
Berkeley Preparatory School is a Pre-K to Grade 12 independent, college-preparatory day school affiliated to the Episcopal Church located in Tampa, Florida, in the United States. On this 86-acre campus some of the notable features include: a 7 ...
in Tampa, and went on to major in Theatre at
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
, where he received his
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in 1995. He then attended the
Yale School of Drama
The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in e ...
, where he received his
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.)
is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...
in 2003.
Career
![Maulik pancholy cropped](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Maulik_pancholy_cropped.jpg)
Pancholy played the character of
Jonathan on the award-winning NBC series ''
30 Rock
''30 Rock'' is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', takes ...
,''
Sanjay Patel
Sanjay Patel is an American animator and illustrator who has worked in the animation department of various projects, most of them animated films released by Pixar.
Background
Born in London, United Kingdom to Gujarati Indian parents, Pate ...
on Showtime's
''Weeds'' and Nickelodeon's
''Sanjay & Craig'', Neal on the first season of NBC's
''Whitney'', and voiced the character of
Baljeet Tjinder on Disney's
''Phineas & Ferb''. Additional television work includes guest roles on ''
The Good Fight
''The Good Fight'' is an American legal drama produced for CBS's streaming service CBS All Access (later Paramount+). It is the platform's first original scripted series. The series, created by Robert King, Michelle King, and Phil Alden Robin ...
'', ''
The Good Wife
''The Good Wife'' is an American legal and political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in law ...
'',
''Elementary'',
''Dynasty'', ''
Friends from College
''Friends from College'' is an American comedy television series created by Francesca Delbanco and Nicholas Stoller. The series was greenlit for Netflix as an original on March 11, 2016. The first season consists of eight half-hour episodes, and ...
'', ''
Tracey Takes On...'', ''
The Sopranos
''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...
'', ''
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' is an American police procedural Drama (film and television), drama television series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and Executive producer#Motion pictures and television, p ...
'', and ''
The Comeback''.
[
On February 13, 2017, StarTrek.com stated that Pancholy will play Nambue, Chief Medical Officer of the USS ''Shenzhou'' in the upcoming TV series '' Star Trek: Discovery''. His character appeared in the pilot episode, "]The Vulcan Hello
"The Vulcan Hello" is the series premiere of the American television series '' Star Trek: Discovery'', which is set roughly a decade before the events of the original ''Star Trek'' series and shows the beginnings of the Federation– Klingon col ...
", which aired on 24 September 2017, and streamed on CBS's online service in America and Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
abroad.
His stage credits in New York City include the Culture Project's production of ''Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom'' in 2004, a workshop of the play ''Morbidity & Mortality'' at the historic Cherry Lane Theatre
The Cherry Lane Theatre is the oldest continuously running off-Broadway theater in New York City. The theater is located at 38 Commerce Street between Barrow and Bedford Streets in the West Village neighborhood of Greenwich Village, Manhattan, N ...
in 2005, and the lead role in ''India Awaiting'' at the Samuel Beckett Theatre. In January 2015, he joined the cast of Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter.
Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," ...
's ''It's Only a Play
''It's Only a Play'' is a play by Terrence McNally. The play originally opened off-off-Broadway in 1982. It was revived off-Broadway in 1986, and on Broadway in 2014. The plot concerns a party where a producer, playwright, director, actors and ...
'', replacing Rupert Grint
Rupert Alexander Lloyd Grint (; born 24 August 1988) is an English actor. Grint rose to fame for his role as Ron Weasley in the ''Harry Potter'' film series, for which he was cast at age eleven, having previously acted only in school plays an ...
when the production's Broadway run was extended. Washington DC stage credits include Katherina in an all-male version of the Shakespeare Theatre Company's "The Taming of The Shrew" in 2016. He starred as 'Kevin' in the world premiere engagement of Ken Urban's ''The Remains'' at the Studio Theatre in 2018.
In 2019, Pancholy played 'Tommy' in Bess Wohl's ''Grand Horizons'' at the Williamstown Theatre Festival
The Williamstown Theatre Festival is a resident summer theater on the campus of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1954 by Williams College news director Ralph Renzi and drama program chairman David C. Bryant. I ...
. It was announced that he will reprise the role in Second Stage
A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket ''stages'', each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A ''tandem'' or ''serial'' stage is mounted on top of another stage; a ''parallel'' stage i ...
's Broadway production of the play at the Helen Hayes Theater
The Hayes Theater (formerly the Little Theatre, New York Times Hall, Winthrop Ames Theatre, and Helen Hayes Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 240 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Named for actre ...
.
Personal life
Pancholy 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 ...
as gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
in a November 2013 interview with '' Out'' in which he discussed his partner of nine years, chef and caterer Ryan Corvaia. They were engaged at the Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...
in January 2014 and were married in September that year.
Pancholy speaks Gujarati
Gujarati may refer to:
* something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India
* Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat
* Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them
* Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...
and Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
. He is also proficient in Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
, which he speaks in the ''30 Rock'' episode "Khonani
"Khonani" is the eighteenth episode of the fourth season of the American television comedy series '' 30 Rock'', and the 76th overall episode of the series. It was written by co-producer Vali Chandrasekaran and directed by Beth McCarthy Miller. It ...
".
Political activism
On April 25, 2014, Pancholy was named to President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders as part of the . On February 25, 2017, Pancholy and nine other members of the commission resigned from their positions, citing administrative actions by President Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
that they claimed went "against the commission's principles".
Pancholy is active with several non-profit and social policy organizations including Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles
Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL) formerly known as Asian Americans Advancing Justice - LA (Advancing Justice - LA), is a non-profit legal aid and civil rights organization dedicated to advocacy, providing legal ...
, the New York City Anti-Violence Project, and OutRight Action International
OutRight Action International (OutRight) is a LGBTIQ human rights non-governmental organization that addresses human rights violations and abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. OutRight Action International docum ...
, formerly known as the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission.
Pancholy is the Chair and Co-Founder of the anti-bullying nonprofit Act To Change. He helped launch the campaign during his time serving on President Obama's Advisory Commission. Act To Change was transitioned outside of the White House after the 2016 presidential election.
Filmography
Film
Television
Stage
References
External links
*
Out of the Weeds, Nirali Magazine, December 2006
Television Without Pity- The Maulik Pancholy Interview
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pancholy, Maulik
1974 births
Living people
American male film actors
American male actors of Indian descent
American male television actors
American gay actors
Northwestern University School of Communication alumni
Male actors from Dayton, Ohio
Yale School of Drama alumni
American people of Gujarati descent
LGBT rights activists from the United States
LGBT American people of Asian descent
LGBT people from Ohio