Shelley Mathew Malil (; born December 23, 1964) is an Indian-American actor. Malil emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 1974. He appeared in a number of television shows and films, including ''

The 40-Year-Old Virgin ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'' is a 2005 American romantic comedy film directed by Judd Apatow, who produced the film with Clayton Townsend and Shauna Robertson. It features Steve Carell as the titular 40-year-old virgin Andy, an employee at an e ...

'' (2005). In 2010, Malil was convicted of attempted premeditated murder and assault with a deadly weapon on a former girlfriend, and served 8 years of a 12 year to life term at Ironwood State Prison in southern California.

Early life

Malil was born in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He emigrated with his family in 1974 to the United States at the age of 9. He started acting in high school. As a child, he had hoped to become a comedic actor like

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

, whom he had first seen on television. In summer 1983, aged 18, he performed on stage as part of the summer stock company at the Granbury Opera House in

Granbury, Texas Granbury is a city in and the county seat of Hood County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 10,958, and it is the principal city of the Granbury micropolitan statistical area. Granbury is named after Confede ...

Acting career

Malil came to Hollywood in 1995, after a two-year stint at New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He had supporting roles in ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'' (2005), ''

Holes A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...

'' (2003), ''

Collateral Damage Collateral damage is any death, injury, or other damage inflicted that is an incidental result of an activity. Originally coined by military operations, it is now also used in non-military contexts. Since the development of precision guided ...

'' (2002), '' Getting There'' (2002), ''Boys From Madrid'' (2000), ''

My Favorite Martian ''My Favorite Martian'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 29, 1963, to May 1, 1966, for 107 episodes. The show stars Ray Walston as "Uncle Martin" (the Martian) and Bill Bixby as Tim O'Hara. The first two seasons, totalin ...

'' (1999), ''

Columbus Day Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492. ...

'' (2008), and ''Just Can't Get Enough'' (2002). Malil had roles on television shows such as '' Scrubs'', '' Reba'', '' NYPD Blue'', ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White Hous ...

'', ''

The Jamie Foxx Show ''The Jamie Foxx Show'' is an American sitcom that aired on The WB from August 28, 1996, to January 14, 2001. The series stars Jamie Foxx, Garcelle Beauvais, Christopher B. Duncan, Ellia English, and Garrett Morris. Although the show was not ...

'', and '' ER ''. He was selected as one of the "Top 10 Overlooked Performances of 2005" by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

for his performance in ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin''. He is the recipient of a Clio Award (for the

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, part of AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. ''Budweiser'' may also refer to an unrela ...

beer commercials) and a Los Angeles Ovation Award as Best Featured Actor for his performance as Bottom in '' A Midsummer Night's Dream'', and he was nominated for the Los Angeles

Ovation Award The Ovation Awards are a Southern California award for excellence in theatre, established in 1989. They are given out by the non-profit arts service organization LA Stage Alliance and are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. Winne ...

for his performance in ''

SubUrbia A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include Commercial area, commercial and mixed-use development, mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a ...

''.

Attempted murder conviction

On August 10, 2008, Malil stabbed an ex-girlfriend, Kendra Beebe, 23 times in

San Marcos, California San Marcos ( ; Spanish for " St. Mark") is a city in the North County region of San Diego County, California. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 94,833. It is the site of California State University San Marcos. The city is borde ...

. He was arrested the next day as he got off a train in Oceanside, California.''US Actor Attack''
article; Huffington Post; accessed September 2014. Beebe had survived the attack despite a severe cut to her chin, the collapse of both lungs, and the loss of about half the blood in her body. In September 2010, he was convicted of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. and sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 12 years. He was paroled four years early in September 2018.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Malil, Shelley 1964 births Living people Male actors from California American people convicted of assault American people convicted of attempted murder Indian emigrants to the United States American people of Malayali descent People paroled from life sentence Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by California 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male actors of Indian descent Naturalized citizens of the United States