Josh Gad facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Josh Gad
Gad at the 2014 Annie Awards
Born	Joshua Ilan Gad (1981-02-23) February 23, 1981 (age 44) Hollywood, Florida, U.S.
Education	Carnegie Mellon University (BFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2002–present
Spouse(s)	Ida Darvish ​ (m. 2008)​
Children	2

Josh Gad (born February 23, 1981) is an American actor. He is famous for being the voice of Olaf the snowman in the Frozen movies. He also played Elder Arnold Cunningham in the Broadway show The Book of Mormon.

For his role as Olaf, Josh won two Annie Awards. For The Book of Mormon, he won a Grammy Award. He was also nominated for a Tony Award. He shared these honors with his co-star Andrew Rannells.

Early Life and Education

Josh Gad was born in Hollywood, Florida, on February 23, 1981. His mom is a real estate agent. His dad was born in Afghanistan and moved to Israel. Josh has two older brothers, a stepbrother, and a stepsister. His family has Jewish roots from Afghanistan and Germany. He grew up following the Jewish faith.

He went to the University School of Nova Southeastern University. He graduated in 1999. While there, he won national speech and debate championships. He also won a humor competition.

After high school, Josh went to the Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts. He earned a degree in drama in 2003. He studied with other future Broadway stars like Leslie Odom Jr. and Rory O’Malley. He even based his voice for Olaf on Rory O'Malley. During college, he also studied acting in Australia for a semester.

Acting Career

Starting Out (2002–2008)

Josh Gad started his acting career in 2002. His first movie was Mary and Joe. In 2005, he appeared on TV in the medical show ER. That same year, he joined the Broadway musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

From 2007 to 2008, he starred in the TV show Back to You. He played Ryan Church, a news director. In 2008, he had roles in the movies 21 and The Rocker.

Broadway Success and More (2008–2012)

Gad at the 2010 Streamy Awards

After Back to You, Josh became a reporter for The Daily Show in 2009. He made his last appearance there in 2011. In 2009, he also starred in the horror-comedy web series Woke Up Dead.

In 2010, Josh voiced a character in the movie Marmaduke. In 2011, he voiced Mondo in the TV show Good Vibes. That same year, he took on the role of Elder Cunningham in the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon. The show opened on March 24, 2011. His last performance was on June 6, 2012.

For his role in The Book of Mormon, Josh was nominated for a Tony Award. He also won a Grammy Award with his co-star Andrew Rannells. In 2012, Josh starred in the movie She Wants Me. He also helped create and star in the TV show 1600 Penn. Both Good Vibes and 1600 Penn lasted only one season. In 2012, he voiced Louis the molehog in Ice Age: Continental Drift.

The Frozen Years (2013–2019)

In 2013, Josh played Andrew in The Internship. He also played Steve Wozniak in the movie Jobs. That same year, he voiced Olaf in Disney's Frozen. He worked again with Robert Lopez, who wrote songs for The Book of Mormon. In 2014, Josh co-starred in Wish I Was Here.

In 2015, Josh starred in The Wedding Ringer and Pixels. In Pixels, he played a video game player who fights old video game characters. Also in 2015, he starred with Billy Crystal in the TV show The Comedians. In 2016, he voiced Chuck in The Angry Birds Movie.

In 2017, Josh voiced Bailey the dog in A Dog's Purpose. He also played LeFou in the live-action movie Beauty and the Beast. He starred alongside Emma Watson. Josh also appeared in the movie Marshall with Chadwick Boseman. He played Hector MacQueen in Murder on the Orient Express.

In 2019, Josh starred in the horror-comedy Little Monsters. He also returned as Bailey in A Dog's Journey. In 2019, he voiced Olaf again in Frozen II and the video game Kingdom Hearts III.

New Projects (2020–Present)

In 2020, Josh returned to TV in two shows. He starred in the HBO science fiction comedy Avenue 5 with Hugh Laurie. He also created, produced, and voiced characters in the Apple TV+ animated musical Central Park.

He starred in the fantasy adventure movie Artemis Fowl in 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Josh started a YouTube series called Reunited Apart. He brought together the casts of famous movies like Back to The Future and Lord of the Rings. The show encouraged viewers to support charities.

Josh was going to be part of a Beauty and the Beast TV series for Disney+. He would have played LeFou again. However, this series was put on hold in 2022. He is also set to star in Shrunk, a sequel to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

In 2019, it was announced that Josh would produce a live-action remake of Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. There were rumors he might play Quasimodo, but the movie plans were canceled in 2023. Josh was a guest narrator at Disney's Candlelight Processional in 2022.

From September 2023 to January 2024, he starred in Gutenberg! The Musical! with Andrew Rannells. Josh will make his directing debut with a movie about Chris Farley. He also co-wrote a comic book series called The Writer in 2024. This series is inspired by Jewish folklore. Josh will release a picture book called PictureFace Lizzy in late 2024. His Frozen co-star, Kristen Bell, will narrate it. He also announced a memoir called In Gad We Trust for 2025.

Personal Life

Josh Gad met actress Ida Darvish in 2004. They were playing a married couple in a play. They got married in 2008. Josh has said he loves parts of Judaism and celebrates some traditions of his wife's Catholicism. He considers himself spiritual but not strictly religious. They have two daughters.

Josh has spoken openly about his struggle with generalized anxiety disorder. He wants to help reduce the shame around mental health issues. In 2018, he joined the #MyYoungerSelf campaign. This project helps kids understand mental health. Josh and other celebrities share their own struggles and how they found help. His YouTube series Reunited Apart also helped him during the pandemic. It allowed him to focus on something positive and keep his mental health strong.

Acting Credits

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Mary and Joe	Angel
2006	Razortooth	Jay Wells
2007	Watching the Detectives	Mark
2008	21	Miles
	The Rocker	Matt
2009	Crossing Over	Howie
	No Heroics	Horseforce	Television film
	Waiting to Die	Simon
	The Lost Nomads: Get Lost 22	Gigi / Miss Piggy / Jose Sanchez / The Clown / Spatula Lover
	Big Guy	Rodney	Short film
2010	Marmaduke	Bandana Dog	Voice
2011	Mardi Gras: Spring Break	Bump (Bartholomew T. Brown)
2012	She Wants Me	Sam Baum
	Ice Age: Continental Drift	Louis	Voice
	Thanks for Sharing	Neil
2013	Jobs	Steve Wozniak
	The Internship	Headphones
	Frozen	Olaf	Voice
2014	Wish I Was Here	Noah Bloom
2015	The Wedding Ringer	Doug Harris
	Frozen Fever	Olaf	Voice; short film
	Pixels	Ludlow Lamonsoff
2016	The Angry Birds Movie	Chuck	Voice
2017	A Dog's Purpose	Bailey / Ellie / Tino / Buddy
	Beauty and the Beast	LeFou
	Marshall	Sam Friedman
	Murder on the Orient Express	Hector MacQueen
	Olaf's Frozen Adventure	Olaf (voice)	Voice; short film
2018	Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.	Himself	Documentary
2019	Little Monsters	Teddy McGiggle
	A Dog's Journey	Bailey	Voice
	The Angry Birds Movie 2	Chuck
	Frozen II	Olaf
2020	Artemis Fowl	Mulch Diggums
	Once Upon a Snowman	Olaf	Voice; short film
2021	Ghostbusters: Afterlife	Muncher	Voice
2023	Strays	Gus
	Once Upon a Studio	Olaf	Voice; short film
TBA	A Tree Fell in the Woods	Mitch	Post-production
	Adulthood	Noah	Post-production
	The Angry Birds Movie 3	Chuck	Voice; in production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	ER	Sgt. Bruce Larabee	Episode: "Here and There"
2007–2008	Back to You	Ryan Church	Main role
2008	American Dad!	Art (voice)	Episode: "Pulling Double Booty"
2008, 2009	Numbers	Roy McGill	2 episodes
2009	Party Down	Jeffrey Ells	Episode: "California College Conservative Union Caucus"
2009–2011	The Daily Show with Jon Stewart	Himself (correspondent)	5 episodes
2010	Bored to Death	Warren	Episode: "Make It Quick, Fitzgerald!"
2011	The Cleveland Show	Droopy	Voice; episode: "Our Gang"
	Californication	Doctor	2 episodes
	Gigi: Almost American	Gigi	10 episodes; also executive producer
2011, 2020	Modern Family	Kenneth Ploufe	2 episodes: "Punkin Chunkin" and "Dead on a Rival"
2011	Good Vibes	Mondo (voice)	Main role
2012–2013	1600 Penn	Skip Gilchrist	Main role; also co-creator and executive producer
2012–2015	New Girl	Bearclaw	3 episodes: "Katie", "Birthday", "Walk of Shame"
2013	Hollywood Game Night	Himself	Episode: "America's Got Game Night"
2014	Monsters vs. Aliens	Internet	Voice; episode: "Bride of the Internet"
2015	The Comedians	Josh	Main role
	Sesame Street	Vincent Van Stop	Episode: "Bert's Sign Painting Challenge
	Phineas and Ferb	Wendell	Voice; 2 episodes
	TripTank	Louis	Voice; 1 episode
	Jeopardy!	Himself	Celebrity contestant
2016	Lip Sync Battle	Himself / Donald Trump	Episode: "Josh Gad vs. Kaley Cuoco"
	Sofia the First	Olaf	Voice; episode: "The Secret Library: Olaf and the Tale of Miss Nettle"
	LEGO Frozen Northern Lights		Voice; special
	Talking Dead	Himself	Guest
2017	Star Wars Rebels	LT-319	Voice; episode: "Double Agent Droid"
	South Park	Marcus Preston / Ms. McGullicutty	Voice; 1 episode; Also producer
2018	Bob's Burgers	Damon	Voice; episode: "Just One of the Boyz 4 Now for Now"
2019	The Ellen DeGeneres Show	Himself	Guest host
2020–2022	Avenue 5	Herman Judd	Main cast
2020	At Home with Olaf	Olaf	Main role; voice
2020–2022	Central Park	Birdie / Ernst Von Gunten	Main cast; voice; also co-creator, writer and executive producer
2020	Home Movie: The Princess Bride	Grandson	Episode: "Chapter One: As You Wish"
2021	Olaf Presents	Olaf	Main role; voice
	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Chiropractor	Episode: "Man Fights Tiny Woman"
2022–present	Wolf Like Me	Gary	Main cast
2022	The Boys	Himself	Episode: "Herogasm"; cameo
	The Tiny Chef Show		2 episodes
2023	History of the World, Part II	William Shakespeare	Episode: "I"
	Storybots: Answer Time	The Great Bubblini	Episode: "Bubbles"
	Solar Opposites	Pinecone / Rotten Peach / Jesse Guard #2	Voice; episode: "The Earth Rake (beta)"
2024	Dinner Time Live with David Chang	Himself	Episode: "Holiday Noodle Cook-Off"
2025	Wonder Man	0TBA	Post-production

Video Games

Web Series and Podcasts

Theatre

Awards and Nominations

Images for kids

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  A robot for kids.

See also

In Spanish: Josh Gad para niños