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

Joshua Ilan Gad (born February 23, 1981) is an American actor. He is known for voicing Olaf in the Frozen franchise and playing Elder Arnold Cunningham in the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon. For his role as Olaf, Gad won two Annie Awards, and for his work in The Book of Mormon, he co-won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album and received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical, both shared with Andrew Rannells as one of the two leading artists.

Early life

Joshua Ilan Gad was born in Hollywood, Florida, on February 23, 1981. His mother, Susan, is a real estate agent and his stepfather is an investment advisor, and he has two older brothers, a stepbrother and a stepsister. His father, Sam (Shmuel) Gad was born to a Jewish family in Afghanistan and moved to Israel as a teenager. Gad has stated that he believes his father is a descendant of the Tribe of Gad, one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, further stating that his paternal ancestors travelled through India before settling in Afghanistan. His mother was born in Germany to an Ashkenazi Jewish family of Holocaust survivors. He was raised Jewish.

Gad attended the University School of Nova Southeastern University, graduating in 1999. While there, he won the National Forensics League (NFL) National Tournament Championships for Original Oratory in 1998 and 1999. He also won the 1999 Humorous Interpretation at the National tournament in Phoenix. He then attended the Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts, where he graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drama. He attended college with fellow Broadway stars Leslie Odom Jr. and Rory O’Malley, the latter of whom he based his portrayal of Olaf in Frozen on. During this time, he undertook a semester-long exchange at the National Institute of Dramatic Art.

Career

2002–2008: Early career

Gad made his film debut in the 2002 film Mary and Joe. In 2005, Gad made his television debut by guest-starring in an episode of the NBC medical drama series ER. The same year, he replaced Dan Fogler as William Barfée in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee on Broadway after Fogler left the show. Gad went on to star in the Fox sitcom Back to You as news director Ryan Church. The sitcom lasted one season from 2007 to 2008. In 2008, Gad had a supporting role in the drama film 21, and a leading role in the comedy film The Rocker.

2008–2012: The Book of Mormon and minor success on television

Gad at the 2010 Streamy Awards

After Back to You, Gad appeared as a correspondent on The Daily Show on May 5, 2009, and became a regular correspondent on June 2, 2009. His signature segments include "The War on Christmas", in which he played Benjamin Franklin, and "Chubby Chasers", in which he reported on Michelle Obama's efforts to curb childhood obesity. Gad made his final appearance as a correspondent on June 27, 2011. Also in 2009, Gad starred in the short-form Crackle horror comedy series Woke Up Dead.

In 2010, Gad had a voice role in the family comedy film Marmaduke. In 2011, Gad voiced Mondo in the MTV adult animated sitcom Good Vibes. That same year, Gad portrayed Elder Cunningham in the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon. The show opened at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on March 24, 2011. His last performance was June 6, 2012. Gad was nominated for the 2011 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical and won for Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, along with his co-star Andrew Rannells.

In 2012, Gad had a leading role in the independent film She Wants Me. Also in 2012, Gad co-created, produced and starred in the NBC sitcom 1600 Penn. Both Good Vibes and 1600 Penn were canceled after one season. That same year, Gad voiced the molehog Louis in Ice Age: Continental Drift.

2013–2019: Frozen franchise and continued success

In 2013, he played Andrew in the film The Internship and starred as Steve Wozniak in the film Jobs. The same year, he voiced Olaf in the Disney film Frozen, re-collaborating with co-songwriter Robert Lopez from The Book of Mormon. In 2014, Gad co-starred in Zach Braff's film Wish I Was Here, playing the main character's brother.

In 2015, Gad starred alongside Kevin Hart and Kaley Cuoco in The Wedding Ringer and starred alongside Adam Sandler and Peter Dinklage in Pixels, a film about video game players who are recruited by the military to fight 1980s-era video game characters who have attacked the earth. That same year, Gad co-starred with Billy Crystal on the FX comedy series The Comedians, which premiered on April 9, 2015. The series was canceled after one season. In 2016, Gad voiced Chuck in The Angry Birds Movie, based on the game franchise of the same name.

In 2017, Gad voiced the dog Bailey in A Dog's Purpose, Also that year, he played LeFou in the live-action adaptation of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, directed by Bill Condon and co-starring with Emma Watson. Gad also starred in Reginald Hudlin's biographical drama Marshall, alongside Chadwick Boseman and Beauty and the Beast co-star Dan Stevens, and Gad played Hector MacQueen in a film adaptation of Agatha Christie's detective novel Murder on the Orient Express, directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh, alongside Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Judi Dench, and Daisy Ridley.

In 2019, Gad starred with Lupita Nyong'o and Alexander England in the Hulu horror-comedy Little Monsters. He also starred in A Dog's Journey, the sequel to A Dog's Purpose, reprising his role as Bailey. Also in 2019, Gad reprised his role of Olaf in the sequel Frozen II as well as the video game Kingdom Hearts III.

2020–present: Expanding ventures

In 2020, Gad returned to television by starring in two different television series. First, Gad starred in the HBO science fiction comedy series Avenue 5 opposite Hugh Laurie. The series premiered on January 19 and was renewed for a second season a month later. Second, Gad created, produced and starred in the Apple TV+ animated musical comedy series Central Park. The series received a two-season order from Apple with each season set to consist of thirteen episodes each. The series premiered on May 29.

He starred in the science fantasy adventure Artemis Fowl (2020), based on the book of the same name by Eoin Colfer. The film was initially set for a theatrical release but was changed to a streaming release on Disney+ due to the coronavirus pandemic. In September 2020 Gad joined Princess Bride Reunion, a virtual live script read-through of the 1987 movie, in the role of Fezzik, originally played by André the Giant. The A.V. Club's review singled out his performance as "Josh Gad’s surprisingly moving Andre the Giant tribute... It was an impression in the gentlest, sweetest sense of the word, something remarked on repeatedly by the rest of the cast and host/moderator Patton Oswalt. 10s across the board."

During the COVID-19 pandemic, where people were encouraged to practice social distancing, Gad launched the YouTube series Reunited Apart, which reunites the cast, via video conferencing, of several popular movies and movie series including Back to The Future and Lord of the Rings. The series encourages its viewers to support non-profit charities such as Dig Deep, Project Hope and No Kid Hungry. In June, Gad announced that the episode on Ferris Bueller's Day Off would be the last, though the series later returned for a second season, which premiered in December 2020 with the cast of Wayne's World.

In the runup to the 2020 election, Gad joined other Broadway celebrities with the voter education nonprofit VoteRiders for a virtual party to raise awareness around the complexities of voter ID laws targeting at-risk voters.

Gad was set to serve as co-creator, co-writer, and executive-producer for a Beauty and the Beast prequel limited series for Disney+, in which he would also reprise his role as LeFou as a series regular. However, the series was postponed indefinitely in February 2022 due to creative and scheduling issues. Gad was also announced to star as Nick Szalinski in the upcoming film Shrunk, a legacy-sequel to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

In January 2019, it was announced Gad was set to produce the live-action remake of Disney's 1996 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It was later rumored Gad was considered to play the lead role of Quasimodo; however, in 2023, the plans for the live action film was cancelled. Gad was a guest narrator at Disney's Candlelight Processional Dec 10–12, 2022.

From September 2023 to January 2024, he starred in Gutenberg! The Musical! with Andrew Rannells. The Cast Recording with the two released on May 3, 2024 digitally and physically on May 17, 2024. Gad will make his debut as director with a biopic about Chris Farley with Paul Walter Hauser playing the lead role. Published by Dark Horse Comics in June 2024, Gad co-wrote alongside Ben and Max Berkowitz (Berkowitz Bros.) a four-issue comic book mini series, called The Writer, with interior art by Ariel Olivetti. The comic book series is inspired by Jewish folklore. Gad announced that he will be debuting his picture book called PictureFace Lizzy in fall of 2024. Gad's Frozen co-star, Kristen Bell, has been announced to be narrating PictureFace Lizzy. Recently, Gad announced he will be publishing a memoir in 2025 called In Gad We Trust.

Personal life

In 2004, Gad met actress Ida Darvish after the two were cast to play a married couple in the David Ives play All in the Timing. They married in 2008. Gad has stated that while he loves the traditional aspects of Judaism and celebrates some traditions of his wife's Catholicism, he considers himself spiritual but not religious. They have two daughters. Gad has publicly talked about his struggle with generalized anxiety disorder, as part of his effort to combat mental health stigma and shame. As an effort towards quashing the mental health stigma, Gad joined other celebrities in 2018 in an ongoing project through the Child Mind Institute, titled #MyYoungerSelf. This campaign focuses on normalizing mental health especially in kids. The website features Gad and other celebrities talking about their own personal struggles with mental health and how they've found the help they need, while they also encourage viewers to find what can specifically help them. Gad's YouTube series Reunited Apart helped him get through the pandemic and sheltering at home. While he was out of work for the duration of the pandemic, he was able to focus on the series and not let his mental health decline.

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

Theatre

Awards and nominations

See also

In Spanish: Josh Gad para niños