Josh Radnor

Josh Radnor
Born Joshua Thomas Radnor
(1974-07-29) July 29, 1974
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Alma mater Kenyon College (BA)
Tisch School of the Arts (MFA)
Occupation Actor, film director, producer, screenwriter
Years active 2000–present

Joshua Thomas "Josh" Radnor (born July 29, 1974) is an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for portraying Ted Mosby on the popular Emmy Award-winning CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. He made his writing and directorial debut with the 2010 comedy drama film Happythankyoumoreplease, for which he won the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. In 2012, he wrote, directed and starred in his second film, Liberal Arts, which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.[1] In 2014 he starred as Isaac in the Broadway play Disgraced, which earned a Tony Award for Best Play nomination. In January 2016 he starred as Dr. Jedediah Foster in the PBS American Civil War drama series Mercy Street.

Early life

Radnor was born in Columbus, Ohio, the son of Carol Radnor (née Hirsch), a high school guidance counselor, and Alan Radnor, a medical malpractice lawyer. Radnor has two sisters, Melanie Radnor and Joanna Radnor Vilensky. He grew up in Bexley, Ohio, a small city nested inside Columbus. Radnor attended Orthodox Jewish day schools (including the Columbus Torah Academy) and was raised in Conservative Judaism.[2][3][4] He is of Welsh, partial Irish, and Indian ancestry. Radnor went to Bexley High School and later Kenyon College, where his school's theater department presented him with the Paul Newman Award and during which he spent a semester (Spring 1995) training at the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. He graduated from Kenyon with a B.A. in Drama in 1996.[5] Radnor received his Master of Fine Arts degree in acting from New York University's Graduate Acting Program at the Tisch School of the Arts in 1999.[5][6] Radnor participated in an Israel experience program in Tzfat with Livnot U'Lehibanot in 1997.[2]

Career

In 2001, Radnor was cast as the lead in The WB series Off Centre. However, the role was re-cast with Eddie Kaye Thomas before the first episode aired.[7] In 2002, he made his Broadway debut in the stage version of The Graduate, succeeding Jason Biggs, opposite Kathleen Turner and Alicia Silverstone. In 2004, Radnor starred in The Paris Letter alongside future co-star of How I Met Your Mother; Neil Patrick Harris.[8] From 2005 to 2014, Radnor starred in How I Met Your Mother, his biggest role to date. In July 2008, he starred opposite Jennifer Westfeldt in the premiere of the play Finks,[9] written by Joe Gilford and directed by Charlie Stratton for New York Stage and Film.

Radnor made his directorial debut with the film Happythankyoumoreplease, in which he was writer and star.[10] His second film Liberal Arts, starring himself and Elizabeth Olsen, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2012.[11]

Radnor appeared in the Broadway production of Disgraced, which opened October 23, 2014 at the Lyceum Theatre.[12][13]

In October 2016, Radnor also confirmed he is in a band, "Radnor and Lee" with Australian musician Ben Lee , the pair are currently recording their debut album "Love songs for God & Women".

Personal life

In 2008, Radnor told the Los Angeles Times, "I do Transcendental Meditation, and part of the reason I chose my house is that I thought it would be a great place to meditate."[14]

Radnor is an outspoken opponent of pornography. In a 2016 interview, he said, "I’m not a porn addict, though I believe the addiction is real. I didn’t grow up in any kind of repressive, super religious environment. I never felt I was in danger of eternal damnation or anything.... I do believe porn is a huge problem that has to be confronted. The battle, though, is ultimately an internal one. Each person has to decide for themselves whether to have this thing in their lives or not. I value love and connection and friendship and community. I want to encourage more creativity, joy, and peace in my life. Porn is opposed to all of that. I stand strong with anyone choosing to get porn out of their lives."[15]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2001 Not Another Teen Movie Tour Guide
2010 Happythankyoumoreplease Sam Wexler Also director and writer
2012 Liberal Arts Jesse Fisher Also director and writer
2013 Afternoon Delight Jeff
2013 The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden John Garth Voice
Documentary
2016 The Seeker Father

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2000 Welcome to New York Doug Episode: "The Crier"
2002 Law & Order Robert Kitson Episode: "Access Nation"
2002 The Court Dylan Hirsch 3 episodes
2003 ER Keith Episode: "The Advocate"
2003 Six Feet Under Will Jaffe Episode: "The Trap"
2003 Miss Match Andrew Episode: "I Got You Babe"
2005 Judging Amy Justin Barr Episode: "Too Little, Too Late"
2005–2014 How I Met Your Mother Ted Mosby 208 episodes
2007–2009 Family Guy Ted Mosby (voice) 2 episodes
2016–present Mercy Street Jedediah Foster 6 episodes

Music video

Year Title Role Notes
2016 Let Me Be Your Girl[16] Director Artist: Rachael Yamagata

Stage

Year Title Role Notes
2002 The Graduate Benjamin Braddock Plymouth Theatre[17]
2004 The Paris Letter Sam Arlen / Young Sandy Kirk Douglas Theater
2011 She Loves Me Georg Nowack[17] Roundabout Theatre Company
2014–2015 Disgraced Isaac Lyceum Theatre

Awards and nominations

Year Title Award Result
2010 Happythankyoumoreplease Sundance Film Festival Audience Award Won
2010 Happythankyoumoreplease Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Award Nominated

References

  1. "2012 Sundance Film Festival".
  2. 1 2 Spence, Rebecca (2008-03-12). "Radnor: Not Your Average TV Star". The Jewish Daily Forward. Retrieved 2008-03-13.
  3. "Josh Radnor on Talmud and 'Liberal Arts' – The Arty Semite – Forward.com". Blogs.forward.com. 2012-09-13. Retrieved 2012-11-14.
  4. "Josh Radnor: Heart versus head - 'its a big theme of my life' | The Jewish Chronicle". Thejc.com. 2012-10-04. Retrieved 2012-11-14.
  5. 1 2 "Josh Radnor: How I Met Your Mother on CBS".
  6. "NYU Graduate Acting Alumni". 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-01.
  7. "Josh Radnor Trivia — Josh Radnor Facts — Josh Radnor Notes". Tv.com. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
  8. "New York Times, Theater".
  9. Cotter, James (2008-07-26). "article". Times Herald. Archived from the original on February 2, 2009.
  10. Angelo, Megan (2011-02-27). "How I Met Your City, the Real One," The New York Times.
  11. Kit, Borys (2011-03-23). "Josh Radnor, Elizabeth Olsen Teaming for Indie 'Liberal Arts' (Exclusive)". The Holiday Reporter. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  12. Sobel, Jon (2014-06-10). "Josh Radnor to Appear in Pulitzer Winner 'Disgraced' on Broadway This Fall". Classicalite.com.
  13. "'Disgraced' Broadway" Playbill (vault), accessed July 23, 2016
  14. Sachs, Mark. "Plenty of spots to meet". Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  15. "» Porn Kills Love Q&A: Filmmaker/Actor Josh Radnor". Fightthenewdrug.org. Retrieved 2016-09-16.
  16. Nicole Evatt (10 October 2016). "Allison Janney clowns around in Rachael Yamagata's new video". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  17. 1 2 "Josh Radnor". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
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