Who is Brett Gelman?
Brett Clifford Gelman was born in Highland Park, Illinois USA, on 6 October 1976 – his zodiac sign is Libra, and he holds American nationality. He’s an actor, comedian, film writer and producer, with more than 100 acting credits to his name, perhaps still known best for his portrayal of Hal in the 2010 action crime comedy movie “The Other Guys”, written and directed by Adam McKay, and which starred Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg and Derek Jeter. It follows the lives of two New York City detectives, and the movie won three of the 18 awards for which it was nominated.
Early life and education
Brett was raised Jewish in Highland Park alongside his younger sister, who’s today a speech pathologist, by their father Ira who was a photo salesman, and their mother Candace who was a housewife.
Brett became interested in acting while attending Highland Park High School, appearing in many plays performed at the school, as well as in a couple performed at a community theatre. He was interested in several other activities during his teenage years, including playing the guitar and practicing creative writing.
Upon matriculating in 1994, Brett enrolled at the University of North Carolina’s School of the Arts, from which he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in theatre in 1998.
Roles in TV series
Prior to launching his career on TV, Brett was a stand-up comedian for a couple of years, and was one half of the duo Cracked Out, often performing at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.
Brett made his debut TV series appearance in the 2003 comedy “Cage Match”. His following role came in 2007, when cast to play three characters in three episodes of the science fiction comedy “Fat Guy Stuck in Internet”, and the following years saw him appear in an episode or two of several series, such as the comedy “Honesty”, another comedy “Human Giant”, and the horror comedy “College Humor Originals”.
In 2012, Brett was cast to play Mr. Gilbert in the comedy “The Inbetweeners”, created by Brad Copeland, and which starred Bubba Lewis, Zack Pearlman and Joey Pollari. It follows the lives of four high school friends, and the series was nominated for a Guild of Music Supervisors Award for Best Music Supervision for Reality Television.
Brett went on to star as Mr. K in the comedy “Go On”, and he could then have been seen appearing in the comedies “Ghost Girls”, “NTSF:SD:SUV” and “The League”.
The year 2018 saw him play George in the comedy “Camping”, created by Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner, and which starred Jennifer Garner, David Tennant and Juliette Lewis. It’s about a married couple’s camping trip gone wrong, and the series won one of the two awards for which it’s been nominated.
Since 2017, Brett’s been portraying Murray Bauman in the critically acclaimed fantasy horror drama “Stranger Things”, created by Matt and Ross Duffer, and which co-stars Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard and Winona Ryder. It follows a young girl with special powers and her friends, and the series has won 85 awards, including seven Primetime Emmys, while it’s been nominated for 248 other awards.
Stranger Things Star Brett Gelman’s Grand Late-Show Entrance https://t.co/EhnjURI1SG
— Brett Gelman (@brettgelman) July 28, 2022
Roles in movies
Brett made his debut film appearance in the 2004 comedy “Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story”, while a couple of his following notable performances were in the 2007 romantic comedy “Watching the Detectives”, the 2008 comedy “Stick It in Detroit”, and the 2009 comedy “May the Best Man Win”.
The year 2011 saw him play TV Director in the popular adventure comedy “A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas”, directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson, and which starred Kal Penn, John Cho and Neil Patrick Harris. It follows Christmas misadventures of stoners Harold Lee and Kumar Patel, and the movie was nominated for an International Film Music Critics Award for Best Original Score for a Comedy Film.
A couple of Brett’s following roles were in the 2013 comedy “Awful Nice”, the comedy drama “Joshy”, and the 2016 comedy “Flock of Dudes”, both in 2016.
In 2017, he played the supporting character Robert in the comedy drama “Wilson”, directed by Craig Johnson, and which stared Woody Harrelson, Sandra Lee-Oian Thomas and Shaun J. Brown. It follows a lonely, neurotic but honest man who’s reunited with his estranged wife, and has met his teenage daughter for the first time; the movie was nominated for a Columbus Film Critics Association Award for Actor of the Year for an exemplary body of work – Woody Harrelson.
Three of Brett’s most recent film roles have been in the animated adventure comedy “Arlo the Alligator Boy” (voice role), the action war thriller “Without Remorse” both in 2021, and the 2022 musical comedy “Metal Lords”.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ccyr3Utr2h7/
Other credits
Brett has 22 writing and 14 producing credits. Some of his most notable writing works include the 2011 short comedy film “Tim & Gelman Have Lunch”, the 2015 horror comedy movie “Dinner with Family with Brett Gelman and Brett Gelman’s Family”, and 10 episodes of the 2016 comedy series “The Eric Andre Show”. Some of Brett’s producing credits include the 2008 comedy film “The Scariest Show on Television”, the 2014 short comedy movie “Pauline Alone”, and the 2017 comedy film “Lemon”, in which he also starred.
He’s received special thanks for the 2012 drama movie “In Our Nature”, the 2016 short film “Man Rots from the Head”, and the 2020 crime comedy movie “Zola”.
Brett’s made a guest appearance in many talk-shows, most recently in “The Late Late Show with James Corden”, “All About”, and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”.
Awards and nominations
Brett’s won one of the three awards for which he’s been nominated: a 2017 L. A. Comedy Film Festival and Screenplay Competition Award for Best Actor in a Feature Film, for “Room for Rent”. He was also nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2020, for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, for both “Stranger Things” and “Fleabag”.
Love life and wife
Brett prefers to keep the details of his love life away from the media’s attention, but it’s still known that he was once a married man. He exchanged vows with American film producer and director Janicza Michelle Bravo Ford in December 2015, in a private ceremony attended by only the closest of their friends and family members. The two didn’t have children together before divorcing in 2018.
Brett’s today in a relationship with American musician Ari Dayan, who’s kept him company during some of his red carpet events; there are rumors circulating the internet claiming that Brett and Ari have recently become engaged, but this is yet to be confirmed.
As of August 2022, Brett’s in a relationship with Ari Dayan, was once married to Janicza Michelle Bravo Ford, and doesn’t have children.
Hobbies and other interests
Brett’s quite active on Instagram, and seems to be enjoying the attention which he’s receiving from his more than 1.2 million followers; he’s uploaded close to 2,000 pictures onto the network, most of which feature him during his everyday life.
Brett’s interested in music, and he and American actor and comedian Jon Daly were the comedy rap duo Cracked Out.
He’s a fan of comedy podcasts, and has been hosting his own “Gelmania” since 2011.
Brett’s passionate about travelling, and has been all around the world for both work and pleasure, while his dream travel destination is Sydney, Australia.
He has his own favorite actors and actresses, some of whom are Jim Carrey, the late Robin Williams, and Julia Roberts – a couple of his favorite movies include “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective – When Nature Calls”, “Patch Adams”, and “The Runaway Bride”.
Age, height and net worth
Brett’s age is 45. He has short brown hair and brown eyes, his height is 6ft 1ins (1.85m) and he weighs around 165lbs (75kgs).
As of August 2022, Brett’s net worth’s been estimated at over $500,000.
