Drake Bell

Jared Drake Bell (born June 27, 1986) is an American actor and musician.

Bell was born on June 27, 1986, in Newport Beach, California, the son of former professional billiards player, Robin Dodson, and Robert Bell.

His parents divorced when he was five years old.

While growing up in Orange County, Bell went to OCSA for school and skateboarded while regularly attending punk rock concerts, the music of which he cites as an influence.

He received a GED.

Bell started acting at the age of five, encouraged by his father who attempted to put him into Little League Baseball and other sports with no success before finding Bell's talent in public speaking and his confidence when impersonating people he'd watch on television.

Bell stated, "I was five, and my dad kind of said, 'Hey, you wanna be an actor?' and I said, 'Sure,' that kind of thing, you know? I was kind of put into it by my dad but, you know, good. I really love it, and I still do it."

Bell's first televised commercial was for Whirlpool Appliances.

Born in Newport Beach, California, he began his career as an actor in the early 1990s at the age of five with his first televised appearance on Home Improvement, and also appeared in several commercials as a child.

Bell is best known for his starring roles on Nickelodeon's The Amanda Show and Drake & Josh.

He also starred in a trilogy of The Fairly OddParents movies on Nickelodeon, and voiced Peter Parker / Spider-Man in numerous animated series on Disney XD.

"I had to sit under a tree and eat a Popsicle," Bell later stated, "I thought, 'I could get used to this.'" His first television show appearance was on a 1994 episode of Home Improvement.

He appeared in the 1996 film Jerry Maguire, and had a small role in the Seinfeld episode "The Frogger" in 1998.

In 1999, he acted in a commercial for Pokémon Red and Blue and in the film Dragonworld: The Legend Continues.

From 1999 until the show was cancelled in 2002, Bell was a featured performer on The Amanda Show.

He also made a guest appearance on the series The Nightmare Room.

In addition to acting, Bell has a career in music starting in the early 2000s, at the time of his appearances on The Amanda Show, with a band named Drake 24/7.

He also co-wrote and performed the theme song to Drake & Josh, entitled "Found a Way".

In 2000, he was nominated for a Young Artist Award for his role as Cage Redding in the television film The Jack Bull.

He began to play guitar at the age of 12.

He received his first official guitar lessons from Roger Daltrey when he starred with him in the 2001 film Chasing Destiny.

In 2003, Bell was cast as Drake Parker alongside Amanda Show costar Josh Peck on the Nickelodeon series Drake & Josh.

In 2005, he independently released his debut album, Telegraph.

His song "Found a Way" was featured as the theme song and is therefore included on the show's soundtrack, released on February 22, 2005.

During this time period, he appeared as himself on Nickelodeon's Zoey 101 in the episode "Spring Fling", where he performed "Highway to Nowhere", which is also featured on the Drake & Josh soundtrack.

He also had his first of three consecutive wins at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for "Favorite TV Actor".

In 2005, Bell co-starred alongside Drake & Josh co-star Miranda Cosgrove with Dennis Quaid in Yours, Mine and Ours.

Telegraph, Bell's debut album, was released independently on August 23, 2005.

The album includes 12 tracks.

All the tracks were written only by Bell with the exception of "Highway to Nowhere".

His second album, It's Only Time, was released in 2006 after signing with Universal Motown Records and debuted at No. 81 on the Billboard 200, selling over 23,000 copies during its first week of release.

Being an independent release, the album ran out of print, and was re-released on August 7, 2007.

"Down We Fall" was played on an episode of Drake & Josh titled "Number 1 Fan".

His first video album, Drake Bell in Concert, was released in 2008.

It debuted at No. 81 on the Top 100 Mexican Albums Chart.

Bell released an EP in 2011 called A Reminder independently.

It's Only Time has sold 178,000 copies in the United States as of 2012.

In 2014, Bell released his third album, Ready Steady Go! under indie label Surfdog Records.

Ready Steady Go! debuted at No. 182 on the Billboard 200, and sold 2,000 copies in its first week of release.

In 2021, Bell pleaded guilty to "attempted endangering [of] children and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles".