James Urbaniak

Actor

Birthday September 17, 1963

Birth Sign Virgo

Birthplace Bayonne, New Jersey, U.S.

Age 60 years old

Nationality United States

#20952 Most Popular

1963

James Christian Urbaniak (born September 17, 1963) is an American character actor.

1983

Urbaniak's first media appearance occurred in 1983 when, at the age of 20, he went onstage from the audience of Late Night with David Letterman to try his hand at a monologue joke that Letterman had flubbed.

One of his first noteworthy roles was in the avant-garde playwright/director Richard Foreman's The Universe, for which Urbaniak won an Obie.

He has also been acclaimed for his acting in the films Henry Fool and American Splendor, in the latter of which he played legendary cartoonist R. Crumb.

He was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for his role in Thom Pain (based on nothing).

He provides the voice for main character Dr. Thaddeus Venture on The Venture Bros. as well as the Doctor's brother Jonas Venture Junior and the super-villain Phantom Limb.

Urbaniak played a pizza guy in the famous "Whassup?" television commercials for Budweiser.

The commercial was especially prominent on commercial television networks in the United Kingdom, where it became a cultural phenomenon.

He also portrayed the moderator in "Human Centipede Anonymous", a Funny or Die short depicting three men who grapple with their past as a human centipede.

1997

He is best known for his roles as Simon Grim in three Hal Hartley films: Henry Fool (1997), Fay Grim (2006) and Ned Rifle (2014), Robert Crumb in American Splendor (2003), Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture on the animated series The Venture Bros. (2003–2023), Grant Grunderschmidt on Review (2014–2017), and Arthur Tack on Difficult People (2015–2017).

Urbaniak was born in Bayonne, New Jersey and lives in Los Angeles, California.

He is of Polish and Ukrainian descent.

2015

Urbaniak appeared on Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor podcast on May 13, 2015.

From 2015 to 2017, Urbaniak played Arthur Tack for all three seasons of the critically-acclaimed Hulu comedy series Difficult People, opposite Julie Klausner and Billy Eichner.

2017

In 2017, Urbaniak played Dr. Kincaid in the film Wonderstruck, directed by Todd Haynes.

Also in 2017, he played the Maaldorian Doctor on the hit series Supergirl.

2018

In 2018, Urbaniak played the recurring role of Special Agent Owen Quinn on the CBS series Criminal Minds.

2019

In 2019, Urbaniak played Marcus Strang in the film Where'd You Go, Bernadette, written and directed by Richard Linklater.

Also in 2019, he played the recurring role of Gavin Donahue on the Apple TV+ series For All Mankind.

2020

In 2020, Urbaniak played Professor Anthony in the film Tesla, opposite Ethan Hawke.

Also in 2020, he played The Trinket Man on the Netflix series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

In 2021, Urbaniak played Bram in the film Things Heard & Seen, opposite Amanda Seyfried.

Also in 2021, he appeared on the television shows Dickinson, 9-1-1: Lone Star, and as the Backstage Manager on The Morning Show.

In 2022, Urbaniak played the Principal of Grand View High School in the film The Fabelmans, directed by Steven Spielberg.

Also in 2022, he appeared on the television series Made for Love and appeared as Norm Wakely in an episode of the series Better Call Saul.