Raviv Ullman

Raviv Chanan "Ricky" Ullman (רביב אולמן; born 24 January 1986) is an Israeli-American actor, director, and musician.

He is best known for playing Phil Diffy, the main character in the Disney Channel series Phil of the Future.

Ullman was born in Eilat, Israel, to American Jewish parents Laura Ullman (née Ehrenkranz), a teacher, and Brian Ullman, a printer.

He has a younger sister and younger brother named Tali and Nadav, respectively.

After his first birthday, his family left their kibbutz in Israel for Norwalk, Connecticut, United States, and then to Fairfield, Connecticut the following year.

When Ullman was younger, his father worked as a clown.

While attending summer camp, he played Peter Pan, which helped him discover his talents in acting, singing, dancing, and reading drama novels.

Ullman was raised Orthodox Jewish.

His maternal grandfather, Joseph Ehrenkranz, was an Orthodox rabbi in Stamford, Connecticut.

Ullman is a first cousin, twice removed, of former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman.

Lieberman's mother and Ullman's matrilineal great-grandmother were sisters.

Ullman taught himself how to play the trombone.

He received a 1998–1999 Best Actor nomination from the Connecticut Critics' Awards for his character Stanley in Stamford Theater Work's A Rosen by Any Other Name.

He had small roles in film and television shows, notably portraying Christopher Knight in the 2000 movie Growing Up Brady.

Ullman is best known for his starring role as Phil Diffy, a teen from the year 2121 on Disney Channel's Phil of the Future, a series that debuted June 2004.

He also starred as Roscoe in Disney's made-for-television film Pixel Perfect. During this period, Ullman appeared in other Disney Channel programming, such as a guest role on That's So Raven, and was an identified member of the Disney Channel Circle of Stars, appearing with other members of the Circle in the music video for "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes," where he sang as well as played the drums.

Ullman was selected to attend the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership Foundation (HOBY) youth leadership program of Connecticut in March 2002 where he was selected as the "outstanding ambassador" enabling him to attend the HOBY World Leadership Congress in the summer of 2002.

He went to Hillel Academy and is a graduate of Fairfield Warde High School.

He was active in National Conference of Synagogue Youth.

Ullman's first professional role was as Louis in the national touring company of The King and I along with Jesse McCartney.

Other productions he worked on include Peter Pan at the Polka Dot Playhouse, The Music Man with the New England Repertory Company, and Just People at the Long Wharf Theatre.

In 2004, Ullman starred as Sam in ABC Family's television film Searching for David's Heart.

He appeared in a string of independent films including The Big Bad Swim and Driftwood (2006), Normal Adolescent Behavior (2007), and Prom Wars (2008).

During this period, he guest-starred in TV shows like Big Love and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

While Ullman previously went by the stage name Ricky, he started using his real name in 2006 when he guest-starred on an episode of House and continued to use Raviv on all projects since.

In June 2006, Ullman and a few of his friends created parody hip-hop music videos under the name the Webee Boys.

In December 2006, Ullman met actor Douglas Smith of Big Love fame and together they formed a band called Goodbye Ian.

The group expanded to as many as seven people and later changed its name to His Orchestra.

Ullman was cast as Kip in the Lifetime sitcom Rita Rocks, which premiered in 2009.

His character was the drummer in the titular character's band and her daughter's boyfriend.

The show was canceled after two seasons.

Ullman plays drums and glockenspiel in the band, which released its debut album, Field Guide to the Wilds, on 24 February 2009.

After completing Rita Rocks in 2009, Ullman had some small roles in short films, television, and film but began to focus his career on theater acting, starring in Off-Broadway and regional theater productions.

From January 2012 to 24 March 2012, Ullman starred as the character Alex in the New Group's production of Russian Transport Off-Broadway in New York.

On 30 April 2012, it was announced that Ullman joined the cast of Alena Smith's new Off-Broadway play The Bad Guys.

It began performances on 22 May at the McGinn/Cazale Theater on the Upper West Side in New York City.

In 2014, Ullman acted opposite of Holly Hunter and Richard Chamberlain in the first revival of ''Sticks and Bones.

Sticks and Bones'' opened 6 November 2014 and closed 14 December 2014.

Ullman starred in the 2017 benefit play Right Before I Go at The Town Hall.

In 2018, Ullman performed in the Roundabout Theatre Company Underground's much-lauded production of Usual Girls by Ming Peiffer.