Ed Helms

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Ed Helms
Helms in 2025
Born
Edward Parker Helms

(1974-01-24) January 24, 1974 (age 52)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
EducationOberlin College (BA)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
Years active1998–present
Political partyDemocratic
Children2

Edward Parker Helms[1] (born January 24, 1974)[2] is an American actor and comedian. From 2002 to 2006, he was a correspondent on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He played paper salesman Andy Bernard in the NBC sitcom The Office (2006–2013), and starred as Stuart "Stu" Price in The Hangover trilogy. He later starred in the comedy series Rutherford Falls (2021–2022), which he co-wrote.

Helms has also starred in dramatic films and comedic films such as Cedar Rapids, Jeff, Who Lives at Home (both 2011), We're the Millers (2013), Vacation (2015), Chappaquiddick (2017), A Futile and Stupid Gesture, Tag (both 2018) and Together Together (2021). He provided his voice to the animated films Everyone's Hero (2006), Monsters vs. Aliens (2009), The Lorax (2012), Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017) and Ron's Gone Wrong (2021).

He has received six Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series winning in 2008. He also received a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Writing for a Comedy or Variety Special for The Fake News with Ted Nelms (2018).

Early life

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Helms was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia.[3] He is of English, Scots-Irish, German, Dutch and French descent. He had open-heart surgery at age 13 to correct a severe congenital heart defect involving supravalvular aortic and pulmonic stenosis.[4][5] According to Helms, his surgery lasted nine hours, and he was kept in an intensive care unit for one week after.[6]

He attended Interlochen Center for the Arts as a youth and graduated in 1992 from The Westminster Schools, one year after The Office castmate Brian Baumgartner.[7] Helms entered Oberlin College as a geology major, but graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Arts in film theory and technology. He spent a semester as an exchange student at New York University Tisch School of the Arts.[8][9][6] During his college years, he turned down a summer internship with Late Night with Conan O'Brien because he had committed to an internship with WNBC's press and publicity department.

Career

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Early work

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After graduating from Oberlin, Helms began his comedy and acting career as a writer and performer with New York City sketch comedy bands. While studying improvisation with the Upright Citizens Brigade troupe,[10] he was a trainee film editor at Crew Cuts, a post-production facility in New York City, where he recorded some rough voiceover tracks that eventually led to paying voiceover work. He soon found a talent agent.[11]

Television

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Helms in Dublin, Ireland, 2009

Helms was performing comedy in New York City when, as he recalled in a 2005 interview, "The Daily Show had a sort of open audition with a casting company that I had dealt with. I read for the part, and got it".[12]

In his April 2002 to mid-2006 tenure on the satirical news program, Helms contributed "field reports" in addition to hosting various segments of the show such as "Digital Watch", "Ad Nauseam" and "Mark Your Calendar". He has also contributed to the "This Week in God" segment. His 2005 segment "Battle of the Bulge", about the wearing of Speedo bathing suits on the beaches of Cape May, New Jersey, and his "Mass. Hysteria" segment, where he reported criticism of Massachusetts when it became the first state to legalize gay marriage, are regarded by TV Guide as his signature segments.[13]

Helms left the show in 2006, but occasionally returned for brief appearances over the next two years. On July 21, 2008, he returned for "Obama Quest"—a segment covering Senator Barack Obama's trip to Iraq. He also occasionally narrated the "Prescott Group" educational films on sister series The Colbert Report. In late July 2006, NBC announced that Helms was added to the cast of the mockumentary The Office, alongside fellow The Daily Show correspondent Steve Carell, in a recurring role as Andy Bernard, a nostalgic Cornell graduate who is obsessed with a cappella music. Helms was a series regular starting with the 3rd season.[14] "He had so much in common with this character we wanted to create," recalled Paul Lieberstein, a writer for the show who also plays Toby Flenderson, the human resources representative at the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin. "I can't remember when they started merging."[15] Helms returned to The Daily Show on December 5, 2006, saying that he had been working "undercover at a paper company in Scranton", an allusion to his stint on The Office.

Helms at premiere of Obvious Child, 2014

In February 2007, NBC announced that Helms had been promoted to series regular on The Office, and in February 2010 Helms was added to the show's opening credits. He quickly became a solidifying part of the cast, and one of the show's producers. In June 2009, in an interview with National Public Radio, he said that, like his character Andy Bernard, he had an interest in a cappella music.

Helms has also appeared on such television shows as The Mindy Project, Wilfred, NTSF:SD:SUV, Tanner on Tanner, Childrens Hospital, Arrested Development, and Cheap Seats, and in various Comedy Central specials. He was the celebrity guest on the August 3, 2015 survival-skills reality show Running Wild with Bear Grylls, coming to grips with his fear of heights on the Colorado Mountains.[16] He has done commercial voiceover work in campaigns for Burger King, Doritos, Hotels.com, Sharp Aquos, and Advair asthma medication. He voices Neil the Angel, a character on Cartoon Network's Weighty Decisions series. He plays guitar, banjo, piano, as well as a sitar, in some of his entertainment performances.

He co-created the Peacock sitcom Rutherford Falls with Sierra Teller Ornelas (now showrunner) and Michael Schur.

Film

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Helms has had minor roles in numerous films including Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story, Meet Dave, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, I'll Believe You, Evan Almighty, Semi-Pro, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard.

Helms co-starred in the blockbuster The Hangover (2009) and its sequels The Hangover Part II (2011) and The Hangover Part III (2013) as Stuart "Stu" Price, a dentist. All three films in the series were box office successes. Helms also starred in the 2011 film Cedar Rapids. He played the lead role, Rusty Griswold, in the 2015 film Vacation, a sequel/spin-off of the National Lampoon's Vacation series. Also in 2015 Helms starred in Jessie Nelson's movie, Love the Coopers. In 2017, he starred in The Clapper as Eddie Krumble, a paid audience member for infomercials. Helms played Joe Gargan in the 2018 film Chappaquiddick.

In 2012, Helms voiced the Once-ler in The Lorax. He also voiced the titular character in the DreamWorks animated film Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017).

Other work

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Helms is in a bluegrass band called The Lonesome Trio with friends Ian Riggs and Jacob Tilove. They formed the band when they were at Oberlin College and still play a few shows every year. They recorded an eponymous album in summer 2013 shortly after appearing on the Bluegrass Situation stage at the Bonnaroo festival, which Helms curated.[17][18] Helms is a self-confessed "bluegrass nerd" and founded the annual LA Bluegrass Situation festival.[19] Helms plays banjo, guitar and piano.[20]

He and Amy Reitnouer co-founded a music blog also titled The Bluegrass Situation. It summarizes its mission as "Creating and covering content across every level of the international scene, ranging from timeless traditional bluegrass, blues, and old-time to contemporary singer/songwriter, Americana, folk, and everything rootsy beyond and in between."[21] On April 22, 2020, The Bluegrass Situation debuted The Whiskey Sour Happy Hour, a weekly music and comedy program benefiting the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund and Direct Relief.

Helms features in the video for Mumford and Sons' song "Hopeless Wanderer".[22] In 2015, he had a cameo appearance in the band's music video for the song "The Wolf".[23]

Helms launched his own production company, Pacific Electric Picture Company, in 2013. The company had a two-year development deal with Universal Television.[24]

In 2013, Helms co-wrote, produced, and starred in the Yahoo! Screen web series Tiny Commando, about a former Navy SEAL who is accidentally shrunken in a military experiment to four inches in height. Subsequently, he is deployed to places that his unique size enables him to infiltrate.[25]

In 2024, Helms participated with his partner, Michael Falbo at Pacific Electric Picture Company, in SeriesFest 11's Storytellers Initiative to discover episodic content featuring uplifting and heartwarming comedies. The script competition provides artists the opportunity to share diverse ideas through visual media and create groundbreaking television. The winning artist(s) will receive the opportunity for a development deal with Pacific Electric Picture Co.

Political views

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Helms is a board member at RepresentUs,[26] a non-profit group that works to pass anti-corruption laws in the United States.

Helms partnered with VoteRiders in 2022 to encourage volunteers to write letters and send texts to registered voters to let them know how to overcome voter ID barriers that could prevent them from casting a ballot.[27]

In 2024, he appeared alongside Tim Walz at a rally in Reno, Nevada, in support of Kamala Harris's presidential campaign.[28][29]

Personal life

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Helms is married.[30] In a podcast with Jordan Klepper in August 2024, Helms mentioned he has two children.[31]

Honors

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Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2004 Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story Bunker McLaughlin Film debut
2006 Everyone's Hero Hobo Louie (voice)
Night at the Museum Dentist Deleted scene
2007 Evan Almighty Ark Reporter / Ed Carson
I'll Believe You Leon
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story Stage Manager
2008 Semi-Pro Turtleneck Reporter
Confessions of a Shopaholic Garret E. Barton Uncredited
Meet Dave Number 2
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay Interpreter
Lower Learning Maurice Bunting
2009 The Smell of Success Chet Pigford
The Hangover Stuart "Stu" Price
Monsters vs. Aliens News Reporter (voice)
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Larry Daley's Assistant Uncredited
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard Paxton Harding
2011 Cedar Rapids Tim Lippe Also executive producer
The Hangover Part II Stuart "Stu" Price
Jeff, Who Lives at Home Pat
High Road Barry Uncredited
2012 The Lorax The Once-ler (voice)
2013 We're the Millers Brad Gurdlinger
The Hangover Part III Stuart "Stu" Price
2014 Someone Marry Barry Ben
They Came Together Eggbert
Stretch Karl-with-a-K
2015 Vacation Russell "Rusty" Griswold
Love the Coopers Hank Cooper
2016 Central Intelligence — Executive producer
Kevin Hart: What Now? Bartender
2017 The Clapper Eddie Krumble Also producer
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie Benjamin Krupp / Captain Underpants (voice)
Mune: Guardian of the Moon Spleen (voice)
I Do... Until I Don't Noah Brewing
Chappaquiddick Joseph Gargan
Father Figures Peter Reynolds
2018 A Futile and Stupid Gesture Tom Snyder Also executive producer
Tag Hogan "Hoagie" Malloy
2019 Corporate Animals Brandon Also producer
Penguins[36] Narrator (voice)
2020 Coffee & Kareem Officer James Coffee
2021 Together Together Matt
Ron's Gone Wrong Graham Pudowski (voice)
2023 Family Switch Bill Walker
2026 The Stunt Driver [37]
TBA Smudge the Blades TBA [38]

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2002 Premium Blend Himself Episode: "6.2"
2002–2009 The Daily Show Correspondent 207 episodes
2004 Cheap Seats Bradley Wallace 2 episodes
2004, 2013 Arrested Development James Carr 3 episodes
2005 Sunday Pants Neil the Angel (voice) "Weighty Decisions" segments
2006 The Colbert Report Narrator – The On Notice Board: A Wonder of the Modern Age Episode: "Linda Hirshman"
Samurai Love God Samurai Love God (voice) TV miniseries
2006–2013 The Office Andy Bernard Main cast (seasons 3–9); 163 episodes
2008 Upright Citizens Brigade Guest Monologist Uncredited
American Dad! Mr. Buckley (voice) Episode: "Stanny Slickers II: The Legend of Ollie's Gold"
Wainy Days Doctor Episode: "Angel"
2008–2010 Childrens Hospital Doctor / TV Announcer 5 episodes
2009 Family Guy Al Gore (voice) Episode: "FOX-y Lady"
2010 Funny or Die Presents Cast (Holdup) 4 episodes
2011 Saturday Night Live Himself (host) Episode: "Ed Helms/Paul Simon"
Wilfred Daryl Episode: "Acceptance"
NTSF:SD:SUV:: Eddie 2 episodes
2012 The Mindy Project Dennis 2 episodes
Ugly Americans Dennis Episode: "Mark Loves Dick"
Comedy Bang! Bang! Himself Episode: "Ed Helms Wears A Grey Shirt & Brown Boots"
2013 Kroll Show Sex in the City Dude Episode: "San Diego Diet"
Saturday Night Live Ted Pelms Uncredited
Episode: "Zach Galifianakis/Of Monsters and Men"
2014 Brooklyn Nine-Nine Jack Danger Episode: "USPIS"
2015 The Muppets Himself Episode: "Pig Out"
Running Wild with Bear Grylls Himself Episode: "Ed Helms"
2015–2020 BoJack Horseman Kyle (voice) 3 episodes
2016 Drunk History William McMasters Episode: "Scoundrels"
2017 Angie Tribeca Dr. Clive Mister Episode: "Germs of Endearment"
The Fake News with Ted Nelms Ted Nelms TV special; also creator, writer and executive producer[39]
2020 Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun Ed Helms/Egg Helms Also executive producer
2021–2022 Rutherford Falls Nathan Rutherford 18 episodes; also co-creator, writer and executive producer
2022 Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock Lyle Craggle (voice) 2 episodes
Big Mouth Bros 4 Life Member #1 (voice) Episode: "Dadda Dia!"
2023 Agent Elvis Robert Goulet (voice) 4 episodes

Music videos

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Year Title Artist
2013 "Hopeless Wanderer" Mumford & Sons
"Clouds" (Celebrity Music Video) Zach Sobiech[40]
2015 "The Wolf" Mumford & Sons
2016 "Don't Wanna Know" Maroon 5
2017 "Wanna Do Day"[41] Lisa Loeb

Web series

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Year Title Role Notes
2015 Jake and Amir Mickey Episode: "The Auditions"

Bibliography

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  • Ed Helms, SNAFU: the Definitive Guide to History's Greatest Screwups, New York, Grand Central Publishing, 2025. "Spanning from the 1950’s to the 2000’s ... SNAFU ... offers ... insights that ... might [help] prevent history from repeating itself again and again."

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Hangover Part III Set Visit : Ed Helms – Moviehole Archived April 13, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Moviehole.net. Retrieved on February 10, 2014.
  2. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  3. ^ [1]. Retrieved on February 2, 2024.
  4. ^ 5 Facts About Me: Ed Helms – Ed Helms. People.com. Retrieved on February 10, 2014.
  5. ^ Goldman, Andrew. (May 27, 2011) Hangover 2 Star Ed Helms Interview. ELLE. Retrieved on February 10, 2014.
  6. ^ a b Ed Helms on Having Heart Surgery as a Kid on YouTube, May 16, 2017. Jimmy Kimmel Live!
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  13. ^ Rudolph, Ileane (July 27, 2015). "Alumni Association: A roundup of The Daily Show's coolest Graduates". TV Guide. pp 21-22.
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  17. ^ Ed Helms' Bluegrass Situation Superjam with special guests. lineup.bonnaroo.com
  18. ^ The Lonesome Trio. Facebook (April 21, 2013). Retrieved on February 10, 2014.
  19. ^ Bluegrass Situation festival: Banjo, comedy unite Steve Martin, Ed Helms, Los Angeles Times. Articles.latimes.com (April 26, 2011). Retrieved on February 10, 2014.
  20. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  24. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (September 16, 2013) "Ed Helms Launches Production Company, Inks Overall Deal With Universal TV". The Hollywood Reporter.
  25. ^ Rothman, Lily (September 17, 2013). "Ed Helms' Three Favorite Web Series". Time.
  26. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  30. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).[permanent dead link] Helms: "I've been married a couple years, and she's fabulous, and she enjoys a lot more anonymity than I do."
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  33. ^ Kingkade, Tyler (May 27, 2014) "Ed Helms Tells Cornell Graduates To 'Keep Creating Good Old Days'". The Huffington Post.
  34. ^ "2014 Senior Convocation featuring Ed Helms, TV's 'Andy Bernard'". Cornell University. May 24, 2014.
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