Jack McBrayer

McBrayer was born in Macon, Georgia, and moved to Conyers, Georgia, when he was 15. He attended Heritage High School and studied theater administration at the University of Evansville.^[4] He also spent a semester abroad in England, where he studied at Harlaxton College in Harlaxton, Lincolnshire.^[5] At the age of 18, he had a pneumothorax. He said that it felt like a heart attack and it was one of the worst pains of his life.^[6]

From 1995 to 2002, he worked at The Second City and IO Theater in Chicago,^[4] an experience that introduced him to 30 Rock creator Tina Fey and prepared him for his role on her show.^[1] McBrayer appeared in over 80 sketches on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (2002–04), often lampooning his own Southern upbringing by playing stereotypical hillbilly characters. On August 10, 2007, and September 20, 2008, he made cameo appearances on Late Night playing Kenneth Parcell from 30 Rock. During the first appearance, O'Brien remarked to him, "I thought you were above this now." McBrayer later reprised his role as Kenneth twice (November 24, 2009, and January 13, 2010) after O'Brien's switch to The Tonight Show. He appeared on O'Brien's Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour at stops in Eugene, Oregon, Universal City, California (on the Universal Studios lot where O'Brien taped Tonight), and the final tour stop in Atlanta.^[7][8]

In 2008, he was featured throughout the video for "Touch My Body" by Mariah Carey. McBrayer said he accidentally hit Carey in the face with a Frisbee during the shooting for the video.^[4] McBrayer also appears in the first episode in the fifth season of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! as a spokesman in a spoof advertisement for the fictional "Diarrhea-phragm."^[9] He worked as a voice actor in the American animated series Ugly Americans^[10] and has voiced Irving DuBois on Phineas and Ferb since 2009.

In 2010, he played a role in Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. He regularly appears in the skit "Knock Knock Joke of the Day" on the hit children's television show, Yo Gabba Gabba! since season 2^[11] and stars in Craig McCracken's TV show Wander Over Yonder on the Disney Channel. In 2011, he also appeared in The Simpsons, in the season 22 episode, "The Great Simpsina" as Ewell Freestone, 'Peach Guy.' In 2012, McBrayer lent his voice to the Disney animated film Wreck-It Ralph, playing the title character's video game opponent and eventual friend Fix-It Felix Jr. In 2013, he starred alongside Los Angeles Clippers player Blake Griffin in Kia commercials, and appeared in a commercial for Barnes & Noble.^[12] McBrayer's Adult Swim series The Jack and Triumph Show premiered in February 2015. In September 2016, on the season 10 premiere episode of The Big Bang Theory, McBrayer played Penny's older brother Randall.

In 2018, McBrayer was one of the actors who voiced the audiobook A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo.^[13]

In December 2018, it was announced McBrayer would make his West End stage debut in the transfer of the Broadway musical Waitress, playing the role of Ogie, until June 15, 2019.^[14] The production opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London on February 8, 2019. In June 2019, he appeared on ITV's The Sara Cox Show.

In 2020, McBrayer had a recurring role on the Quibi comedy-mystery series Mapleworth Murders.^[15] In 2021, he appeared as a contestant on a Season 6 episode of the Netflix baking competition series Nailed It!.^[16] In 2024, he began hosting the show Zillow Gone Wild on HGTV.^[17]