Profile of the Day: Paul Rudd

Happy birthday to Paul Rudd! Today the actor turns 53.

Image: Paul Rudd / Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Rudd was born on April 6, 1969 in Passaic, New Jersey to British parents, Michael Rudd and Gloria Irene Granville. His parents were second cousins and were descendants from Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants who moved to England from Poland and Russia. His paternal grandfather changed the family surname from Rudnitsky to Rudd.

Rudd made his acting debut in 1992 in the television drama series Sisters. Three years later, he landed one of his most popular roles in the comedy film Clueless. As his career progressed, Rudd found steady work in comedy and appeared in several Judd Apatow comedies throughout the 2000s including Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Knocked Up. In 2015, Rudd made his debut as the superhero Ant-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The third film in the superhero franchise, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, is set to be release in July 2023.

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