Joel Edward McHale (born November 20, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, television producer, television personality, and voice artist. He is best known for hosting The Soup and for his role as Jeff Winger on Community.
McHale was born in Rome, Italy, where his father, Jack McHale, worked as Dean of Students at Loyola University Rome Center. His mother, Laurie, is from Vancouver, Canada; and his father is from Chicago, Illinois. Of Irish and Norwegian descent,he was raised Catholic. He grew up on Mercer Island, Washington, and briefly in Haddonfield, New Jersey, near Philadelphia, before returning to his native Washington state.He attended Mercer Island High School.
McHale received a bachelor's degree in History from the University of Washington (1995) and briefly belonged to Theta Chi.
He was recruited to be on the rowing team but later joined the football team. Though most of his teammates received athletic scholarships, McHale was a walk on playing tight end for two years. He received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Professional Actors Training Program at the University of Washington. He is a fan of the Seattle Seahawks.
McHale was part of the Almost Live! cast, a local sketch-comedy television show produced by Seattle's KING-TV (broadcast Channel 5). From 1993 to 1997, he was a member of the improv comedy group at Unexpected Productions, participating in Theatersports! at the Market Theater located in Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle.
After earning his master's degree in acting, McHale moved to Los Angeles and landed small roles in Diagnosis: Murder, CSI: Miami, and Will & Grace. He played a TV reporter in the biopic Lords of Dogtown. He guest-starred as a cast member on the NBC improv comedy show Thank God You're Here during the pilot episode and had a guest role on an episode of Pushing Daisies. McHale also appeared in Spider-Man 2 in a small role as Mr. Jacks, a bank manager.
In 2004 McHale began hosting The Soup, a satirical weekly television show on the "E!" television network. Throughout the show, he takes the audience through the oddities and ridiculous happenings of the week in television. He frequently appears as a co-host on Loveline. He has also had a long association with Circle X Theatre, where he has done several plays. McHale was a weekly guest on The Adam Carolla Show and Mickey and Amelia, and occasional guest on the Opie and Anthony Show.He has been a judge on Iron Chef America. He was involved in the American version of the British TV show The IT Crowd.McHale made a guest appearance on the finale of Last Comic Standing's sixth season, when he recapped the show's events in his typical format of jokes made popular on The Soup. He occasionally appeared on Countdown with Keith Olbermann in a humor sequence closing the show.
McHale starred in the sitcom Community,which premiered in winter 2009, and continued to host The Soup. McHale made an appearance on the first episode of the fifth season of Tosh.0. He played Rex in Ted (2012) and had a short guest stint on the FX show Sons of Anarchy. He played an NYPD officer in the supernatural horror film Deliver Us from Evil.McHale appeared in 3 episodes between the tenth and eleventh seasons of The X-Files in 2016 and 2018, respectively.
McHale played the lead role in the CBS sitcom The Great Indoors, which began airing in the Fall of 2016.
In 2018, McHale was cast in the recurring role of Chris on the second season of the Netflix horror-comedy series Santa Clarita Diet.
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