Brian Baumgartner (born November 29, 1972) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as
Kevin Malone on the
NBC sitcom ''
The Office'' (2005–2013) and its related spin-off webisodes, which earned him two
Screen Actors Guild Awards and two
Daytime Emmy Awards.
Baumgartner had starring roles in ''
Into Temptation'' (2009), ''
Ordinary World'' (2016), and ''
Electric Jesus'' (2020). He had a supporting voice role in ''
Rumble'' (2021). Baumgartner had a main voice role as Walter on the
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
animated series ''
Trash Truck'' (2020–2021), as well as recurring roles on the
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...
series ''
Hand of God'' (2017) and the
Hulu
Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...
series ''
The Other Black Girl'' (2023).
Early life and education
Born in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
, Baumgartner attended
Holy Innocents' Episcopal School. He attended and graduated from
The Westminster Schools in 1991, one year before his co-star on ''The Office''
Ed Helms graduated. During his time at The Westminster School, Baumgartner competed in competitive speech events for drama, reaching the national finals his senior year. Between his junior and senior year of high school, he also attended
Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
's National High School Institute, and focused on theater there. Baumgartner later attended
Southern Methodist University, where he majored in theater and graduated in 1995.
He later moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
and was Artistic Director of Hidden Theatre in
Minneapolis
Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
, where he received multiple awards for artistic and acting excellence. Baumgartner later performed regionally at the
Guthrie Theater,
Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Children's Theater Company, and Theatre de la Jeune Lune.
Career
Baumgartner has had roles on the television shows ''
Jake in Progress'', ''
Arrested Development'' and ''
Everwood''. He served as a celebrity talent scout on ''
Last Comic Standing
''Last Comic Standing'' is an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, and again in 2014 and 2015. Each season a comedian from an initially large group of hopefuls was picked as ...
'' with his ''The Office'' co-star
Kate Flannery and starred with
Robin Williams,
Mandy Moore and
John Krasinski in ''
License to Wed''. He also appeared in
Ingrid Michaelson
Ingrid Ellen Michaelson (born December 8, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 2006 single "The Way I Am (Ingrid Michaelson song), The Way I Am" and her 2014 single "Girls Chase Boys", both of which achieved success ...
's music video for "Time Machine".
''The Office''
Baumgartner is best known for portraying accountant
Kevin Malone in
the American remake of the British series ''
The Office''. In June 2007, he won a
Daytime Emmy Award
The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...
for Outstanding Broadband ProgramComedy for his work on ''
The Office: The Accountants'' webisodes. His co-stars
Angela Kinsey and
Oscar Nunez also shared the award. In 2020, he hosted and executive produced ''An Oral History of The Office'', a podcast for Spotify that featured interviews with his ''The Office'' co-stars. In 2021, he hosted and executive produced a podcast for iHeart: ''The Office Deep Dive with Brian Baumgartner.'' This podcast features the full-length, in-depth interviews with the cast and crew originally heard in ''An Oral History of The Office.''
Personal life
Baumgartner is married to Celeste Ackelson. Together they have a daughter.
Filmography
Film
Television
Web series
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baumgartner, Brian
1972 births
Living people
Male actors from Atlanta
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American film and television podcasters
The Westminster Schools alumni
Southern Methodist University alumni
20th-century American people
21st-century American male actors