John Michael Lutz (born April 23, 1973) is an American actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is best known for playing J. D. Lutz on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

sitcom ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satire, satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live' ...

'', and for his work as a writer on the NBC series ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' for seven seasons. In 2014, he joined the writing staff of the NBC late-night talk show ''

Late Night with Seth Meyers ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' is an American late-night news and political satire variety talk show hosted by Seth Meyers on NBC. The show premiered on February 24, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. Airing w ...

''.

Early life

Lutz was born in

Pipestone, Minnesota Pipestone is a city in and the county seat of Pipestone County, Minnesota. The population was 4,215 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is also the site of the Pipestone National Monument. History Pipestone was platted in Oc ...

, the son of a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

minister. He grew up in suburban

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

and

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. He has two brothers: Jeremy, a math teacher in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, and Joel; and a sister, Jaime. He attended

Valparaiso University Valparaiso University (Valpo) is a private university in Valparaiso, Indiana, United States. It is an independent Lutheran university with five colleges. It enrolls nearly 2,300 students and has a campus. The university is known for its Luthe ...

in Valparaiso, Indiana, where he was a member of the

Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college Fraternities and sororities, fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College, which is now the University of ...

fraternity, majoring in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

and minoring in

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

. He performed in university theatre productions during his last three semesters on campus.

Career

Lutz began his professional career as a writer-performer with Chicago's ImprovOlympic and

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise. It is the oldest improvisational theater troupe to be continuously based in Chicago, with training programs and live theaters in Toronto and New York. Since its debut in 1959, it has b ...

theaters. He was hired at

's ''

'' in February 2004 after spending three years touring with Second City. NBC flew him in first-class to New York for a face-to-face interview with

Lorne Michaels Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian and American television writer and film producer. He created and produced ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and produced the ''Late Night (franchise) ...

, the creator and executive producer of the sketch comedy show. During this time, he has also appeared in small roles on ''SNL''. Lutz played the role of J. D. Lutz on the NBC sitcom ''

''. Lutz left ''SNL'' in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, after becoming a main cast member during its 4th season, and he stayed until the series completion in January 2013. His character was an ostensibly part-

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

and apparently bisexual sketch comedy writer from

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

often targeted by his co-workers for his meek demeanor. Lutz made frequent appearances in the long-running hit improv show ''ASSSSCAT 3000'' at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York City. Starting in November 2010, Lutz has been performing at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York with fellow ''30 Rock'' star Scott Adsit in the two-man improv show ''John and Scott''. He and Scott perform long-form improv with a single suggestion from an audience member. The show has been very successful and is still running as of April, 2019. On October 17, 2011, he appeared in an episode of ''

The Good Wife ''The Good Wife'' is an American legal political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in law ...

''. Lutz wrote a radio play titled ''Escape from Virtual Island'' released on

Audible Audible may refer to: * Audible (service), an online audiobook store * Audible (American football), a tactic used by quarterbacks * ''Audible'' (film), a short documentary film featuring a deaf high school football player * Audible finish or ru ...

in April 2020. The voice cast includes Paul Rudd,

Jack McBrayer Jack McBrayer (; born May 27, 1973) is an American actor and comedian. He gained national exposure for his portrayal of characters on '' Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' and as Kenneth Parcell in ''30 Rock''. For his role in ''30 Rock'', McBraye ...

Paula Pell Paula Pell (born April 15, 1963) is an American comedy writer, producer, and actress. She is best known for her work as a writer for the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 2013. For her work on ''SNL'' and '' 30 Rock' ...

and Jane Krakowski. In 2020, Lutz starred in, co-wrote, and executive produced ''

Mapleworth Murders ''Mapleworth Murders'' is an American comedy- mystery television series created and written by Paula Pell and John Lutz, who also star alongside Smoove and Hayley Magnus. It was directed by Claire Scanlon. Lorne Michaels and Seth Meyers ser ...

'', a comedy-mystery series for

Quibi Quibi ( ) was an American short-form streaming platform that generated content for viewing on mobile devices. It was founded in Los Angeles in August 2018 as NewTV by Jeffrey Katzenberg and was led by Meg Whitman as CEO. The service raised $ ...

, opposite

Personal life

Lutz is married to ''

'' contributor and ''30 Rock'' co-star Sue Galloway, with whom he has two children.

Filmography

Acting

Writing

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lutz, John 1973 births Living people American male comedians American male television actors American people of German descent American television writers American male television writers Male actors from Minnesota People from Pipestone, Minnesota Valparaiso University alumni 21st-century American male actors Male actors from Chicago Male actors from Detroit Screenwriters from Chicago Writers from Detroit Comedians from Chicago Screenwriters from Michigan Screenwriters from Minnesota 21st-century American comedians Late Night with Seth Meyers 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American male writers Comedians from Minnesota Comedians from Detroit