Ramy Youssef ( ar, رامي يوسف; ; born March 26, 1991)
is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and director of full
Egyptian descent known for his role as Ramy Hassan on the
Hulu
Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...
comedy series ''
Ramy
Ramy is a masculine given name which may refer to:
* Ramy Ashour (born 1987), Egyptian retired squash player
* Ramy Ayach (born 1980), Lebanese singer
* Ramy Bensebaini (born 1995), Algerian footballer
* Ramy Essam (born 1987), Egyptian musician
...
'' (2019–present), for which he got nominated for
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy and a
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...
in 2020. He was also nominated for two
Primetime Emmy Awards
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
:
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series and
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.
In 2021, he was nominated for another
.
Early life
Youssef was born in the
Queens borough of
New York City, to
Egyptian parents, and later raised in
New Jersey.
Ten years after emigrating from Egypt, his father became a manager at the
Plaza Hotel
The Plaza Hotel (also known as The Plaza) is a luxury hotel and condominium apartment building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is located on the western side of Grand Army Plaza, after which it is named, just west of Fifth Avenue, a ...
in New York City. He grew up in a
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
household, observing Islamic holidays, and has continued to practice
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. Raised in
Rutherford, New Jersey, Youssef attended
Rutherford High School.
He went on to study political science and economics at
Rutgers University, Newark
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
, but he left before graduating to enroll at
William Esper Studio to focus on acting.
Career
Youssef made his acting debut on the
Nick at Nite
Nick at Nite (stylized as nick@nite) is an American nighttime basic cable television channel that broadcasts over the channel space of Nickelodeon. It typically broadcasts Mondays to Thursday nights from 9 p.m. - 6:30 a.m. Eastern Time Zone, ET/Pac ...
sitcom ''
See Dad Run'' in which he had a main role. During the run of the show, Youssef shadowed the writers' room, an experience Youssef would bring to his own show in 2019.
In 2017, Youssef appeared on ''
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' where he performed his stand-up routine.
His television series ''
Ramy
Ramy is a masculine given name which may refer to:
* Ramy Ashour (born 1987), Egyptian retired squash player
* Ramy Ayach (born 1980), Lebanese singer
* Ramy Bensebaini (born 1995), Algerian footballer
* Ramy Essam (born 1987), Egyptian musician
...
'' debuted on
Hulu
Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...
on April 19, 2019, with 10 episodes. The show, in which Youssef plays the title character, tells the story of a
millennial Muslim who is a first-generation American born to immigrant parents in the United States. Soon after its first season debuted, Hulu renewed it for a second season with an expected premiere date in 2020. He received a Golden Globe in January 2020 for this role, and was also nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, as both an actor and director.
In June 2019, Youssef starred in his first
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
stand-up comedy special, ''Ramy Youssef: Feelings''.
Along with
Mo Amer
Mo or MO may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Mo, a girl in the ''Horrible Histories (2001 TV series), Horrible Histories'' TV series
* Mo, also known as Mortimer, in the novel ''Inkheart'' by Cornelia Funke
* Mo, in the ...
, Youssef is the co-creator of ''
Mo,'' an American comedy-drama streaming television series that premiered on August 24, 2022 on
Netflix.
After the debut of ''Ramy'', Youssef signed an overall television production deal with
A24. As of December 2019, he has two shows in development, one for
Apple TV+ and one for
Netflix.
Filmography
Film
Television
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Youssef, Ramy
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American comedians
American male comedians
American male television actors
People from Queens, New York
American Muslims
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (television) winners
Comedians from New York City
Comedians from New Jersey
Living people
Male actors from New Jersey
Male actors from New York City
Muslim male comedians
People from Rutherford, New Jersey
Rutgers University alumni
Rutherford High School (New Jersey) alumni
American stand-up comedians
American people of Egyptian descent
American television directors
1991 births