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B.J. Novak extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

B. J. Novak
Novak in September 2009
Born	Benjamin Joseph Manaly Novak July 31, 1979 (1979-07-31) (age 30) Newton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation	Actor Comedian Screenwriter Director
Years active	2001 – present

Benjamin Joseph Manaly “B. J.” Novak (born July 31, 1979) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for being a writer and co-executive producer for and playing the role of Ryan Howard on the US version of The Office. He is also known for appearing in such films as Knocked Up and Inglourious Basterds.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Filmography 3.1 As actor 3.2 As writer 3.3 As director 4 Awards and nominations 5 References 6 External links

Early life

Novak was born and raised in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of Linda and William Novak.¹² Novak's father co-edited The Big Book of Jewish Humor and has ghostwritten memoirs for Nancy Reagan, Lee Iacocca, and others; Novak's parents also established a Jewish matchmaking service.³⁴ Novak has two younger brothers, Jesse and Lev.⁵ He attended Newton South High School with future Office costar John Krasinski,⁶ and they graduated in 1997.⁶ Novak attended Harvard University, where he worked for the Harvard Lampoon and majored in English and Spanish literature. In addition to the Lampoon, he occasionally staged and performed in a variety show called The B.J. Show with fellow Harvard student B. J. Averell.⁶ Novak wrote his honors thesis on the films of Shakespeare's Hamlet.⁷

Career

Novak graduated from Harvard in 2001. Afterward he moved to Los Angeles and began working in clubs as a comedian. His first live stand-up performance took place on October 10, 2001 at the Hollywood Youth Hostel. He was named one of Variety's "Ten Comedians To Watch" in 2003.⁵

Novak was a writer for the short-lived The WB sitcom Raising Dad.⁶ He has also performed on Comedy Central's Premium Blend and on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.⁵

Novak's television acting career began on MTV's Punk'd. He was the lead accomplice to Ashton Kutcher on the show's second season in 2003, and had played pranks on Hilary Duff, Usher, and Mýa.

After hearing Novak's opening joke at a comedy club, executive producer Greg Daniels immediately decided to include Novak in his upcoming project: a U.S. version of the hit British series The Office. Novak was cast as Ryan Howard, becoming the first cast member.⁶ He is also a writer and co-executive producer for the series. In a June 2009 interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer, Novak spoke about sharing the success of The Office with his Newton South High School classmate John Krasinski:⁸

“

Sometimes when this feels too good to be true, I think that if this were all a dream, that would be what should have tipped me off. I'd wake up saying, 'I was in this incredible TV show and it was a big hit and the star was John Krasinski from high school. Isn't that weird?'

”

In addition to his television credits, Novak has appeared in the films Unaccompanied Minors, Reign Over Me, Knocked Up and Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.⁹

Filmography

As actor

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2003	Punk'd	Field Agent	TV series
2005-present	The Office	Ryan Howard	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2006, 2007) Nominated: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2008) Nominated: Prism Award for Best performance in a Comedy Series (2009)
2006	Unaccompanied Minors	Flight Attendant
2007	Reign Over Me	Mr. Fallon
	Knocked Up	Unnamed Doctor
2009	Inglourious Basterds	Pfc. Smithson Utivich	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

As writer

Year	Title	Notes
2001-2002	Raising Dad	2 episodes
2005-present	The Office	10 episodes: Diversity Day (March 29, 2005) Sexual Harassment (September 27, 2005) The Fire (October 11, 2005) Boys and Girls (February 2, 2006) Initiation (October 19, 2006) Safety Training (April 12, 2007) Local Ad (October 25, 2007) Chair Model (April 17, 2008) Prince Family Paper (January 22, 2009) Dream Team (April 9, 2009) Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy Series (2006) Nominated: Writers Guild of America Award for a Comedy Series (2005, 2007, 2008) Nominated: Writers Guild of America Award for a New Series (2005) Nominated: Writers Guild of America Award for an Episodic Comedy (2005, 2007)

As director

Year	Title	Notes
2009	The Office - Blackmail webisode series	4 episodes
2009	The Office - Scott's Tots	aired 12/03/09

Awards and nominations

Year	Group	Award	Won	Film/Television series
2005	Writers Guild of America Awards	New Series	No	The Office
		Episodic Comedy - for episode Diversity Day	No
		Comedy Series	No
2006	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series10	Yes
	Writers Guild of America Awards	Comedy Series	Yes
2007	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series11	Yes
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Comedy Series	No
	Writers Guild of America Awards	Episodic Comedy - for episode Local Ad	No
		Comedy Series	No
2008	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	No
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Comedy Series	No
	Writers Guild of America Awards	Comedy Series	No
2009	Prism Awards	Performance in a Comedy Series	No

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: B. J. Novak

External videos
	Joey Fatone interviews Novak at the 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2008)

• B. J. Novak at the Internet Movie Database
• B. J. Novak at TV.com
• B. J. Novak biography at the official NBC website
• "The Office's BJ Novak: Uncut", an NPR interview from May 2008