An American actor, comedian and singer, and voice artist Joshua IIan Gad, better known by his screen name Josh Gad is best known for voicing Olaf in Frozen (2013) and for playing the role of Ryan Church in the TV series, Back to You. After making his debut with Mary and Joe in 2002, the actor has been part of several popular films including The Rocker (2008), Love & Other Drugs (2010), The Angry Birds Movie (2016), Beauty and the Beast (2017) and A Dog’s Purpose (2017). Apart from his work in films, Gad has an elaborate career in the TV industry; in a career spanning more than 12 years, he has worked in more than 15 TV series’.

Early Life
Born in Hollywood, Florida, Josh Gad was raised Jewish. His stepfather, who worked as an investment advisor and his mother, a realtor both have Jewish descent; his mother has Ashkenazi Jewish lineage while his father is a Jewish immigrant from Afghanistan. Gad completed his graduation from NSU University School in 1999 and later went to Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts where he pursued Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama. During this time, he undertook a semester-long exchange at the National Institute of Dramatic Art.

Personal Life
Josh Gad married actress Ida Darvish in 2008 and the couple has two daughters, Isabelle Gad and Ava Gad.

Movie Career
After making his debut on the big screen with Mary and Joe (2002), the actor struggled to gain recognition and fame as his next few films Watching the Detectives (2007), and The Rocker (2008), did not fare well at the box office. He got his first major hit with Love & Other Drugs (2010), an American comedy-drama, which was written and directed by Edward Zwick. The film based on the book Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman by Jamie Reidy features Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway like the lead roles. Upon roles, the film garnered mixed reviews but emerged to be a box office hit; it grossed more than 600 million USD.

In 2012, the actor lent his voice to the character named Louis, a molehog, in the American 3D computer-animated comedy adventure film Ice Age: Continental Drift. The film also featuring Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Nicki Minaj, Drake, Jennifer Lopez and Queen Latifah was the fourth instalment in the Ice Age series and emerged to be the highest-grossing animated film in 2012.

After the huge success of Ice Age: Continental Drift, in 2013, Gad played a small role in the Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson starring American comedy film The Internship, which was directed by Shawn Levy. The film received mixed critical reviews but managed to do well commercially. The same year, Gad enjoyed one of the biggest successes of his career Frozen where he voiced for the character Olaf in Forzen, computer-animated musical fantasy directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee. The film also stars the voice of Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff was highly critically acclaimed and went to win several awards include an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film and the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Gad won his maiden Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production.

In his solitary release in 2014, Josh Gad collaborated with director Zach Braff for the American comedy-drama Wish I Was Here co-starring Ashley Greene, Zach Braff, Kate Hudson, Joey King and Mandy Patinkin. The film, which had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival was given limited theatrical release and it garnered mixed critical reviews. The following year, the actor reprised his role as the voice actor for Olaf in Frozen Fever, which was the sequel to the 2013 film of the same name. It received wide positive reviews and emerged to be a box office hit. His 2017 release includes, A Dog’s Purpose, an American comedy-drama film directed by Lasse Hallstrom. The film initially released in the US in January 2017 got mostly positive reviews and grossed more than 175 million USD.

TV Career
After having started his acting career on the big screen, Josh Gad made his debut on TV with the American medical drama ER (2005) where he played the role of Sgt. Bruce Larabee in one of the episodes titled ‘Here and There.’ He next got his major breakthrough in the TV industry with Back to You (2007 – 08) where he played one of the lead roles. His other popular TV series’ appearances include Woke Up Dead (2009), Hollywood Game Night (2013), Sesame Street (2015), Talked Dead (2016) and Star Wars Rebels (2017).

Theatre Career
The talented actor has also appeared in a theater, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (2005), and the Book of Mormon (2011).