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Dana Gould

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Dana Gould
Gould in 2018
Born (1964-08-24) August 24, 1964 (age 60)
Hopedale, Massachusetts, U.S.
Medium
  • Stand-up
  • television
Years active1982–present
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2000; div. 2015)​
Kat Gould
​
(m. 2022)​
Children3
Notable works and rolesGex
Writer and producer for The Simpsons
Websitedanagould.com

Dana Gould (/ˈɡuːld/; born August 24, 1964) is an American stand-up comic, actor, writer, and voice artist who has been featured on HBO, Showtime, and Comedy Central. He voiced the titular character in the Gex franchise, and wrote for The Simpsons between 2001 and 2007.

Early life

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Gould was born in Hopedale, Massachusetts[1] on August 24, 1964,[2] the fifth of six children. He was raised Roman Catholic, and served as an altar boy in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester.[citation needed]

Career

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Gould in 2012

Gould began performing comedy onstage at age 17. After high school, he studied communications and theatre at Framingham State College, but after a year moved to San Francisco to pursue a career in comedy. It was there he, along with fellow comedian Alex Reid, founded the San Francisco Comedy Condo in 1986.

Gould wrote and performed on The Ben Stiller Show;[1] one such sketch features Gould as Otto, Cupid's twisted brother, whose arrows convince a young man to fall madly in love with an elderly woman. Another series of sketches features a heavily disguised Gould as Wilford Brimley advertising "Grady's Oats" (a parody of Brimley's Quaker Oats advertisements). In one, he speaks of his Uncle Ray's hobby of dressing in a pink taffeta gown and filling his panties with oatmeal; in another, he brandishes a revolver through the window at children. He also appeared in an episode of MADtv as Newt Gingrich and on one episode of Seinfeld ("The Junk Mail") as "Fragile" Frankie Merman, Jerry's childhood friend. He co-created and was executive producer on Super Adventure Team. In addition, Gould's stand up material was featured in Comedy Central's animated series Shorties Watchin' Shorties.

In 1998, Gould appeared in the episode "Supermarket Story" of The King of Queens.

Gould wrote for The Simpsons for seven years (2001–2007), and served as co-executive producer on seasons 14 through 18 (2002–2007). During his time with the show, Gould provided voice work on three episodes, including a 2005 episode on which he provided the voice of Don Knotts as Barney Fife – an impression that originated in his stand-up routine. Though Gould left the show to focus on his own screenwriting, he has returned three times to voice characters.

Gould had a featured cameo in Girls Will Be Girls, in which he played a hit-and-run victim who admits to his alcohol problem after having a desperate one-night stand with aging C-list actress Evie Harris, the other driver in the car accident. He was also featured in The Aristocrats, where, among other commentary, he presents an Amish version of the eponymous joke. His short films, Last Man On Earth, Break On Through With J.F.K., A Night On Java Island, and Soul Mates are also available for download on his site. Except for the latter, all feature Gould in acting roles. 2009 saw the release of his new stand up special, "Let Me Put My Thoughts In You" on Shout! Factory.

Gould provided the voice for the title character in the U.S. versions of the Gex video game series and the U.K. version of the first game. Gould, with his frequent writing partner Rob Cohen, wrote the majority of the jokes for the games. Gould also voiced Hi Larious in Father of the Pride.

He was a regular contributor to the Adam Carolla radio show where he did impressions of Huell Howser. He appears occasionally on The Adam Carolla Show podcast. The first episode of Gould's own podcast The Dana Gould Hour[3] was made available on iTunes on January 31, 2012. Recurring guests include comedians like Eddie Pepitone, and each episode revolves around a singular theme. Currently, a new episode of The Dana Gould Hour is released about every two months.

In 2010, he appeared in live action on the Family Guy episode "Brian Writes a Bestseller."

In 2013, Gould appeared with Melinda Hill and Scott Shriner[4] in an episode of the web series Romantic Encounters.[5] He also frequently performs live shows with comedian Arden Myrin as "The Tinkle Twins."

In 2014, Gould participated as a comedian on Playboy's "Foursome: Walk of Shame" where he joined other comedians in making fun of the program's contestants.

In 2016, Gould created the IFC comedy horror series Stan Against Evil, featuring the talent of John C. McGinley, Janet Varney, and Nate Mooney. Gould also appears as the character Kevin, a quirky gravedigger and love interest of Stan's daughter Denise.

Since 2021, Dana Gould has starred in Hanging with Doctor Z, a talk show on YouTube reminiscent of The David Letterman Show, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, among others. The episodes run between 8 and 13 minutes long and feature Gould in full Dr. Zaius makeup from Planet of the Apes while interviewing a bevy of his comedian, actor, and musician friends as guests, with frequent references to especially '70s and '80s entertainers. His musician sidekick, "Rusty Steel" (à la Paul Shaffer on The David Letterman Show), is played by Paul Greenberg. The show has been funded partially by Kickstarter and partially by Gould and began its third season in January 2024.

Personal life

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Gould currently lives in Los Angeles. In 2000[6] he married Sue Naegle, former President of HBO Entertainment. The couple separated in 2014 and divorced in 2015. They have three daughters.[7] Gould remarried in 2022[8] to Kat Aagesen, a writer and co-editor of Malt.

Discography

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Filmography

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Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1992 The Ben Stiller Show Various characters Recurring role
1993 Doug Various voices Recurring role
1996 The Nanny Josh Bassin Episode: "The Taxman Cometh"
1996 Roseanne Chip Episode: "Hoi Polloi Meets Hoiti Toiti"
1996 Sabrina the Teenage Witch Monty Episode: "A Girl and Her Cat"
1996 Ellen Mike 2 episodes
1997 Seinfeld Frankie Merman Episode: "The Junk Mail"
1997 The Love Bug Rupert TV film
1997 Working Jimmy Clarke Main role
1998 Super Adventure Team Chief Engineer Head (voice) Main role
1998 The King of Queens The Guy Episode: "Supermarket Guy"
1999 Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist Himself (voice) Episode: "Snow Day"
2000 Clerks Various voices 2 episodes
2002, 2005, 2007
2012, 2016, 2020 		The Simpsons Various voices 6 episodes
2004 Father of the Pride Hi Larious (voice) Episode: "Rehabilitation"
2010 True Jackson, VP N/A Episode: "Tru Disaster"
2010 Family Guy Himself (live-action sequence) Episode: "Brian Writes a Bestseller"
2011 Parks and Recreation Guy Who Asks for Mort (uncredited) Episode: "The Bubble"
2012 The High Bar Himself Episode: "Dana Gould on Rage"
2013 Maron Himself Episode: "Sex Fest"
2013 Anger Management Todd Episode: "Charlie and the Airport Sex"
2013 Wendell and Vinnie School Principal Episode: "Big Dogs & Bicycles"
2013 Wendell and Vinnie Mr. Middleton Episode: "First Dances & Last Chances"
2013 Mob City Tug Purcell Recurring role
2016 Mighty Magiswords Norman (voice) Recurring role
2016 Stan Against Evil Kevin Recurring role
2019 Creepshow Henry Quayle Episode: "Skincrawlers"
2024 Ted Priest Episode: "Ejectile Dysfunction"; Also writer and consulting producer

Film

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Year Title Role
1996 My Fellow Americans Sandwich Guy at Book Convention
1999 Mystery Men Squeegee Man
2003 Girls Will Be Girls Jeff
2003 Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd Mr. Moffitt
2015 Tales of Halloween Boris ("This Means War" segment)
2015 Southbound Raymond Kensington
2015 Being Canadian Himself
2017 The Problem with Apu Himself

Video games

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Year Title Role
1995 Gex Gex[9]
1998 Gex: Enter the Gecko Gex[9]
1999 Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko Gex[9]

Web

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Year Title Role
2023 Gex Trilogy - Official LRG3 Reveal Trailer Gex (voice)

Crew work

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "How Stand-Up Comedy Led To A Strange But Perfect Career For Dana Gould". www.wbur.org. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  2. ^ "Dana Gould". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  3. ^ "The Dana Gould Hour". iTunes. Retrieved April 25, 2012.
  4. ^ Carrie, Stephanie (July 17, 2013). "Steph's LA Weekly Feature Series – Melinda Hill's Romantic Encounters". Tangled Web We Watch. Archived from the original on March 19, 2016.
  5. ^ Gutelle, Sam (June 26, 2013). "Melinda Hill Seeking 'Romantic Encounters' On My Damn Channel Network". Tubefilter. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
  6. ^ "Dana Gould". You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes. Episode 44. Nerdist. April 27, 2012. Archived from the original on July 6, 2018. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
  7. ^ "Sue Naegle Joins HBO as President, HBO Entertainment, Overseeing All Series Programming and Specials". The Futon Critic. April 9, 2008. Retrieved October 13, 2008.
  8. ^ "Wedding". Omaha World-Herald. November 27, 2022. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  9. ^ a b c "Dana Gould (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved September 26, 2021. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
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