Ravi Patel (actor)

Ravi Patel
Born Ravi Vasant Patel
(1978-12-18) December 18, 1978
Freeport, Illinois U.S.
Occupation Actor
Years active 2006–present

Ravi Vasant Patel (born December 18, 1978) is an American actor. Patel has acted mainly in TV shows and movies, but has also written and directed an award-winning feature-length documentary with his sister, Meet the Patels.[1]

Early life

Patel was born in Freeport, Illinois, the son of financial consultant father Vasant Patel and real estate agent mother Champa Patel. He spent most of his youth in Charlotte, North Carolina. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2001 with double majors in Economics and International Studies. He has a sister, Geeta Patel, who is a writer/director.[2]

Career

An investment banker after college, Patel's entertainment career started after co-founding popular poker magazine All In while living in LA. During that time, he was asked to fill-in as an emcee for an arts festival talent show, during which time he performed 45 minutes of improvised stand-up in between acts, drawing huge laughs and opening the door to an unexpected stream of auditions, his first agent, and two dozen commercials that first year. Considering it a short-term opportunity, he deferred his admission to law school for one year to enjoy the serendipitous stint in entertainment. A full-time actor within a couple months, this stint became a career, which eventually taught him the importance of art and fueled an effort to fully immerse himself into the craft of acting.

Patel has been in over 70 national commercials, has been cast in one or two TV pilots nearly every year since 2006, and numerous films and TV shows, most notably Transformers, Scrubs, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Comedians, and Hawaii Five-O.

In 2008-09, Patel appeared as George Patil in six episodes on The CW's Easy Money. In 2010, Patel starred in Past Life on Fox and was set to star as the male lead in a Fox sitcom pilot called Nirvana opposite Rachael Leigh Cook.[3]

Patel co-directed and starred in Meet the Patels, a documentary that he made with his sister, Geeta Patel, that won the audience award at the 2014 Los Angeles Film Festival.[4] The film portrays Patel's autobiographical[5] journey of trying to find an Indian wife.[6][7][8] The duo have a deal with Fox Searchlight Pictures to write and direct a narrative remake of the film.[9][10]

In 2015, Patel worked in one episode of the Aziz Ansari series, Master of None.[10] From 2015 to 2016, Patel was on the John Stamos TV series, Grandfathered.[7]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2006 Boys & Girls Guide To Getting Down Rajiv
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Lawyer
2007 Scrubs Dr. Patel
Transformers Telephone Operator
2010 Past Life Dr. Rishi Karna Regular
The Last Hurrah Ara
2011 Five Dr. Desai
2014 Meet the Patels Himself
2015–2016 Grandfathered Ravi
2015 Master of None Ravi
2015 Puerto Ricans in Paris Hassan

Other ventures

Patel is the co-founder of This Bar Saves Lives,[11] which donates a meal packet for every granola bar they sell. He is also an active investor in start-ups in health and wellness.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Miller, Julie (10 September 2015). "Introducing Meet the Patels, the Best 2015 Documentary That You Probably Haven't Heard Of". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  2. ↑ Daswani, Kavita (10 September 2015). "The family behind 'Meet the Patels' takes candid talk to a warmly comic level". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  3. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (25 February 2010). "'Past Life' actor to star in Fox comedy pilot". The Hollywood Reporter. The Associated Press. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  4. ↑ Barker, Andrew (16 July 2014). "Film Review: 'Meet the Patels'". Variety. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  5. ↑ "'Meet the Patels' movie review by Kenneth Turan". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  6. ↑ Grigsby Bates, Karen (11 September 2015). "'Meet The Patels': One Man's Quest To Find Love, The Old-School Indian Way". All Things Considered. NPR. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  7. 1 2 Smiley, Tavis (17 September 2015). "Actor Ravi Patel". The Tavis Smiley Show. PBS. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  8. ↑ Gupta, Shipra Harbola (16 June 2014). "LAFF: Brother-Sister Filmmaking Duo Ravi and Geeta Patel on Filming Their Parents in 'Meet the Patels'". Indiewire. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  9. ↑ Fleming Jr, Mike (21 October 2015). "'Meet The Patels' In Fox Searchlight Remake Deal; Ravi And Geeta Patel To Write, Co-Direct". Deadline.com.
  10. 1 2 Rao, Mallika (11 November 2015). "Master of None's Ravi Patel on Doing the Infamous Indian Accent and the Second Coming of Aziz Ansari". Vulture. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  11. ↑ "CNN: Kristen Bell invests".
  12. ↑ Clayson, Jane (15 September 2015). "One Surprisingly Modern Arranged Marriage". On Point - WBUR. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
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