Patton Oswalt
Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969)[1][2] is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His acting roles include Spence Olchin in the sitcom The King of Queens (1998–2007) and narrating the sitcom The Goldbergs (2013–2023) as adult Adam F. Goldberg. After making his acting debut in the Seinfeld episode "The Couch", he has appeared in a variety of television series, such as Parks and Recreation, Community, Two and a Half Men, Drunk History, Reno 911!, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Archer, Veep, Justified, Kim Possible, Modern Family, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He portrayed Principal Ralph Durbin in A.P. Bio (2018–2021) and Matthew the Raven in the TV series The Sandman (2022–present).
Patton Oswalt
Oswalt has voiced Remy in the animated film Ratatouille (2007), Max in the animated film The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019) where he replaced Louis C.K., Jesse (male) in the game Minecraft: Story Mode, and M.O.D.O.K in the 2021 animated series of the same name. Other film credits include Man on the Moon (1999), Zoolander (2001), Blade: Trinity (2004), All Roads Lead Home (2008), Big Fan (2009), A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011), 22 Jump Street (2014), and The Circle (2017). In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) multimedia franchise, Oswalt guest starred as the Koenigs on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2014–2020) and voiced Pip the Troll in Eternals (2021). He was also in the web series Best of the Worst in 2019. As a stand-up comedian, Oswalt has appeared in six stand-up specials and won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special and a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for the album of his Netflix special Patton Oswalt: Talking for Clapping (2016).
Early life[edit]
Oswalt was born on January 27, 1969, in Portsmouth, Virginia,[3][4][5] the son of Carla and Larry J. Oswalt, a career United States Marine Corps officer.[6] He was named after General George S. Patton.[7] He has one younger brother, Matt Oswalt, a comedy writer best known for writing and starring in the YouTube web series Puddin'. While he was a military brat, his family lived in Ohio and in Tustin, California, before settling in Sterling, Virginia.[8] He is a 1987 graduate of Broad Run High School in Ashburn, Virginia. He later attended the College of William & Mary where he majored in English and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1991.[9] and was initiated into the Alpha Theta chapter of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity.[10] In May 2023, Oswalt was made an honorary Doctor of Arts by William & Mary.[11] He lived in San Francisco in the 1990s where he said "It was cheap, so, so cheap, and I was a young, hopeful comedian."[12]
Personal life[edit]
Oswalt married true crime writer and journalist Michelle McNamara on September 24, 2005.[45] Their daughter Alice was born in April 2009.[46]
McNamara died in her sleep in the family's Los Angeles, California home on April 21, 2016. Her death was attributed to a combination of a previously undiagnosed heart condition and complications from ingested medications (Adderall, Xanax, and Fentanyl).[47] The season-three finale of The Goldbergs was dedicated to her memory.
On August 1, 2016, Oswalt announced that he had been working to complete McNamara's unfinished nonfiction book about the Golden State Killer.[48] In September 2017, Oswalt announced that the book, titled I'll Be Gone in the Dark, was scheduled for release on February 27, 2018, and was subsequently available for preorders.[49] Less than two months after the book's release, on April 25, 2018, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department announced they had made an arrest in the Golden State Killer case. Oswalt posted a brief video to Instagram, saying: "I think you got him, Michelle."[50] He also posted on Twitter that same day, saying that he hoped to visit the suspect if he was indeed the Golden State Killer, "not to gloat or gawk - to ask him the questions that [McNamara] wanted answered in her 'Letter to an Old Man'" at the end of her book.[51]
Oswalt is a longtime comic book fan, particularly a DC Comics fan, which he has discussed in his stand-up. He has written a few issues for comics.[52] He is also a cinephile, having watched 4,000 films, including 720 films from 1995 to 1999 at the New Beverly Cinema.[53][54]
Oswalt has been diagnosed with clinical depression, which he has dealt with throughout his adult life. He has incorporated these experiences into his comedy routines.[55]
In July 2017, he and actress Meredith Salenger confirmed their engagement.[56] They were married in November 2017.[57][58]
In 2013, he teamed up with PETA, spoke out against chaining pet dogs, and sent a letter to the mayor and members of the city council of Newport News, Virginia, urging them to ban the practice.[59]
Oswalt is an outspoken atheist[60] and has referred to his atheism in his comedy specials: No Reason to Complain, Feelin' Kinda Patton, My Weakness Is Strong, and Finest Hour.
Oswalt's influences include Jonathan Winters, Richard Pryor,[61] Emo Philips, Blaine Capatch, Jim Goad,[62] Bill Hicks, Bobcat Goldthwait, Sam Kinison, Steve Martin,[63][64] and Louis C.K.[64]
Oswalt is a progressive and a supporter of the Democratic Party, having endorsed Barack Obama for re-election as president in 2012 and Joe Biden in 2020.[65] Oswalt was an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump. In January 2019, following an intense Twitter feud with a Trump supporter, he donated $2,000 to the man's GoFundMe fund created to help cover his medical expenses.[66][67][68]
