Daniel Byrd (born November 20, 1985) is an American actor. His most prominent roles include the 2004 film A Cinderella Story, the 2006 remake of The Hills Have Eyes, the 2010 films Easy A and Norman, and the sitcoms Aliens in America, Young Sheldon, and Cougar Town.

Dan Byrd
Byrd in February 2012
Born
Daniel Byrd

(1985-11-20) November 20, 1985 (age 38)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationActor
Years active1999–present

Life and career edit

Byrd was born in Chicago, Illinois,[1] the son of Jeff and Rachel Byrd, and was raised in Marietta, Georgia.[2] He began acting at a young age. His feature film debut was in the 1999 film The First of May, which starred Julie Harris and Mickey Rooney. He then went on to make a string of appearances in television series such as Judging Amy, Any Day Now, ER, and Touched by an Angel before gaining his first break-out role in the TNT miniseries Salem's Lot, playing schoolboy Mark Petrie.

In 2004, Byrd co-starred in A Cinderella Story, opposite Hilary Duff. He played Carter Farrell, the method acting best friend of Duff's Cinderella character Sam Montgomery. The project was followed by short-lived CBS series Clubhouse.

In 2006, Byrd starred in Alexandre Aja's remake of The Hills Have Eyes, based on Wes Craven's original 1977 cult classic film. Also in 2006, Byrd starred opposite John Travolta in the period crime thriller Lonely Hearts.[3] The story follows real-life killers Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez,[3] who develop a twisted infatuation with each other as they travel the country luring unsuspecting victims through personal ads in the newspaper. Travolta played the lead detective on the case and Byrd played his troubled son.[3]

Byrd was set to appear in the 2007 remake of Revenge of the Nerds,[4] but after three weeks of filming, the project was cancelled.[5] He then went on to star in the CW comedy Aliens in America,[6] which follows a Wisconsin homemaker who arranges to host a foreign exchange student, believing the visitor will help her shy son (played by Byrd) become more popular. However, the show only lasted one season.[7]

In October 2008, Entertainment Weekly reported that Byrd had been cast in Heroes in a recurring role as Sylar's (Zachary Quinto) apprentice.[8] He plays Luke Campbell, who has the ability to emit microwave pulses. He appeared in three episodes during "Volume 4: Fugitives". Byrd also appeared in an episode of ABC Family's Greek as Clark Duke's character's high school friend.

In 2009, Byrd began starring in the comedy series Cougar Town, as Travis Cobb the son of Courteney Cox's character. The show ran for three seasons on ABC before transitioning to TBS for the remainder of its run.[9][10]

In 2010, Byrd co-starred in Easy A opposite Emma Stone. He played Brandon, a gay friend of Stone's character Olive Penderghast, whom she pretends to have sex with at a house party to boost their social standings.[11]

He stars as the title character in the 2010 film Norman,[12] a film which follows the story of a high school senior who perpetuates a lie that he is terminally ill with cancer to gain sympathy from his peers.[12]

Recent television credits include Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Good Doctor (American TV series), and Young Sheldon.

Filmography edit

Year Title Role Notes
1998 The First of May Cory Wainwright
1999 The Price of a Broken Heart Eric Hutlemeyer
2000 28 Days Dan
2001 Judging Amy Todd Episode: "Adoption Day"
The Fighting Fitzgeralds Young Patrick Episode: "Pilot
Just Ask My Children Brian Kniffen Television film
ER Russ Episode: "If I Should Fall from Grace"
2002 Untitled Eric Gilliland Project Himself
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Jake Bradley Episode: "Burden of Proof"
Firestarter: Rekindled Paul
Any Day Now Young Colliar Sims 61 episodes
The Nightmare Room Drew 2 episodes
State of Grace Kenny Moss 2 episodes
Boomtown Eddie Colson Episode: "The Squeeze"
Touched by an Angel Scott Hardwick Episode: "Jump!"
2003 Presidio Med Curtis Altman Episode: "Breathless"
The Guardian Jeremy Hetherington 2 episodes
2004 Joan of Arcadia Scott Brooks Episode: "State of Grace"
Salem's Lot Mark Petrie 2 episodes
A Cinderella Story Carter Farrell
2005 Are We There Yet? Himself
Checking Out Jason Apple
Mortuary Jonathan Doyle
2004–2005 Clubhouse Scott Hardwick 11 episodes
2006 The Hills Have Eyes Bobby Carter
Jam Josh
Pepper Dennis Frat boy Episode: "Frat Boys May Lose Their Manhood"
Lonely Hearts Eddie Robinson
Outlaw Trail: The Treasure of Butch Cassidy Jess
2007 Ghost Whisperer Jason Bennett Episode: "The Walk-In"
Boston Legal Edward Scanlon Episode: "Trial of the Century"
2007–2008 Aliens in America Justin Tolchuck 18 episodes
2008 Greek Kirk Episode: "Three's a Crowd"
Heroes Luke Campbell 3 episodes
2009–2015 Cougar Town Travis Cobb 102 episodes
2010 Norman Norman Long
Easy A Brandon
2011 Community Greendale Team Member Episode: "For a Few Paintballs More"; uncredited
2012 Suburgatory Josh Sherman Episode: "Out in the Burbs"
2014 Mad Men Wayne Barnes Episode: "Time Zones"
2015 Scandal Virgil Plunkett 2 episodes
2015 Sisters Patrick Campbell
2017 Doomsday Nate Television film
2018 The Good Cop Donovan Demark Episode: "Who Cut Mrs. Ackroyd in Half?"
2018–2019 The Good Doctor Tyler Durness 2 episodes
2019 Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Josh Hoffman Episode: "Kimmy is in a Love Square!"
2020 Utopia Ian 8 episodes
2021-2024 Young Sheldon Pastor Rob 8 episodes

Awards and nominations edit

Awards Won:

  • 2000: Burbank International Children's Film Festival: Best Child Actor for The First of May[13]
  • 2000: Young Artist Award: Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Any Day Now[14]
  • 2010: Rhode Island International Film Festival: Best Actor for Norman[15]

Awards Nominations:

  • 2001: Young Artist Award: Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Any Day Now[16]
  • 2005: Young Artist Award: Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries or Special- Leading Young Actor for Salem's Lot[17]

References edit

  1. ^ "Dan Byrd". TV.com. CBS Interactive Inc. Archived from the original on September 6, 2011. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
  2. ^ "Taphouse slated to open this summer".
  3. ^ a b c Holden, Stephen (April 13, 2007). "Lonely Hearts (2006) Cops Trail Creeps on the Lam". The New York Times. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
  4. ^ "'Revenge Of The Nerds' Remake Ceases Production". KillerMovies. November 24, 2006. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
  5. ^ Grossberg, Josh (November 22, 2006). "No Revenge for New Nerds". E! Online. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
  6. ^ dos Santos, Kristin (October 22, 2007). "Aliens in America's Dan Byrd Talks Teenage Angst, Midwestern Accents and 13-Hour Days". E! Online. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
  7. ^ "Aliens in America: CW Cancels Low-rated Sitcom". TV Series Finale. May 10, 2008. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
  8. ^ Ausiello, Michael (October 23, 2008). "'Heroes' Exclusive: 'Aliens in America' Star Goes Bad". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
  9. ^ "Cougar Town - Bios". ABC.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2010. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
  10. ^ Hinckley, David (September 23, 2009). "Courteney Cox and 'Cougar Town' just boy-toying with us in premiere of new ABC comedy". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on September 26, 2009. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
  11. ^ Markovitz, Adam (September 3, 2010). "Easy A (2010) A teen comedy enters virgin territory". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on September 8, 2010. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
  12. ^ a b Bates, D.B. "Norman (2010)". The Parallax Review. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
  13. ^ "Burbank International Children's Film Festival - Best Film Awards 2000". BurbankFilm.org. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
  14. ^ "21st Annual Young Artist Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
  15. ^ "2010 Film Festival Award Winners Announced". RIIFF Awards. August 15, 2010. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
  16. ^ "22nd Annual Young Artist Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Archived from the original on September 28, 2014. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
  17. ^ "26th Annual Young Artist Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Archived from the original on October 5, 2014. Retrieved November 21, 2010.

External links edit