Josh Peck

Birth Place: New York, New York, USA
Date of Birth: November 10, 1986
Heritage: American
Famous for: His role as Josh Nichols on Drake & Josh (2006)
Drake and Josh
Background:
An American performer who started as a child actor in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Josh Peck became famous among young audience after performances in the Nickelodeon sketch comedy “The Amanda Show” (2000-2002) and in the movies “Snow Day” (2000) and “Max Keeble's Big Move” (2001). With “Amanda Show” costar Drake Bell, Peck has scored huge victory as the star of the Nickelodeon popular sitcom “Drake & Josh” (2004-2007), which spawned a successful TV film in 2006 called “Drake & Josh Go Hollywood” and a latest sequel in 2007 named “Drake & Josh in New York!.” Peck received critical acclaim for his portrayal of a miserable bully on the independent film “Mean Creek” (2004), from which he shared an Independent Spirit's Special Distinction Award. Other film credits include “Spun” (2002), the New Line Cinema film “Havoc” (2005), the Sundance-premiered “Special” (2006) and the animated film “Ice Age: The Meltdown” (2006). With several new and more mature future film projects under his belt, Peck is on his way leaving the world of teen TV behind. The movies “American Primitive” (2008), “Drillbit Taylor” (2008) and “The Wackness” (2008) all provide the 21-year-old actor with roles that are a far cry from his small screen image. He is now filming “Safety Glass” (2008) with Hilary Duff.
6-foot-1-inch tall Peck enjoys ice hockey and playing piano in his spare time and his favorite food is Pizza. He is the owner of and drives an '87 Mercedes. He has a dog named “Mosnter” and a fish named “Beefy.” Peck mentions Bill Cosby, Jackie Gleason and Richard Pryor among his influences and actor Ben Kingsley as his favorite.
Recently, the star of “Drake & Josh” has lost a considerable amount of weight. He stated in an interview in 2006 that, “I made a conscious effort to lose weight because I knew I could be happier as well as being healthier. I started by going on a diet a year and a half ago and I got a personal trainer, but I definitely have a healthier lifestyle now. Also I feel that because I do so much children's television, I am a better role model. I don't really understand why I should be a role model but I know that children do look up to me, so it is my responsibility to motivate people and be inspiring. I hope that I can do that for kids. It doesn't matter what you look like really though, it is who you are that matters of course.”

Career:
Inspired by Bill Cosby, Jackie Gleason, and Richard Pryor, and many others, New York-born Josh Peck started to perform in musical theater with the local children's theater TADA before making his stand-up comedy debut at age 8 at Caroline's Comedy Club for the Audrey Hepburn foundation. After appearances on NBC's “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and the syndicated “The Rosie O’Donnell Show,” he made his film debut in the 2000 indie-drama “The Newcomers,” opposite Christopher McCoy, Matt McCoy, Kate Bosworth and Elizabeth Duff, and later that same year resurfaced as Wayne Alworth on the hit kiddie comedy “Snow Day,” which was directed by Chris Koch.
Thanks to his gift for physical comedy, Nickelodeon recruited Peck as a regular performer on “The Amanda Show,” a sketch comedy series based around the talents of former “All That” star Amanda Bynes. During his tenure on the show (from 2000 to the end of its run in 2002), Peck and his costar Drake Bell, another burgeoning young star, showcased their on-screen chemistry and enjoyed a sizable fan base.

While on “The Amanda Show,” Peck could be seen pursuing other projects. He starred as Lenny in the animated television short “What Ever Happened to Robot Jones?” (2000), appeared as a neighbor's son in the made-for-TV film “Mad TV Live and Almost Legal” (2001) as well as landed guest spots on primetime series like NBC's “ER” and Fox's “Family Guys” (both 2001). Also in 2001, Peck's film career received another boost when he was cast in the role of Robe in the Disney comedy “ Max Keeble’s Big Move,” starring Alex D. Linz in the title role of a sixth-grader who is being harassed by the school bullies and the principal.
In 2002, Peck revisited the animation world by contributing to the Cartoon Network series “Whatever Happened to Robot Jones?,” a show adapted from a Nickelodeon animated short for which Peck had also provided his voice, and Disney's “Fillmore!,” in which he voiced Randall Julian in a 2002 episode called “To Mar a Stall.” The same year, he could be seen acting as a fat boy in the independent film “Spun,” about methamphetamine addicts. Among his costars in the film were Jason Schwartzman, Mickey Rourke, Brittany Murphy, John Leguizamo, Patrick Fugit and Mena Suvari. Next, the young actor appeared as Chris Rapp in two episode of the CBS series “The Guardian” (2003-2004) and received plaudits for his role as a hapless bully named George Tooney in the interesting drama “Mean Creek” (2004), from which he also jointly picked up a Special Distinction Award from the Independent Spirit Awards. He also appeared with Anne Hathaway, Bijou Phillips and Shiri Appleby in the urban coming-of-age drama “Havoc” (2005), helmed by Barbara Kopple.
However, it was Peck's performance as Josh Nichols on the Nickelodeon comedy series, “Drake and Josh” (2004-2007), opposite Drake Bell's Drake Parker, that really put the actor back on the TV spotlight. Debuted in January 2004, the sitcom, which is a blend of broad physical comedy (courtesy of Peck) and heartthrob appeal (courtesy of Bell), immediately became a favorite among teen audience and won a 2006 Blimp for Favorite Television Show at the Kid's Choice Awards.

In 2006, Peck rejoined Bell for their own TV film called “Drake & Josh Go Hollywood”, which was a massive success, and supported Michael Rapaport and Paul Blackthorne in the drama film “Special,” which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival in January that year. He also voiced Eddie in the animated movie “Ice Age: The Meltdown” (2006).
As for his upcoming projects, Peck will star with his idol, Ben Kingsley, and Famke
Janssen in the 1994-set comedy “The Wackness” (2008), playing the troubled teen Luke Shapiro, and as Spoke White in the drama “American Primitive” (2008), directed and co-written by Gwen Wynne. He is also set to play roles in Steven Brill's comedy, “Drillbit Taylor” (2008), in which he appears as Alex Frost's friend, and “Safety Glass” (2008), opposite Hilary Duff. Peck and Drake Bell will appear together in “Drake & Josh in New York!” (2007), the latest TV movie based on the “Drake & Josh” series.