Ben Schwartz

Early life and education

Benjamin Joseph Schwartz was born on September 15, 1981, in The Bronx, New York City, to a Jewish family. His parents, both Bronx natives, raised Schwartz in Riverdale, a neighborhood in the northwestern part of the Bronx. His father was a social worker before going into real estate, and his mother was a music teacher at P.S. 24, an elementary school in Riverdale. He also has a sister named Marni.

When he was eleven years old, his family moved to Edgemont, New York, in adjacent Westchester County. Schwartz attended Edgemont Junior–Senior High School where he played basketball and sang in the chorus; he graduated in 1999. He then attended Union College, graduating in 2003 with a double major in psychology and anthropology.

Career

2006–2015: Early roles and voice acting

On television, Schwartz guest-starred as Jean-Ralphio Saperstein on NBC's Parks and Recreation and was a lead in the Showtime show House of Lies. In 2010, Schwartz played series regular Bill Hoyt on J. J. Abrams' one-hour spy drama Undercovers for NBC.

Schwartz had his own segment on HBO's Funny or Die Presents called Terrible Decisions with Ben Schwartz and has appeared in multiple CollegeHumor sketches including the popular web series Jake and Amir.

Schwartz has been nominated for four Emmys and won the 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for coauthoring Hugh Jackman's opening number for the 81st Academy Awards.

Schwartz voiced Randy Cunningham, a 14-year-old freshman student and ninja protecting his hometown Norrisville from forces of evil in Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja.

In September 2013, he was hired by Paramount Pictures to re-make the 1991 comedy Soapdish, retitled El Fuego Caliente and reworking the original's American soap opera into a Latin telenovela, with producers Rob Reiner and Alan Greisman and he sold an original pitch to Universal Studios based on an idea by Brian Grazer with Imagine Entertainment attached to produce. He was a staff writer for the third season of Adult Swim's Robot Chicken and served as a freelance writer for the Weekend Update segment of Saturday Night Live as well as the monologues for the Late Show with David Letterman.

Schwartz is an alumnus of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (UCBT). He was a member of the improv group "Hot Sauce" with Adam Pally and Gil Ozeri. The group performed their long-form improv show "Something Fresh" at UCBT every month.

He and Bill Hader served as vocal consultants for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Schwartz also played a Stormtrooper in the film.

Since 2014, Schwartz has appeared in episodes of the Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast as the only guest in "Solo Bolo" (2014), "Solo Bolo Dos Lo" (2015), "Solo Bolo Trolo" (2016), "Solo Bolo Cuatrolo" (2016), "Solo Bolo Cincolo" (2017), "Solo Bolo Sonicolo" (2020), "Solo Bolo Hallowolo" (2021), and "Solo Bolo Ho Ho Holo" (2024). In nearly each episode he and host Scott Aukerman compete in the Olympic Song Challenge. Ben has also appeared on episodes of comedy podcasts If I Were You, ID1OT, You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes, and Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend.

2016–present: Animation roles and Sonic films

In 2017, Schwartz began voicing Dewey Duck in the Disney XD revival of DuckTales. Schwartz has been featured as himself in Netflix's *Home: Adventures with Tip & Oh'''s 2017 animated Christmas special - Home for the Holidays - alongside Kelly Clarkson. He provided the voice of Leonardo in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In August 2018, Schwartz was announced to voice the titular character in the 2020 film *Sonic the Hedgehog''.

On September 26, 2019, it was announced that Schwartz was cast as F. Tony Scarapiducci in the Netflix comedy series Space Force.

Ben Schwartz co-starred alongside Billy Crystal in the film Standing Up, Falling Down, initially released on April 25, 2019.

In April 2020, Schwartz and fellow comedian Thomas Middleditch starred in Netflix's first long-form improv special, Middleditch and Schwartz, a three-part series of hour-long performances filmed at New York University's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.

In 2022, Schwartz was in the main cast of the first season of the Apple TV+ mystery comedy series The Afterparty, reprising his role in a guest capacity in the series' 2023 second season.

In January 2023, Schwartz guest voiced a character, TAY-0, a droid who participates in races for Cid Scaleback, on Star Wars: The Bad Batch.

Books

Schwartz has co-written four books, three with writer Amanda McCall: Grandma's Dead: Breaking Bad News with Baby Animals; Maybe Your Leg Will Grow Back!: Looking on the Bright Side with Baby Animals and Why is Daddy in a Dress?: Asking Awkward Questions with Baby Animals and (with writer Laura Moses), Things You Should Already Know About Dating, You F-king Idiot.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web series

Video games

References

References

1. Fernandez, Jay. (February 25, 2011). "TRAILER: Rainn Wilson and Sarah Silverman in 'Peep World'". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
2. "Watch We Lost Our Human {{!}} Netflix Official Site".
3. "Ben Schwartz".
4. (September 15, 2018). "UPI Almanac for Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018". [[United Press International]].
5. Burack, Emily. (2020-03-25). "18 Things to Know About Ben Schwartz".
6. (February 7, 2020). "Ben Schwartz Raps Along to Sugarhill Gang's "Rappers Delight" in Sonic the Hedgehog's Voice".
7. Pollak, Kevin. (April 16, 2012). "Kevin Pollak Chat Show: Ben Schwartz #143". YouTube.
8. Marsh, Steve. (January 12, 2012). "Ben Schwartz '03". [[New York (magazine).
9. Schwartz, Ben. (April 10, 2016). "Happy #nationalsiblingday to my real life sister Marni!". Instagram.
10. Litt, Hannah. (March 2015). "White Oak to Hollywood: An Interview With Ben Schwartz '99". Edgemont School Foundation Newsletter.
11. (July 2012). "Notable Alumni in Entertainment". [[Union College]].
12. "Ben Schwartz". [[Upright Citizens Brigade]].
13. Bacle, Ariana. (June 12, 2016). "Ben Schwartz says goodbye to ''House of Lies'' in sweet letter".
14. ""Ben Schwartz" Stuff on CollegeHumor". [[CollegeHumor]].
15. "Primetime Emmy® Award Database". Emmy.org.
16. Kit, Borys. (February 23, 2011). "Ben Schwartz to Pen 'Soapdish' Remake for Paramount". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
17. Finke, Nikki. (December 12, 2011). "The Black List 2011: Screenplay Roster". Deadline Hollywood.
18. (December 16, 2015). "Turns out Bill Hader and Ben Schwartz did the voice of BB-8 in ''The Force Awakens''". [[The A.V. Club]].
19. (May 4, 2018). "On this beautiful #MayThe4thBeWithYou I feel like I can finally reveal that I played a Storm Trooper in @starwars The Force Awakens. It was an incredible honor and years later, I'm still smiling from the experience but please do not tell BB8.".
20. Petski, Denise. (December 16, 2016). "'DuckTales': David Tennant, Danny Pudi, Ben Schwartz Among Voice Cast For Disney XD Reboot". Deadline.
21. Boone, John. (November 17, 2017). "Kelly Clarkson Gets Animated in 'DreamWorks Home For the Holidays' Christmas Special (Exclusive)". [[Entertainment Tonight]].
22. Snierson, Dan. (November 2, 2017). "Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cast features Ben Schwartz and Kat Graham".
23. Couch, Aaron. (August 8, 2018). "Ben Schwartz to Lead Paramount's 'Sonic the Hedgehog' Movie". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
24. Porter, Rick. (September 26, 2019). "John Malkovich, Ben Schwartz Join Steve Carell in Netflix's 'Space Force'". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
25. (April 21, 2020). "Thomas Middleditch and Ben Schwartz on Convincing Netflix to Buy its First Improv Special".
26. "TAY-0 Voice".
27. "Ben Schwartz, Laura Moses announce new book".
28. "Ben Schwartz (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors.
29. (May 4, 2023). "Ben Schwartz OBLITERATES Super Castlevania IV".
30. (May 12, 2020). "Monster Challenge Archives » Michael Giacchino".
31. Kroll, Justin. (2018-08-09). "Ben Schwartz to Voice 'Sonic the Hedgehog' in Upcoming Movie (EXCLUSIVE)".
32. N'Duka, Amanda. (2019-06-13). "Alyson Hannigan & Ben Schwartz Join ''Flora & Ulysses'' Film Adaptation From Disney+".
33. Jackson, Angelique. (2020-09-01). "Charles Barkley, Chris Eubank and Bridget Everett Join Paramount Animation's ''Rumble'' (EXCLUSIVE)".
34. Vary, Adam B.. (2021-08-10). "Idris Elba Joins ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'' as Knuckles".
35. Nordine, Michael. (2022-08-05). "''Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie'' Review: A Less-Than-Radical Entry in the Cowabunga Canon".
36. Donnelly, Matt. (2021-12-15). "Ben Schwartz Joins Universal's Dracula Tale ''Renfield'' (EXCLUSIVE)".
37. (11 December 2024). "Sonic and his pals race to help Santa save Christmas in the stop-motion animated short A Very Sonic Christmas".
38. Bankhurst, Adam. (2024-02-02). "''Sonic the Hedgehog 3'' Adds Krysten Ritter, Cristo Fernández, Alyla Browne, and More".
39. (October 15, 2024). "Ben Schwartz Joins 20th Century's 'Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice'".
40. "Accidentally on Purpose s01e09 Episode Script {{!}} SS".
41. (March 16, 2017). "Watch The New V.I.P.'s (4K UHD) {{!}} Prime Video".
42. Schmidt, Patrick. (March 22, 2017). "Amazon Pilot Season: Will The New V.I.P.'s get picked up?".
43. Carr, Flora. (April 17, 2018). "James Corden to adapt BBC's The Wrong Mans for USA {{!}} Radio Times".
44. White, Peter. (August 2, 2019). "'The Wrong Mans': Pilot Not Going Forward At Showtime – Deadline".
45. Petski, Denise. (2017-11-02). "''Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'': Ben Schwartz, Kat Graham Among Voice Cast".
46. (August 9, 2020). "And when they ask "How bad ass was the Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series?" The reply will be "Ridicously bad ass." It was an absolute honor to play Leo in this series amongst a legendary cast & crew. Gonna miss this show. Thank you to the fans. See ya at the movies.".
47. (April 7, 2020). "Netflix Releases Official Trailer For ''Middleditch & Schwartz'', A Collection of Three Completely Improvised Comedy Specials".
48. (2019-09-26). "''Space Force'': John Malkovich, Ben Schwartz Among 6 Cast In Greg Daniels-Steve Carell Netflix Comedy Series".
49. Patten, Dominic. (2020-01-21). "Marvel & Hulu ''M.O.D.O.K.'' Animated Series Adds ''Veep'' & ''The Goldbergs'' Vets To Patton Oswalt-Led Cast".
50. Ng, Philiana. (October 4, 2021). "Henry Winkler, Ben Schwartz to Guest Star on Paramount Plus' 'Rugrats': First Look (Exclusive)".
51. "David Tennant and Michael Sheen on the Real David Frost {{!}} Staged 2 (2020) - YouTube".
52. Rosario, Alexandra Del. (2021-09-29). "''Fairfax'': Skyler Gisondo, Kiersey Clemons, Jaboukie Young-White & Peter S. Kim Among Voice Cast For Amazon Animated Comedy".
53. (2023-08-02). "''The After Party'' Season 2 Release Date, Cast, Plot, and Everything You Need to Know".
54. Spangler, Todd. (2022-09-21). "Kevin Hart's ''Die Hart 2: Die Harter'' Adds John Cena, Ben Schwartz, Paula Pell to Roku Comedy Series Cast".
55. "Invincible Season 2: Release Date, Trailer, Cast & More".
56. Petski, Denise. (2024-02-08). "''Knuckles'': ''Sonic The Hedgehog'' TV Spinoff Gets First Trailer & Premiere Date At Paramount+".
57. (September 26, 2025). "A Giant Chewbacca Joins the Fight in New LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy - Pieces of the Past Trailer". [[Lucasfilm Ltd.]].
58. (June 29, 2011). "Porn Rental with Michael C Hall (Dexter) and Ben Schwartz (Parks and Rec)".
59. "Ham Sandwich Lie Detector Test (With Steve Little and Ben Schwartz) - YouTube".
60. "CollegeHumor All Nighter".
61. "Hardly Working: Hypnotist - CollegeHumor Video".
62. (September 28, 2012). "Legend of Zelda Hermit Wants to Haggle (with Ben Schwartz) - YouTube".
63. (October 28, 2016). "The Earliest Show". [[Funny Or Die]].
64. (December 4, 2018). "Lonely and Horny: Ben Schwartz {{!}} Sign up for DROPOUT for more Lonely and Horny -> bit.ly/2Qzy4W2 A good therapist never reveals his secrets. {{!}} By CollegeHumor {{!}} Facebook".
65. (September 3, 2018). "Crazy Free Stuff On Craigslist (GAME) ft. Ben Schwartz". [[Good Mythical Morning]].
66. (February 20, 2020). "Who Is the Fastest? (SPEED CHALLENGE)". [[Good Mythical Morning]].
67. (June 7, 2019). "Playing Magic Kingdom w/ Ben Schwartz!". [[Game Grumps]].
68. (January 25, 2020). "Playing Games with Epic Gamer BEN SCHWARTZ - Guest Grumps - Aladdin". [[Game Grumps]].
69. (May 2, 2020). "Playing Quiplash with Thomas Middleditch and Ben Schwartz!".
70. (May 4, 2023). "Ben Schwartz OBLITERATES Super Castlevania IV". [[Game Grumps]].
71. GameGrumps. (2024-12-10). "Ben Schwartz takes us BACK TO THE FUTURE!".