Ty Burrell

Early life and education

Tyler Gerald Burrell was born in Grants Pass, Oregon, on August 22, 1967, the son of teacher Sheri Rose () and family therapist Gary Gerald Burrell (1940–1989). He has a younger brother, Duncan. He is mostly of English and German descent, though he discovered via Finding Your Roots that he is also of 1/16th African-American ancestry through his great-great-grandmother, a formerly enslaved girl from Tennessee who became a homesteader in Oregon. He grew up in Applegate, Oregon, near the California border. He attended Hidden Valley High School in Grants Pass, where he played football and was a lineman for the Hidden Valley Mustangs.

While attending college at the University of Oregon, Burrell became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and worked as a bartender at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He later attended Southern Oregon University in Ashland,

Continuing his education at Penn State University, he earned an MFA and was a member of the Theatre 100 Company along with Keegan-Michael Key. In 1997 and 1999, Burrell worked as a festival actor at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. He has also stated that for a period of time in graduate school, he lived out of his van to save money.

Career

Burrell's first credited film roles were 2001's Evolution and Black Hawk Down. He subsequently appeared in the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead, and in several stage roles (such as 2000's Broadway production of Macbeth, and the off-Broadway plays Corners, The Blue Demon, Burn This, and Show People).

He was a co writer and actor in the original production of the offbeat comedy The Red Herring O' Happiness directed by Russell Dyball. Burrell's stage work also includes writing and working in the off Broadway play Babble with his brother, Duncan. He has also made an appearance as a New Jersey prosecutor in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

After that, Burrell was cast as Oliver Barnes, a shallow but well meaning plastic surgeon, on the CBS sitcom Out of Practice (2005–06), also created by screenwriter Christopher Lloyd. The show was canceled in May 2006, with eight episodes remaining unaired in the United States. After the show's cancellation, he played Allan Arbus in the film Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus. In the same year, he also appeared in Friends with Money and The Darwin Awards, before playing one of the two leads in the world premiere of Drunk Enough to Say I Love You? by Caryl Churchill on stage at the Royal Court Theatre in London.

In 2007, he had a small role in the film National Treasure: Book of Secrets as the curator of the White House followed by a starring role in the sitcom Back to You on Fox later that same year. On the show, created by Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd, Burrell played a field reporter (alongside Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton). The show was canceled in 2008.

In the 2008 Marvel film adaptation of the comic The Incredible Hulk Burrell played Leonard Samson (without superpowers) who had a short relationship with Betty Ross.

He had a lead role as Realtor Phil Dunphy in the acclaimed ABC situation comedy Modern Family which was also created by Christopher Lloyd and Steve Levitan. For his performance, he received eight consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (2010–2017), winning the award twice in 2011 and 2014.

He also received nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series for his role, sharing the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series with his co stars. He was the recipient of the individual SAG award in 2014, defeating Alec Baldwin, who had previously won the award seven years in a row.

Burrell also appears as Phil in commercials for National Association of Realtors.

In November 2014, Burrell signed an overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television to develop his own comedy projects. In July 2020, his overall deal with 20th Century Fox continued with the establishment of his own production company, Desert Whale Productions.

His web series Boondoggle, loosely based on Burrell's own life, debuted in June 2016 on ABC.com and ABCd. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series in July 2017.

Ventures and charity work

Burrell owns The Eating Establishment, a restaurant in Park City, Utah, as well as two bars in Salt Lake City called Bar X and Beer Bar, located next to each other with interconnecting doors.

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down Salt Lake City's bars and restaurants in March 2020, Burrell and his wife used $100,000 of their own money to create Tip Your Server, a crowd-sourced online fund to help out-of-work wait staff in Utah, where they had previously kept their main residence.

Personal life

Burrell married his wife, Holly, on August 18, 2000. They resided in New York City until moving to Salt Lake City in 2008. They still own a two-bedroom apartment in New York's Astoria neighborhood, which they rent out. At one point, they relocated to Southern California for Burrell's work on Modern Family. In March 2010, Burrell said that they had adopted a baby girl and another girl two years later. Burrell and his family moved to Salt Lake City from Los Angeles after Modern Family ended in 2020. In an interview with People, he said that he has "no regrets" about moving his family there, as it is "a great place to raise the kids".

Burrell is a self-described lifelong fan of the Oregon Ducks, Portland Trail Blazers, New York Mets, and the Los Angeles Rams.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

References

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2. "Ty Burrell".
3. (May 17, 2010). "What I Learned from My Mom: The Men of Modern Family".
4. "Ty Burrell interview: 'Modern Family has normalised gay marriage'". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
5. Varble, Bill. (October 21, 2007). "This Just In". [[Mail Tribune]].
6. "Former Medford principal, coach 'Gabby' Williams dies". [[Mail Tribune]].
7. Goldberg, Lesley. (October 10, 2012). "'Modern Family's' Ty Burrell to Co-Write Semi-Autobiographical Comedy for ABC".
8. Carbone, Gina. (January 6, 2016). "Ty Burrell Just Learned the Shocking Story of His Black Slave Ancestors". Movie Fone.
9. Turnquist, Kristi. (November 28, 2009). "Actor Ty Burrell: From Grants Pass to ABC's hit comedy 'Modern Family'". [[The Oregonian]].
10. Stated on ''[[Inside the Actors Studio]]'', 2011
11. (August 4, 2012). "Sigma Chi making headlines".
12. Cullinan, Mary. (September 16, 2008). "Southern Oregon University: President's Page". [[Southern Oregon University]].
13. (October 14, 2014). "Comedy Central starts second season". The New York Times.
14. (February 4, 2006). "PSU grad fits right in with 'Out of Practice'". [[Centre Daily Times]].
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17. Billington, Michael. (November 23, 2006). "Drunk Enough to Say I Love You". Guardian.
18. [http://www.emmys.com/celebrities/ty-burrell Ty Burrell Emmy Award Winner] {{Webarchive. link. (April 21, 2013 . Emmys.com. Retrieved on September 9, 2015.)
19. [http://www.webpronews.com/ty-burrell-dethrones-alec-baldwin-at-the-sag-awards-2014-01 Ty Burrell Dethrones Alec Baldwin at the SAG Awards] {{Webarchive. link. (April 6, 2015 . WebProNews (January 19, 2014). Retrieved on September 9, 2015.)
20. Gianatasio, David. (May 5, 2016). "The National Association of Realtors Finds Its Perfect Pitchman in Modern Family Dad". [[Adweek]].
21. Birnbaum, Debra. (November 6, 2014). "Ty Burrell Signs Overall Deal with Twentieth Century Fox TV". [[Variety (magazine).
22. Andreeva, Nellie. (July 16, 2020). "Ty Burrell Launches Production Company With 20th Century Fox TV Overall Deal, Sets ABC Comedy Project".
23. Huddleston, Tom Jr.. (July 13, 2016). "ABC Is Introducing Dozens of New Shows You Can Only Watch Online". [[Fortune (magazine).
24. "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". [[Academy of Television Arts & Sciences]].
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26. Benson, Lee. (April 5, 2020). "As coronavirus shut the doors, Ty and Holly Burrell left a $100,000 tip for servers".
27. (December 3, 2009). "'Modern Family' Star Calls Utah Home". [[The Salt Lake Tribune]].
28. (June 8, 2010). "Television's Prime Time Wiener". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
29. (March 18, 2010). "Modern Family's Ty Burrell Adopts a Daughter".
30. (March 19, 2012). "Ty Burrell Welcomes Daughter Greta".
31. Telling, Gillian. (August 3, 2025). "Ty Burrell Says He Has 'No Regrets' About Leaving L.A. to Raise His 2 Teen Daughters in Utah (Exclusive)".
32. "Why I'm a Rams Fan: Ty Burrell".
33. (March 13, 2016). "THE INCREDIBLE HULK Production Notes « SciFi Japan".
34. Weintraub, Steven. (June 16, 2008). "Director Louis Leterrier Interview – THE INCREDIBLE HULK".
35. Geoghegan, Kev. (February 7, 2014). "Mr Peabody & Sherman 'respectful' to original series". BBC News.
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37. Zakarin, Jordan. (January 30, 2013). "Disney Reveals Muppet Movie Sequel’s Name and Synopsis".
38. Variety Staff. (August 15, 2015). "D23: ''Finding Dory'' Cast Adds Ed O’Neill, Ty Burrell and Kaitlin Olson".
39. Gettell, Oliver. (June 15, 2016). "Jennifer Aniston completes cast of animated movie ''Storks'' — exclusive".
40. "Listings {{!}} TheFutonCritic.com - The Web's Best Television Resource".
41. Petski, Denise. (May 8, 2019). "Ty Burrell Joins Amy Poehler In Fox’s Animated Family Comedy ''Duncanville''".
42. "Artists Database (1962-2024) {{!}} Utah Shakespeare Festival".
43. "Artists Database (1962-2024) {{!}} Utah Shakespeare Festival".
44. "Macbeth (Broadway, 2000)".
45. "Burn This, with Catherine Keener and Edward Norton, Begins Aug. 27 in NYC".
46. "Full Cast of Peter Dinklage Richard III at Public Announced".
47. "Monk, Pressman, Burrell and Greer Are Off-Broadway's Show People".
48. "62nd Primetime Emmy Award Nominations".
49. "63rd Primetime Emmy Award Nominations".
50. "64th Primetime Emmy Award Nominations".
51. "65th Primetime Emmy Award Nominations".
52. "66th Primetime Emmy Award Nominations".
53. "67th Primetime Emmy Award Nominations".
54. "68th Primetime Emmy Award Nominations".
55. "69th Primetime Emmy Award Nominations".
56. "16th Screen Actors Guild Awards".
57. "17th Screen Actors Guild Awards".
58. "18th Screen Actors Guild Awards".
59. "19th Screen Actors Guild Awards".
60. "20th Screen Actors Guild Awards".
61. "21st Screen Actors Guild Awards".
62. "22nd Screen Actors Guild Awards".
63. "23rd Screen Actors Guild Awards".