Early life

Bell was born on June 27, 1986 in Newport Beach, California. His parents are Robin Dodson, a professional billiards player, and Joe Bell. He has three older brothers, including Robert and Travis, and one older sister, Kellie.

Career

1991-2003: Films, Initial Guitar Lessons, and The Amanda Show

Bell started acting at the age of five, encouraged by his father. He stated "I was five, and my dad kind of said, 'Hey, you wanna be an actor?' and I said, 'Sure,' that kind of thing, you know? I was kind of put into it by my dad but, you know, good. I really love it, and I still do it." Bell's first televised commercial was for Whirlpool Appliances. "I had to sit under a tree and eat a Popsicle," Bell later stated, "I thought, 'I could get used to this.'" His first television show appearance was on a 1994 episode of Home Improvement. He appeared in the 1996 film Jerry Maguire, and had a small role in the Seinfeld episode "The Frogger" in 1998. In 1999, he acted in a commercial for Pokémon Red and Blue and in the movie Dragon World: The Legend Continues. In 2000, he was nominated for a Young Artist Award for his role as Cage Redding in the made-for-television film The Jack Bull. He began to play guitar at the age of twelve. He received his first official guitar lessons from Roger Daltrey when he starred with him in the 2001 film Chasing Destiny. From 1999 until the show was cancelled in 2002, Bell was a featured performer on The Amanda Show. He also made a guest appearance on the series The Nightmare Room.

2004-09: Drake & Josh, Telegraph, and It's Only Time

In 2004, Bell was cast as Drake Parker alongside real life best friend and former Amanda Show costar Josh Peck on the Nickelodeon series Drake & Josh, a spinoff of The Amanda Show. During this time period, he made a guest appearance as himself on Nickelodeon's Zoey 101 and won the first of three consecutive "Blimp Awards" at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in the "Favorite TV Actor" category. His song, "Found a Way" (featured as the theme song for Drake & Josh) is also included on the show's soundtrack, which was released on February 22, 2005. In 2005, Bell co-starred alongside fellow Drake & Josh actress Miranda Cosgrove with Dennis Quaid in Yours, Mine and Ours. Telegraph, Bell's debut album, was released independently on August 23, 2005. The album includes 12 tracks. All the tracks were single-handedly written by Bell with the exception of "Highway to Nowhere". Being an independent release, the album ran out of print, and was re-released on August 7, 2007. Bell's song "Highway to Nowhere" was performed on an episode of Zoey 101. "Highway to Nowhere" is included on the Drake & Josh soundtrack and Bell's album Telegraph. Bell's song "Down We Fall" was played on an episode of Drake & Josh titled "Number 1 Fan". In 2005, Bell performed with Hawk Nelson in a video for the Hawk Nelson song called "Bring 'Em Out," which was featured in the movie Yours, Mine and Ours. The studio version was included on Hawk Nelson's EP Bring 'Em Out and on the special edition of Hawk Nelson Is My Friend.

In 2006, Bell signed with Universal Motown. Bell's second album, It's Only Time, was released on December 5, 2006. Bell wrote all of the songs. However, they were all co-written with C.J. Abraham, Michael Corcoran, or both. It reached Number 81 on Billboard's Top 200. It also charted on the Billboard Rock Charts at number 21. The album was more successful in Mexico, reaching number 4 in the Mexico Top 100. It is his first album to chart on the Billboard 200, and his highest-selling album with more than 178,000 copies sold in the United States as of 2012. He released the lead single, "I Know", on October 17, 2006. The video for "I Know" was released in October 2006. The single topped the Mexican music charts. "I Know" also appeared on the 2010 compilation album, Pure Love Songs Vol. 2. His song from It's Only Time, "Makes Me Happy", peaked at number 3 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Chart, which is an extension of the Hot 100. The song also made an appearance on the Pop 100 at number 67 and on the Hot Digital Songs chart at number 45. Because of the song's popularity, on October 16, 2007, the Radio Disney single edit version of his song "Makes Me Happy", was released on iTunes. He also featured on the theme song for the show iCarly, "Leave It All to Me," with his Drake & Josh co Miranda Cosgrove. The music video for the song was released on Cosgrove's Vevo YouTube channel on September 28, 2010. The song took the lowest position on the Hot 100, peaking at number 100. It also peaked on the Pop 100 at number 83. He performed some Christmas songs in the Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh movie, including "Jingle Bells" and "Christmas Promise". A DVD entitled Drake Bell In Concert was released on December 16, 2008. The video was unable to crack the 2008 or 2009 Top 100 in the U.S., but did chart on the Top 100 Mexican album charts, peaking at number 81. The DVD contains footage of him and his band live on stage while they toured in Mexico, filmed during five sold out fall nights. It also features 2 new songs and five covers, all of which are exclusive to the DVD. In the spring, Bell had a starring role in the comedy spoof film Superhero Movie. Bell recorded a theme song featuring his co-star Sara Paxton for the film called "Superhero! Song", which was released on April 8, 2008. In August 2008, he co-starred in the comedy College, which was shot on location in New Orleans. Bell also starred in Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh alongside Josh Peck, which began production in July 2008, and premiered on December 5, 2008. In 2009, his songs "Unbelievable" and "Modern Times", which was featured on a commercial for Twalkin, were released exclusively on MySpace. Bell was also cast in a pilot for a then upcoming CBS comedy series, Fish Tank, stating Bell's involvement is what put the series into production in the first place. The series however, was never picked up.

2010-present: Films, A Reminder, and Ready Steady Go!

In 2010, he made a cameo appearance as Drake Parker in an iCarly episode entitled "iBloop" and a guest role in I Owe My Life To Corbin Bleu. He starred as Timmy Turner in the live-action TV-movie adaptation of its hit animated series The Fairly Odd Parents, A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner!, released in 2011 and reprised his role in the 2012 sequel, A Fairly Odd Christmas. On May 18, 2011, a music video for Bell's song "You're Not Thinking" was released on YouTube. Bell's EP, titled A Reminder, was released on June 28, 2011. The lead single of A Reminder, "Terrific", was released on June 14, 2011, with the music video being released on December 9, 2012. The EP was produced by John Fields, who previously worked with Rooney, Jimmy Eat World, Selena Gomez, the Jonas Brothers, and Bleu. Bell said he decided to release A Reminder because he hasn't put out new music in a few years and "a full album will probably not happen until next year." Bell was also sued by Fields, the producer of the EP, for 9 songs at 9,000 dollars each, totaling up to 81,000. Bell only paid for 5 songs for 45,000, but only 4 songs made it to the EP. In February 2012, Bell appeared in a Shane Dawson YouTube video entitled Kidnapping Drake Bell. Bell was cast as Spider-Man in the animated TV series: Ultimate Spider-Man based on the comic book of the same name. He later reprised the role in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, replacing Josh Keaton who originally recorded his role for the series. He has also voiced the role of Spider-Man in two video games, Marvel Heroes, an MMORPG, and Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes, in 2013 and 2014, respectively. He was also in the 2012 Nickelodeon movie Rags as Shawn and a guest role in Keenan Cahill's story as himself. In 2013, Bell participated in the first season of the ABC reality TV series Splash, a celebrity diving competition, in which he made third place. On November 1, 2013, Bell released the studio version of his unreleased song "Nevermind", on YouTube. He released a holiday single, "Christmas Promise", on December 17, 2013. Throughout 2013 and 2014, Bell had roles in several animated films, such as The Naughty List, Adventure Planet, Birds of Paradise and Under Wraps. Bell starred in the third of the trilogy of The Fairly OddParents Live-action films called A Fairly Odd Summer, reprising his role as Timmy Turner, which was released on August 2, 2014. In 2014, Bell was nominated in the Capital Twitter Awards for Biggest Twitter Feud vs. Justin Bieber. Bell also appeared on Takepart Live, to discuss his bankruptcy and other activities. Bell starred in an animated film entitled Frozen in Time, which was released November 11, 2014.

Bell had his third studio album set to be released in early 2013. Then, he stated it as "a complete concept record. Getting in a time machine and going back to the 40's and 50's." On April 22, 2014, Bell released his third studio album, his first rockabilly album, Ready Steady Go!, under Surfdog Records, with which he signed in 2012. It was produced by Peter Collins and childhood idol, Brian Setzer, frontman of the rockabilly revival band, Stray Cats. He has referred to the album as "getting in the DeLorian, hitting 88 miles per hour, and going back to the future." The album's lead single, "Bitchcraft", was released on January 28, 2014. The single was remixed by French electro swing band Caravan Palace. The album's promotional single, "I Won't Stand In Your Way", a cover of the Stray Cats original song, was released on April 17, 2014. A cover of Cask Mouse's song "Bull", was released as the album's second single on October 8, 2014. The single was listed in the Mexican radio Top 10 for a number of weeks. The album was recorded completely live. It debuted and peaked at number 182 on the Billboard 200 and sold 2,000 copies in its first week of release. Bell took part in the High School Nation Tour in support of Ready Steady Go!, touring High Schools all around the U.S. The tour lasted from September 16, 2014, to October 22, 2014. It began in Los Angeles, California, and ended in Charlotte, North Carolina. Bell also performed at Exa FM's Concerto Exa 2014 in Mexico City, performing to more than 50,000 people.

He starred with his Drake & Josh co-star Miranda Cosgrove in the animated film A Mouse Tale, which was released directly to DVD on February 10, 2015. Bell stars in the slasher film L.A. Slasher as The Popstar, which was released on June 26, 2015, in a limited theater release. Bell recorded a song for the film's soundtrack, titled "Day & Night". He also stars alongside Bella Thorne and Cameron Dallas in the United States dub of The Frog Kingdom which was released on June 30, 2015 on video on demand and on DVD. He appeared in a documentary about the genre of rockabilly and its culture titled It's a Rockabilly World! Other upcoming film roles include Ben in Bad Kids of Crestview Academy, a sequel to the 2012 film Bad Kids Go to Hell. Bell later reprised his role as Spider-Man in the 2015 game Disney Infinity 3.0. He is also set to appear in an episode with his Drake & Josh co-star Josh Peck on Peck's new FOX television series, Grandfathered; Bell will guest star as Kirk, a wealthy tech investor. The episode with Bell aired in the Spring of 2016. Bell is set to star as Dan Orange, lead singer of a band called "Orange and the Dead Ends" in a new digital series called Dan is Dead. The premiere date has not yet been revealed. Bell has recorded a song titled "We're Dead" for the series.

On January 4, 2015, Bell revealed a picture of his broken wrist on Twitter saying, "Doctors say I'll never play guitar again, it's over". Even though the injury (which was caused by diving into the shallow end of a pool at his brother's birthday party) at first seemed to threaten Bell's further career as a musician, he has recovered quickly from the injury, and is back to playing guitar.

Bell embarked on a concert tour in Mexico starting on February 5, 2016, which ended on February 7, 2016. The tickets were sold out within minutes of going on sale online. Though Bell started the tour in 2015, the Ready Steady Go! Tour will continue in 2016. The season four premiere of Ultimate Spider-Man on Disney XD, starring Bell as the title character, aired on February 22, 2016. Bell is touring high schools in the US as part of the High School Nation Tour, from March 28, 2016, to April 29, 2016.

Philanthropy

Bell has supported the non-profit organization The Thirst Project since 2009. The Thirst Project is an organization that addresses the issue of the clean water crisis by raising awareness through education. Bell's contributions include public appeals and concerts to raise funds. Seth Maxwell, founder of The Thirst Project, recruited Bell to be the 'face' of the campaign. Bell has also made contributions to other organizations such as Toys for Tots, On April 18, 2015, Bell performed at the Strawberry Bowl, in support of a charity, Rockin A Cure, for Cystic Fibrosis.

Personal life

On December 29, 2005, Bell was involved in a car accident on Los Angeles's Pacific Coast Highway. While driving with a friend, another vehicle ran a red light, resulting in a head-on collision. His injuries included fractured neck, a fractured vertebrae and several facial lacerations. Along with losing seven teeth, Bell's jaw was broken in three places and had to be wired shut for healing.

In 2007, Bell purchased a 2,640-sq-ft house in Los Feliz for $2,050,000. After Bell filed for bankruptcy in California in early 2014, the house was taken in foreclosure. Sources claim Bell was in debt for $581,000.

Bell was arrested for DUI in 2009, and was charged in 2010. On December 21, 2015, Bell was arrested for suspicion of DUI in Glendale, California. He was released on $20,000 bail. Bell was charged with his second DUI in January 2016, and could face up to a maximum of a year in a county jail, for it is his second offense within 10 years. His license was also suspended and he is set to appear in court on March 21, 2016.

Bell is a cousin of former San Diego Padres relief pitcher Heath Bell.

Influences

Bell has described his music as being heavily influenced by The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and Brian Setzer. Among the other music acts and artists which have influenced Bell are Oasis, Buddy Holly, Elvis Costello, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, Eddie Cochran, Elvis Presley, and Chuck Berry.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Drifting School	Kenny Smith
1995	The Neon Bible	David, aged 10
1996	Jerry Maguire	Jesse Remo
1999	Dill Scallion	Eugene Bob
1999	Dragonworld: The Legend Continues	Johnny McGowan	Direct-to-video
2000	High Fidelity	Young Rob Gordon
2000	Perfect Game	Bobby Jr.
2005	Yours, Mine and Ours	Dylan North
2008	Superhero Movie	Rick Riker/Dragonfly
2008	College	Kevin
2008	Unstable Fables: Tortoise vs. Hare	Butch Hare	Voice; Direct-to-DVD
2008	The Nutty Professor	Harold Kelp/Jack	Voice; Direct-to-DVD
2010	I Owe My Life To Corbin Bleu	Himself	Short Film
2012	The Reef 2: High Tide	Pi	Voice
2012	Keenan Cahill's Story	Himself	Documentary
2013	Space Warriors	Jimmy Narration	Voice
2013	The Naughty List	Snowflake	Voice; Direct-to-DVD
2013	The Little Penguin Pororo's Racing Adventure	White Tiger	Voice; Direct-to-DVD
2014	Birds of Paradise	Jack	Voice; Direct-to-DVD
2014	Adventure Planet	Sam	Voice; Direct-to-DVD
2014	Under Wraps	Danny	Voice; Direct-to-DVD
2014	Frozen in Time	Brody	Voice; Direct-to-DVD
2015	A Mouse Tale	Sebastian	Voice; Direct-to-DVD
2015	Jungle Shuffle	Manu	Voice; Direct-to-DVD
2015	The Frog Kingdom	Announcer, Muscles	Voice; Direct-to-DVD
2015	The Greys	Blake Smelt	Short film
2015	It's A Rockabilly World!	Himself	Documentary
2015	L.A. Slasher	The Popstar
2015	The Nutcracker Sweet	Nutcraker	Voice; Direct-to-DVD
2016	Arlo: The Burping Pig	Arlo	Voice
2016	Bad Kids of Crestview Academy	Ben	Post-production
TBA	American Satan	Damien	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Home Improvement	Little Pete	"Swing Time" (Season 3, Episode 22)
1995	Minor Adjustments	Jordan	"The Ex Files" (Season 1, Episode 6)
1996	ABC Afterschool Special	Scott	"Me and My Hormones" (Season 25, Episode 2)
1996	Men Behaving Badly	Charlie Atwood	"Carpe Dino" (Season 2, Episode 13)
1997	Gun	Brendan	"The Hole" (Season 1, Episode 5 )
1997	Over the Top	Clarence	"The Bee Story" (Season 1, Episode 8 )
1997	The Pretender	Shawn Boyd	"Scott Free" (Season 2, Episode 2)
1997	The Drew Carey Show	The Blues Kid	"That Thing You Don't" (Season 3, Episode 10)
1998	Seinfeld	Kenny	"The Frogger" (Season 9, Episode 18)
1999	Caroline in the City	Rodney	"Caroline and the Horny Kid" (Season 4, Episode 13)
1999	The Jack Bull	Cage Redding	Television film
1999-2001	The Amanda Show	Various roles	Main role
2000	Double Dare 2000	Himself	Along with the cast of The Amanda Show
2001	Chasing Destiny	Walter	Television film
2002	The Nightmare Room	Alex Sanders	"Dear Diary, I'm Dead" (Season 1, Episode 10)
2002	Rugrats	Dusty	Voice; "They Came from the Backyard/Lil's Phil of Trash" (Season 9, Episode 10)
2002	So Little Time	Himself	"Waiting for Gibson" (Season 1, Episode 25)
2004-05	All That	Himself/Various roles	Main role, Episode: Drake Bell/ Coolio
2004-07	Drake & Josh	Drake Parker	Co-Lead role
2005	Zoey 101	Himself	"Spring Fling" (Season 1, Episode 9)
2006	Drake & Josh Go Hollywood	Drake Parker	Television film
2008	Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh	Drake Parker	Television film
2010	iCarly	Drake Parker	"iBloop" (Season 3, Episode 15)
2010	7 Secrets with Miranda Cosgrove	Himself	Nickelodeon documentary
2011	A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner!	Timmy Turner	Television film
2012	Victorious	Himself	"April Fools Blank" (Season 3, Episode 9)
2012	The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes	Spider-Man/Peter Parker	Voice; Recurring role (Season 2)
2012	Figure It Out	Himself	Panelist
2012	Celebrity Ghost Stories	Himself	"Tito Ortiz, Cary Elwes, Sally Kellerman and Drake Bell" (Season 4, Episode 6)
2012	Rags	Shawn	Television film
2012	Abominable Christmas	Matt	Voice; Television film
2012	A Fairly Odd Christmas	Timmy Turner	Television film
2012-present	Ultimate Spider-Man	Spider-Man/Peter Parker	Voice; Main role
2013	Splash	Himself	Contestant, Season 1 (3rd Place)
2013	Phineas and Ferb	Spider-Man/Peter Parker	Voice; Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel
2013	A Monsterous Holiday	Andy	Voice; Television film
2013-15	Avengers Assemble	Spider-Man/Peter Parker	Voice; recurring role
2013-15	Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.	Spider-Man/Peter Parker	Voice; recurring role
2014	Sam & Cat	Drake Parker	#blooperepisode (archive footage)
2014	A Fairly Odd Summer	Timmy Turner	Television film
2016	Suspense	Artus Vitogast	Radio series; "This World's Not Big Enough..." (Season 2, Episode 20)
2016	Grandfathered	Kirk	"The Biter" (Season 1, Episode 15)
2016	Cozmo's	Ken	Television Film

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Marvel Heroes	Spider-Man	Voice
2014	Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes	Spider-Man	Voice
2015	Disney Infinity 3.0	Spider-Man	Voice

Web

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	I <3 Vampires	Ian	"Four's a Crowd" (Season 2, Episode 6) "I Love Luci" (Season 2, Episode 7)
2012	Kidnapping Drake Bell	Himself	On YouTube channel Shane Dawson TV
2013	Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload	Spider-Man	Voice; Web film
2016	Dan is Dead	Dan Orange	Lead role

Discography

Main article: Drake Bell discography See also: List of songs recorded by Drake Bell

• Telegraph (2005)
• It's Only Time (2006)
• Ready Steady Go! (2014)

Awards and nominations

Bell was nominated for a Young Artist Award twice, once in 2000 for his role in The Jack Bull, in which he won, and another time in 2006 for Yours, Mine and Ours. He has won 10 Kids Choice Awards, 3 in the United States and 5 internationally for his role as Drake Parker on Drake & Josh. He also won a Kids Choice Award in 2007 in the United Kingdom for Best Male Singer, winning over Justin Timberlake. He was also nominated for Best TV Actor, but lost to Nat Wolff. Bell has also won a Teen Choice Award in 2008 for his role as the Dragonfly in Superhero Movie. He was also nominated for an award in 2014 in the Capital Twitter Awards for biggest Twitter feud with Justin Bieber.

Year	Award	Category	Result
2000	Young Artist Award (21st Young Artist Awards)	Best Performance in a TV Movie or Pilot	Won
2006	Young Artist Award (27th Young Artist Awards)	Best Performance in a Feature Film	Nominated
	Blimp Award (Kids' Choice Awards)	Favorite TV Actor (Drake & Josh)	Won
2007			Won
	Blimp Award (UK Kids' Choice Awards)	Best TV Actor	Nominated
		Best Male Singer	Won
		Best TV Show (Drake & Josh)	Won
2008	Blimp Award (Kids' Choice Awards)	Favorite TV Actor (Drake & Josh)	Won
	Blimp Award (Germany Kids' Choice Awards)	Favorite TV Actor (Drake & Josh)	Nominated
	Blimp Award (KCA Brazil 2008 - Meus Prêmios Nick)	Favorite International Artist	Won
	Surfboard Award (Teen Choice Awards)	Choice Movie Breakout Actor (Superhero Movie)	Won
	ASCAP Award (ASCAP)	Top TV Series (Drake & Josh)	Won
	Blimp Award (Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards)	Favorite International TV Star	Nominated
2009			Won
2010		Big Kid Award	Won
	Blimp Award (Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards Mexico)	Favorite TV Actor (Drake & Josh)	Won
		Favorite International Character Male	Won
2014	Best Feud (Capital Twitter Awards)	Biggest Twitter Feud (vs. Justin Bieber)	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]