Early life

McHale was born in Rome, Italy, where his father, Jack McHale, worked as Dean of Students at Loyola University Rome Center. His mother, Laurie, is from Vancouver, British Columbia, and his father is from Chicago, Illinois. Of Irish and Norwegian descent, he was raised Catholic in New Jersey and Seattle, Washington. He attended Mercer Island High School.

McHale received a bachelor's degree in History from the University of Washington in 1995. While at the University of Washington, McHale very briefly belonged to the Theta Chi Fraternity.

He was recruited to be on the rowing team, but later joined the football team. Despite most of his fellow players receiving scholarships to be on a major college team, McHale was a walk on, playing tight end for two years. According to the football team site, he did not letter in football. He received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Professional Actors Training Program at the University of Washington. He is a fan of the Seattle Seahawks.

Career

Comedy

McHale was part of the Almost Live! cast, a local sketch-comedy television show produced by Seattle's KING-TV (Channel 5). From 1993 to 1997, he was a member of the improv comedy group at Unexpected Productions, participating in Theatersports! at the Market Theater located in Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle.

Acting

After earning his master's degree in acting, McHale moved to Los Angeles and landed small roles in Diagnosis: Murder, CSI: Miami, and Will & Grace. He played a TV reporter in the biopic Lords of Dogtown. He guest-starred as a cast member on the NBC improv comedy show Thank God You're Here during the pilot episode and had a guest role on an episode of Pushing Daisies. McHale also appeared in Spider-Man 2 in a small role as Mr. Jacks, a bank manager.

In 2004 McHale began hosting The Soup, a satirical weekly television show on the "E!" television network. Throughout the show, he takes the audience through the oddities and ridiculous happenings of the week in television. He frequently appears as a co-host on Loveline. He has also had a long association with Circle X Theatre, where he has done several plays. McHale was a weekly guest on The Adam Carolla Show and Mickey and Amelia, and occasional guest on the Opie and Anthony Show. He has been a judge on Iron Chef America. He was involved in the American version of the British TV show The IT Crowd. McHale made a guest appearance on the finale of Last Comic Standing's sixth season, when he recapped the show's events in his typical format of jokes made popular on The Soup. He occasionally appeared on Countdown with Keith Olbermann in a humor sequence closing the show.

McHale starred in the sitcom Community, which premiered in winter 2009, and continued to host The Soup. McHale made an appearance on the first episode of the fifth season of Tosh.0. He played Rex in Ted (2012) and had a short guest stint on the FX show Sons of Anarchy. He played an NYPD officer in the supernatural horror film Deliver Us from Evil. McHale appeared in The X-Files' 2016 miniseries.

McHale will play the lead role in the CBS sitcom The Great Indoors, which will begin airing in the Fall of 2016.

Hosting

McHale was the featured entertainer at the 2014 White House Correspondents' Association annual dinner. He also hosted the 2011 Independent Spirit Awards and the 2015 ESPY Awards.

Personal life

McHale married Sarah Williams in 1996. They have two sons. They live in Hollywood Hills, California.

On episode 6 of The Nerdist Podcast Joel and Chris Hardwick talked about being neighbors, including a story about Joel's son Eddie dressing up as a light switch for Halloween.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Spider-Man 2	Mr. Jacks
2004	Wait	N/A	Short film
2005	Lords of Dogtown	TV reporter
2005	Game Time	Johnson	Short film
2006	Mini's First Time	Host
2008	Onion Movie, TheThe Onion Movie	Office worker	Uncredited
2008	Open Season 2	Elliot (voice)
2009	Informant!, TheThe Informant!	FBI Agent Robert Herndon
2011	Spy Kids: All the Time in the World	Wilbur Wilson
2011	What's Your Number?	Roger
2011	Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope	Himself	Documentary
2011	Big Year, TheThe Big Year	Barry Loomis
2012	Ted	Rex
2014	Blended	Mark
2014	Deliver Us from Evil	Butler
2014	Adult Beginners	Hudson
2014	Merry Friggin' Christmas, AA Merry Friggin' Christmas	Boyd Mitchler
2017	Futile and Stupid Gesture, AA Futile and Stupid Gesture	Chevy Chase	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Almost Live!	Various	Unknown episodes
1998	Bill Nye the Science Guy	Defendant	Episode: "Fluids"
2000	Huntress, TheThe Huntress	Quicky the Clown	Episode: "Springing Tiny"
2000	Fugitive, TheThe Fugitive	Curtis	Episode: "Far from Home"
2000	Diagnosis: Murder	Richard	Episode: "By Reason of Insanity"
2001	Will & Grace	Ian	Episode: "Cheaters"
2004-15	Soup, TheThe Soup	Himself (host)	Also writer and executive producer
2005	CSI: Miami	Greg Welch	Episode: "Urban Hellraisers"
2007	Pushing Daisies	Harold Hundin	Episode: "Bitches"
2007-09	Robot Chicken	Various voices	2 episodes
2009-15	Community	Jeff Winger	110 episodes
2011	26th Independent Spirit Awards	Himself (host)	Television special
2011	Phineas and Ferb	Norm head prototype (voice)	Episode: "Candace Disconnected/Magic Carpet Ride"
2012	Sons of Anarchy	Warren	2 episodes
2013	Conan	Conan O'Brien	Episode: "Occupy Conan: When Outsourcing Goes Too Far"
2013-15	Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja	First Ninja (voice)	5 episodes
2013	2013 VGX Awards	Himself (host)	Television special
2014	White House Correspondents' Dinner	Himself (host)	Television special
2015	Regular Show	DVD (voice)	Episode: "Format Wars II"
2015	2015 ESPY Awards	Himself (host)	Television special
2015	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Himself	Episode: "Joel McHale Wears a Navy Zip-up and High Tops"
2015	BoJack Horseman	Alex (voice)	Episode: "Yesterdayland"
2016	X-Files, TheThe X-Files	Tad O'Malley	2 episodes
2016	Dr. Ken	Ross	Episode: "Dave's Valentine"

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2015	Lego Dimensions	X-PO/Himself	Voice

Web

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2014	Video Game High School	The President of the United States	Episode: "OMGWTFPS!?"

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2010	EWwy Award	Best Actor in a Comedy	Community	Nominated
2011	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Actor in a Comedy Series	Community	Nominated
2011	EWwy Award	Best Actor in a Comedy	Community	Won
2011	Satellite Award	Best Actor - Television Series Musical or Comedy	Community	Nominated
2012	TV Guide Award	Favorite Ensemble	Community	Won
2012	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Actor in a Comedy Series	Community	Nominated
2012	PAAFTJ Television Award	Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	Community	Nominated
2012	PAAFTJ Television Award	Best Cast in a Comedy Series	Community	Won
2012	EWwy Award	Best Actor, Comedy	Community	Won
2012	Satellite Award	Best Actor - Television Series Musical or Comedy	Community	Nominated
2014	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program	Soup, TheThe Soup	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]