Ravi Vasant Patel (born December 18, 1978) is an American actor. He and his sister wrote and directed an autobiographical documentary, Meet the Patels.[1]

Ravi Patel
Patel at the Past Life panel at San Diego Comic-Con in 2009
Born
Ravi Vasant Patel

(1978-12-18) December 18, 1978 (age 45)
OccupationActor
Years active2006–present
Spouse
(m. 2015)
Children2

Early life and education

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Patel was born in Freeport, Illinois to Indian American parents, the son of financial consultant father Vasant Patel and real estate agent mother Champa Patel. He grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2001 with double majors in Economics and International Studies. His sister, Geeta Patel, is a writer and director.[2]

An investment banker after college, Patel co-founded poker magazine All In while living in LA.

Career

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Television and film

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An emcee job with improvised stand-up in between acts led to auditions, Patel's first agent, and two dozen commercials in a year. He has been in over 70 national commercials, films and TV shows, most notably Transformers, Scrubs, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Comedians, and Hawaii Five-O.

From 2008 to 2009, Patel appeared as George Patil in six episodes on The CW's Easy Money. In 2010, he starred in Past Life on Fox.[3]

Patel co-directed and starred in Meet the Patels, a documentary that he made with his sister, Geeta Patel which won the audience award at the 2014 Los Angeles Film Festival.[4] The film portrays Patel's autobiographical[5] journey of trying to find an Indian wife.[6][7][8] The duo has a deal with Fox Searchlight Pictures to write and direct a narrative remake of the film.[9][10]

Patel worked in multiple episodes of the Aziz Ansari series Master of None.[10] From 2015 to 2016, Patel appeared on the John Stamos TV series Grandfathered.[7]

In 2020, Patel also created the CNN-produced docuseries Pursuit of Happiness which aired on HBO Max.[11] In the same year, Patel worked in Indian romantic comedy series, Bhaag Beanie Bhaag.

Since 2023, Patel has played a main role as Amit Patel in the Fox sitcom Animal Control.[12]

Other

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Patel is the co-founder of This Bar Saves Lives,[13] which donates a meal packet for every granola bar they sell. He is an active investor in start-ups in health and wellness.[14]

Personal life

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Patel is married to actress Mahaley Patel, with whom he has a daughter named Amelie.[15]

Filmography

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Film

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Film performances
Year Title Role Notes
2006 The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down Rajeev First film role of his career
Independent film
2007 Transformers Telephone operator Cameo appearance
2008 Hotel California Sam Supporting role
2009 Powder Blue Sanjay Direct-to-video
2010 The Last Hurrah Ara Supporting role
2014 Meet the Patels Himself Also director, cinematographer and editor with his sister Geeta Patel
Documentary
2015 Puerto Ricans in Paris Hassan Ensemble cast
2016 Get a Job Wick Limited release
Video on demand
2017 Band Aid Bobby Guest star
2018 The Black String Dr. May Video on demand
2019 Long Shot Tom Cameo appearance
Come as You Are Mo Limited release
Boy Genius Mr. Hume Film also released as Emmett
2020 Butter Dr. Bean video on demand
Wonder Woman 1984 Babajide HBO Max original movie
2022 The Valet Kapoor Hulu original movie
The Time Capsule Roger Video on demand
2023 Dashing Through the Snow Peter Disney+ original movie
2024 Kiss of the Con Queen The Hollywood Con Queen Lead role
Limited release
Harold and the Purple Crayon Prasad IMAX only[16]

Television

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Television performances
Year Title Role Notes
2006 It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Lawyer Episode: "The Gang Goes Jihad"
2007 Scrubs Dr. Patel 2 episodes
2008–2009 Easy Money George Patil 6 episodes
2009 Static Various roles 6 episodes
2010 Past Life Dr. Rishi Karna 9 episodes
Look Vinnay 3 episodes
2011 Outsourced Kamran Episode: "Todd's Holi War"
Svetlana Vivek 2 episodes
Game for gamers Ravi Television special
Five Dr. Desai Television film
2012 Bones Poorab Sangani Episode: "The Don't in the Do"
Perception Dr. Harvey Kapoor Episode: "Pilot"
The New Normal Amir 4 episodes
2013–2014 Super Fun Night Alexander Rosenhoff 4 episodes
2014 The Michael J. Fox Show Ranesh Episode: "Co-Op"
Trophy Wife Dr. Scharma Episode: "Mother's Day"
Hawaii Five-0 Dr. Sanjeet Dhawan Episode: "Ke Koho Mamao Aku"
2015 Childrens Hospital Dr. Sunnit Bharta Episode: "Up at 5"
The Conmedians Casey Episode: "Billy's Birthday"
Another Period Mohandas Gandhi Episode: "Switcheroo Day"
Master of None Ravi Patel 2 episodes
2015–2016 Grandfathered Ravi Gupta Main role
22 episodes
2016 Grey's Anatomy Timir Dahr 2 episodes
2016–2017 Wrecked Tank Top Recurring role
6 episodes
2017 Superstore Rex Joshi Episode: "Rebranding"
The Great Indoors Lalit Pajala Episode: "Mason Blows Up"
Santa Clarita Diet Ryan Episode: "The Book!"
American Housewife Grant 5 episodes
2018 Living Biblically Doug 3 episodes
Door No. 1 Shane Episode: "Ten Year"
The Cool Kids Dr. Chad Episode: "Sid Comes Out"
2019 Fam Joe Episode: "This Is Fam"
2020 Ravi Patel's Pursuit of Happiness Himself Documentary series
Bhaag Beanie Bhaag Ravi 6 episodes
2023–present Animal Control Amit Patel Main role
2023 Justified: City Primeval Rick Newley 4 episodes
2024 Three Women Dr. Henry 3 episodes

References

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  1. ^ Miller, Julie (10 September 2015). "Introducing Meet the Patels, the Best 2015 Documentary That You Probably Haven't Heard Of". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  2. ^ Daswani, Kavita (10 September 2015). "The family behind 'Meet the Patels' takes candid talk to a warmly comic level". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  3. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (25 February 2010). "'Past Life' actor to star in Fox comedy pilot". The Hollywood Reporter. The Associated Press. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  4. ^ Barker, Andrew (16 July 2014). "Film Review: 'Meet the Patels'". Variety. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  5. ^ "'Meet the Patels' movie review by Kenneth Turan". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  6. ^ Grigsby Bates, Karen (11 September 2015). "'Meet The Patels': One Man's Quest To Find Love, The Old-School Indian Way". All Things Considered. NPR. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  7. ^ a b Smiley, Tavis (17 September 2015). "Actor Ravi Patel". The Tavis Smiley Show. PBS. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  8. ^ Gupta, Shipra Harbola (16 June 2014). "LAFF: Brother-Sister Filmmaking Duo Ravi and Geeta Patel on Filming Their Parents in 'Meet the Patels'". Indiewire. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  9. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (21 October 2015). "'Meet The Patels' In Fox Searchlight Remake Deal; Ravi And Geeta Patel To Write, Co-Direct". Deadline Hollywood.
  10. ^ a b Rao, Mallika (11 November 2015). "Master of None's Ravi Patel on Doing the Infamous Indian Accent and the Second Coming of Aziz Ansari". Vulture. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  11. ^ "Pursuit of Happiness IMDB Page".
  12. ^ "Animal Control IMDB Page".
  13. ^ "CNN: Kristen Bell invests".
  14. ^ Clayson, Jane (15 September 2015). "One Surprisingly Modern Arranged Marriage". On PointWBUR. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  15. ^ "Myers Park grad Ravi Patel gets high-profile screen time in 'Long Shot' with Charlize Theron". The Charlotte Observer. June 5, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  16. ^ Kroll, Justin (23 February 2022). "Ravi Patel Joins Sony's Adaptation Of 'Harold And The Purple Crayon'". Deadline Hollywood.
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