Ben Schwartz

Benjamin Joseph Schwartz is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer born on September 15, 1981. He is widely recognized for his recurring television role as Jean-Ralphio Saperstein on Parks and Recreation and his starring portrayal of Clyde Oberholt on House of Lies. He is also prominent in voice acting, serving as the voice of the titular character in the Sonic the Hedgehog film franchise.

Schwartz grew up in a Jewish family in Riverdale, located in the Bronx, New York City. His mother taught music at a local elementary school, while his father worked as a social worker before entering real estate. At eleven years old, his family moved to Edgemont in Westchester County. During his time at Edgemont Junior–Senior High School, he participated in basketball and chorus before graduating in 1999. He later attended Union College, where he completed a double major in psychology and anthropology in 2003.

Early in his career, Schwartz performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre as a member of the long-form improv group Hot Sauce. He worked as a television writer, contributing to the third season of Adult Swim's Robot Chicken as well as freelance material for Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update and Late Show with David Letterman. In 2009, he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for co-writing the opening musical number at the 81st Academy Awards. He also created segments for HBO's Funny or Die Presents and regularly appeared in CollegeHumor web videos, including Jake and Amir.

Schwartz's early television work included a main role on the drama series Undercovers. Over the course of his career, he has appeared in numerous feature films, such as Everybody's Fine, The Other Guys, Peep World, This Is Where I Leave You, The Walk, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Standing Up, Falling Down, and Flora & Ulysses. In addition to acting in films, he worked as a vocal consultant and voiced a Stormtrooper in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

As a voice actor, Schwartz has starred in animated programs, voicing Randy Cunningham in Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja, Dewey Duck in the DuckTales reboot, Leonardo in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Pud in the interactive special We Lost Our Human. In addition to voicing the main character in the Sonic the Hedgehog film series, he guest-voiced a droid named TAY-0 in Star Wars: The Bad Batch.

Schwartz has continued to star in major television series, including Netflix's Space Force and Apple TV+'s murder mystery comedy The Afterparty. He actively tours with his improv show, Ben Schwartz & Friends, and co-starred in the Netflix improv special Middleditch and Schwartz. He is a frequent guest on podcasts such as Comedy Bang! Bang! and has co-written four comedy books.