Jim Rash

James Rash (born July 15, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He played Dean Craig Pelton on the NBC sitcom Community (2009–2015), for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2012.

He co-wrote The Descendants (2011) alongside Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon for which they received the Academy Award, Independent Spirit Award and Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. They were also nominated for the BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Critics' Choice Movie Award. Rash has since, with Faxon, written and directed the comedy films The Way, Way Back (2013), and Downhill (2020).

Early life Rash grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. Both he and his sister were adopted. He attended Charlotte Latin School.

He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1994.

Career Rash played Mr. Grayson/Stitches in the 2005 film Sky High, Fenton on That '70s Show and That '90s Show, and Andrew the "whore house guy" on Reno 911!. He appeared in the final episode of Friends, and played Head T.A. Philip in Slackers. From 2009 to 2015, Rash starred on Community as Craig Pelton, the dean of the community college in which the show takes place.

Rash and comedy partner Nat Faxon moved into screenwriting with a pilot in 2005 for a series entitled Adopted, which did not take off. They wrote the screenplay for The Descendants (2011), based on the novel of the same name, which appeared on the 2008 edition of the Black List (the most popular unproduced scripts in Hollywood at that time). The film was released to critical acclaim, Parts of the film are based on Rash's teenage life. In 2023, Rash voiced the Fixer, the enforcer for the Conglomerate and recurring character in My Dad the Bounty Hunter. He also voiced a video game announcer in the same series.

In 2026, Rash wrote and directed Miss You, Love You starring Allison Janney and Andrew Rannells.

Personal life Rash is gay. During a September 2022 interview promoting Bros, he stated he came out "well over 10-plus years ago".

Filmography

Film

Awards and nominations Year Association Category Project Result2011 Academy Award Best Adapted Screenplay The Descendants 2011 BAFTA Award Best Adapted Screenplay 2011 Golden Globe Award Best Screenplay 2011 Independent Spirit Award Best Screenplay 2011 Writers Guild of America Award Best Adapted Screenplay 2011 Critics' Choice Movie Award Best Adapted Screenplay 2012 Critics' Choice Television Award Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Community 2014 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Informational Series or Special The Writers' Room