Ian Gomez

He was born in New York City to a dancer mother of Ashkenazi Jewish descent with Russian roots and an artist father of Puerto Rican descent.{{cite web |url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/51/Ian-Gomez.html |title=Ian Gomez Biography (1964–) |website=Film Reference |access-date=March 13, 2013}}

On The Drew Carey Show from 1995 to 2004, Gomez played Larry Almada, a co-worker of Drew Carey's character (also named Drew Carey) at Winfred-Louder. He also worked with Carey in 1999 on the show Whose Line Is It Anyway? From 1998 to 2002, he played Javier Clemente Quintata on the WB show Felicity.

In 1999, Gomez joined the cast of the ABC sitcom Norm as Danny Sanchez, one of the main characters; he remained on the show for all three seasons until its cancellation in 2001. In 2002, Gomez starred in Alanis Morissette's "Hands Clean" music video. In the same year, he appeared with Jeff Garlin, Ted Danson, Michael York, and Hugh Mellon in two episodes of the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, where he played the "bald chef", hired by Larry to cook in the restaurant he owned.

Gomez appeared in ABC's Jake in Progress (2005–2006), which starred John Stamos. 2006 saw Gomez appear in the fourth episode of Lost{{'}}s third season, "Every Man for Himself", and as a therapist in the April 2006 episode "Here We Go Again" of Reba.

File:Nia Vardalos and Ian Gomez (cropped).jpg in 2012]]

Gomez took the part of Andy Torres in the ABC and later TBS comedy Cougar Town alongside fellow The Drew Carey Show castmate Christa Miller, from 2009 to 2015. In 2016, Gomez and his then-wife, Nia Vardalos, co-presented The Great American Baking Show, a revival of The Great Holiday Baking Show.[http://abc.go.com/shows/the-great-american-baking-show/about-the-show The Great American Baking Show (ABC)]; accessed December 9, 2016.

In 2019, he appeared in the Clint Eastwood film Richard Jewell.

In 2020, Gomez was cast in the role of Luis Flores in the NBC comedy pilot Night School based on the 2018 film and written by Christopher Moynihan.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2020/03/night-school-ian-gomez-james-earl-joe-massingill-collette-wolfe-cast-night-school-nbc-pilot-1202871230/|title='Night School': Ian Gomez, James Earl, Joe Massingill & Collette Wolfe Cast In 'Night School' NBC Comedy Pilot|last=Andreeva|first=Nellie|date=March 2, 2020|work=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=March 2, 2020}} However, NBC ultimately decided not to move forward with the series.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2020/12/nbc-comedy-pilots-update-american-auto-grand-crew-night-school-dead-not-going-forward-1234655421/|title=NBC Comedy Pilots Update: 'American Auto' & 'Grand Crew' In Contention, 'Night School' Not Going Forward|last=Andreeva|first=Nellie|date=December 11, 2020|work=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=May 9, 2022}}

He was married to actress-writer Nia Vardalos of My Big Fat Greek Wedding fame. He appeared in her films My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Connie and Carla, My Life in Ruins, I Hate Valentine's Day, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2. Gomez is of Puerto Rican and Russian Jewish descent, and converted to Greek Orthodoxy upon marrying Vardalos, which is mirrored as a plot element in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. In 2008, the two adopted a daughter.{{cite web|title=ZMTV - Ian Gomez from Cougar Town Interview|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kjg9xLd6H0|website=YouTube|date=July 20, 2010}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead Youtube links|date=February 2022}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/iedm/archive/people/vardalos.html |title=Nia Vardalos |website=Province of Manitoba |date=Winter 2003 |access-date=September 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184226/http://www.gov.mb.ca/iedm/archive/people/vardalos.html |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |url-status=dead}}{{cite news|last=Failla|first=Annemarie|title=Nia Vardalos My Big Fat Greek Wedding|url=https://www.femail.com.au/niavardalos.htm|access-date=February 12, 2018|work=Femail|language=en}} It was announced on July 3, 2018 that Vardalos filed for divorce from Gomez after 25 years of marriage due to irreconcilable differences.{{cite web|url=https://www.eonline.com/news/949161/nia-vardalos-files-for-divorce-from-ian-gomez-after-23-years-of-marriage|title=Nia Vardalos Files for Divorce From Ian Gomez After 23 Years of Marriage|publisher=EOnline|author=Mike Vulpo|date=July 3, 2018|access-date=July 3, 2018}} The divorce was finalized in September 2018.{{cite web|url=https://people.com/movies/my-big-fat-greek-wedding-nia-vardalos-settles-divorce/|title=My Big Fat Greek Wedding's Nia Vardalos Settles Divorce 2 Months After Initial Filing|last=Fernandez|first=Alexia|work=People|date=September 7, 2018|access-date=January 31, 2019}}

• List of Puerto Ricans

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Category:1964 births

Category:Greek Orthodox Christians from the United States

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male television actors

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:21st-century American male actors

Category:Hispanic and Latino American male actors

Category:Jewish American male actors

Category:Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy

Category:Living people

Category:Male actors from New York City

Category:American actors of Puerto Rican descent

Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent

Category:Converts to Christianity from Judaism

Category:Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Judaism