Ed Helms as
Andy Bernard Edward "Ed" Helms, born on January 24, 1974 in Atlanta, Georgia is an alumni of The Westminster Schools and Oberlin College in Ohio. Early on, he was the schoolmate of future Office co-star, Brian Baumgarntner. He is also the cousin of Minor League Baseball player Wes Helms, currently of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Helms began his television career by working on various Comedy Central shows. He also worked on Tanner on Tanner and Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story with fellow
The Daily Show correspondent, Rob Corddry, while appearing as guest on
Arrested Development and Cheap Seats. He lent his voice to Angel on Cartoon Network's Weighty Decisions, and did voice work for commercials promoting Burger King, Doritos, Sharp Aquos, and Advair asthma medication.
On the film Evan Almighty, Helms was cast for the role of news reporter Ed Carson. He worked on I'll Believe You and Walk Hard and appears in Harold & Kumar 2 and Starship Dave.
Helms worked extensively on The Daily Show, contributing field reports and hosting various sections of the show. He also occasionally narrates a segment on
The Colbert Report . In 2006, Helms became part of the cast of The Office, playing Andy Bernard.
In talking about his transition into sitcoms, Helms said, "It was actually a lot smoother and easier than I thought, because this was such an easy cast to kind of walk in and join. They're just so welcoming and fun and cool. And for me, I felt ready to spread my wings and do something a little different. I had been on The Daily Show for five years."
He added that the best part of his job was "Waking up in the morning with an occupation I'm excited about and proud of. In the entertainment business, we all kind of whore ourselves into various non-ideal situations. I feel lucky to be involved with something I'm really proud to be a part of."