Joel E. McHale, born on November 20, 1971 in Rome, Italy, is an actor and host of The Soup on the E! Entertainment Television network. In 1995, he earned his bachelor's degree in history from the University of Washington and later completed a master's degree from the Professional Actors Training Program of the same university. For a while, he played football for the Huskies, with whom he earned a ring from the 1991 Rose Bowl Game. Upon graduating, he moved to Los Angeles and got roles on several television series.
Joel McHale was first seen on the small screen, landing parts on Oliver Beene, CSI: Miami and Will & Grace. He later played a TV reporter in the dramatic biopic Lords of Dogtown, and has frequently appeared as co-host on Loveline. McHale has performed in numerous plays as well, due to his association with Circle X Theatre.
In 2000, he began getting more television roles. He was seen on The Huntress, The Fugitive, Diagnosis Murder, and The Guiding Light. In 2004, he booked the role of MR. Jacks on the big screen hit, Spider-Man 2. He was also credited for his work in Wait and Game Time. In addition, he became a weekly guest on The Adam Carolla Show, The Mickey and Amelia Show, and on the Kidd Chris Show in a Philadelphia radio station. He is also a frequent guest on the Opie and Anthony Show and has been a judge on Iron Chef America. Later on, he got the role of Roy on the American version of the British sitcom, The IT Crowd. He soon became a guest star on the pilot episode of the NBC reality show Thank God You’re Here, as well as in the ABC series Pushing Daisies. He later voiced characters on the hit stop-motion animated series Robot Chicken. His next projects became Giants of Radio and The Onion Movie, as well as voicing Elliott in the film Open Season 2. McHale also made a guest appearance on the finale of the sixth season of Last Comic Standing, and has signed on to film the movie The Informant. In 2009, he was cast on the NBC comedy Community as Jeff Crocker, a lawyer who is back in school after his college degree is deemed invalid.