Persian actor Marshall Manesh was born on August 16, 1950 in Mashhad, Iran. He credits his acting career to his mother, whom he feels he got his strength from when he was starting out in acting after his father died. He moved to the United States in the 1970s, when he joined the Persian Theater Group and toured extensively across the country, as well as in different venues in Canada and Europe.
Manesh started acting for the screen in 1987, when he starred in the film Checkpoint. Since he has appeared in move than 70 films, playing roles in notable features such as True Lies, Kazaam, The Big Lebowski, Word of Mouth, The Last Producer, Hidalgo, Wasted in Babylon, Surviving Christmas, Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World, Left Turn, Pirates of the Carribean: At World’s End, Carts and Crossing Over.
Manesh also has extensive credits on television. He’s played guest roles in shows such as Pacific Blue, The X Files, City of Angels, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Judging Amy, Alias, NYPD Blue, Entourage, JAG, The Unit, Boston Legal, Raising the Bar and Journeyman. He’s played numerous recurring roles on some shows, too. In Will & Grace, he plays Mr. Zamir, an obnoxious tenant who tends to take off his shirt and steal newspapers from the title characters (Eric McCormack and Debra Messing). In How I Met Your Mother, he plays limousine driver Ranjit who helps some of the main characters out in their tribulations. He also had a regular role in the short-lived comedy Andy Barker, P.I., where he plays Afghani restaurant owner Wally, who supplies Andy (Andy Richter) surveillance equipment after he “went overboard with patriotism after 9/11.”
He has also appeared on around 40 television commercials, and also appeared in music videos for Madonna and Bon Jovi.