American comedian Simon Helberg was born on December 9, 1980 in Los Angeles, California. The son of actor Sandy Helberg, he attended the Tisch School of the Arts at the New York University, and also trained at the Atlantic Theater Company. He started acting in 1999, appearing as an extra in the comedy film Mumford. He played several other guest roles in television shows and movies.
In 2002, he joined the cast of the sketch show MADtv. He was one of the show’s featured players, and appeared in several sketches, including the Epstein Brothers—two Jewish men selling Christmas ornaments. His contract was not renewed after a year, however, and he left at the end of the eighth season. He continued appearing as a guest on other shows, mostly comedies: Less Than Perfect, Reno 911!, Unscripted, Life on a Stick and Arrested Development. He then snagged a recurring role on the television comedy Joey, and a supporting role in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, playing show performer Alex Dwyer.
In 2007, Helberg joined the cast of the comedy series The Big Bang Theory. His first starring television role saw him play Howard Wolowitz, an engineer at the California Institute of Technology, who is confident enough to try to woo Penny (Kaley Cuoco) with his knowledge of foreign languages. He also appeared in the Web-only musical Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, playing the role of Moist, who has the ability to dampen things.