Danny Strong
Encyclopedia
Daniel W. Strong is an American actor and writer in film
and television
.
. where he would rent videos from Video Archives
, becoming friends with Quentin Tarantino
who was then a clerk there. "I would just literally sit and chat with him for 45 minutes, an hour at a time about movies, and he got me turned on to all these different movies that 10 year olds don't see."
Strong studied film and theatre at the University of Southern California
.
on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Paris Geller's boyfriend Doyle McMasters on Gilmore Girls
, but he has also appeared in films such as Pleasantville
, Dangerous Minds
, the spoof
Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday The Thirteenth
, and was in the film Sydney White
as the Grumpy dork, Gurkin. Strong has also had guest parts in sitcoms
such as Seinfeld
, 3rd Rock from the Sun
, Over the Top
and How I Met Your Mother
and has also guest-lectured in acting classes on finding a job as an actor. Most recently, Strong appeared in the popular AMC series Mad Men
as Danny, a young man with no talent, trying to break into the advertising industry.
, a film about the 2000 US Elections, produced by HBO and directed by Jay Roach
, with an air date of May 25, 2008. Strong was nominated for a 2008 Emmy Award
for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special for Recount and won a Writers' Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay for a Television movie.
based on the book written by John Heilemann
and Mark Halperin
.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
.
Early life
Strong was born and raised in Manhattan Beach, CaliforniaManhattan Beach, California
Manhattan Beach is the wealthiest beachfront city located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, USA. The city is on the Pacific coast, south of El Segundo, and north of Hermosa Beach. Manhattan Beach is the home of both beach and indoor volleyball, and surfing. During the winter, the...
. where he would rent videos from Video Archives
Video Archives
Video Archives was a video rental store located in Manhattan Beach, California, owned and managed by Lance Lawson. In his youth, Quentin Tarantino, director of Pulp Fiction, was a clerk there...
, becoming friends with Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
who was then a clerk there. "I would just literally sit and chat with him for 45 minutes, an hour at a time about movies, and he got me turned on to all these different movies that 10 year olds don't see."
Strong studied film and theatre at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
.
Career
Strong is known for playing Jonathan LevinsonJonathan Levinson
Jonathan Levinson is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The character is portrayed by Danny Strong.-Character history:Jonathan was born in 1981 and raised in Sunnydale, California...
on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Paris Geller's boyfriend Doyle McMasters on Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls is an American family comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. On October 5, 2000, the series debuted on The WB and was cancelled in its seventh season, ending on May 15, 2007 on The CW...
, but he has also appeared in films such as Pleasantville
Pleasantville (film)
Pleasantville is a 1998 American fantasy comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by Gary Ross. The film stars Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, William H. Macy, Joan Allen, Marley Shelton and Jeff Daniels. Don Knotts, Paul Walker, Jane Kaczmarek, and J. T. Walsh are also featured.The film...
, Dangerous Minds
Dangerous Minds
Dangerous Minds is an American drama film based on the autobiography My Posse Don't Do Homework by former U.S. Marine LouAnne Johnson, who took up a teaching position at Carlmont High School in Belmont, California, where most of her students were African-American and Hispanic teenagers from East...
, the spoof
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday The Thirteenth
Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth
Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth is a 2000 American direct-to-video parody film directed by John Blanchard. Several mid and late '90s teen horror films are parodied, as are the slasher films of the '70s and '80s, including the Scream films , Friday the 13th , Halloween , A...
, and was in the film Sydney White
Sydney White
Sydney White is a 2007 teen comedy film starring Amanda Bynes, Sara Paxton, and Matt Long, and based on the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.-Plot:...
as the Grumpy dork, Gurkin. Strong has also had guest parts in sitcoms
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
such as Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
, 3rd Rock from the Sun
3rd Rock from the Sun
3rd Rock from the Sun is an American sitcom that aired from 1996 to 2001 on NBC. The show is about four extraterrestrials who are on an expedition to Earth, which they consider to be a very insignificant planet...
, Over the Top
Over the Top (TV series)
Over the Top is an American sitcom starring Tim Curry, Annie Potts and Steve Carell. The series premiered on ABC on October 21, 1997. Although 12 episodes were produced, the series was canceled after only three episodes had aired.-Synopsis:...
and How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
and has also guest-lectured in acting classes on finding a job as an actor. Most recently, Strong appeared in the popular AMC series Mad Men
Mad Men
Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
as Danny, a young man with no talent, trying to break into the advertising industry.
Recount
Strong systematically worked at and finally succeeded at breaking into writing, with the script for RecountRecount (film)
Recount is a 2008 made-for-TV film about the 2000 Presidential election in the United States. The political drama was written by Danny Strong, directed by Jay Roach, and produced by Kevin Spacey, who also stars in the film....
, a film about the 2000 US Elections, produced by HBO and directed by Jay Roach
Jay Roach
Matthew Jay Roach is an American film director and producer, best known for directing the Austin Powers films and Meet the Parents.-Life and career:...
, with an air date of May 25, 2008. Strong was nominated for a 2008 Emmy Award
60th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards was held on Sunday, September 21, 2008, at the newly opened Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. They were hosted by Tom Bergeron, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, Jeff Probst, and Ryan Seacrest and televised in the United States on ABC.The Creative Arts Awards...
for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special for Recount and won a Writers' Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay for a Television movie.
Game Change
Strong was announced as the writer for the film adaptation of Game ChangeGame Change
Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime is a book by political journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin about the 2008 United States presidential election. Released on January 11, 2010, it was also published in the United Kingdom under the title Race of...
based on the book written by John Heilemann
John Heilemann
John Arthur Heilemann is an American journalist for New York magazine, where he mainly covers US politics. He previously was a staff writer for The New Yorker, Wired, and The Economist. He is the coauthor of the No...
and Mark Halperin
Mark Halperin
Mark E. Halperin is the senior political analyst for Time magazine, Time.com, and MSNBC and serves as a board member on the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. He is the co-author of Game Change.-Personal:Mark Halperin is the son of Morton Halperin and Ina Young. He has...
.