Phil Dunphy
Encyclopedia
Phil Dunphy is a fictional character
on the American
television series Modern Family
. He is portrayed by Ty Burrell
.
Phil is a real estate agent who lives in California
with his family. An Irish American
, he has been married to Claire Dunphy
for sixteen years and has three children, Haley, Alex, and Luke. He sees himself as the "cool dad," though his kids rarely agree. He dotes on his wife Claire and constantly tries to find ways to bond with his three kids. He has a very juvenile attitude, and is referred to by Claire as the "kid [she's] married to." He uses a parenting method that he calls "peerenting", which is a combination of talking like a peer but acting like a parent. He is very confident in his work, once saying "I could sell a fur coat to an Eskimo." He at times shows a sort of crush-like affection for Gloria, however he says "[He] would never stray from Claire." In college he was a cheerleader at the University of Oregon and his birthday is April 3. Phil, along with his son Luke, is implied to have ADHD.
Ty Burrell's performance has received critical acclaim, even from reviewers who are usually critical of the series. Many critics praise his physical
and slapstick comedy, and the cast and producers have also noted that Burrell commonly improvises many of Phil's lines. Despite the show being strictly set up to have no character larger than the other
, Phil Dunphy has became one of the show's most popular characters, and has been noted as Modern Family's breakout character
(Cameron Tucker
has also been called this). Ty Burrell received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations and one win for his performance.
to Phil's calmness and tendencies to be too laid-back about many important things, such as his oldest daughter Haley wearing a short and tight skirt to school, which he called "cute."
In the episode Hawaii
, Phil revealed that they were supposed to go to Hawaii for their honeymoon, but Claire got pregnant with Haley before they could go. He also reveals that he had to beg Claire to marry him.
In the episode Strangers on a Treadmill
, we learn that Claire does not think Phil is funny, though this opinion changes by the end of the episode.
do, much to Claire's chagrin. Claire says that the relationship between Phil and Jay is very strained, and she has tried on many occasions to bond the two of them. One of these attempts ended with Jay flying an model airplane into Phil's face
. It is never figured out whether this was intentional or an accident. The result of this was complaints from Claire, Gloria, and Mitchell; which led to Jay hugging Phil and Cameron. Phil is often portrayed as boyishly desperate to win Jay's approval, and feminine in contrast to Jay's brusque virility. Jay also purposely pronounces Phil's last name "DUMB-phy", which irks him.
and trousers
. On the show's two Valentines Day episodes, My Funky Valentine
and Bixby's Back
, Phil has taken on an alter ego of Clive Bixby (ergo the name for the latter episode) to go role-playing with Claire, who also took on an alter ego. Both attempts went horribly wrong and ended in either Phil or Claire being in a tight position.
.
He considers himself to be the "cool dad," which his children often disagree with. He goes to extremes to bond with his children, going so far as to learn the dances to songs from High School Musical
and wearing a custom jacket featured in the film. He is also shown to be very competitive, not even allowing his son to score a basket out of pity while playing basketball with him.
Phil suffers from coulrophobia
, intense fear of clowns. This was revealed in the episode Fizbo
, when Cameron came to Luke's birthday party dressed as a clown. He has addressed this and says that his mother thinks the fear originated from him finding a dead clown in the woods one day when he was little. Phil has an overly sensitive gag reflex which is stimulated by the odor of paint,
Phil's laid-back way of handling situations often gets him into chain reaction
situations in which the problem grows after every event. He often has to lie to avoid getting into trouble with Claire, though she always ends up finding out in the end, often leaving Phil in embarrassment.
.
Frank is portrayed as a joking, irresponsible older version of Phil, much like how Luke is portrayed as a younger version of Phil. Phil credits his father for giving him his laid-back attitude. In Undeck the Halls, he appeared only via webcam, in which he aimed it too high before being told by the family. He appears again in Travels with Scout
, this time in person, where he brings the family his dog, Scout, who he says his wife has allergies to. He eventually takes the dog back with him. Though she has yet to appear, Frank has identified Phil's mother's name as Sarah.
in a review of the season loved Ty Burrell's performance of Phil Dunphy and named him one of two characters that stood out to him saying "Actor Ty Burrell owned this part, and his well-intended faux pas throughout the season were stellar.". Burrell received a Television Critics Association Award nomination for Individual Achievement in Comedy.On July 8, 2010, Burrell was also nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Comedy Series; he submitted the episode, "Up All Night
." He won in 2011
, and submitted the episode "Good Cop Bad Dog
."
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
on the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television series Modern Family
Modern Family
Modern Family is an American television comedy series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, which debuted on ABC on September 23, 2009. Lloyd and Levitan serve as showrunner and executive producers, under their Levitan-Lloyd Productions label...
. He is portrayed by Ty Burrell
Ty Burrell
- External links :*...
.
Phil is a real estate agent who lives in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
with his family. An Irish American
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
, he has been married to Claire Dunphy
Claire Dunphy
Claire Dunphy is a fictional character on the American television series Modern Family. She is portrayed by Julie Bowen.Claire is the daughter of Jay, Mitchell's older sister, and the overprotective mother of the Dunphy family and its three very different kids...
for sixteen years and has three children, Haley, Alex, and Luke. He sees himself as the "cool dad," though his kids rarely agree. He dotes on his wife Claire and constantly tries to find ways to bond with his three kids. He has a very juvenile attitude, and is referred to by Claire as the "kid [she's] married to." He uses a parenting method that he calls "peerenting", which is a combination of talking like a peer but acting like a parent. He is very confident in his work, once saying "I could sell a fur coat to an Eskimo." He at times shows a sort of crush-like affection for Gloria, however he says "[He] would never stray from Claire." In college he was a cheerleader at the University of Oregon and his birthday is April 3. Phil, along with his son Luke, is implied to have ADHD.
Ty Burrell's performance has received critical acclaim, even from reviewers who are usually critical of the series. Many critics praise his physical
Physical comedy
Physical comedy, also known as slapstick, is a comedic performance relying mostly on the use of the body to convey humour.Physical comedy, whether conveyed by a pratfall , a silly face, or the action of walking into walls, is a common and rarely subtle form of comedy...
and slapstick comedy, and the cast and producers have also noted that Burrell commonly improvises many of Phil's lines. Despite the show being strictly set up to have no character larger than the other
Ensemble cast
An ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on...
, Phil Dunphy has became one of the show's most popular characters, and has been noted as Modern Family's breakout character
Breakout character
A breakout character is a fictional character in different episodes, books or other media that becomes the most popular, talked about, and imitated. Most often a breakout character in a television series captures the audience's imagination and helps to popularize the show, sometimes inadvertently...
(Cameron Tucker
Cameron Tucker
Cameron Scott Tucker is a fictional character on the American television series Modern Family. He is portrayed by Eric Stonestreet.Cameron, also referred to as Cam, is Mitchell's partner of five years, and one of Lily's fathers, who has a very big dramatic personality. His bubbly outgoing...
has also been called this). Ty Burrell received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations and one win for his performance.
Claire's Overview
Claire generally refers to Phil as "the kid [she's] married to." Her opinions about and uptight ways of parenting almost always serve as a foilFoil (literature)
In fiction, a foil is a character who contrasts with another character in order to highlight particular qualities of another character....
to Phil's calmness and tendencies to be too laid-back about many important things, such as his oldest daughter Haley wearing a short and tight skirt to school, which he called "cute."
In the episode Hawaii
Hawaii (Modern Family)
"Hawaii" is the twenty-third episode of Modern Family on the first season. The episode originally premiered on May 12, 2010 on American Broadcasting Company ....
, Phil revealed that they were supposed to go to Hawaii for their honeymoon, but Claire got pregnant with Haley before they could go. He also reveals that he had to beg Claire to marry him.
In the episode Strangers on a Treadmill
Strangers on a Treadmill
"Strangers on a Treadmill" is the fourth episode of the second season of the American sitcom, Modern Family. The episode originally aired October 13, 2010 on American Broadcasting Company...
, we learn that Claire does not think Phil is funny, though this opinion changes by the end of the episode.
Jay's Overview
Jay gets along with and views Phil like many stereotypical in-lawsMother-in-law joke
Humour and jokes about one's mother-in-law are a mainstay of comedy. The humour is based on the premise that the average mother-in-law often considers her son-in-law to be unsuitable for her daughter , and usually includes the stereotype that mothers-in-law are generally overbearing, obnoxious, or...
do, much to Claire's chagrin. Claire says that the relationship between Phil and Jay is very strained, and she has tried on many occasions to bond the two of them. One of these attempts ended with Jay flying an model airplane into Phil's face
Come Fly with Me (Modern Family)
"Come Fly With Me" is the third episode of the ABC series Modern Family. It premiered on ABC in the United States on October 7, 2009. In the episode, Jay tries to spend some time alone with his model airplane, but Phil ruins it; Alex and Gloria go to a mall and Gloria tries to convince Alex to...
. It is never figured out whether this was intentional or an accident. The result of this was complaints from Claire, Gloria, and Mitchell; which led to Jay hugging Phil and Cameron. Phil is often portrayed as boyishly desperate to win Jay's approval, and feminine in contrast to Jay's brusque virility. Jay also purposely pronounces Phil's last name "DUMB-phy", which irks him.
Physical appearance and typical attire
Phil is in good shape and likes to prove his manliness. He is often seen wearing a dress shirtDress shirt
A shirt, or dress shirt in American English, is a garment with a collar, a full-length opening at the front from the collar to the hem, and sleeves with cuffs. Shirts are predominantly used by men, since women usually wear blouses...
and trousers
Trousers
Trousers are an item of clothing worn on the lower part of the body from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately...
. On the show's two Valentines Day episodes, My Funky Valentine
My Funky Valentine
"My Funky Valentine" is the fifteenth episode of first season of Modern Family. It premiered on ABC on February 10, 2010.-Plot:Phil and Claire are arranging their Valentine's date at their usual restaurant, but after being shocked by Dylan's present for Haley, they decide to instead spending the...
and Bixby's Back
Bixby's Back
"Bixby's Back" is the fourteenth episode of the American comedy television series, Modern Familys second season and the 38th episode overall. It originally aired February 9, 2011 on the American Broadcasting Company...
, Phil has taken on an alter ego of Clive Bixby (ergo the name for the latter episode) to go role-playing with Claire, who also took on an alter ego. Both attempts went horribly wrong and ended in either Phil or Claire being in a tight position.
Quirks and personality traits
Phil is generally goofy and often doesn't plan or think things through, such as his penchant for promising lofty rewards to his children if they manage to improve their behavior. One time during a family meeting, Phil promises Haley a car if she manages to go without technology for the longest of the Dunphy family members. She manages to win but Phil fails to keep to his word. He is often paired with Claire, one of the kids, or Jay to drive the A storyA-Plot
A-Plot is a cinema and television term referring to the plotline that drives the story. This does not necessarily mean it is the most important, but rather the one that forces most of the action....
.
He considers himself to be the "cool dad," which his children often disagree with. He goes to extremes to bond with his children, going so far as to learn the dances to songs from High School Musical
High School Musical
High School Musical is a 2006 American television film, first in the High School Musical film franchise. Upon its release on January 20, 2006, it became the most successful film that Disney Channel Original Movie ever produced, with a television sequel High School Musical 2 released in 2007 and...
and wearing a custom jacket featured in the film. He is also shown to be very competitive, not even allowing his son to score a basket out of pity while playing basketball with him.
Phil suffers from coulrophobia
Coulrophobia
Coulrophobia is a fear of clowns. The term is of recent origin, probably dating from the 1980s, and according to one analyst, "has been coined more on the Internet than in printed form because it does not appear in any previously published, psychiatric, unabridged, or abridged dictionary," however...
, intense fear of clowns. This was revealed in the episode Fizbo
Fizbo
"Fizbo" is the ninth episode of the first season of the American comedy series, Modern Family. It originally premiered on American Broadcasting Company in the United States on November 25, 2009...
, when Cameron came to Luke's birthday party dressed as a clown. He has addressed this and says that his mother thinks the fear originated from him finding a dead clown in the woods one day when he was little. Phil has an overly sensitive gag reflex which is stimulated by the odor of paint,
Phil's laid-back way of handling situations often gets him into chain reaction
Chain reaction
A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events....
situations in which the problem grows after every event. He often has to lie to avoid getting into trouble with Claire, though she always ends up finding out in the end, often leaving Phil in embarrassment.
Interests
Phil, along with Claire, has shown an interest for "cheesy cinema". His other interests include sports, his job, watching the nature channel, and working with computers and technology. He is also shown in Up All Night to have an interest in close-up magic.Family
Along with his family relationships seen on the show regularly, Phil also maintains a good relationship with his father Frank, played by Fred WillardFred Willard
Fred Willard is an American actor, comedian, and voice over actor, best known for his improvisational comedy skills. He is known for his roles in the Christopher Guest mockumentary films This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration as well as...
.
Frank is portrayed as a joking, irresponsible older version of Phil, much like how Luke is portrayed as a younger version of Phil. Phil credits his father for giving him his laid-back attitude. In Undeck the Halls, he appeared only via webcam, in which he aimed it too high before being told by the family. He appears again in Travels with Scout
Travels with Scout
"Travels with Scout" is the twenty-first episode of Modern Family. The episode originally aired April 28, 2010 on American Broadcasting Company . The episode was written by Paul Corrigan and Brad Walsh and directed by Seth Gordon. In the episode "Travels with Scout", Claire is suspicious when...
, this time in person, where he brings the family his dog, Scout, who he says his wife has allergies to. He eventually takes the dog back with him. Though she has yet to appear, Frank has identified Phil's mother's name as Sarah.
Reception
Ty Burrell had received many positive reviews for his performance. Hank Stuever from the Washington Post wrote, "A standout performance from Ty Burrell's new twist on the doofus-dad stereotype." Paige Wiser, a reporter for the Chicago Sun Times, wrote, "Ty Burrell is a genius as a dad who stays hip by keeping up with the numbers from High School Musical." Robert Canning of IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
in a review of the season loved Ty Burrell's performance of Phil Dunphy and named him one of two characters that stood out to him saying "Actor Ty Burrell owned this part, and his well-intended faux pas throughout the season were stellar.". Burrell received a Television Critics Association Award nomination for Individual Achievement in Comedy.On July 8, 2010, Burrell was also nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Comedy Series; he submitted the episode, "Up All Night
Up All Night (Modern Family)
"Up All Night" is the eleventh episode of the first season for the ABC series Modern Family. It premiered on ABC in the United States on January 6, 2010. The episode was written by co-creator Christopher Lloyd and directed by Michael Spiller. In the episode, Gloria is less than pleased with Jay's...
." He won in 2011
63rd Primetime Emmy Awards
The 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, honoring the best in primetime television programming from June 1, 2010 until May 31, 2011, was held on September 18, 2011, at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California. Fox televised the ceremony within the United States. Actress Jane Lynch hosted...
, and submitted the episode "Good Cop Bad Dog
Good Cop Bad Dog
"Good Cop Bad Dog" is the twenty second episode of the American comedy television series Modern Familys second season and the 46th episode overall. The episode originally aired on May 11, 2011 on American Broadcasting Company . The episode was written by Abraham Higginbotham and Jeffrey...
."