Benjamin Koldyke (born March 27, 1968) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Don Frank on How I Met Your Mother (2009–2010), Lee Standish in Work It (2012), and Greg Gibbon on Gortimer Gibbon's Life On Normal Street (2014–2016).
Ben Koldyke | |
|---|---|
| Born | Benjamin Koldyke (1968-03-27) March 27, 1968 (age 54) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Spouse | [1] |
Koldyke was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in nearby Kenilworth. His father, Martin J. "Mike" Koldyke, is a former investment banker who founded Frontenac Company in Chicago and is a life trustee of Northwestern University;[2] through his mother, Patricia Blunt Koldyke, he is a member of the family that controls Laird Norton Company, an investment company with roots in the timber industry of the Pacific Northwest.
After graduating from high school, he did a post-graduate year at Choate Rosemary Hall. He graduated in 1991 from Dartmouth College, where he earned a bachelor's degree in English and was a quarterback for the football team.[3]
Originally a high school English teacher and football coach in Chicago, Koldyke's acting career received a jump start after a chance encounter with It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator-star, Rob McElhenney. Regulars at the same Venice cafe, he covered Rob's tab with a note that said he "thought his show was fantastic," and this exchange led to Koldyke's first TV pilot, Boldly Going Nowhere for Fox, a few years later.[4]
After Boldly was not picked up, Koldyke went on to recur as Dale Tomasson in the HBO series Big Love and as Don Frank in How I Met Your Mother for CBS.[5]
In 2012, Koldyke starred as the lead character in the short-lived ABC comedy series Work It and later guest starred in HBO's The Newsroom.[6] 2013 saw him star in another ABC sitcom, Back in the Game, opposite James Caan and Maggie Lawson.[7] He had a significant arc on Showtime's Masters of Sex as teacher and football coach Paul Edley,[8] and played male chauvinist Brent throughout the final season of The Good Place.[9] In 2021 he had a recurring role on season 1 of Peacock sitcom Rutherford Falls.[10]
Koldyke was seen on the big screen in 2016 in a supporting role for Disney's The Finest Hours alongside Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Eric Bana, and Ben Foster.
On August 8, 2015, Koldyke married actress Maggie Lawson in a ceremony at his family's ranch in Las Vegas, New Mexico. In early 2017, Lawson filed for divorce from Koldyke.[1]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | The Next Best Thing | Kelly's Boyfriend | |
| 2000 | Thirteen Days | RF-8 Pilot | |
| 2001 | Red Zone | Dutch Van Roble | Also writer and director |
| 2002 | Osama Bin Laden: Behind the Madness | Writer and director | |
| 2003 | Say I Do | Ben | |
| 2003 | Stuck on You | Officer Tommy Johnson | |
| 2008 | Jedi Gym | Master Flynn | Short film, also writer and director |
| 2016 | The Finest Hours | Sam |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 24 | LAPD Officer | Episode: "Day 2: 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m." |
| 2009 | Boldly Going Nowhere | TV pilot | |
| 2009 | It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia | Sean | Episode: "The Gang Exploits the Mortgage Crisis" |
| 2009 | The Big D | Will Dupree | TV pilot |
| 2009 | This Little Piggy | TV pilot | |
| 2010 | Big Love | Dale Tomasson | 5 episodes |
| 2009–2010 | How I Met Your Mother | Don Frank | 6 episodes |
| 2012 | Work It | Lee Standish | Series regular, 11 episodes |
| 2013 | The Newsroom | Cyrus West | Episode: "First Thing We Do, Let's Kill All the Lawyers" |
| 2013 | Back in the Game | Dick Slingbaugh | Series regular |
| 2014-2016 | Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street | Greg Gibbon | Recurring |
| 2015 | Mr. Robinson | Jimmy | Series regular |
| 2015 | Masters of Sex | Paul Edley | Recurring |
| 2017 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | Dave | Episode: "The Accidental Text on Purpose" |
| 2018 | Silicon Valley | Ben | Episode: "Chief Operating Officer" |
| 2019 | The Good Place | Brent Norwalk | Recurring (season 4) |
| 2021 | Rutherford Falls | Dudley 'Duz' Rutherford | Recurring |