David Ury
Acting • Born 1973-01-01
Biography
David Brian Ury (born September 30, 1973) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, YouTuber, and Japanese translation specialist. Ury was born and raised in Sonoma, California. He graduated from Sonoma Valley High School, where he acted in theatre productions. He earned a bachelor's degree in linguistics at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington and studied abroad in Japan, where he became fluent in Japanese. Ury is a descendant of German Jewish impressionist painter Lesser Ury. Since studying abroad in Tokyo, Ury and has worked as a translator in film, television, and manga and currently (As of May 2011) translates and writes English adaptations for manga. Ury moved to Los Angeles in August 2001 where he began performing stand-up comedy. Cartoonist Keith Knight, a neighbor of his, described Ury's acting career as "Spooge man" and "a cavalcade of reprobates, sleazeballs, derelicts, & weirdos." Ury has made several film and television appearances, including an episode of Tim Kring's Crossing Jordan and in Shoot 'Em Up. He also appeared in Heroes, Malcolm in the Middle, Life, Without a Trace, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Zeke and Luther, and The Librarians. In March 2015, Ury was cast for Rob Zombie's slasher film 31 as Schizo-Head. A character actor, Ury has died on screen in almost every role he has portrayed. Ury also has several YouTube channels/accounts/personalities and alter-egos, which include Karaoke Steve and Ken Tanaka, the fictional adopted twin brother of David Ury. Tanaka is described as an Ashkenazi Jewish man adopted as an infant by Japanese parents Hideo and Mari Tanaka, and raised in Shimane Prefecture of Japan; he returns to Los Angeles to find his birth parents Jonathan and Linda Smith.
Filmography
61 credits
Black Widow
Movie • 2008
Bixler
Little Death
Movie • 2024
Petey
1-800-Hot-Nite
Movie • 2022
Bill
Babylon
Movie • 2022
Fan (Autograph)
Do Not Watch
Movie • 2023
Little Boy
Movie • 2015
Sir Pent
31
Movie • 2016
Schizo-Head
A Blind Bargain
Movie • 2025
Reggie
The Revenant
Movie • 2009
ATM Robber
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Movie • 2007
Barkeeper
Pearblossom Hwy
Movie • 2012
Garr Booth
Lake Los Angeles
Movie • 2014
Dan Dan
3 from Hell
Movie • 2019
Travis O'Rourke
Able Edwards
Movie • 2004
Franklin Wallace
A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits
Movie • 2016
Freddie Marks
Shoot 'Em Up
Movie • 2007
Diner Holdup Leader
Loners
Movie • 2019
Larry Bressert
To Hell and Back: The Making of 3 From Hell
Movie • 2019
Self
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
Movie • 2020
Sleazy Breeder
Kajillionaire
Movie • 2020
Minimart Cashier
Coffee Town
Movie • 2013
Homeless Guy
Paparazzi
Movie • 2004
Fan
Dark Ride
Movie • 2006
Attendant #1
Faith Based
Movie • 2020
Gerry
Violent Ends
Movie • 2025
Lou Byers
The 41–Year–Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall and Felt Superbad About It
Movie • 2010
Yes Man
Close to Home
TV • 2005
Rooster
Life
TV • 2007
Hard Case #1
Breaking Bad
TV • 2008
Spooge
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
TV • 2005
Spa Worker
Community
TV • 2009
Rick
The Mentalist
TV • 2008
Col. James Harris
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
TV • 2000
Jayson Walt
Heroes
TV • 2006
Super
Heroes
TV • 2006
Landlord
The Rookie: Feds
TV • 2022
Frank Patterson
Mom
TV • 2013
Randy
Rizzoli & Isles
TV • 2010
Sandy Grotty
Rush Hour
TV • 2016
Trucker
Outer Banks
TV • 2020
Scooter Grubbs
The Haunted Hathaways
TV • 2013
The Green Ghoul
Better Call Saul
TV • 2015
Spooge
Justified
TV • 2010
Hiram
Powers
TV • 2015
Dr. Death
Tacoma FD
TV • 2019
Buffalo Phil
Grimm
TV • 2011
Hofmann
Masters of Sex
TV • 2013
Bones
TV • 2005
Larry Wolfram
Woke
TV • 2020
Al Durian (aka Trench Coat)
Touch
TV • 2012
Rizzi
Fresh Off the Boat
TV • 2015
Homeless Man
Without a Trace
TV • 2002
Gil
Lodge 49
TV • 2018
Malcolm in the Middle
TV • 2000
Mechanic
The Librarians
TV • 2014
William Shakespeare
Charmed
TV • 1998
Shapeshifter
Crossing Jordan
TV • 2001
Arthur Hay
Private Practice
TV • 2007
Hank
Raising Hope
TV • 2010
Easter Joe
Magnum P.I.
TV • 2018
Sam
Free Bert
TV • 2026
Dr. Szykiel