Maulik Pancholy

Sanjay And Craig

Milo Murphy's Law

**Maulik Navin Pancholy**  (/moʊliːk nɑːvɪn pænˈtʃoʊli/, born January 18, 1974) is an American actor who is best known for his roles as Jonathan on *30 Rock*, Baljeet Tjinder in *Phineas and Ferb*, Neal in the first season of *Whitney*, and characters named Sanjay Patel in *Weeds* and *Sanjay and Craig*.

## Early Life

Pancholy was born in Dayton, Ohio. He moved around while growing up, living in Ohio, Indiana, and Texas before his family settled in Tampa, Florida, where he attended junior high and high school.[1] His family comes from Gujarat, and his grandparents live in Ahmedabad.[2] He is a 1991 graduate of the Berkeley Preparatory School in Tampa, and went on to major in Theatre at Northwestern University, where he received his bachelor's degree in 1995.[3] He then attended the Yale School of Drama, where he received his Master of Fine Arts in 2003.

## Career

Pancholy's television work includes guest roles on *Tracey Takes On...*, *The Sopranos*, *Law & Order: Criminal Intent*, and *The Comeback*.[4]

His stage credits in New York City include the Culture Project's production of *Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom* in 2004, a workshop of the play *Morbidity & Mortality* at the historic Cherry Lane Theatre in 2005, and the lead role in *India Awaiting* at the Samuel Beckett Theatre. In January 2015, he joined the cast of Terrence McNally's *It's Only a Play*, replacing Rupert Grint when the production's Broadway run was extended.[5]
 Washington DC stage credits include Katherina in an all male version
of the Shakespear's Theatre Company's "The Taming of The Shrew" in 2016.
 As 'Kevin' in the World premier engagement of Ken Urban's "The
Remains" at the Studio Theatre in 2018.

On February 13, 2017 StarTrek.com stated that Pancholy will play Nambue, Chief Medical Officer of the USS *Shenzhou* in the upcoming TV series *Star Trek: Discovery*. The series' pilot episode is set to air in September 2017, and season one is to air on CBS streaming service in America and Netflix abroad.[6]

## Personal Life

Pancholy came out as gay in a November 2013 interview with *Out* magazine in which he discussed his partner of nine years, chef/caterer Ryan Corvaia.[7] They got engaged at the Taj Mahal in January 2014 and were married in September that year.[8]

Pancholy speaks Gujarati and Spanish. He is also proficient in Hindi, which he speaks in the *30 Rock* episode "Khonani".[2][9]

### Political activism

On April 25, 2014, Pancholy was named to President Barack Obama's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders as part of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.[10][11][12]
 On February 25, 2017, Pancholy and nine other members of the commission
 resigned from their positions, citing administrative actions by
President Donald Trump that they claimed went "against the commission's principles".[13][14]

Pancholy is active with several non-profit and social policy
organizations including Asian Americans Advancing Justice, the New York
City Anti-Violence Project, and OutRight Action International, formerly known as the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission.[