A portrait of David Ury

David Ury

Acting

Born

January 1, 1973

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.

The Filmography

We respect your privacy

We use cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience, customize content to match your preferences, and analyze how you interact with our platform. Essential cookies ensure the site functions correctly, while others help us improve performance and security.

By clicking "Accept", you agree to the use of all cookies. You can select "Manage" to control your cookie preferences and decide which ones to enable. For complete information, visit our Cookies Policy.