Bio
Diedrich Bader is an American actor and comedian best known for his role as Oswald on the television comedy series The Drew Carey Show, from 1995-2004.
He also starred as Charlie Davies, an American expatriate who runs the All American Hunter call centre in India, in the television sitcom Outsourced, from 2010-2011.
Bader was born in Alexandria, Virginia, but at the age of two, he moved with his family to Paris, France. He returned to the United States for high school and attended North Carolina School of the Arts.
During spring break, he was discovered by a casting director in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which led to an audition for a small role in a pilot. Instead, he landed a starring role. Although the pilot wasn't picked up, Bader moved to Los Angeles and began auditioning for other roles.
After guest starring in Cheers, Quantum Leap and 21 Jump Street among others, Bader received his break when director Penelope Spheeris cast him as the heroic, but dense and accident-prone biker The Searcher in a 1993 instalment of the broad spoof show Danger Theatre.
Shortly thereafter, Spheeris provided Bader with even greater exposure when she cast him as Jethro (and his sister, Jethrine) in the feature version of the outlandish 1960s sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies.
In 1995, Bader was cast as Oswald, one of Drew Carey's somewhat dim-witted friends on The Drew Carey Show. Bader remained on the series through its final season in 2004.
After gaining recognition for his work on television, Bader landed roles in several feature films, including the cult hit comedy Office Space, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, and Eurotrip. His most laughably loopy role was in the cult favourite Napoleon Dynamite, as fitness guru Rex.
Bader also developed a busy and lucrative side career as a voice actor, lending his distinctive tones to such animated series as Pepper Ann, Hercules, The Simpsons, Baby Blues, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Kim Possible, Batman Beyond, and King of the Hill, as well as the feature films Ice Age and The Country Bears.