Ike Barinholtz

American actor Isaac "Ike" Barinholtz became best known as a long-time cast member of the sketch comedy show "MADtv" (Fox 1995-2009) and as anarchic male nurse Morgan Tookers on "The Mindy Project" (Fox/Hulu 2012- ). The son of Peggy and Alan Barinholtz, he was born on February 18, 1977 in Chicago, Illinois. He attended Boston University, initially wanting to become a politician. According to the actor himself, Barinholtz dropped out of school because he loathed his studies and was performing poorly in his classes. He moved back home to Chicago, where he became inspired to take improv classes after seeing an ImprovOlympic performance at The Vic Theatre. After working odd jobs that included a stint at the Chicago Transit Authority, he landed a spot in the sketch comedy company Boom Chicago, where he performed with Seth Meyers, Jason Sudeikis, and Jordan Peele. In those years, he learned to improvise, write sketches and perform in front of audiences and those skills led to his joining the cast of Fox's late-night sketch show "MADtv" in 2002. After his five-year contract with "MADtv" ended in 2007, Barinholtz opted not to return in order to focus on other television and film projects. He played an assortment of characters in the 2008 parody films "Disaster Movie" and "Meet the Spartans." In 2012, he was cast as Ivank Dochenko, a recurring character in Danny McBride's scabrous comedy "Eastbound & Down" (HBO 2009-2013). Later that year, Barinholtz joined "The Mindy Project" as both a writer and a cast member, playing socially awkward nurse Morgan Tookers. During this period, Barinholtz reteamed with Meyers as a writer and voice actor on animated superhero parody "The Awesomes" (Hulu 2013-15). Raising his big screen profile, Barinholtz appeared in the comedy hit "Neighbors" (2014) and its sequel "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising" (2016), as well as Tina Fey-Amy Poehler comedy "Sisters" (2015) and animated hit "The Angry Birds Movie" (2016). Along with appearing in a supporting role in the blockbuster action hit "Suicide Squad" (2016), Barinholtz scored his first screenplay hit by co-writing the Dwayne Johnson/Kevin Hart comedy "Central Intelligence" (2016). Following a supporting role in the Amy Schumer/Goldie Hawn comedy "Snatched" (2017) and a small role in political drama "Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House" (2017), Barinholtz starred opposite John Cena and Leslie Mann in the teen sex comedy "Blockers" (2018). His directorial debut, "The Oath" (2018), followed later that year, in which he starred opposite Tiffany Haddish.