Background and career
Robert Allen Riggle Jr. (born 21 April 1970) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, and retired United States Marine officer. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, joining the Marines in 1990 and later attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel. Riggle is known for his work as a correspondent on Comedy Central's The Daily Show from 2006 to 2008; as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2004 to 2005; as the recurring character Gil Thorpe on the 20th Television sitcom Modern Family from 2013 to 2019; and for his comedic roles in films such as Step Brothers (2008), The Hangover (2009), Killers (2010), The Internship (2013), Let's Be Cops (2014), My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016), and How to Be a Latin Lover (2017). He has also co-starred in the Adult Swim comedy-action series NTSF:SD:SUV::. In 2012, he replaced Frank Caliendo for the comedy skit and prognostication portions of Fox NFL Sunday. Riggle co-hosted the miniature golf game show series Holey Moley with Joe Tessitore on ABC from 2019 to 2022. His voice acting work includes Bob's Burgers, Rick and Morty, and The Loud House. In film, He voiced roles in the Hotel Transylvania franchise (2012–present) and The Lorax (both 2012).
Robert Allen Riggle Jr. was born on 21 April 1970, in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of Sandra and Robert Allen Riggle Sr., who worked in insurance. His family moved to Overland Park, Kansas when he was two. He attended Shawnee Mission South High School, where he was involved in the school's radio and TV stations. He was voted the most humorous in high school and graduated in 1988. He later attended the University of Kansas, where he was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, attained his pilot's license, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Theater and Film in 1992. He went on to earn a Master of Public Administration degree from Webster University in 1997.
Riggle joined the Marines in 1990 after getting his pilot's license, intending to become a naval aviator, but left flight school to pursue a comedy career. Riggle was a member of the United States Marine Corps Reserve and often referred to his military experiences on The Daily Show, including acting as the show's "military analyst" and joking that he could kill any other member of the show. In his capacity as a Reserve officer, Riggle assisted with recovery efforts in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan, and was deployed to Afghanistan twice, in 2001 and 2002. In August 2007, he went to Iraq to report for The Daily Show and to entertain troops under the purview of the USO. Riggle was a public affairs officer with a New York City-based unit; he served in Liberia, Kosovo, Albania, and Afghanistan. He attained the rank of lieutenant colonel and received the Meritorious Service Medal (2); Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal; Joint Service Achievement Medal; Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (2); Combat Action Ribbon (earned during his tour in Kosovo); National Defense Service Medal (2); Kosovo Campaign Medal; Afghanistan Campaign Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Humanitarian Service Medal; Armed Forces Reserve Medal; and NATO Medal. On 1 January 2013, he retired from the Marine Corps Reserve after 23 years of service.
Riggle has a long-standing comedic partnership with comedian Rob Huebel, with whom he frequently appears at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (UCBT) and in their former improvisational sketch comedy troupe Respecto Montalban. Perhaps the duo's best known creation was their long running two-man show Kung Fu Grip which they performed at UCBT and other comedy venues for many years, and in the 2004 HBO Comedy Arts Festival. Around this time, they began appearing together in several of Comedy Central and VH1's "talking head" commentary programs such as Best Week Ever and A2Z. They also appeared in Bravo network's 100 Scariest Movie Moments special in 2004. These appearances got the duo their first exposure to television viewers and made them favorites among VH1 viewers. Riggle, Huebel and most of their castmates from Respecto Montalban also performed in sketches on Late Night with Conan O'Brien through the late 1990s and early 2000s. The duo's growing popularity landed them an audition on Saturday Night Live in the summer of 2004. They auditioned together, though only Riggle ended up making the cut. After spending one season on Saturday Night Live from 2004 to 2005, Riggle soon joined Huebel and many of his other Respecto Montalban castmates in Los Angeles to work on new projects. Soon after, the two landed a holding deal at NBC in early 2006 to develop a half-hour comedy program, though it never reached production. In September 2006, Riggle joined The Daily Show as a regular correspondent. Around the same time, Huebel (along with Respecto Montalban member Paul Scheer and stand-up comic Aziz Ansari) started developing Human Giant, a sketch show for MTV. Riggle often appeared in the show's sketches, and in its 24-hour live marathon which aired in May 2007. One of Riggle's most memorable appearances was as hired muscle Ham-Bone, who appeared alongside Aziz Ansari in the season one sketch "Clell Tickle: Indie Marketing Guru". Riggle and Huebel can also be seen on stage at the UCBT in Doug Benson's documentary Super High Me.
A featured player during the 2004–2005 season, Riggle's first appearance as a SNL cast member was on the show's 30th-season premiere on 2 October 2004. He has portrayed Larry the Cable Guy, Howard Dean, Rick Sanchez, Mark McGwire, and Toby Keith. He had a one-shot character named Leviticus, a loud, violent street preacher who only appeared on a Weekend Update segment on the Christmas episode hosted by Robert De Niro (though another sketch featuring Leviticus scheduled to air on the episode hosted by Hilary Swank was cut after dress rehearsal). Prior to becoming a cast member, Riggle appeared in a non-speaking role during season 29 in a pre-taped parody of Fear Factor, where he played the father of one of the child contestants during the "Breakfast in Bed" challenge, in which a child must eat the maggots off a plate of Eggs Benedict with the understanding that failing to do so results in the divorce of his parents.
In September 2006, Riggle joined the cast of The Daily Show to replace the departing Rob Corddry, and his debut on 20 September 2006. TV Guide cited Riggle's segment "Marines in Berkeley" where he donned hippie regalia to spoof University of California, Berkeley peace activists protesting a local Marines recruiting station. During the 2008 Olympics, Riggle traveled to China to tape sketches for The Daily Show, producing the four-part special feature "Rob Riggle: Chasing the Dragon". Riggle left The Daily Show on 10 December 2008, in his words "to go fight crime"; however, he appeared at Bonnaroo 2009—with John Oliver and Rory Albanese, one of the show's executive producers—in a show entitled An Evening (or Afternoon) with The Daily Show featuring John Oliver, Rob Riggle & Rory Albanese.
