Brett Gelman (born October 6, 1976)[1] is an American actor and comedian.[2] He is best known for his role as Murray Bauman in Netflix's horror-supernatural series Stranger Things and as Martin in the BBC comedy Fleabag.
Gelman began his career as a comedian in the 2000s, gaining notability the following decade for his involvement in numerous Adult Swim shows, notably Eagleheart and comedy specials in 2014 and 2015. During this time, he also was part of the main casts of the NBC sitcom Go On, the Comedy Central series Another Period, and the FX comedy series Married.[3]
Gelman became prominent in the late 2010s for his supporting roles in Fleabag and Stranger Things, in addition to those on Camping and Mr. Mercedes. As a voice actor, he has contributed to television series Jeff & Some Aliens and TripTank on Comedy Central and, more recently, I Heart Arlo and Inside Job on Netflix, among others. He is set to star in the upcoming drama series Lady in the Lake.
Early life
Gelman's father was a photo salesman. He was raised Jewish and has a younger sister who is a speech pathologist.[4]
After college, Gelman moved to New York City with a fellow schoolmate, actor Jon Daly.[4] While in New York, Gelman was a regular performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, as part of the duo Cracked Out and sketch group Mr. A$$.[6]
A popular New York Lottery commercial funded his work for a while. Gelman did a one-man show called 1,000 Cats, which he workshopped at many venues.[7]
In 2010, Gelman appeared as a cast member on the Comedy Central sketch comedy special This Show Will Get You High, created by Matt Besser. Gelman co-starred as "Mr. K" on the NBC comedy series Go On starring Matthew Perry,[8] and as A.J. on the FX comedy series Married.[9]
In 2015, Gelman was also a consulting writer on season two of the entertainment news parody series Hot Package on Adult Swim and also recurs as Hamish on the Comedy Central series Another Period and as Ronnie on the Starz series Blunt Talk. Also in 2015, Gelman appeared in the series finale of Mad Men.[11]
In 2016, it was announced that Gelman was cast in the second season of the hit Netflix science-fiction web series Stranger Things as Murray Bauman, a conspiracy theorist and former journalist.[20] He was promoted to the main cast for the fourth season.
Gelman and frequent writing partner and collaborator Jon Daly performed for many years as the comedy rap duo "Cracked Out".[23] Gelman has gained recognition for appearing as the "Little Bit Of Luck" character in the "Take 5" New York Lottery ad campaign that ran from 2008 through 2011. Gelman has said that the inspiration for the character is rocker Guthrie Govan.[24]
Gelman makes frequent appearances on the Comedy Bang! Bang!podcast, as well as other podcasts on the Earwolf podcasting network. In 2011, he began his own podcast, Gelmania, also available on the Earwolf network. Gelman has said he wanted his podcast to "reflect a lot of the fears and anger and sadness of the world, but do that through a really stupid lens."[25] In 2014, Gelmania began its second season but is no longer on the Earwolf network.[26]
Personal life
In December 2015, Gelman married Janicza Bravo.[27][28] The pair met in New York City while working on a New York Lotto commercial.[29][30] They divorced in 2018.[31] Gelman announced his engagement to actress and model Ari Dayan via Instagram in April 2023.[32][33]
Gelman has been a vocal supporter of Israel on Instagram throughout the 2023 Israel-Hamas War. In November 2023, Gelman was among more than a dozen creators and celebrities who confronted TikTok executives in a public letter claiming that the app is directly amplifying the spread of antisemitism. The company reportedly pushed back against claims that it was promoting pro-Palestine, anti-Israel content through its feeds, stating instead that while the platform regularly moderates antisemitic, Anti-Arab racist, and Islamophobiccontent, it does not moderate nor amplify the spread of content expressing criticism of the Israeli government.[34][35] He would later appear on Israeli sketch comedy show Eretz Nehederet to end 2023.[36]
