Ari Stidham (born August 22, 1992) is an American actor. He is known for his role of statistical genius Sylvester Dodd in the CBS drama series Scorpion.[1]

Ari Stidham
Stidham at San Diego Comic-Con in 2016
Born (1992-08-22) August 22, 1992 (age 32)
OccupationActor
Years active2010–present

Early life

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Stidham was born on August 22, 1992,[2][3] to a Sephardic Jewish father and an Ashkenazi Jewish mother, and grew up in Westlake Village, California. His maternal grandparents were from Russia, and his paternal grandparents were from Morocco and the United States. He was raised in an observant Reform Jewish home, and he attended the Center for Early Jewish Education in Thousand Oaks. He does not identify as religiously Jewish, but he identifies as culturally Jewish.[4]

Stidham began playing music at four and performed in theater and musical productions throughout elementary and high school. He later performed with and was a member of ComedySportz Los Angeles Improvisational comedy group.[4][5]

Career

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Stidham broke into acting in 2010, with the character Ian in ABC Family television series Huge, based on a novel of the same name which centered around eight teenagers who had been sent to a weight loss camp.[6] He later auditioned for the part of Sylvester Dodd in the CBS series Scorpion, despite the role being written for an African-American actor in his thirties, and was cast in the role after a single audition.[5] From 2014 to 2018, Stidham was a part of the main cast for the all four seasons of the series (93 episodes).

He also releases music under the name DrTelevision, or DRTV. Additionally, through his production company Stidley Inc., he produces "short form alternative comedy" with Zach Green, including a monthly love comedy radio play Dick Duquesne: Tales of a Private Dick.[7]

Stidham founded his company, Sanguinet Films in 2016 with Ari at the helm as a producer, writer, and director of the company. He directed their flagship feature, Curse of the Siren, which premiered at Fangoria Fearcon in 2016.[citation needed]

In 2018, he played archvillain Grand Moff Levine in a musical stage spoof titled Solo Must Die: A Musical Parody.[8] In October 2019, Stidham presented a comedy and musical celebration and re-telling of the Edgar Allan Poe's works titled The Edgar Allan Show.[9] Re-enactments and recitals of 'The Raven', 'The Tell-Tale Heart' and 'The Fall of the House of Usher', were directed by and featured original songs by Stidham.[10]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role
2009 Jack's Box Ari
2010 Election Day Ari
2010 The Green Family Elbow Bully
2011 Anyplace Luke
2011 Talon's Rant
2012 Kidnap Party Officer
2016 The Meme Max Bloom
2023 Foil Felix The Manager

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2010 Huge Ian Schonfeld Main cast - 10 episodes
The Whole Truth Erik Episode: "True Confessions"
2011 Glee Drunk Kid Episode: "Blame It on the Alcohol"
2013 Mike and Molly Henry Episode: "Molly's New Shoes"
The Crazy Ones Ari / Member of the Crowd Episodes: "The Spectacular", "The Intern"
2014–2018 Scorpion Sylvester Dodd Main cast - 93 episodes
2015 Con Man 1st class fan 3 episodes
2016 The Price Is Right Sylvester Dodd Crossover with Scorpion
Episode: "The Fast and the Nerdiest"[11]
Insecure Cameron 2 episodes
Obituary: A Grave Beginning Lester Catfield / Coach McKinney (voice) TV short
2017 Growth: VR Jack Filo Episode: "Hot yoga"
2020 The Fugitive Head shop owner Episode: "Hunted Becomes the Hunter"
The Martian Broadcast Orson Welles (voice) Episode: "Something for Children"
2021 5150 Radio show host (voice) TV short

References

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  1. ^ Keveney, Bill (November 23, 2014). "'Scorpion' actors like to play it smart". USA Today. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  2. ^ Rose, Mike (August 22, 2022). "Today's famous birthdays list for August 22, 2022 includes celebrities Tori Amos, Kristen Wiig". The Plain Dealer. Associated Press. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  3. ^ "Celebrity birthdays for the week of Aug. 16-22". ABC News. August 10, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Miller, Gerri (December 1, 2014). "TV stardom adds up for young genius of 'Scorpion'". Tribe Magazine. Archived from the original on March 24, 2017. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  5. ^ a b Gomez, Adrian (January 25, 2015). "Ari Stidham finds a perfect fit on team 'Scorpion'". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  6. ^ Mason, Aiden (September 29, 2017). "Five Things You Didn't Know about Ari Stidham". TV Overmind. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  7. ^ "DICK DUQUESNE: TALES OF A PRIVATE DICK Set for Open Space Cafe/Theater, Today". Broadway World. May 23, 2015. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  8. ^ F. Kathleen Foley (May 11, 2018). "Review: 'Solo Must Die,' and so must this 'Star Wars' musical spoof". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  9. ^ Ziemba, Christine N. (September 24, 2019). "46 Things To Do This Halloween in Southern California". laist.com. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  10. ^ "Cast and Creative of 'The Edgar Allan Show'". edgarallanshow.com. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  11. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: 'Scorpion' Crew Compete on 'The Price Is Right' and It's Adorably Hilarious". Entertainment Tonight. February 26, 2016. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
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