30 Fascinating Facts We Bet You Never Knew About Ty Burrell

23 March 2019, 10:20 am EDT By Ruby Karnick

Ty Burrell, famous for his role as Phil Dunphy in the ABC sitcom Modern Family, rose to prominence with several roles on Broadway including "Macbeth." Here are some really interesting facts to know about the American actor and comedian:

It is reported that the ABC network was initially not interested in having him play the role of Phil Dunphy in "Modern Family," as he played a dull character in the 2007 "Back to You."
The Creators of "Modern Family," firmly believed in him, especially creator Steve Levitan, who had the idea to film Ty and Sarah at his own home, in an effort to give a preview of how the show could turn out. This is what that won the network over and Ty was cast immediately.
The famous recurring joke - "gotta fix that step" of his character Phil in the "Modern Family," was actually improvised by him, while tripping on a step as he was going up the stairs during a scene.
The writers, seeing how talented he and the entire cast is at physical comedy, incorporated as much physical comedy as possible in the show "Modern Family."
He was very glad to be cast as Phil in "Modern Family," which allowed the audience to like him, as he was kind of typecast in unsympathetic roles, prior to the sitcom.
His character of Phil in "Modern Family," is described as a "stress blinker," where he excessively blinks when under pressure. It is reported that Ty is a "Stress blinker," in real life too.
He was chosen to voice the character of Mr. Peabody," in the 2014 movie "Mr. Peabody & Sherman" by director Rob Minkoff, as the director thought, "his voice embodied all the different aspects of the character today - not just the intellect and the suave personality, but the underlying warmth as well."
Tyler Gerald Burrell was born on August 22, 1967 in Grants Pass, Oregon, to Gary Gerald Burrell and Sheri Rose (née Hauck).
His father was a family therapist and his mother was a teacher. His family was mostly of English and German descent. He grew up with his brother Duncan Burrell in the small southern Oregon town of Applegate, near the California border.
He discovered that his great-great-great-great grandmother Susanna Weeks was a former slave from Tennessee who became a homesteader in Oregon, through the television series "Finding Your Roots."

He went to Hidden Valley High School, before graduating from Southern Oregon University in Ashland, with a bachelor's degree in theatre arts in 1993.
During his time at the Hidden Valley High School, he played football and was a lineman for the Hidden Valley Mustangs.
During his childhood, he actually aspired to become an athlete, until he got to know athletes personally. He has spent a summer camp in Alaska, working for local fishery, and another summer as "an absolutely terrified forest firefighter."
While at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, he worked as a bartender at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He even said that for a period of time, he lived out of his van to save money.
He became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, while at the University of Oregon.
He earned an MFA and was a member of the Theatre 100 Company along with Keegan-Michael Key, from the Penn State University.
In the year 1999, he worked as a festival actor at the Utah Shakespeare Festival.
The 2001 movies "Evolution" and "Black Hawk Down," are the first two credited film roles in his career, in which he appeared as Flemming and Wilkinson respectively.
He has appeared in guest roles in the TV series "The West Wing," "Law & Order," and also the "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."
He reportedly wrote and worked simultaneously in the off Broadway play "Babble" with his brother, Duncan, while also making appearances in various TV shows.

He was reported a co writer as well as an actor in the original production of the offbeat comedy "The Red Herring O' Happiness," directed by Russell Dyball.
He was cast as Dr. Oliver Barnes in the TV series "Out of Practice," which was given a full-season order by the CBS, before cancelling it, with eight episodes remaining un-aired in the United States.
In the Marvel film adaptation of the comic "The Incredible Hulk," he played the role Leonard Samson, without any superpowers, who reportedly had a short relationship with Betty Ross.
He was cast in the starring role of Gary Crezyzewski, a dull character of a field reporter, in the sitcom "Back to You" on Fox in the year 2007. The show was cancelled the very next year.
For his performance as Phil Dunphy in "Modern Family," he has received eight consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (2010–2017), winning the award twice in 2011 and 2014.
His web series "Boondoggle," is said to be loosely based on his own life, first debuted on ABC.com and ABCd, in June 2016.
He was the recipient of the individual SAG award in the year 2014, defeating Alec Baldwin, who had previously won the award seven years in a row.
For the commercials of National Association of Realtors, he appears as his character of Phil Dunphy, who is realtor in the "Modern Family."
He married Holly, on August 18, 2000, and has two baby girls adopted in the year 2010 and 2012. The duo first resided in a two-bedroom apartment in the Astoria, Queens, New York City.
The family moved to Salt Lake City in the year 2008, for Burrell's work on the sitcom "Modern Family." He co-owns "Bar-X" in Salt Lake City, with his brother Duncan Burrell.