
David Ury
Acting
David Brian Ury (born September 30, 1973) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, YouTuber, and Japanese translation specialist. Ury was born and raised in Sonoma, California. He graduated from Sonoma Valley High School, where he acted in theatre productions. He earned a bachelor's degree in linguistics at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington and studied abroad in Japan, where he became fluent in Japanese. Ury is a descendant of German Jewish impressionist painter Lesser Ury. Since studying abroad in Tokyo, Ury and has worked as a translator in film, television, and manga and currently (As of May 2011) translates and writes English adaptations for manga. Ury moved to Los Angeles in August 2001 where he began performing stand-up comedy. Cartoonist Keith Knight, a neighbor of his, described Ury's acting career as "Spooge man" and "a cavalcade of reprobates, sleazeballs, derelicts, & weirdos." Ury has made several film and television appearances, including an episode of Tim Kring's Crossing Jordan and in Shoot 'Em Up. He also appeared in Heroes, Malcolm in the Middle, Life, Without a Trace, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Zeke and Luther, and The Librarians. In March 2015, Ury was cast for Rob Zombie's slasher film 31 as Schizo-Head. A character actor, Ury has died on screen in almost every role he has portrayed. Ury also has several YouTube channels/accounts/personalities and alter-egos, which include Karaoke Steve and Ken Tanaka, the fictional adopted twin brother of David Ury. Tanaka is described as an Ashkenazi Jewish man adopted as an infant by Japanese parents Hideo and Mari Tanaka, and raised in Shimane Prefecture of Japan; he returns to Los Angeles to find his birth parents Jonathan and Linda Smith.
Born: January 1, 1973
Filmography (54)

Free Bert
2026

Violent Ends
2025

Babylon
2022

1-800-Hot-Nite
2022

The Rookie: Feds
2022

Faith Based
2020

Kajillionaire
2020

Woke
2020

Outer Banks
2020

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
2020

3 from Hell
2019

Tacoma FD
2019

Magnum P.I.
2018

Lodge 49
2018

31
2016

A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits
2016

Rush Hour
2016

Little Boy
2015

Powers
2015

Better Call Saul
2015

Fresh Off the Boat
2015

The Librarians
2014

Lake Los Angeles
2014

Masters of Sex
2013

Mom
2013

The Haunted Hathaways
2013

Coffee Town
2013

Pearblossom Hwy
2012

Touch
2012

Grimm
2011

Raising Hope
2010

Rizzoli & Isles
2010

The 41–Year–Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall and Felt Superbad About It
2010

Justified
2010

Community
2009

The Revenant
2009

Black Widow
2008

The Mentalist
2008

Breaking Bad
2008

National Treasure: Book of Secrets
2007

Life
2007

Private Practice
2007

Shoot 'Em Up
2007

Dark Ride
2006

Heroes
2006

Close to Home
2005

Bones
2005

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
2005

Paparazzi
2004

Without a Trace
2002

Crossing Jordan
2001

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
2000

Malcolm in the Middle
2000

Charmed
1998
