Paul Stephen Rudd was born on April 6, 1969 in Passaic, New Jersey. His parents were both born in Britain, and his father worked at an airline. This led to Paul travelling a lot with his family, and eventually they settled in Kansas City. There, Paul attended the Shawnee Mission West High School.

After high school, Paul majored in theatre at the University of Kansas. He did very well in his studies and was part of the Sigma Nu fraternity. His two years of hard work paid off - he received the Spencer Tracy Scholarship to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in L.A. While at the Academy, he was able to attend a three month workshop at Oxford University's British Drama Academy. Under the tutelage of Michael Kahn, Paul helped produce the Globe Theater's production of "Bloody Poetry" by Howard Brenton. Paul played the role of Percy Bysshe Shelley. He also played the title character in "Hamlet", which was directed by legendary actor Ben Kingsley (famous for his role as "Gandhi").

In 1991, Paul did a guest turn on "Sisters". Jumping ahead two years to 1993, Paul starred in a "Moment of Truth" TV movie entitled "Stalking Back" and was also in the mini-series "The Fire Next Time".

In 1994, more TV gigs arrived. He starred as a rebel in "Runaway Daughters", which was directed by Joe Dante, and was part of the regular cast of "Wild Oats", a sitcom. Unfortunately, Wild Oats was not to be. The show was canceled after less than a season on air. However, it is still airing in Finland and other parts of Europe, so check it out if you're ever in the area!

1995 proved to be the breakthrough year for Paul as an actor. He was now a film star! He was cast as a grown up Tommy Doyle in the latest installment of the Halloween series, called "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers". To top it off, he played Alicia Silverstone's ex-stepbrother in the smash summer comedy, "Clueless". Unfortunately, his experiences on the set of "Halloween VI" made him very disappointed about the final release of the film.

In 1996, Paul starred as Dave Paris in Baz Luhrmann's critically acclaimed adaptation of Shakespeare's "Romeo + Juliet". He also appeared in a small independent film called "The Size of Watermelons" and began filming "Overnight Delivery" with hot young actress Reese Witherspoon ("Freeway"). "Overnight Delivery" was intended for release in the theatres, but New Line decided not to release it theatrically. It was released in April 1998 direct to home video.

In 1997, Paul began his role as Joe Farkas in the acclaimed Broadway play, "The Last Night Of Ballyhoo", written by Alfred Uhry. In July 1997, he took a break from the play to film "The Object Of My Affection", a film adaptation of the novel by Stephen McCauley. He stars with Jennifer Aniston, Tim Daly, Nigel Hawthorne and Alan Alda. After filming finished, Paul returned to his role in "The Last Night of Ballyhoo". In October 1997, "The Locusts" was released to theatres by MGM/UA. It did not do very well with critics and was not a big hit, disappearing after a month in release. It is now available on video.

Paul completed playing his role in "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" in January. He was nominated for a FANY Award (People's Choice Awards For the Broadway Theatre) for his performance. The FANY Awards are sponsored by the Friends of New York Theatre.

"The Size of Watermelons" was given a brief theatrical run here in Toronto, most likely because the director is Canadian. It will be released to home video in Canada on October 24, 1998. "The Object Of My Affection" was released to theatres by Twentieth Century Fox in April 1998. The reviews have been quite good all around, and it did very well at the box office. It is now available on Home Video from Fox Entertainment. "Overnight Delivery" is now available for rent through New Line Home Video. Not much is known about "Chicken Blood and Other Fables". It does not seem that production was completed.

During the summer of 1998, Paul starred in a new staging of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" at the Lincoln Center in New York City. He shared the stage alongside such stars as Helen Hunt and Amy Hill. It was directed by Nicholas Hytner, the director of "Object". "Twelfth Night" was just shown on Public Television as part of PBS' "Live at Lincoln Center" series.

Paul's upcoming projects include a movie called "200 Cigarettes" which also stars Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck and Courtney Love. Paul will play Courtney's friend.

Paul's next film project after "200 Cigarettes" is "The Cider House Rules". It started production on September 8 in western Massachusetts.

As for Paul's relationship status, he is currently single. He has been romantically linked to Jennifer Aniston in the past. There is also another rumour that he is currently seeing the singer Poe.

Very Special thanks go out to Maren and "Information Systems" for their generous help in adding info to the biography. Thanks also go out to Steve Ridgeway, Executive Director of the FANY Awards.

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