Oscar Nunez

For the Argentine actor, see Oscar Núñez.

Óscar Núñez
Nuñez in 2009
Born	(1958-11-18) November 18, 1958 Colón, Matanzas, Cuba
Occupation(s)	Actor, comedian
Years active	2000–present
Spouse	Ursula Whittaker
Children	1

Óscar Núñez (born November 18, 1958), sometimes credited as Oscar Nunez, is a Cuban-American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as the Dunder Mifflin accountant Óscar Martínez on NBC's The Office.

He was a member of The Groundlings and later became a regular cast member on The Office. He also created and co-starred in the Comedy Central series Halfway Home in 2007, and in 2014 co-starred in the short-lived USA Network comedy series Benched. Since 2018, he has appeared in a series of State Farm commercials.

Early life and education

Núñez was born in Colón, Cuba. Núñez's mother, a dentist, and father, a lawyer, attended school at the University of Havana while Fidel Castro was a student there. The family moved first to Caracas, Venezuela, in 1960 and then to the United States. His family moved to Boston when he was two years old and then to Union City, New Jersey, when he was four. He became a naturalized American citizen in 1964. He is bilingual, speaking English and Spanish. Núñez attended various colleges in New York, including the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Parsons School of Design. He became a certified dental technician after studying at the Magna Institute of Dental Technology.

Career

Núñez started his comedy career in New York, performing over 300 shows with The Shock of the Funny theater company. The troupe was active in the East Village for several years. In addition to his work with Shock, Núñez appeared in theater in New York and Washington, D.C. before moving to Los Angeles in the mid 1990s. In L.A., he joined The Groundlings and performed in their Sunday Company. While with the Groundlings, he wrote and starred in a production called "Smooth Down There."

In 1997, Núñez graduated from the Warner Brothers Comedy Writer's Workshop. In 1999, he was a finalist in the ABC Latino Writers Project.

In 1998, he appeared on the game show Match Game but was not a winner. Núñez was Adam Carolla's stand-in on The Man Show.

Núñez's television credits include Malcolm in the Middle, 24, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Reno 911!, The District and Mad TV, in addition to his role on The Office. He was also the creator and executive producer of the Comedy Central series Halfway Home, in which he co-starred as the character Eulogio Pla.

His film credits include The Italian Job (as a security guard), Reno 911!: Miami, and When Do We Eat?. In 2009, Núñez played the role of Ramon, the caterer, stripper, soda jerk, and finally clergy performing the wedding ceremony in The Proposal. In 2012, Núñez played the role of Jose Baez, an attorney in the Lifetime movie Prosecuting Casey Anthony.

Núñez appeared as one of eight judges in the 2010 Miss USA Contest, posing a question about the Arizona undocumented immigrant law to Miss Oklahoma USA, Morgan Elizabeth Woolard. Núñez was booed by the audience before finishing the question; however he asked the audience to wait until he finished the question before they reacted. Although Woolard replied that she supports the law as a state rights issue, she added that she is against racial profiling.

In 2014, Núñez co-starred alongside Eliza Coupe and Jay Harrington in the short-lived USA Network comedy series Benched.

In 2016, Núñez appeared as a regular in the TBS comedy series, People of Earth.

In 2018, Núñez portrayed State Farm Insurance Agent Cole Perez in a series of commercials.

In July 2018, Núñez took on the role of Desi Arnaz, starring in the world premiere production of I Love Lucy: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom, a behind-the-scenes stage comedy about I Love Lucy by Gregg Oppenheimer (son of series creator Jess Oppenheimer). Recorded before a live audience at the UCLA's James Bridges Theater, the L.A. Theatre Works production aired on public radio and has been released on Audio CD and as a downloadable mp3.

From 2019 to 2020, Núñez portrayed Assistant Principal Carlos Hernandez on the Netflix original comedy series Mr. Iglesias.

Personal life

Núñez is married to actress Ursula Whittaker, and they have one child.

Filmography

Film

List of film appearances, with year, title, and role shown

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	The Italian Job	Security Guard
2005	When Do We Eat?	Santa Designer
2007	Reno 911!: Miami	Jose Jose Jose
2009	The Proposal	Ramone
2011	Without Men	Priest Rafael
	Language of a Broken Heart	Adam Lebowitz
2014	Tell	Father Jack
2015	The 33	Yonni Barrios
2016	Miss Stevens	Principal Albert Alvarez
	Mascots	Cesar Hidalgo
2017	Baywatch	Councilman Rodriguez
2022	The Lost City	Óscar
	Raymond & Ray	Lawyer
	Disenchanted	Edgar
	A Christmas Mystery	Glenn Martin
2023	Dashing Through the Snow	Conrad Harf
	The Long Game	Principal Guerra

Television

List of television appearances, with year, title, and role shown

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Male Parking Attendant	Episode: "Interior Decorator"
2001	Grounded for Life	Security Guard	Episode: "I Wanna Be Suspended"
2002–2003	Malcolm in the Middle	Ranch Hand	2 episodes
2003	Still Standing	Tim	Episode: "Still Hairdressing"
	Reno 911!	Captain Dwayne Hernandez	2 episodes
	24	Pilot	Episode: "Day 3: 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m."
2005–2013	The Office	Oscar Martínez	Main cast; 189 episodes
2006	Reno 911!	"Spanish Mike" Alvarez	Episode: "Spanish Mike Returns"
2007	Halfway Home	Eulogio Pla	10 episodes
2010	Fred: The Movie	Lorenzo	Television film
2011–2012	Bob's Burgers	Cha-Cha / Pepe (voice)	2 episodes
2013	Prosecuting Casey Anthony	Jose Baez	Television film
	Family Tree	Discount Car Rental Agent	Episode: "Indians"
	It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia	Sudz Manager	Episode: "The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award"
2014	New Girl	Doug	Episode: "Cruise"
	Bad Teacher	Louis	Episode: "Life Science"
	Benched	Carlos	12 episodes
2015	Comedy Bang! Bang!	FBI Agent José González	Episode: "Maya Rudolph Wears a Black Skirt & Strappy Sandals"
	Adam Ruins Everything	Benny	Episode: "Adam Ruins Work"
	Romantically Speaking	Carl	Television film
2015–2019	Life in Pieces	Dr. James Changa	2 episodes
2016	Brooklyn Nine-Nine	Dr. Porp	Episode: "9 Days"
	iZombie	Stan Mendoza	Episode: "Eternal Sunshine of the Caffeinated Mind"
	Mutt & Stuff	Claude Puppe	Episode: "Lights! Camera! Bark!"
	Shameless	Rick Encarnacion	2 episodes
	Bad Internet	Jim	Episode: "Your Search History Revealed"
	Boondoggle	Eduardo	Episode: "The Course"
	Uncle Buck	Hector	Episode: "The Interrogation"
	Liv and Maddie	Mr. Beelick	Episode: "Sorta-Sisters-A-Rooney"
2016–2017	People of Earth	Father Doug	15 episodes
2018	American Housewife	Rupert the Cop	Episode: "Midlife Crisis"
	9-1-1	Guillermo	Episode: "Point of Origin"
	Worst Cooks in America: Celebrity Edition	Himself	5 episodes (season 13)
2018–2019	3Below: Tales of Arcadia	Sergeant Costas (voice)	9 episodes
2019	Those Who Can't	Johnson	Episode: "Yes We Scan"
	NCIS: Los Angeles	Lionel Fernandez	Episode: "No More Secrets"
	Where's Waldo?	Wizard Featherbeard (voice)	Episode: "Costa Rica... In Color!"
2019–2020	Mr. Iglesias	Assistant-Principal Carlos Hernandez	18 episodes
2020	Home Movie: The Princess Bride	Inigo Montoya	Episode: "Chapter Three: The Cliffs of Insanity"
	Social Distance	Miguel Villareal	Episode: "A Celebration of the Human Life Cycle"
	The Goldbergs	Ted	Episode: "Airplane!"
2021	No Activity	(voice)	Episode: "It's Not a Cult!"
	Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist	Dr. Tesoro	3 episodes
2022	The G Word with Adam Conover	Various	3 episodes
	Out of Office	X Fernandez	TV movie
2022–present	Firebuds	Chef Fernando (voice)	4 episodes
2023	Lucky Hank	Dean Jacob Rose	6 episodes
2024	Solar Opposites	Oscar (voice)	1 episode

External links

• Óscar Núñez at IMDb
• Óscar Núñez at NBC.com's The Office