Kunal Nayyar

Kunal Nayyar (born April 30, 1981, London, England) is an English comic actor of Indian origin. He is best known for his role as Rajesh Koothrappali on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory.

Character
Dr. Rajesh Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar) is Howard Wolowitz's best friend and yet another genius; his name is usually shortened to "Raj". He is originally from New Delhi, India and he works in the Physics department at Caltech, where his area of expertise is particle astrophysics. Until the end of season 6, Raj was extremely shy when it comes to dealing with women; he was unable to speak to them unless he drank alcohol. Raj communicates with his parents, Dr. V. M. Koothrappali and Mrs. Koothrappali, in India through a webcam. Raj is often seen wearing a layered combination of two shirts and khakis with a jacket over them.

Offscreen, Kunal has a close friendship with Simon Helberg, who plays Howard onscreen.

Education

 * St. Columba's School (New Delhi, India) High School Education
 * University of Portland (Portland, United States) BS in Business (BSS)
 * Temple University (Philadelphia, United States) Masters in Fine Arts (MFA)

Career

 * Recently, Nayyar teamed up with Arun Das to write the critically acclaimed play Cotton Candy, which is currently still running in New Delhi, India.
 * Nayyar also previously guest-starred in the CBS drama NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) in the episode “Suspicion” (Season 4, Episode 12), in which he played Youssef Zidan, a terrorist.
 * He was on The Bonnie Hunt Show on April 22, 2009 and on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on May 8th.