James Urbaniak

James Christian Urbaniak (born September 17, 1963) is an American character actor. He is best known for his roles as Simon Grim in three Hal Hartley films: Henry Fool (1997), Fay Grim (2006) and Ned Rifle (2014), Robert Crumb in American Splendor (2003), Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture on the animated series The Venture Bros. (2003–2023), Grant Grunderschmidt on Review (2014–2017), and Arthur Tack on Difficult People (2015–2017). Personal life Urbaniak was born in Bayonne, New Jersey and lives in Los Angeles, California. He is of Polish and Ukrainian descent. Career Urbaniak's first media appearance occurred in 1983, when at the age of 20, he went onstage from the audience of Late Night with David Letterman, to try his hand at a monologue joke that Letterman had flubbed. One of his first noteworthy roles was in the avant-garde playwright/director Richard Foreman's The Universe, for which Urbaniak won an Obie. He has also been acclaimed for his acting in the films Henry Fool and American Splendor, in the latter of which he played legendary cartoonist R. Crumb. He was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for his role in Thom Pain (based on nothing). He provides the voice for main character Dr. Thaddeus Venture on The Venture Bros. as well as the Doctor's brother Jonas Venture Junior and the super-villain Phantom Limb.