Paul Rudd Disc Jockey For Bar Mitzvahs Before Movie Career

Fact: To earn some extra cash, Paul often was ‘Disc Jockey’ at Bar/Bat Mitzvahs.

Paul Rudd was born to two Jewish parents from the U.K and grew up in Passaic, New Jersey. Due to his father’s job as a TWA agent, they were often on the move during the early years of his life. Paul Rudd would go on to major in theater from the University of Kansas in Lawrence. He would move on to help produce the Globe Theater’s production of Howard Brenton’s Bloody Poetry under guidance of Michael Kahn, and then played Hamlet.

Paul would get his first television debut in the early 90s playing an aspiring film maker “Kirby Philby” on NBC’s drama Sisters. His rise to fame would come in the 1995 comedy Clueless and would later land the role of Dave Paris, Juliet’s pompous suitor in the Baz Luhrmann’s rendition of Romeo and Juliet (1996) starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.

During part of this time, Paul Rudd kept his DJing career going for extra money. Unfortunately, his movie career wasn’t earning enough for him to live on, and he had to find an alternative way to make some money. Another problem emerged when he found that he needed help to pay for DJ equipment. Rudd hadn’t really ever spoken about it, but Howard Stern got him to open up during the promotion of Ant-Man. He explained that he began his DJ career at a 50s-themed bar in Kansas City. While still acting, he often continued to DJ at weddings and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs on weekends. Rudd also explained that he didn’t like doing it because it made him feel like “a bit of a douche.” But after a back-to-back marathon of bat mitzvah gigs, his delirium helped him create a character known as “Donnie Dweeb,” which made him the favorite with young clientele… until he accidentally gave a 13-year-old girl a lap dance. He then never DJ-ed a Bat Mitzvah ever again. 

Since then, there have been quite the many Paul Rudd film. Movies of Paul Rudd include I love You, Man (2009); Role Models (2008); and the 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005). Not bad for the Disc Jockey lap dancing underage phenom.