Ty Burrell

Tyler Gerald "Ty" Burrell (born August 22, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Phil Dunphy in the ABC comedy Modern Family. Burrell was born in Grants Pass in southern Oregon, and grew up in the small southern Oregon town of Applegate, near the California border, where his family ran a business. He attended Hidden Valley High School in Grants Pass, where he played football and was a lineman for the Hidden Valley Mustangs. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in theatre arts in 1993. Burrell was the commencement speaker at the school in 2008. While in college he worked as a bartender at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. During this time, Burrell also attended the University of Oregon where he was initiated into the Sigma Chi Fraternity. Burrell continued his education at the Penn State University, where he earned an MFA. In 1999, Burrell worked as a festival actor at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. Burrell has also stated that for a period of time in graduate school, he lived out of his van to save money. Some of his earlier work includes appearances in the