David DeLuise

David Dominick DeLuise (born November 11, 1971) is an American actor and television director. He has had roles in numerous films and television shows. He is best known for playing Coop on Megas XLR and Jerry Russo on Wizards of Waverly Place.

Career
DeLuise has been acting since he was a child. In 1998, he appeared on the first season of the sitcom Jesse. He had a recurring role in 3rd Rock from the Sun as Bug Pollone. His first leading role came in 2003 with Dantre Cole, in BachelorMan. He also played a recurring role in Stargate SG-1 as Pete Shanahan. He was also seen in a Purina commercial for Beneful dog food, and a Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial. He also had special appearances in Gilmore Girls season 4 episodes 20 and 21 as TJ's brother.

DeLuise is also known for voicing Coop on the short-lived action animated Megas XLR (later reprising his role for the Cartoon Network game FusionFall) and Sergeant Brutto in Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles. In 2005, he starred opposite Maggie Wheeler on the NBC pilot The Sperm Donor. In 2012, he had a guest role on Rizzoli & Isles as Dominic.

He portrayed the character of Jerry Russo, the family patriarch and former wizard on Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place and Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie from 2007 to 2012. DeLuise also directed numerous episodes of the series, beginning with the episode "My Tutor, Tutor" (2009). He has since directed episodes of How to Rock, See Dad Run, Lab Rats, and The Thundermans.

In August 2012 he appeared in a commercial for KFC's Original Recipe Bites.

In February 2023 he started the podcast Wizards of Waverly Pod with Jennifer Stone, where both talk about their experience on the show Wizards of Waverly Place.

Personal life
DeLuise is dyslexic. He is married to German voice actress Julia DeLuise. He has 2 children. Around the time his first daughter was born, he was working in carpentry.