Zach Braff Biography

May 09, 2007

Birthdate: April 6, 1975
Birthplace: South Orange, New Jersey

Is there a doctor in the house? Zach Braff may have risen to fame playing Dr. J.D. Dorian on TV's Scrubs, but now he's really making a name for himself by writing, directing and producing his own movies! Here's the 411 on the funniest doctor at Sacred Heart Hospital!

Zach Braff - The Early Years

Zach Braff was born to a Jewish family in New Jersey. His parents - an attorney and a psychologist - divorced and both remarried when Zach was young. He was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) when he was just 10 years old, which is a type of anxiety disorder. But he didn't let that limit his possibilities - he studied film at Northwestern University before going on to become an actor.

Zach Braff - To Be or Not To Be

Zach played MacBeth at New York's Public Theatre (with America's least favorite dad, Alec Baldwin) and was in Woody Allen's film Manhattan Murder Mystery before heading off to LA, where he worked as a waiter while looking for acting gigs. Zach landed a role in the film Broken Hearts Club before snagging his career-making part on Scrubs. Not long afterward, he landed the lead in Chicken Little!

Zach Braff - Behind the Camera

In his time off from Scrubs, Zach wrote the independent film Garden State, which he then went on to star in and direct. The film met with critical success and won Zach a Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack for a Motion Picture. Zach continues to star on Scrubs and star in movies. Zach can be seen in the flick The Last Kiss with Rachel Bilson. He's also starring in the new film, The Ex, with Amanda Peet and Jason Bateman, and is writing/directing/starring in a film called Open Hearts, which is based on a Danish film called "Elsker Dig for Evigt" (I Love You Forever).