Ian Roberts was raised in Secaucus, New Jersey, and attended Grinnell
College in Iowa. From 1987-1990, he lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
performing plays with various local companies including the Acacia
Theater, Hansberry Sands and Milwaukee Players. In 1990, he moved to
Chicago and studied Improvisation at ImprovOlympic under
Charna Halpern and
Del Close and was a member of the Second City
National Touring Company. It was at this time that Ian and some fellow
improvisers founded the Upright Citizens Brigade. He has written and
performed in every UCB show since the group's inception in 1990.
In August of 2000, Ian received rave reviews for his debut feature film
role as the tyrannical choreographer Sparky Polastri in the
Kirsten Dunst film
Bring It On (2000). His most recent
performance was in the box office smash
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004).