Actor-comedian Ian Gomez became something of a ubiquitous presence on America's television screens in 1999, starring as a regular on ABC's "The Norm Show" (later renamed "Norm") while appearing in memorable recurring roles on both the network's "The Drew Carey Show" and The WB's "Felicity". Gomez, who got his start with Chicago's famed Second City comedy troupe, was born and raised in New York, but fled the big city when he saw just how many struggling performers with whom he would have to compete. Honing his craft at Second City, the balding Everyman emerged as a talented comedic actor, and also developed useful improvisational skills which, added to his varied ethnic background (he describes his lineage as "Russian-Puerto Rican-Jewish-Greek Orthodox"), made for an especially versatile performer.
Gomez made his big screen debut with a cameo role as an odd hotel bellman in the Daniel Stern children's baseball comedy "Rookie of the Year" (1993). Guest television work followed, with a 1993-1994 recurring role as a morgue technician on ABC's crime drama "Missing Persons" and 1995 guest spots on "Married... With Children" (Fox) and as a particularly memorable temp with a flair for mimicry on "Murphy Brown" (CBS). That same year, he debuted on "The Drew Carey Show", playing Larry, an antagonistic and opportunistic co-worker who uses his boss' attraction for him to further his career, serving as her unlikely boy toy. Gomez performed well in the series, and appeared periodically in a long-running recurring role throughout the series' run. During his stint on "The Drew Carey Show", the actor took to the Los Angeles stage in the farce "What Is Art?" (1997) and was also featured in a 1998 two-episode stint on the Fox drama "Melrose Place".
1998 also saw the start of Gomez's recurring part on the New York City-set drama "Felicity.” Here he took on the role of Javier, a flamboyant and caring cafe manager who employs the title college student. In a story arc that involved a green card marriage, Javier was to be deported, ending the actor's run, but the plot was reconsidered and his popular character remained for the second season. Gomez appeared in the Ron Howard media exploratory comedy feature "EDtv" in 1999, and soon landed a regular role on ABC's "Norm/The Norm Show" (1999-2001), playing Danny, a co-worker of the title hockey player turned social worker. As opposed to his over-the-top turns in both "The Drew Carey Show" and "Felicity", he played more of a straight man creating an interesting and quietly quirky character that served further evidence of his diversity as a performer.
Gomez's wife Nia Vardalos enjoyed notoriety as the star and writer of the enormous hit indie "My Big Greek Wedding" (2002), in which Gomez had a supporting role; he also appeared in her follow-up "Connie & Carla" (2004). In between, he appeared in supporting turns in several films, including "The Center of the World" (2001), "Chasing Papi" (2003), "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star" (2003) and "The Last Shot" (2004), and he had an amusing two-episode stint as the Bald Chef on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm." He then landed a plumb role as Adrian, the married dad who lives vicariously through his slick, ladies' man best friend Jake (John Stamos) on the ABC comedy "Jake in Progress" (2005 - ). He made his mark in the juvenile police-comedy, “The Underclassman” (2005), playing an undercover cop forced to defecate in the bushes at great length.