Harris Wittels

Harris Wittels

Date of Birth: April 20, 1984
Date of Passing: February 19, 2015
Birthplace: Houston, Texas
Obituary: New York Times

Harris Wittels was a writer and producer best known for his work on the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. He was also an actor, and made several appearances on Parks and Recreation as Harris, an animal control officer. By the end of the show’s run he had become a co-executive producer.

Wittels grew up in Texas, where he began performing stand-up comedy while he was still in junior high. After graduating from Emerson College, he moved to Los Angeles and sent a video of his stand-up act to the Upright Citizens Brigade in Hollywood. He landed a spot on its most popular show, Comedy Death Ray, followed by a promising gig at comedy club Largo. At Largo, comedian-actress Sarah Silverman saw him perform and offered him a job writing on her show, The Sarah Silverman Program, for which he also had small acting parts.

Harris Wittels was a writer and producer best known for his work on the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. He was also an actor, and made several appearances on Parks and Recreation as Harris, an animal control officer. By the end of the show’s run he had become a co-executive producer.

Wittels grew up in Texas, where he began performing stand-up comedy while he was still in junior high. After graduating from Emerson College, he moved to Los Angeles and sent a video of his stand-up act to the Upright Citizens Brigade in Hollywood. He landed a spot on its most popular show, Comedy Death Ray, followed by a promising gig at comedy club Largo. At Largo, comedian-actress Sarah Silverman saw him perform and offered him a job writing on her show, The Sarah Silverman Program, for which he also had small acting parts.

In addition to his work with Silverman, Wittels performed on comedy tours with Louis C. K. and Aziz Ansari. He also performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Wittels is credited with coining the term "humbebrag," and in 2012 he published a book, Humblebrag: The Art of False Modesty, centered around the idea of the supposedly modest boast. 

He was a writer and producer on the TV comedies Eastbound & Down and Secret Girlfriend. In 2007 and 2008 he served as a consulting writer for MTV's VMA Movie Awards, as well as the VMA Video Music Awards, and the American Music Awards.

Wittels died February 19, 2015, in Los Angeles. The reported cause was a possible drug overdose. He was 30.

Show more

Awards & Nominations

2 Nominations
Outstanding Comedy Series - 2016
  • Nominee
  • Harris Wittels, Co-Executive Producer
  • Master Of None
  • Netflix
  • Universal Television, Oh Brudder Productions, Alan Yang Productions, Fremulon Productions, 3 Arts Entertainment
Outstanding Comedy Series - 2015
  • Nominee
  • Harris Wittels, Co-Executive Producer
  • Parks And Recreation
  • NBC
  • Deedle-Dee Productions, Fremulon, 3 Arts Entertainment and Universal Television

The Television Academy database lists prime-time Emmy information. Click here to learn more

Browser Requirements
The TelevisionAcademy.com sites look and perform best when using a modern browser.

We suggest you use the latest version of any of these browsers:

Chrome
Firefox
Safari


Visiting the site with Internet Explorer or other browsers may not provide the best viewing experience.

Close Window