{{short description|Canadian actor}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Multiple issues|{{Sources exist|date=July 2020}}{{BLP sources|date=July 2020}}}}
{{Infobox person | name = Ken Kirby | birth_place = Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | years_active = 2006–present | occupation = Actor, screenwriter }}
'''Ken Kirby''' is a Canadian actor and screenwriter. He has played the recurring characters Dr. John Shen on HBO Max's ''The Pitt'', Ben on Freeform's ''Good Trouble'', Evan Tate in The CW series ''Dynasty'', and Lenjamin McButtons in the LGBTQ web series ''The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo''. Kirby has also appeared in the independent film ''Straight Up'', Fox's ''The Gifted'', and Freeform's ''Famous in Love''.
== Early life and education == Kirby was born in Vancouver to a British father and a Chinese mother.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web |last1=Feng |first1=Margie |title=Legal Eagle: Ken Kirby Is Just as Ambitious as His Law Clerk Character on ''Good Trouble'' |url=https://charactermedia.com/legal-eagle-ken-kirby-is-just-as-ambitious-as-his-law-clerk-character-on-good-trouble/ |website=Character Media: Asian Americans in Entertainment |publisher=London Trust Media |date=March 12, 2019 |access-date=July 2, 2020}}</ref> He grew up between Canada, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |title=Meet Ken Kirby |date=July 10, 2019 |url=http://voyagela.com/interview/meet-ken-kirby-ken-kirby-west-hollywood/ |website=VoyageLA|access-date=July 2, 2020}}</ref> Kirby studied business in college.<ref name="auto1"/>
Kirby, who has a passion for comedy, decided that he wanted to entertain people professionally after 1100 people attended his one-man show at the Vancouver Comedy Festival in 2010. After completing formal training at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and The Groundlings, Kirby entered CBS's Diversity Showcase in 2015 and then signed with The Gersh Agency.<ref name="auto"/>
==Career== Kirby had a minor speaking role in the 2006 comedy film ''She's the Man'',<ref>{{cite web |title=Ken Kirby, SAG |url=https://cni.lacasting.com/talent/profile/821976?rs=1&crypt=dicgliaifpggfglfgbdhdbofgofgccnpkneeipajkcoephai |website=LA Casting |publisher=Casting Networks, Inc. |access-date=July 2, 2020}}</ref> and voiced Kenji in the video game ''Need for Speed: Carbon'' the same year.
In 2016, Kirby played Lenjamin McButtons in the LGBTQ web series ''The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo'', and portrayed Bryan in Freeform's ''Famous in Love'' in 2018.<ref name="auto" />
In 2019, Kirby appeared as Byron in ''Grand Hotel'',<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Jan |first1=Kevin |title=Exclusive Interview: Pop-Culturalist Chats with ''Good Trouble'' and ''Grand Hotel''{{'s}} Ken Kirby |url=http://pop-culturalist.com/exclusive-interview-pop-culturalist-chats-with-good-trouble-and-grand-hotels-ken-kirby/ |website=Pop-Culturalist |date=May 2, 2019 |access-date=July 2, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Dynasty"/> began playing Ben in Freeform's ''Good Trouble'',<ref name="auto"/><ref name="Dynasty"/> and Evan Tate in season three and season four of The CW series ''Dynasty''.<ref name="Dynasty">{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2019/09/ken-kirby-dynasty-the-cw-recurring-chelsea-rendon-shameless-showtime-1202711179/|title=Ken Kirby Joins ''Dynasty'' in Recurring Role; Chelsea Rendon Boards ''Shameless''|website=Deadline Hollywood|first=Dino-Ray|last=Ramos|date=September 5, 2019|access-date=October 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190905201850/https://deadline.com/2019/09/ken-kirby-dynasty-the-cw-recurring-chelsea-rendon-shameless-showtime-1202711179/|archive-date=September 5, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
Kirby has also appeared as Craig in the independent film ''Straight Up'' (2019),<ref name="Dynasty"/> and as Noah in Fox's ''The Gifted'' (2018).<ref name="auto"/>
== Personal life == Kirby resides in Los Angeles. He hopes to utilize comedy as a way to bring Asian American stories "to the forefront in both TV and film."<ref name="auto"/>
== Filmography ==
===Film=== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 2006 | ''She's the Man'' | Announcer | |- | 2019 | ''Straight Up'' | Craig | |- | 2022 | ''They Live in the Grey'' | Peter Yang | |}
===Television=== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 2012 | ''Supernatural'' | Evan | Episode: "Bitten" |- | 2015 | ''Chasing Life'' | Brian | Episode: "As Long as We Both Shall Live" |- | 2016 | ''{{sortname|The|Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo}}'' | Lenjamin | Web series; main role |- | rowspan="3" | 2018 | ''Famous in Love'' | Bryan | 3 episodes |- | ''Drunk History'' | | Episode: "The Middle Ages" |- | ''{{sortname|The|Gifted|dab=American TV series}}'' | Noah | 2 episodes |- | 2019–2020 | ''Good Trouble'' | Ben | 15 episodes |- | rowspan="2" | 2019 | ''Grand Hotel'' | Byron | 3 episodes |- | ''Liza on Demand'' | Hendricks | Episode: "The Art of Settling" |- | 2019–2021 | ''Dynasty'' | Evan Tate | 6 episodes |- | rowspan="2" | 2020 | ''Magnum P.I.'' | Eli Sung | Episode: "Desperate Measures" |- | ''9-1-1: Lone Star'' | JT | Episode: "Yee-Haw" |- | rowspan="2" | 2022 | ''Home Economics'' | Poker buddy | Episode: "Poker Game, $800 Buy-In" |- | ''{{sortname|The|Conners}}'' | Steve | Episode: "Driving, Dating and Deceit" |- | 2023 | ''Minx'' | Kevin | Episode: "I thought the bed was gonna fly" |- | 2024 | ''English Teacher'' | Pasha | Episode: "Convention" |- | 2025–present | ''The Pitt'' | Dr. John Shen | 9 episodes |- | 2025 | ''Ballard'' | Joey Lucas | Episode: "BYOB" |}
=== Video games === {| class="wikitable" ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 2006 | ''Need for Speed: Carbon'' | Kenji | |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|0456178}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirby, Ken}} Category:21st-century Canadian male actors Category:Canadian male film actors Category:Canadian male television actors Category:Living people Category:Canadian people of Chinese descent Category:Year of birth missing (living people)