Dave "Gruber" Allen

David "Gruber" Allen (born 1958), is an American television and film actor. He may be best known for his work on the 1990 TV series "Higgins Boys and Gruber". He is also "Mr. Kwest" on the shows "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide". Allen has also had a notable recurring role as guidance counselor Jeff Rosso on the short-lived NBC comedy-drama "Freaks and Geeks", as well as playing a town troubadour on "Gilmore Girls".

Dave also plays the "Naked Trucker" - a character that first appeared as part of a sketch comedy show called "Two-Headed Dog." In 1998, at the invitation of Largo owner Mark Flannigan, Dave began to appear as the Naked Trucker as a solo act, opening at Largo in L.A. for Tenacious D, Jon Brion and others. The act was an instant success and soon expanded to include David Koechner, who plays "T-Bones." Koechner and Allen are currently starring in "The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show" on Comedy Central, which has been picked up for 8 episodes.

Dave also frequently plays the character "Todd Carlin", a hippie and fictional relative of George Carlin. This character is usually involved in comedy shows at Largo.

Dave's most recent television role was on Gilmore Girls, where he played a town Troubadour, organic farmer, and a de facto minister officiating a wedding.

Dave has been credited in movies and television roles as Dave "Gruber" Allen, David "Gruber" Allen, and Dave (Gruber) Allen.

Dave has provided his voice for several episodes of the animated series "King of the Hill", including "Unfortunate Son," "Phish and Wildlife," and "Bill's House."

He also played several different characters in NBC's Newsradio, and appeared as night school teacher "Randy", teaching basic auto repair and maintenance in the episode, "Motor Skills", of the eighth season of the sitcom Frasier. He has appeared as a hippie on "Mr. Show with Bob and David" and a protestor on "Arrested Development."

In 2006, Allen appeared in the "Stan And Lois" sketch on Norm Macdonald's comedy album "Ridiculous" (released by Comedy Central Records).

Allen was the original voice of Brian Griffin in Family Guy, and appeared as this character in the pilot episode for the show. However, he withdrew from the position due to undisclosed family commitments sometime in late 1998. Series creator Seth McFarlane then took up the voice roll and re-recorded Allen's parts.

External links

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* [http://www.nakedtrucker.com The Naked Trucker Show homepage]
* [http://www.maximumfun.org/blog/2007/01/podcast-david-koechner-dave-gruber.html Interview with Allen & partner David Koechner] on public radio program The Sound of Young America