Penn Dayton Badgley (born November 1, 1986) is an
American actor best known for his role as
Dan Humphrey on the
CW television series
Gossip Girl.
Early life
Badgley was born in
Baltimore, Maryland and split his childhood years between
Richmond, Virginia and
Seattle, Washington. He attended Charles Wright Academy in
Tacoma, Washington, and was involved with the
Seattle Children's Theatre. He soon began doing
voice-overs for children's radio stations.
At age 11, Badgley relocated with his mother to
Hollywood and began pursuing an acting career. Badgley also pursued a singing career during this time and recorded a pop single in 1998.
At 17, after completing two years of credits at Santa Monica College, he was accepted as a Junior at the
University of Southern California (USC), where he deferred admission due to contractual obligations.
