Robert Clark Gregg , known professionally as Clark Gregg, is an American actor, screenwriter and director. He is best known for playing Phil Coulson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in Iron Man , Iron Man, Thor , The Avengers , and the television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. He also voices the character on the animated television series Ultimate SpiderMan and in the games Lego Marvel Super Heroes, Lego Marvel Avengersand the MMORPG Marvel Heroes.
Gregg was born April 2, 1962 in Boston, Massachusetts, to Mary Layne and Robert Clark Gregg, an Episcopal priest and Stanford University professor. His family moved around he had lived in seven cities by the time he was 17. He attended high school in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where his father was a professor at nearby Duke University. He attended Ohio Wesleyan University for two years before dropping out and moving to Manhattan. He worked various jobs, such as being a bar back, a security guard at the Guggenheim Museum, and a parking valet at a restaurant. He later enrolled at New York Universitys Tisch School of the Arts, where he studied drama and English, and graduated in 1986.
Source: Wikipedia