Kal Penn

Penn in 2006, photo by s_bukley/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: Kalpen Suresh Modi

Place of Birth: Montclair, New Jersey, U.S.

Date of Birth: April 23, 1977

Ethnicity: Gujarati Indian

Kal Penn is an American actor, comedian, producer, and civil servant. He is known for his role in the three Harold & Kumar films. He was Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Engagement, from April 7, 2009 to June 1, 2010, and again from November 15, 2010 to July 30, 2011.

Kal was born Kalpen Suresh Modi in Montclair, New Jersey, to Asmita and Suresh Ramanlal Modi. His parents are Gujarati Indians who moved to the U.S. before he was born. His father was born in Kaira. His mother was born in Baroda. Kal is a Hindu.

A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2019) stated that Kal’s genetic ancestry is:

*99.6% South Asian
*0.3% Unassigned
*0.1% Oceanian

Kal’s paternal grandfather was the son of a woman named Gajaraban.

Kal’s paternal grandmother was named Kantaben Keshavlal Gandhi. Kantaben was born in Kaira.

Kal’s maternal grandfather was Indravadan Chotalal Bhatt (the son of Chotalal Ranchoddas Bhatt and Dhanlaxmi “Dhiraj” Himatlal Bhatt). Indravadan was born near Amod, in India. Chotalal was the son of Ranchodial Bhatt and Radha.

Kal’s maternal grandmother was named Bhanumati Manishankar Bhatt (the daughter of Shantaben).