Lucas Neff

Lucas Neff (born November 7, 1985) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying James "Jimmy" Chance in the Fox sitcom Raising Hope.

Personal life

Neff was born and raised in the Andersonville area of Chicago, Illinois. His mother, Meade Palidofsky, is the founder of Storycatchers Theatre and his father, Alan, is a lawyer and novelist. He is of Irish and Jewish descent. He graduated from Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in 2004 and with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2008. He started acting when he was mistakenly assigned to the performing arts department at UIC. After college, he took classes at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago. Neff has a younger brother. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Career

His local theater debut was in the Chicago-based theater company Collaboraction's production of Jon. While trying to start his career by appearing in storefront theater and commercials, Neff financed himself by cleaning houses, which he only began a week before being cast in his first major role. His first television role came when he was cast in a minor role in the series finale of A&E Network's The Beast.