Penn Dayton Badgley is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dan Humphrey on the CW television series Gossip Girl. He has also starred in the movies John Tucker Must Die, The Stepfather, Easy A, and Margin Call. Badgley was born in Baltimore, Maryland and split his childhood years between Woodlake, Virginia and Seattle, Washington. He attended Woolridge Elementary, where his Mom Lynne became PTA president, then he transferred to the honors program at Swift Creek Elementary. He enjoyed playing youth soccer where his dad coached. He attended Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma,... Washington. Also Penn was involved with the Seattle Children's Theatre. He soon began doing voice-overs for children's radio stations. At age 11, Badgley relocated 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 the age of 14, Penn completed his California High School Proficiency Exam and began attending Santa Monica City College. He was later accepted at University of Southern California , where he deferred admission due to contractual obligations.
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