Ryan Baumbach

Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on June 19, 1979, Ryan C. Baumbach discovered cinema at a young age by becoming fascinated with the "Star Wars" trilogy. After moving to Iowa City with his parents, he began acting in and developing ideas for his uncle, Scott Allen Nollen's, low-budget video productions. A voracious reader and film goer, he supplemented a stint at the University of Iowa with a very successful self-education. Following the lead of his father, Les Baumbach, who, with Nollen, created the first "Joseph Lundgren Telethon" in 1978, Ryan, as Joseph Lundgren, Jr., hosted his first telethon in 1987 at the age of eight.

In 2005, Baumbach, nicknamed "Rooster" by his uncle, formed Rooster Productions to produce the feature film "Lofty," another collaboration with Nollen. The film takes up where the series of telethons leaves off. Both he and his uncle play several different characters in these productions, which spoof the genre of TV telethons.

Continuing to live in Iowa City, where he has a day job with an amusement company, Baumbach, whose fit good looks have also earned him the nickname "Tab Hunter," Baumbach still seeks out the occasional acting job. In 2005, he played a small role in William Shatner's reality series "Invasion: Iowa," and plans to appear in yet another Lundgren Telethon in the near future.