Rudy Pankow was born and raised in Ketchikan, Alaska.[1] His parents are Andrew and Penny Pankow. Rudy is the middle child; he has an older brother Alec Pankow and younger brother Henning Pankow. He began his interest in acting and production in middle school via YouTube. He attended Ketchikan High School, where he played soccer. Rudy is also certified in kayaking and can play the drums. Although he considered joining culinary school, Pankow decided to become an actor and joined the Michael Woolson Studio to improve his skills.
After completion of the acting course, he started performing in theatre to gain more experience.[5] During his time in theatre, he played roles in The Nutcracker, Mary Poppins and Oliver Twist.
Career
In 2020, Pankow began playing JJ Maybank on Netflix's mysteryteen drama television series Outer Banks.[6] The series is set in a community in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and follows the conflict between two groups of teenagers in search of a lost treasure.[7] Although it takes place in Outer Banks, the series was filmed in Charleston, South Carolina.[citation needed] The show has been an international success for Netflix. In March 2023, Forbes magazine reported that all three seasons made Netflix's global top 10 weekly list, with season three attracting 99 million hours viewed, while the second and first seasons garnered 27.7 million hours and 34 million hours viewed, according to Netflix data.[8]
Since 2020, Pankow has been in a relationship with Elaine Siemek, who has also been working on Outer Banks since the start of its production. He left the show over Siemek's worries about his relationship with co-star Madison Bailey - his on-screen girlfriend. [10]
