Which "Parks and Recreation" character is played by Nick Offerman?

Nick Offerman plays Ron Swanson in Parks and Recreation. Ron is the deadpan, intensely private director of the Pawnee City Department of Parks and Recreation and one of the show’s defining characters.

Offerman’s performance combines dry delivery with Ron’s extreme commitment to small government, woodworking, hunting, breakfast food, and personal privacy. The character is nominally in charge of a public department while believing that government should do as little as possible, creating one of the series’ central comic contradictions.

Offerman also influenced parts of Ron’s characterization. Like the fictional department director, Offerman is an accomplished woodworker and plays saxophone. In the show, Ron’s musical alter ego is Duke Silver, a smooth-jazz performer whose secret identity becomes a recurring joke. Offerman’s portrayal made Ron a breakout character and earned him a Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy.