You must have seen the commercials. This deep-voiced, brawny smooth talker with a muscular midriff looks directly into the camera and talks to the women viewers while swaggering through seamless set changes in an uninterrupted take. The commercials are sexy, funny, and effective, and viewers everywhere are asking, “Who is this Old Spice Guy?”.

The short answer is, “Isaiah Mustafa”. That’s the name of the 36-year-old Portland, Oregon native who has found sudden fame in the shower gel campaign. Before becoming an actor, Mustafa studied history at Arizona State, where he played wide receiver on the football team. While he signed with several professional teams in the National Football League and NFL Europe, including the Seattle Seahawks, Oakland Raiders, Tennessee Titans and Barcelona Dragons, his football career never quite materialized. At one time he also ran a restaurant called Jo Jo’s Barbecue in Los Angeles.

As an actor, Mustafa has been appearing in minor episodic roles on television series since 2005. He has appeared on such shows as “The Island”, “Ugly Betty”, “Days of Our Lives”, “NCIS”, and “Castle”. His big break came in February of 2010, when the award-winning “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” shower gel commercial aired and became an instant smash.

Mustafa’s rocket to fame has been helped considerably by his popularity on the internet. The commercials were already big on YouTube when Mustafa began appearing in personalized YouTube videos in which he recreates the character from the commercials to answer questions put to him by celebrities and fans through websites like Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit. As a result, Mustafa has become one of the internet’s most popular celebrities.

This new found fame seems to be bringing big rewards for Mustafa. Mustafa is currently reported to be working with Tyler Perry in an upcoming film version of the Ntozake Shange play, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf”, in which he will be appearing with Whoopi Goldberg, Kerry Washington, Thandie Newton, Janet Jackson, Macy Gray, Phylicia Rashad, and many others. Mustafa will also be joining the production of “Free Enterprise 2″, a forthcoming William Shatner movie.

After that, who can say what will be in store for Mustafa. A comic book fan since his youth, Mustafa has expressed interest in playing superhero Luke Cage of the Marvel Comics universe, though at this point no tangible project has emerged. In the mean time, Mustafa recently signed a talent deal with NBC television.

Who is that Old Spice guy? His name is Isaiah Mustafa. He’s a savvy, ex-football player and restaurant owner turned actor, who is starting to make a name for himself.

Wondering exactly who the Old Spice Dude is ?