Creed Bratton is an enigma. As is the case with Creed Bratton, the character he played on the American version of  The Office, his persona is bound up with incredible lore—some of it misinformation that threatens to become canon. There’s a rumor that Jimi Hendrix once taught him how to play a guitar riff. (This is untrue; Bratton’s former band, the Grass Roots, was on the bill with Hendrix at the legendary Newport ’69 Festival at Devonshire Downs, in California, but that’s as far as the connection goes.) There’s the rumor that he authored NBC’s Creed Thoughts blog. (Jason Kessler, a former digital writer for The Office, actually ghostwrote the blog.) There’s also a rumor going that Creed Bratton isn’t even his real name.

That one happens to be true, or at least partially true, depending on the credence one gives to a birth name. Bratton was born William Charles Schneider in February 1943 in Los Angeles. Eventually, he went by Chuck Schneider, and then Chuck Ertmoed, incorporating the surname of his stepfather. At some point, he became Creed Bratton. In the 1960s, Bratton joined the psychedelic-folk-rock-pop band the Grass Roots, but he left in 1969 because he wanted more creative control. In the aftermath, he had relationships, and children, and searched for himself. He acted in films, sometimes as a character actor and other times as a stand-in for Beau Bridges, while continuing to write and record music.