Dev Patel (Gujarati: દેવ પટેલ; born 23 April 1990) is a British film and television actor as well as a martial artist. As an actor, he is known for his performances as Anwar Kharral in the teen drama series Skins and as main protagonist Jamal Malik in Danny Boyle's critically acclaimed and multiple Academy Award-winning film Slumdog Millionaire (2008), for which Patel won a number of awards, including a Critics' Choice Award and Screen Actors Guild Award, and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. As a martial artist, he is a black belt in Taekwondo and was a bronze medallist at the 2004 AIMAA World Championships in Dublin.

Dev Patel was born in Harrow, England, to Hindu Gujarati Indian parents, both of whom were born in Nairobi, Kenya. His parents both emigrated from Kenya separately in their teens, and only met in London when it was arranged that they would marry. His mother, Anita, is a carer and his father, Raj, an IT consultant. He has one sibling, an older sister named Komal.

Patel grew up in Rayners Lane, Harrow, and attended Longfield Primary School. He had his first acting role as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in the school's production of Twelfth Night. Patel was given the Best Actor award for his performance and says that was the day he knew he wanted to become an actor. He later went to Whitmore High School, receiving an A* in GCSE Drama, for his "self-penned portrayal of a child in the Beslan school siege". His drama teacher Niamh Wright has stated: "Dev was a gifted student who quickly impressed me with his innate ability to communicate a wide variety of characters imaginatively and creatively. He was awarded full marks for his GCSE performance to a live audience and the visiting examiner was moved to tears by his honest portrayal of a child in the Beslan school hostage crisis in Russia." He eventually completed his AS Levels in 2007, while he was working in Skins.