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| Birth Name(s) : Denis Leary |
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Full Denis Leary Biography
Denis Leary (born Denis Colin Leary on August 18, 1957) is a Golden Globe and Emmy Award-nominated American actor, comedian, writer and director. He is known for his often angry comedic style and his frequent chain smoking. Leary displays an overt affinity for libertarianism. Leary is currently the star and co-creator of the television show Rescue Me on FX.
Denis Leary was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, to Irish Catholic immigrants John Leary (an auto mechanic) and Nora (a maid); Leary holds both Irish and American citizenship. He graduated from Saint Peter-Marian High School in Worcester. Through marriage, Leary is a distant cousin of talk show host Conan O'Brien, and has jokingly said on Late Night with Conan O'Brien that "All Irish people are related." His name is often misspelled as "Dennis", instead of "Denis."
In 1993, his sardonic song about the American lower-middle-class male, Asshole, achieved much notoriety. It was voted #1 in a major Australian youth radio poll (the Triple J Hottest 100) as well as reaching #2 in the singles chart in that country. The video also became a staple of MTV's late-night programming. Due to its explicit and controversial content, however, it received limited airplay on mainstream American radio stations. At the 2004 Comics Come Home in Boston, Massachusetts, Denis performed a new version of the song directed at the New York Yankees, and as the song concluded, Bronson Arroyo walked on stage with the World Series trophy. The song was also used as part of the Holsten Pils series of ads in the UK which Leary was participating in, with adapted lyrics criticizing a drunk driver.
Although he says he is most at home on stage doing stand-up, Leary has appeared as an actor in over 40 movies, including The Sandlot, Monument Ave., The Match Maker, The Ref, Suicide Kings, Dawg, Wag the Dog, Demolition Man, The Thomas Crown Affair and Operation Dumbo Drop. He has also starred in two television series, The Job and Rescue Me. In addition, Leary has provided voices for characters in animated films such as a saber-toothed tiger named 'Diego' in Ice Age and its sequel Ice Age 2 and 'Francis' in A Bug's Life. He has produced (and still produces) numerous movies, television shows, and specials through his production company Apostle; these include Comedy Central's Shorties Watchin' Shorties, the stand-up special Denis Leary's Merry F#$%in' Christmas, and the movie Blow. As a Boston Red Sox fan, he narrated the official 2004 World Series film. In 2006, Leary and Lenny Clarke appeared on television during a Red Sox telecast and, upon realizing that Red Sox 1st baseman Kevin Youkilis is Jewish, delivered a criticism of Mel Gibson's anti-semitic comments. As a hockey fan, Leary also hosted the National Hockey League video, NHL's Greatest Goals
In 2003, Comedy Central honored Denis Leary in the Comedy Central Roast of Denis Leary. Friend Jeff Garlin acted as roastmaster for Denis' roast. Roasters included Mario Cantone, Dane Cook, Lenny Clarke, Gina Gershon, Conan O'Brien, Jon Stewart, Colin Quinn and Michael J. Fox.
Leary is now the star and co-creator of FX's Rescue Me. He plays Tommy Gavin, a New York City fire fighter dealing with alcoholism, family dysfunction, and other issues in post-9/11 New York City. Leary received Emmy nominations in 2006 and 2007 for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his performance as Tommy Gavin.
Denis Leary has been married to writer Ann Lembeck since 1982. They met when he was her instructor for an English class at Emerson College. They have two children, son John Joseph "Jack" (born 1990) and daughter Devin (born 1992). Lembeck published a memoir, An Innocent, a Broad, about the premature birth of their son on an overseas visit to England.
On December 3, 1999, six firefighters from Leary's hometown of Worcester were killed in a massive warehouse fire. Among the dead were Leary's cousin, Jerry Lucey, and his close childhood friend, Lt. Tommy Spencer. In response, the comedian founded the Leary Firefighters Foundation. Since its creation in the year 2000, the foundation has distributed over $2.5 million (USD) to fire departments in the Worcester, Boston, and New York City areas for equipment, training materials, new vehicles, and new facilities. $125,000 of this money was won by Leary on "Who wants to be a Millionaire?" Leary has close ties with 107.3 WAAF-FM, who in 2000 released the station album "Survive This!" Part of the proceeds from this album were donated to the Leary Firefighters Foundation.
During a 2003 roast of Denis Leary, comedian Lenny Clarke, a friend of Leary's, said there was a carton of cigarettes backstage from Bill Hicks with the message, "Wish I had gotten these to you sooner." This joke was cut from the final broadcast.
The controversy surrounding plagiarism is also mentioned in American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story by Cynthia True:Leary was in Montreal to host the Nasty Show at Club Soda and Colleen was coordinating the talent so she was standing backstage when she heard Leary doing material that sounded incredibly similar to old Hicks riffs, including his perennial Jim Fixx joke: ("Keith Richards outlived Jim Fixx, the runner and health nut dude. The plot thickens.") When Leary came offstage, Colleen said, more stunned than angry, "Hey, you know that's Bill Hicks' material! Do you know that's his material?" Leary stood there, stared at her without saying a word, and briskly left the dressing room. |
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