Denis Leary Biography
Summary
"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".
Biography
Early life
Denis Leary was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, to Irish Catholic immigrants Connor 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.'
Emerson College
Leary is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston, where he was classmates with fellow comic Mario Cantone, who to this day remains his closest friend. Comedian Steven Wright and actress Gina Gershon also attended Emerson at the same time as Leary. At the school, he founded the Emerson Comedy Workshop, a troupe that continues to thrive on-campus to the present day. After graduating with the Emerson Class of 1979, he took up a job with the school teaching comedy writing classes and maintained the job for five years. Leary was honored with an honorary doctorate and spoke briefly at his alma mater's undergraduate commencement ceremony on May 16, 2005.
Career
Leary started in career as a comedian in the notorious Boston comedy scene of the 1980s, where he hosted his own show at the underground club 'Play It Again Sam'. He also wrote and appeared on a local comedy series, Lenny Clarke's Late Show, hosted by his friend Lenny Clarke and written by Boston comedy writer Martin Olson. Leary and Clarke both spoke about their early affiliations and influences in the Boston comedy scene in the documentary film When Standup Stood Out (2006).
Leary first became famous through an MTV sketch in which he ranted about R.E.M. Several other commercials for MTV followed, in which Leary would rant at high speeds about a variety of topics. He has released two records of his stand-up comedy: "No Cure for Cancer" (1993) and "Lock 'n Load" (1997). In late 2004 he released the EP "Merry F#%$in' Christmas", which included a mix of new music, previously unreleased recordings, and some tracks from "Lock 'n Load".
In 1993, his sardonic song about the American lower-middle-class male, "Asshole", achieved much notoriety. It was voted #1 in a major Australian youth radio poll (the Triple J Hottest 100) as well as reaching #2 in the singles chart in that country. The video also became a staple of MTV's late-night programming. Due to its explicit and controversial content, however, it received limited airplay on mainstream American radio stations. At the 2004 Comics Come Home in Boston, Massachusetts, Denis performed a new version of the song directed at the New York Yankees, and as the song concluded, Bronson Arroyo walked on stage with the World Series trophy. The song was also used as part of the Holsten Pils series of ads in the UK which Leary was participating in, with adapted lyrics criticizing a drunk driver.
Although he says he is most at home on stage doing stand-up, Leary has appeared as an actor in over 40 movies, including "The Sandlot", "Monument Ave.", "The Match Maker", "The Ref", "Suicide Kings", "Dawg", "Wag the Dog", "Demolition Man", "The Thomas Crown Affair" and "Operation Dumbo Drop". He has also starred in two television series, "The Job" and "Rescue Me". In addition, Leary has provided voices for characters in animated films such as a saber-toothed tiger named 'Diego' in "Ice Age" and its sequel Ice Age 2 and 'Francis' in "A Bug's Life". He has produced (and still produces) numerous movies, television shows, and specials through his production company Apostle; these include Comedy Central's Shorties Watchin' Shorties, the stand-up special "Denis Leary's Merry F#$%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, Adam Ferrara, Jim Breuer, Nick DiPaolo, Don Gavin, Christopher Walken, Lenny Clarke, Gina Gershon, Conan O'Brien, Gilbert Gottfried, 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.
Personal life
Denis Leary has been married to writer Ann Lembeck since 1989. 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.
Leary is an ice hockey fan and has his own backyard hockey rink, with piping installed under the ice surface to help the ice stay frozen. His favorite National Hockey League team is the Boston Bruins. He is also a die hard Boston Red Sox fan.
Leary Firefighters Foundation
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. Leary won $125,000 for the foundation on the game show 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.
A separate fund run by Leary's foundation, the Fund for New York's Bravest, has distributed over $2 million (USD) to the families of the 343 firemen killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks, as well as providing funding for necessities such as a new mobile command center, first responder training, and a high-rise simulator for the FDNY's training campus. This new fund was established because the families of the Worcester fire did not want to include New York families into the fund, as a result Leary created a separate fund for New York.
As the foundation's president, Leary has been active in all of the fundraising, usually presenting large checks and donated equipment personally. The close relationship he has developed with the FDNY, as well as individual firefighters across the New York/New England area, has resulted in Leary's most recent television show, "Rescue Me", a Comedy-drama on FX. In the pilot episode of the show, he is seen wearing a Leary Firefighter Foundation 9-11 Memorial T-Shirt.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans Leary donated over a dozen boats to the New Orleans fire department to aid in rescue efforts in future disasters.
Accusations of plagiarism of Bill Hicks
For many years, Leary had been friends with fellow comedian Bill Hicks. However, when Hicks heard Leary's 1992 album "No Cure for Cancer," he felt Leary had stolen his act and material. The friendship ended abruptly as a result.
At least three stand-up comedians have gone on the record stating they believe Leary stole not just some of Hicks' material but his persona and attitude. As a result of this, it is claimed that after Bill Hicks' death from pancreatic cancer, an industry joke began to circulate about Leary's transformation and subsequent success (roughly; 'Question: Why is Denis Leary a star while Bill Hicks is unknown? Answer: Because there's No Cure for Cancer').
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:
When asked about Leary, Hicks told an interviewer: 'I have a scoop for you. I stole his act. I camouflaged it with punchlines, and to really throw people off, I did it before he did.'
In the August 2006 "Playboy", an interviewer told Leary 'Much has been written about you and comedian Bill Hicks...People have accused you of appropriating his persona and material.' Leary replied:
Filmography
"Long Walk to Forever" (short film) (1987)
"Strictly Business" (1991)
"Loaded Weapon 1" (1993)
"The Sandlot" (1993)
"Who's the Man?" (1993)
"Demolition Man" (1993)
"Judgment Night" (1993)
"Gunmen" (1994)
"The Ref" (1994)
"Natural Born Killers" (director's cut) (1994)
"Operation Dumbo Drop" (1995)
"The Neon Bible" (1995)
"Favorite Deadly Sins" (1995)
"Two If by Sea" (1996)
"Underworld" (1996)
"Love Walked In" (1997)
"The Second Civil War" (1997)
"Subway Stories" (1997)
"Suicide Kings" (1997)
"The Real Blonde" (1997)
"The Matchmaker" (1997)
"Wag the Dog" (1997)
"Monument Ave." (aka "Snitch") (1998)
"Wide Awake" (1998)
"Small Soldiers" (1998)
"A Bug's Life" (1998)
"True Crime" (1999)
"The Thomas Crown Affair" (1999)
"Jesus' Son" (1999)
"Do Not Disturb" (1999)
"Lakeboat" (2000)
"Company Man" (2000)
"Sand" (2000)
"Double Whammy" (2001)
"Final" (2001)
"Bad Boy" (aka "Dawg") (2002)
"Ice Age" (2002)
"The Secret Lives of Dentists" (2002)
"When Stand Up Stood Out" (documentary) (2003)
"The Curse of the Bambino" (documentary) (2003) and its followup Reverse of the Curse of the Bambino" (documentary) (2004)
"Ice Age: The Meltdown" (2006)
"The Sexual Advancer" (2006)
Discography
1993: "No Cure for Cancer"
1997: "Lock 'n Load"
2004: "Merry F#%$in' Christmas"
External links
(Leary Firefighters Foundation) - Official Site.
(Denis Leary interview at AOL Television)
(Denis Leary) at the All Music Guide
(Dennis Leary Interview in Complex Magazine)
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Denis Leary.
