Denis Leary Biography

Denis Colin Leary (born August 18, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, writer, director and film producer. Leary is known for his biting, fast paced comedic style and chain smoking. He is the star and co-creator of the television show Rescue Me, which ended its seventh and final season on September 7, 2011. Leary has starred in many motion pictures, most recently as Captain George Stacy in Marc Webb's 2012 film The Amazing Spider-Man and the voice of Diego in the animated Ice Age series.

Early life

Leary was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, the son of Irish Catholic immigrants. His mother, Nora (née Sullivan), was a maid, and his father, John Leary, was an auto mechanic. As both of his parents are from Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland, Leary holds both Irish and U.S. citizenship. Through marriage, Leary is a third cousin of talk show host Conan O'Brien. He attended Saint Peter-Marian High School, in Worcester.

Leary is a graduate of Emerson College, in Boston. While at Emerson, he met fellow comic Mario Cantone, whom to this day Leary considers 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 on-campus as of 2011. After graduating with the Emerson Class of 1979, he took a job at the school teaching comedy writing classes and maintained the job for five years. Leary received an honorary doctorate and spoke briefly at his alma mater's undergraduate commencement ceremony on May 16, 2005; he is thus credited as "Dr. Denis Leary" on the cover of his 2009 book, Why We Suck.

Career

Leary began working as a comedian in the Boston comedy scene of the 1980s at the underground club Play It Again Sam's. But his first real gig was at the Rascals Comedy Club as part of the TV show The Rascals Comedy Hour on October 18, 1990. He also wrote and appeared on a local comedy series, The Late, 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). It was during this time that he developed his stage persona. He also appeared in skits on the MTV game show Remote Control, playing such characters as Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, the "brother" of co-host Colin Quinn, and artist Andy Warhol.

Leary first earned fame when he ranted about R.E.M. in an early 1990s MTV sketch. Several other commercials for MTV quickly followed, in which Leary would rant at high speeds about a variety of topics, playing off the then-popular and growing alternative scene. He 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 stereotypical American male, "Asshole", achieved much notoriety. It was voted #1 in an Australian youth radio poll (the Triple J Hottest 100). The song was used as part of the Holsten Pils series of ads in the UK, in which Leary was participating, with adapted lyrics criticizing a drunk driver. The single was a minor hit there, peaking at No. 58 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1996.

Leary has appeared as an actor in over 40 movies, including The Sandlot, as Scott's stepfather Bill, Monument Ave., The Matchmaker, The Ref, Suicide Kings, Dawg, Wag the Dog, Demolition Man, Judgment Night, The Thomas Crown Affair, and Operation Dumbo Drop. He had a small part in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers, playing a ranting inmate during a prison riot; his part was eventually cut, but can be seen on the Special Edition DVD. He has had the lead role in two television series, The Job and the FX cable-network series Rescue Me, of which he is also co-creator. He plays Tommy Gavin, a New York City firefighter dealing with alcoholism, family dysfunction, and other issues in post-9/11 New York City. He received Emmy Award nominations in 2006 and 2007 for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Rescue Me, and in 2008 for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie for the HBO movie Recount. Leary was offered the role of Dignam in the 2006 film The Departed but turned it down due to scheduling conflicts with Rescue Me.

In addition, Leary has provided voices for characters in animated films, such as a fire-breathing dragon named Flame in the series The Agents, a prehistoric saber-toothed cat named Diego in the Ice Age film series, and the pugnacious ladybug Francis in A Bug's Life. He has produced 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 (Q Video/MLB Productions, 2004). In 2006, Leary and Lenny Clarke appeared on television during a Red Sox telecast and, upon realizing that Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis is Jewish, delivered a criticism of Mel Gibson's antisemitic comments. As an ice hockey fan, Leary hosted the National Hockey League video NHL's Greatest Goals. In 2003, he was the subject of the Comedy Central Roast of Denis Leary.

Leary did the TV voiceover for MLB 2K8 advertisements, where he used his trademark rant style in baseball terms, and ads for the 2009 Ford F-150 pickup truck. He has also appeared in commercials for Hulu and DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket package. Leary was a producer of the Fox Broadcasting series Canterbury's Law, and wrote and directed its pilot episode. Canterbury's Law aired in the spring of 2008 and was canceled after eight episodes.

On September 9, 2008, Leary hosted the sixth annual Fashion Rocks event, which aired on CBS. In December of the year, he appeared in a video on funnyordie.com critiquing a list of some of his "best" films, titled "Denis Leary Remembers Denis Leary Movies". Also in 2008, Leary voiced a guest role as himself on the "Lost Verizon" episode of The Simpsons.

On March 21, 2009, Leary began the "Rescue Me Comedy Tour" in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The 11-date tour, featuring Rescue Me co-stars Lenny Clarke and Adam Ferrara, was Leary's first stand-up comedy tour in 12 years. The Comedy Central special Douchebags and Donuts, filmed during the tour, debuted on American television January 16, 2011, with a DVD release on January 18, 2011.

On January 1, 2010, both Leary and Lenny Clarke sang the Neil Diamond song "Sweet Caroline" at the 2010 NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park, flanked by members of the Boston and Worcester Fire Departments. Nine days later, Leary sang at Road Recovery, on New York City's The Bowery, along with Peter Frampton, John Varvatos and Leary's band The Enablers.

He played Captain George Stacy in the movie The Amazing Spider-Man, released in July 2012. He is writing the American adaptation of British comedy Sirens.

Leary is one of the executive producers of the documentary BURN, which chronicles the struggles of the Detroit Fire Department. BURN made its debut on April 23, 2012, at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Personal life

Leary has been married to writer Ann Lembeck Leary since 1989. They met when he was her instructor in an English class at Emerson College. They have two children, son John Joseph "Jack" (born 1990) and daughter Devin (born 1992). Ann Leary published a memoir, An Innocent, a Broad, about the premature birth of their son on an overseas visit to London. She has also written a novel, Outtakes From a Marriage, which was published in 2008. Her second novel, The Good House, was published in 2013.

Leary is an ice hockey fan and has his own backyard hockey rink at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, 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 Boston Red Sox fan, as well as a fan of the Green Bay Packers.

Leary describes himself as a Jack Kennedy Democrat with some conservative ideologies, such as support for the military. Leary told Glenn Beck, "I was a life-long Democrat, but now at my age, I've come to realize that the Democrats suck, and the Republicans suck, and basically the entire system sucks. But you have to go within the system to find what you want."

Leary has said of his religious beliefs, "I'm a lapsed Catholic in the best sense of the word. You know, I was raised with Irish parents, Irish immigrant parents. My parents, you know, prayed all the time, took us to Mass. And my father would sometimes swear in Gaelic. It doesn't get more religious than that. But, no, after a while, they taught us wrong. I didn't raise my kids with the fear of God. I raised my kids with the sense of, you know, to me, Jesus was this great guy...."

Leary Firefighters Foundation

On December 3, 1999, six firefighters from Leary's hometown of Worcester were killed in the Worcester Cold Storage 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, which 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 to the families of the 343 firemen killed in the September 11 attacks in 2001 in addition to providing funding for necessities such as a new mobile command center, first responder training, and a high-rise simulator for the New York City Fire Department's training campus. 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 with 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. The foundation also rebuilt entire NOLA firehouses.

Controversies

Allegations of plagiarism

For many years, Leary had been friends with fellow comedian Bill Hicks. When Leary's comedy album No Cure for Cancer was released, many people believed Leary had stolen Hicks' act and material. The friendship ended abruptly as a result. In April 1993, the Austin Comedy News remarked on the similarities of Leary's performance, "Watching Leary is like seeing Hicks from two years ago. He smokes with the same mannerisms. (Hicks recently quit) He sports the same attitude, the same clothes. He touches on almost all of the same themes. Leary even invokes Jim Fixx." When asked about this, Hicks told the magazine, "I have a scoop for you. I stole his [Leary's] act. I camouflaged it with punchlines, and to really throw people off, I did it before he did".

At least three stand-up comedians have gone on the record stating they believe Leary stole Hicks' material, comedic persona and attitude. One similar routine was about the band Judas Priest, during which Hicks says, "I don't think we lost a cancer cure."

During a 2003 Comedy Central 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 feud is also mentioned in Cynthia True's biography American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story: </ref>}}

According to the book, True said upon hearing a tape of Leary's album No Cure for Cancer, "Bill was furious. All these years, aside from the occasional jibe, he had pretty much shrugged off Leary's lifting. Comedians borrowed, stole stuff and even bought bits from one another. Milton Berle and Robin Williams were famous for it. This was different. Leary had, practically line for line, taken huge chunks of Bill's act and recorded it."

In a 2008 appearance on The Opie and Anthony Show, comedian Louis CK claimed that Leary stole his "I'm an asshole" routine, which was then expanded upon and turned into a hit song by Leary. On a later episode of the same show, Leary challenged this assertion by claiming that he (Leary) co-wrote the song with Chris Phillips.

Autism

In his 2008 book Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid, Leary said:

In response to the controversy, Leary stated that the quote was taken out of context and that in that paragraph he had been talking about the trend of unwarranted overdiagnosis of autism, which he attributed to American parents seeking an excuse for behavioral problems and underperformance. Later, he apologized to parents with autistic children whom he had offended.

Awards

Year	Result	Award	Category	Film/Show
2009		Golden Globe Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television	Recount (2008)
2008		Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie	Recount (2008)
2007		Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	Rescue Me
2007		Satellite Awards	Best Actor in a Series, Drama	Rescue Me
2007		Prism Awards	Performance in a Drama Series, Multi-Episode Storyline	Rescue Me
2006		Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	Rescue Me
2006		Satellite Awards	Best Actor in a Series, Drama	Rescue Me
2006		Prism Awards	Performance in a Drama Series, Multi-Episode Storyline	Rescue Me
2005		Emmy Awards	Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series	Rescue Me
2005		Golden Globe Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama	Rescue Me
2005		Satellite Awards	Best Actor in a Series, Drama	Rescue Me
2003		Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie	Ice Age
2003		DVD Exclusive Awards	Best Actor	Double Whammy (2001)
2002		Television Critics Association Awards	Individual Achievement in Comedy	The Job
2000		Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	Favorite Supporting Actor - Drama/Romance	The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)
1996		CableACE Awards	Best Directing: Comedy	National Lampoon's Favorite Deadly Sins (1995)
1992		Edinburgh International Arts Festival	Critic's Award	No Cure for Cancer (1992)
1992		BBC Festival	Recommendation Award	No Cure for Cancer (1992)

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Long Walk to Forever	Newt	short film
1991	Strictly Business	Jake	cameo
1993	'	Bill
	Who's the Man?	Sergeant Cooper
	Demolition Man	Edgar Friendly
	Loaded Weapon 1	Mike McCracken	cameo, performing "You Really Got Me"
	Judgment Night	Fallon
1994	'	Gus
	Gunmen	Armor O'Malley
	Natural Born Killers	Prison Inmate	director's cut, cameo
1995	National Lampoon's Favorite Deadly Sins	Jake	Television film, also directed segment "Lust"
	Operation Dumbo Drop	CW3 David Poole
	'	Frank
1996	Underworld	Johnny Crown/Johnny Alt
	Two If by Sea	Francis "Frank" O'Brien	also writer
1997	'	Vinnie Franko	Television film
	Love Walked In	Jack Hanaway	also producer
	Subway Stories	Guy in wheel chair	Television film, segment "The Red Shoes"
	Wag the Dog	Fad King
	Suicide Kings	Lono Veccio
	'	Doug
	'	Nick
1998	Monument Ave.	Bobby O'Grady	a.k.a. Snitch, also uncredited writer
	Wide Awake	Mr. Beal
	Small Soldiers	Gil Mars
	A Bug's Life	Francis	voice
1999	True Crime	Bob Findley
	Jesus' Son	Wayne
	Do Not Disturb	Simon
	'	Det. Michael McCann
2000	Sand	Teddy
	Lakeboat	The Fireman
	Company Man	Officer Fry
2001	Double Whammy	Det. Raymond Pluto	also uncredited producer
	Final	Bill	performing "Little Sister"
	Blow	Producer
2002	Dawg	Douglas "Dawg" Munford	a.k.a. Bad Boy
	Ice Age	Diego	Nominated - Kids' Choice Award for Favourite Voice from an Animated Movie
	'	Slater
2003	When Stand Up Stood Out	Himself	documentary
	'	Himself	documentary
	Reverse of the Curse of the Bambino	Himself	documentary (sequel)
2006	Ice Age: The Meltdown	Diego	voice
2008	Recount	Michael Whouley	Television film
2009	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs	Diego	voice
2012	'	George Stacy
	Ice Age: Continental Drift	Diego	voice
2014	Draft Day		Filming
	The Amazing Spider-Man 2	George Stacy	In Production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Remote Control	Various roles	All episodes
1990	Afterdrive	Himself	Talk show
	Rascals Comedy Hour	Himself	Stand Up
1994"95	Mike & Spike	Charles S. Baby	3 episodes
1998	'	Himself	Episode dated April 24, 1998
	Fantasy World Cup	Himself	Episode #1.15
	Space Ghost Coast to Coast	Himself	Episode: "Waiting For Edward"
2001"02	'	Himself	Guest at two episodes
	'	Mike McNeil	Also writer and producer All episodes
2002	Contest Searchlight	Fictionalized version of himself	All episodes
	Crank Yankers	Joe Smith (voice)	Episode: 1.2
2004"11	Rescue Me	Tommy Gavin	nominated for Golden Globe and Emmy also creator, producer and writer
2008	The Simpsons	Himself	1 episode - "Lost Verizon"

Discography

• 1993: No Cure for Cancer
• 1993: "Asshole"
• 1997: Lock 'n Load
• 2004: Merry F#%$in' Christmas
• 2009: "At the Rehab"
• 2011: "Douchebag"
• 2012: "Kiss My Ass"

Bibliography

• 2008: Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid, Viking ISBN 978-0-670-03160-3
• 2010: Suck On This Year : LYFAO @ 140 Characters or Less, Viking ISBN 978-0-670-02289-2