Kevin Meaney Biography

Kevin Gerard Meaney (April 23, 1956 - October 21, 2016) was an American stand-up comedian and actor.

Career

Meaney began his career in comedy in 1980. His big break into mainstream culture is considered to be his first HBO comedy special in 1986, followed by his debut performance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1987.

After that, his act was broadcast several times by HBO, Comedy Central and several network television stations with appearances on The Tonight Show, Late Night with David Letterman, Regis and Kathy Lee, The Oprah Winfrey Show and Conan.

His most famous catchphrase was "That's not right!", delivered while doing an impression of his mother, which was followed by, and usually preceded by, her complaints and remonstrations. Typically, his act consisted of commentary about his family and complaints about hotel service. Often, Meaney closed his show with a rendition of the 1985 song "We Are the World" which included comical impressions of the various singers who originally sang the song.

He was known for ending his performance with a few jokes that will intentionally not get a good response in order to follow them up with a song reminiscent of "I Don't Care" by Jean Lenox and Harry O. Sutton sung about how he doesn't care whether the audience laughs at his jokes.

Meaney was involved in a number of television programs, including Ned & Stacey, Dr. Katz, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Garfield and Friends, Rocko's Modern Life, London Underground, and Duckman. He starred as the title character on the short-lived sitcom version of Uncle Buck.

He was also a singer and musician, writing and producing songs for HBO and Comedy Central with his co-writer Martin Olson, with whom he wrote several television series. He intermittently appeared on The Jay Thomas Show as a co-host. In 1996, he wrote and performed a one-man play titled Vegas Vows based loosely on his brief marriage to a woman he had just met.

In the 2000s, Meaney performed on Broadway in the musical Hairspray for seven years.

Personal life

Meaney was born the third child of five in White Plains, New York. When he was 39 years old, he married a woman he had just met in Las Vegas. The marriage was annulled shortly afterwards. He later married television executive Mary Ann Halford and they had one daughter.

In 2002, Meaney was arrested at the San Francisco International Airport. After his wife set off a metal detector and lifted her shirt high enough to expose her bra, he reportedly got belligerent and was asked twice not to film the security operations of the terminal. A scuffle with police ensued.

On XM Radio's Stand Up Sit Down on May 5, 2008, Meaney stated publicly that he was gay. He explained that his time on Broadway was where he gained the courage to accept his homosexuality. Soon after, he and his wife divorced.

Meaney died on October 21, 2016, at age 60. He was unresponsive when found in his home in Forestburgh, New York.

Discography

• That's Not Right (2004)

Filmography

Features

• Big (1988)
• Plump Fiction (1998)
• The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue (1999)
• Heterosexuals (2010)

Television

• Uncle Buck (1990)