Denis Leary

Denis Leary
Leary at the 2015 ATX TV Festival
Birth name	Denis Colin Leary
Born	(1957-08-18) August 18, 1957 (age 67) Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up film television
Alma mater	Emerson College
Genres	Observational comedy black comedy insult comedy musical comedy
Spouse	Ann Lembeck ​ (m. 1989)​
Children	2
Relative(s)	Conan O'Brien (third cousin)

Denis Colin Leary (born August 18, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Born in Massachusetts, Leary first came to prominence as a stand-up comedian, especially through appearances on MTV (including the comedic song "Asshole") and through the stand-up specials No Cure for Cancer (1993) and Lock 'n Load (1997). Leary began taking roles in film and television starting in the 1990s, including substantial roles in the films Judgment Night (1993), Gunmen (1994), Operation Dumbo Drop (1995) and Wag the Dog (1997).

In the 2000s, he developed and starred in the television show The Job (2001–2002) and was the star and co-creator of Rescue Me (2004–2011), for which he received two Primetime Emmy nominations, one for writing and one for acting. He has continued to take starring roles in films, including Captain George Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man and Cleveland Browns head coach Vince Penn in Draft Day. Leary has also done voice work, including Francis the ladybug in A Bug's Life and Diego the saber tooth tiger in the Ice Age franchise.

From 2015 to 2016, Leary wrote and starred in the comedy series Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll on FX.

Denis Colin Leary was born on August 18, 1957,^[1] in Worcester, Massachusetts, the son of Catholic immigrant parents from Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland.^[2] His mother, Nora (née Sullivan) (b. 1929), was a maid, and his father, John Leary (1924–1985), was an auto mechanic.^[3][4][5][6] Leary is a citizen of both the United States and Ireland.^[7] Leary is a third cousin of talk show host and fellow comedian Conan O'Brien.^[8][9]

Leary attended Saint Peter's High School (now Saint Paul's) in Worcester and graduated from Emerson College^[10] in Boston. At Emerson, he met fellow comic Mario Cantone, whom Leary considers to be his closest friend.^[11][12] While a student, Leary founded the Emerson Comedy Workshop, a troupe that continues on the campus today.^[13]

After graduating from Emerson in 1981, Leary taught comedy-writing classes at the school for five years.^[14] In May 2005 he received an honorary doctorate and spoke at his alma mater's undergraduate commencement ceremony;^[15] and is credited as Dr. Denis Leary on the cover of his 2009 book Why We Suck.

Leary began working as a comedian at the Boston underground club Play It Again Sam's. However, 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 wrote and appeared on a local comedy series, Lenny Clarke's Late Show, hosted by his friend Lenny Clarke and written by 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). During Leary's time as a Boston-area stand-up comic, he developed his stage persona.

Leary appeared in sketches on the MTV game show Remote Control, playing characters such as Keith Richards, co-host Colin Quinn's brother and artist Andy Warhol. ^{[citation needed]} He 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. One of these rants served as an introduction to the video for "Shamrocks and Shenanigans (Boom Shalock Lock Boom)" by House of Pain. Leary released two records of his 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. ^{[citation needed]}

In 1993, Leary's sardonic song "Asshole", about the stereotypical American male, achieved much notoriety. The song was voted No. 1 in an Australian radio poll^[16] and was used in Holsten Pils ads in the UK, with Leary's participation, and with adapted lyrics criticizing a drunk driver.^[17] The single was a minor hit there, peaking at No. 58 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1996.^[18]

In 1995, Leary was asked by Boston Bruins legend Cam Neely to help orchestrate a Boston-based comedy benefit show for Neely's cancer charity; this became Comics Come Home, which Leary has hosted annually ever since.^[19]

Leary has appeared in many films, including The Sandlot as Scott's stepfather Bill, Monument Ave., The Matchmaker, The Ref, Draft Day, Suicide Kings, Dawg, Wag the Dog, Demolition Man (as an Emmanuel Goldstein-esque revolutionary to Nigel Hawthorne's Big Brother), Judgment Night, The Thomas Crown Affair and Operation Dumbo Drop. He had a role in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers that was eventually cut. He held the lead role in two television series, The Job and Rescue Me, and he co-created the latter, in which he played Tommy Gavin, a New York City firefighter dealing with alcoholism, family dysfunction and other issues in post-9/11 New York City.

Leary 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.^[20] Leary was offered the role of Dignam in The Departed (2006) but turned it down because of scheduling conflicts with Rescue Me. He provided voices for characters in animated films, such as a fire-breathing dragon named Flame in the series The Agents, a pugnacious ladybug named Francis in A Bug's Life and a prehistoric saber-toothed tiger named Diego in the Ice Age film series. 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. ^{[citation needed]}

As a Boston Red Sox fan, Leary 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 first baseman Kevin Youkilis is Jewish, delivered a criticism of Mel Gibson's antisemitic comments.^[21] As an ice hockey fan, Leary hosted the National Hockey League video NHL's Greatest Goals.^[22] In 2003, he was the subject of the Comedy Central Roast of Denis Leary.^[23]

Leary did the TV voiceover for MLB 2K8 advertisements, using his trademark rant style in baseball terms, and ads for the 2009 Ford F-150 pickup truck.^{[citation needed]} He has also appeared in commercials for Hulu and DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket package.^{[citation needed]} Leary was a producer of the Fox 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".^[24] Also in 2008, Leary voiced a guest role as himself in The Simpsons episode "Lost Verizon".

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.^[25] The Comedy Central special Douchebags and Donuts, filmed during the tour, debuted on American television on January 16, 2011, with a DVD release on January 18, 2011.^[26]

Leary played Captain George Stacy in the movie The Amazing Spider-Man, released in July 2012.^[27] He wrote the American adaptation of Sirens.^[28] He is an executive producer of the documentary Burn, which chronicles the struggles of the Detroit Fire Department. Burn won the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival Audience Award.^[29]

Leary created a television series for FX called Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, taking the starring role himself. A 10-episode first season was ordered by FX, with the premiere on July 16, 2015.^[30][31] The show ran for two seasons.

In 2022, he was cast in the recurring role of Frank Donnelly, an NYPD officer on Law & Order: Organized Crime.^[32]

Leary has been the narrator for NESN's documentary show about the Boston Bruins called Behind the B since the show began in 2013.

Leary has been married to author Ann Lembeck Leary since 1989.^[33] 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).^[34] Ann Leary published a memoir, An Innocent, a Broad, about the premature birth of their son on a 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.^[35] Her essay in a New York Times column about her marriage to Denis inspired the Modern Love series Episode 4: "Rallying to Keep the Game Alive".

Leary is an ice hockey fan and has a backyard rink at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, with piping installed under the ice surface to help it stay frozen.^[36] He is a fan of the Boston Bruins and the Boston Red Sox,^[37] as well as the Green Bay Packers.^[38][39]

Leary describes himself as a "Jack Kennedy Democrat" with some conservative ideologies, including 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."^[40]

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...."^[40]

Leary is godfather to Damian Hurley, the son of actress Elizabeth Hurley.^[41]

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, as well as Leary's close childhood friend, Lt. Tommy Spencer.^[42][8] 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. He had close ties with WAAF, which in 2000 released the station album Survive This!. Part of the proceeds from this album were donated to the Leary Firefighters Foundation. ^{[citation needed]}

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. 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.^[43]

For many years, Leary had been friends with fellow comedian Bill Hicks. But when Leary's comedy album No Cure for Cancer was released, Leary was accused of stealing Hicks' act and material, ending their friendship abruptly.^[44] 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".^[45]

At least three stand-up comedians have gone on the record stating they believe Leary stole Hicks' material, comedic persona and attitude.^[44][46][47] One similar routine was about the so-called Judas Priest "suicide trial," during which Hicks says, "I don't think we lost a cancer cure."^[48]

During Leary's 2003 Comedy Central Roast, 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.^[49]

The feud is also mentioned in Cynthia True's biography American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story:

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, more stunned than angry, said, "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.^[50]

According to the book, True said that 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."^[50]

In a 2008 appearance on The Opie and Anthony Show, comedian Louis C.K. claimed Leary stole his "I'm an asshole" routine, which was then expanded upon and turned into a hit song by Leary.^[51] On a later episode of the same show, Leary challenged this assertion by claiming to have co-written the song with Chris Phillips.^[52]

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

There is a huge boom in autism right now because inattentive mothers and competitive dads want an explanation for why their dumb-ass kids can't compete academically, so they throw money into the happy laps of shrinks... to get back diagnoses that help explain away the deficiencies of their junior morons. I don't [care] what these crackerjack whack jobs tell you – your kid is not autistic. He's just stupid. Or lazy. Or both.

Leary later stated that the quote was taken out of context and that in that paragraph he had been talking about what he calls the trend of "unwarranted" over-diagnosis of autism, which he attributed to American parents seeking an excuse for behavioral problems and under-performance. Later, he apologized to parents with autistic children whom he had offended.^[53][54]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Denis Leary: No Cure for Cancer	Himself	Stand-up special
1997	Denis Leary: Lock 'N Loaded
2005	Merry F#%$in' Christmas		Christmas special
2011	Denis Leary & Friends Presents: Douchebags & Donuts		Stand-up special

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Long Walk to Forever	Newt	Short film
1991	Strictly Business	Jake	Cameo
1993	The Sandlot	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	The Ref	Gus
	Gunmen	Armor O'Malley
	Natural Born Killers	Prison Inmate	Director's cut; cameo
1995	Operation Dumbo Drop	CW3 David Poole
	The Neon Bible	Frank
1996	Underworld	Johnny Crown/Johnny Alt
	Two If by Sea	Francis "Frank" O'Brien	Also writer
1997	Love Walked In	Jack Hanaway	Also producer
	Wag the Dog	Fad King
	Suicide Kings	Lono Veccio
	The Real Blonde	Doug
	The Matchmaker	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
	The Thomas Crown Affair	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 (voice)	Nominated – Kids' Choice Award for Favourite Voice from an Animated Movie
	The Secret Lives of Dentists	Slater
2003	When Stand Up Stood Out	Himself	Documentary
	The Curse of the Bambino
	Reverse of the Curse of the Bambino		Documentary (sequel)
2006	Ice Age: The Meltdown	Diego (voice)
2009	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
2012	The Amazing Spider-Man	George Stacy
	Ice Age: Continental Drift	Diego (voice)
2014	Draft Day	Coach Penn
	The Amazing Spider-Man 2	George Stacy
2015	Freaks of Nature	Rick Wilson
2016	Ice Age: Collision Course	Diego (voice)
2023	Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse	George Stacy	Archival footage from The Amazing Spider-Man
2026	Ice Age 6	Diego (voice)	In development
TBA	Oh. What. Fun.	TBA	Post-production

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	Lenny Clarke's Late Show[55]	Various	Series regular
1987–1990	Remote Control	Various roles	All episodes
1990	Afterdrive	Himself	Talk show
	Rascals Comedy Hour		Stand Up
1994–1995	Mike & Spike	Charles S. Baby	3 episodes
1995	National Lampoon's Favorite Deadly Sins	Jake	Television film, also directed segment "Lust"
1996	The Second Civil War	Vinnie Franko	Television film
1997	Subway Stories	Guy in wheelchair	Television film
1998	The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder	Himself	1 episode
	Fantasy World Cup		1 episode
	Space Ghost Coast to Coast		Episode: "Waiting for Edward"
2001–2002	The Rosie O'Donnell Show		Guest
	The Job	Mike McNeil	Also writer and producer
2002	Contest Searchlight	Himself	All episodes
	Crank Yankers	Joe Smith (voice)	Episode: 1.2
2004–2011	Rescue Me	Tommy Gavin	93 episodes; also creator, producer and writer
2006–2014	The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson	Himself	12 episodes
2008	The Simpsons	Himself (voice)	Episode: "Lost Verizon"
	Recount	Michael Whouley	Television film
2011	Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas	Diego (voice)	TV special
2013	Maron	Himself	1 episode – "Dead Possum"
2015	Benders	—	Executive producer
2015–2016	Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll[31]	Johnny Rock	Also creator, producer, writer and director
2016	The Late Late Show with James Corden	Bill Clinton
	Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade	Diego (voice)	TV special
2018–2022	Animal Kingdom	Billy[56]	Recurring role (season 3) Guest role (Season 4, 6)
2019	Family Guy	Body Shop Owner (voice)	Episode: "Girl, Internetted"
2019–2021	The Moodys	Sean Moody Sr.	Main role
2022	Law & Order: Organized Crime	Frank Donnelly	Recurring role
2024	No Good Deed	Mikey	Upcoming series[57]
TBA	Going Dutch	Colonel Patrick Quinn	Also executive producer

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Ice Age 2: The Meltdown	Diego
2012	Ice Age: Continental Drift – Arctic Games
2013	Ice Age Village		Mobile game
2015	Ice Age Avalanche

• No Cure for Cancer (1993)
• Lock 'n Load (1997)
• Merry F#%$in' Christmas (2004)

• "Asshole" (1993)
• "At the Rehab" (2009)^[58]
• "Douchebag" (2011)^[59]
• "Kiss My Ass" (2012)^[60]

• 1992: No Cure for Cancer, Anchor Books ISBN 0385425813
• 2007: Rescue Me: Uncensored: The Official Companion, Newmarket Press ISBN 978-1557047915
• 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
• 2012: Denis Leary's Merry F#%$in' Christmas, Running Press ISBN 0762447621
• 2017: Why We Don't Suck: And How All of Us Need to Stop Being Such Partisan Little Bitches, Crown Archetype ISBN 978-1524762735

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

• Denis Leary at IMDb