Denis Leary's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Rescue Me Tommy Gavin The Job Mike McNeil Tonight with Jonathan Ross (UK) Denis Leary Paramount City (UK) Denis Leary

Main Movie Roles 2009 - Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 2006 - Ice Age 2: The Meltdown 2002 - Ice Age 2002 - Bad Boy 2001 - Final 2001 - Double Whammy 1999 - Do Not Disturb 1999 - True Crime 1999 - The Thomas Crown Affair 1998 - Snitch 1998 - A Bug's Life 1998 - Small Soldiers 1998 - Wide Awake 1997 - Wag the Dog 1997 - Suicide Kings 1997 - The MatchMaker 1997 - The Real Blonde 1996 - Two If by Sea 1995 - Operation Dumbo Drop 1994 - The Ref 1993 - Judgment Night 1993 - Demolition Man 1993 - Loaded Weapon 1 1993 - Who's the Man? 1993 - The Sandlot

BIOGRAPHY:

Denis Leary was born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, the son of Nora and John Leary, Irish immigrants who had grown up together. After a childhood in the 1960s, Leary went to Emerson College in Boston, where he tried his hand at acting and writing. He was a charter member of Emerson's Comedy Workshop, and taught at the college for five years after graduating. By that point he had written several pieces for magazines and had worked at stand-up comedy for a time. In 1990 he and his wife Ann flew to London to perform in the BBC's Paramount City. That weekend Ann's water broke. Their planned weekend trip became a stay of months, and Denis, with not a whole lot to do in London, wrote a one-man comedy act. He brought friends in from the States, and they wrote songs to perform on stage. Leary, with Chris Phillips and Adam Roth (I) on guitar, performed "No Cure For Cancer" at the Edinburgh International Arts Festival in Scotland. Despite some protests about the title, the show won the Critic's Award and the BBC Festival Recommendation. The next year the show was moved to America, and it was eventually taped and broadcast on Showtime (No Cure for Cancer (1992) (TV)). The show spawned a book, CD, cassette, and a videotape. It also started Leary's movie career. Since then, he has starred in several films and has had two of his own TV series.


TRIVIA:

• Graduated from Emerson College
• He is one of the six godparents (all males) of Damian Charles Bing, son of 'Elizabeth Hurley (I)' (qv), and attended the child's baptism at Immaculate Conception church in Mayfair, London.
• Originally had a role in _Beautiful Girls (1996)_ (qv), directed by good friend 'Ted Demme' (qv), but had to pull out due to schedule conflicts.
• Founded the Leary Firefighters Foundation (LFF) charity in response to the Dec. 3, 1999, warehouse fire that killed six firefighters in his hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts. His cousin Jeremiah Lucey was among the six heroic firefighters killed. Leary also established LFF projects for New York's Bravest in response to the FDNY's losses in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and in New Orleans to help restore firefighting capabilities destroyed in Hurricane Katrina, 2005.
• He starred in three films directed by 'Ted Demme' (qv): _Who's the Man? (1993)_ (qv), _The Ref (1994)_ (qv), and _Snitch (1996)_ (qv). Demme also directed both his concert specials. Leary and Demme co-produced _Blow (2001)_ (qv), and both men were involved in _SUBWAYStories: Tales from the Underground (1997) (TV)_ (qv).
• Holds an Irish passport.
• Good friend of Joe Mantegna.
• Irish-American.