Denis Leary - Multi Talented Actor and Comedian or Comic Thief?
Denis Leary, born 1957 in Worcester, MA, is a multi-talented actor,
comedian, movie star, writer and director.
 Leary is well known for his angsty, off-color humor, his career
started on MTV during a comedy sketch where he took the piss out of REM.
Best known
as a stand-up comedian, he has released two full-length massively successful comedy albums,
No Cure for Cancer and Lock'n'Load.
Though admittedly not much of a musician,
Leary's off-color song "Asshole" became extremely popular in
1994, receiving a great deal of noteriety both inside and outside the United
States.
Although, the song's bad language kept it off of most major U.S. radio
playlists, it was a huge hit on Australian & British radio stations, due to their liberal approach to dark humored and potentially offensive comedy.
Though he prefers stand-up, Denis Leary has acted in over 40 movies, even
starring in some of them. His credits include The Sandlot, The Ref, Suicide
Kings, and Demolition Man.
His humor has also come through while voicing
the characters of animated characters in Ice Age and A Bug's Life. Leary's
career hasn't only been in comedy and acting though; he has produced numerous
television shows, television specials, and movies (Including Blow) through
his production company, named Apostle.
Though Leary was a long time friend with comedian Bill Hicks, the two
had a falling out after Leary's release of No Cure for Cancer. Hicks accused
Leary of stealing material, and their friendship ended quickly. Though
Leary wanted to patch things up, Bill Hicks passed away in 1994.
The issue
was addressed in The Bill Hicks Story by Cynthia True, who believed
that Leary did steal material from Hicks, though the controversy was never
satisfactorily settled.
Denis Leary is also a bit of a philanthropist, founding the Leary Firefighters
Foundation after his cousin and childhood friend were killed in a massive
warehouse fire in Worchester, MA.
The foundation has raised over 2.5 million
dollars for fire departments in the area, providing equipment and facilities
for the departments.
Though Leary's comedy is often sarcastic and full of angst, his rants
rarely come down too hard on any one group. Though racial comedy has always
been a hot button, Leary rarely delves into race.
As he puts it, "Why
hate someone for the color of their skin when there are much better reasons
to hate them? Racism isn't born folks, it's taught. I have a two year old
son. You know what he hates? Naps!" Leary plans to continue to be a jack-of-all-trades in the entertainment
business, bringing his humor to the stage, the big screen, and the small
screen. |
