Denis Leary

At 66 years old, Denis Leary has this physical status:

Denis Colin Leary (born August 18, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, singer, writer and producer.

Leary was the star and co-creator of Rescue Me.

He has had starring roles in many films, including those of Captain George Stacy in Marc Webb's, The Amazing Spider-Man and Cleveland Browns head coach Vince Penn in Ivan Reitman's Draft Day.

Leary also voiced the character of Francis in A Bug's Life and that of Diego in the Ice Age franchise.

He and wife Ann Leary are the inspiration behind Amazon’s series ‘Modern Love’ Episode 4: “Rallying to Keep the Game Alive”.

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

Early life

Denis Colin Leary was born on August 18, 1957, in Worcester, Massachusetts, the son of Catholic immigrant parents from County Kerry, Ireland. His mother, Nora (née Sullivan) (b. 1929), was a maid, and his father, John Leary (1924–1985), was an auto mechanic. Leary is a citizen of both the United States and Ireland. Leary is a third cousin of talk show host Conan O'Brien.

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

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

Personal life

Leary has been married to author 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 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. 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. He is a fan of the Boston Bruins and the Boston Red Sox, as well as the Green Bay Packers.

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."

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 is godfather to Damian Hurley, the son of actress Liz Hurley.

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Career

Leary started out as a comedian at Play It Again Sam's in Boston. However, his first live performance came at the Rascals Comedy Club on October 18, 1990, as part of the television program The Rascals Comedy Hour. He produced and appeared on Lenny Clarke's Late Show, hosted by his companion Lenny Clarke and written by Martin Olson. In the documentary film When Standup Stood Out (2006), Leary and Clarke discussed their early careers and influences in Boston's comedy scene. During Leary's time as a Boston-area stand-up comedian, he developed his stage persona.

Leary appeared in sketches on MTV's game show Remote Control, including Keith Richards, co-host Colin Quinn's brother, and artist Andy Warhol. He came to fame when he spoke out against R.E.M. MTV filmed a MTV sketch in the early 1990s. Several other MTV commercials came quickly, and Leary would rant at high speeds about a variety of topics, promoting the then-popular and quickly growing alternative market. By House of Pain, one of these rants served as an introduction to the "Boom Shalock Lock Boom" video. No Cure for Cancer (1993) and Lock 'n Load (1997). Leary had two albums of his comedy: No Cure for Cancer (1993) and Lock 'n Load (1997). He released Merry F#%$in' Christmas, a compilation of new music, previously unreleased recordings, and some tracks from Lock 'n Load in late 2004.

"Asshole," Leary's sarconic song about the stereotypical American male, gained a following. The album was voted No. No. 27. 1 in an Australian radio poll and was used in Holsten Pils advertisements in the United Kingdom, with Leary's involvement and adapted lyrics mocking a drunk driver. The single was a minor hit here, peaking at No. 20. In January 1996, the UK Singles Chart reached 58 points.

Leary was asked by Boston Bruins legend Cam Neely to help with the organization of Neely's cancer charity, and the result was Comics Come Home, which Leary has hosted annually since.

Leary has appeared in many films, including The Sandlot as Scott's stepfather Bill, The Matchmaker, Draft Day, Suicide Kings, Dawg, Wag the Dog, Judgment Night, The Thomas Crown Affair, and Operation Dumbo Drop. He appeared in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers, but he was eventually deleted. He starred in two television series, The Job and Rescue Me, and he co-created the former, in which he played Tommy Gavin, a New York City firefighter grappling with alcoholism, family dysfunction, and other concerns in post-9/11 New York City.

In 2006 and 2007, Leary was nominated 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 HBO's Recount. Leary was supposed to play Dignam in The Departed (2006) but decided against it due to scheduling conflicts with Rescue Me. In the Ice Age film series, he provided voice for characters such as a fire-breathing dragon named Flame in A Bug's Life, a vivacious ladybug named Francis, and a prehistoric saber-toothed tiger named Diego. Through his production company, Apostle, he has made several films, television shows, and specials; these include Comedy Central's Shorties Watching In' Shorties, Denis Leary's Merry F#%in' Christmas, and the movie Blow.

Leary, a Boston Red Sox fan, narrated the official 2004 World Series film. Leary and Lenny Clarke appeared on television during a Red Sox telecast in 2006, and after discovering that Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis is Jewish, they expressed their displeasure with Mel Gibson's antisemitic remarks. Leary, a National Hockey League fan, was interviewed on NHL's Greatest Goals. He appeared in Denis Leary's Comedy Central Roast in 2003.

Leary was the TV voiceover for MLB 2K8 advertisements, as well as advertisements for the 2009 Ford F-150 pickup truck. He used his trademark rant style in baseball terms. He has appeared in commercials for Hulu and DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket package. Leary, a creator of the Fox series Canterbury's Law, wrote and directed the series's pilot episode. The Law of Canterbury was introduced in the spring of 2008 and was cancelled after eight episodes. Leary hosted the sixth annual Fashion Rocks festival on September 9, 2008, which aired on CBS. In December, he appeared in a film on funnyordie.com criticizing a list of his "best" films, "Denis Leary Movies." In 2008, Leary appeared in The Simpsons episode "Lost Verizon" as himself.

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

In the film The Amazing Spider-Man, Leary played Captain George Stacy, which was released in July 2012. Sirens' American adaptation was written by him. He is the executive producer of Burn, which chronicles the struggles of the Detroit Fire Department's labor department. Burn was honoured at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival Audience Award.

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Leary's FX television show Sex & Roll, in which he plays the lead. FX commissioned a 10-episode first season, with the premiere taking place on July 16, 2015. The show lasted two seasons.

Frank Donnelly, an NYPD officer on Law & Order: Organized Crime, was cast in 2022.

Since the show began in 2013, Leary has been the narrator of NESN's documentary film about the Boston Bruins, called Behind the Bruins.

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