Biography for
Denis Leary (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

18 August 1957, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

Birth Name

Denis Colin Leary

Height

6' 2" (1.88 m)

Mini 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 Lembeck, 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 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.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Jack Witzig < tomveil@news.interstat.net>

Spouse

Ann Lembeck

(19 August 1989 - present) 2 children

Trade Mark

Foul-mouthed, stream-of-conciousness comedy about smoking, drinking, macho men and/or beautiful women.

Smoking cigarettes and drinking beer during his routines

His distinctive voice

Gapped front teeth

Fast paced delivery

Trivia

Originally had a role in Beautiful Girls (1996), directed by good friend Ted Demme, but had to pull out due to schedule conflicts.

Graduated from Emerson College

A distant cousin of Conan O'Brien and his sister Jane O'Brien.

Is the second of four children.

Loves sports and originally wanted to be an NHL star. That all changed when he got kicked off his high school hockey team because of poor grades.

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: Who's the Man? (1993), The Ref (1994), and Snitch (1996). Demme also directed both his concert specials. Leary and Demme co-produced Blow (2001), and both men were involved in SUBWAYStories: Tales from the Underground (1997) (TV).

His song "Asshole" portrays a stereotype of American humor and lifestyles.

He is one of the six godparents (all males) of Damian Charles Bing, son of Elizabeth Hurley, and attended the child's baptism at Immaculate Conception church in Mayfair, London.

His role on "Rescue Me" (2004) marks his first Golden Globe nomination.

Irish-American.

Father of Jack Leary.

His interest in the perils of firemen and his co-creation of the series "Rescue Me" (2004) stemmed from a tragic 1999 warehouse fire in his hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts, that took the lives of six firemen, including his cousin and a childhood friend.

Established the Leary Firefighters Foundation. When 9/11 happened, his foundation went into action and was hailed as "the second-quickest charity" to get money into the hands of grieving families. One auction alone raised $600,000.

Denis got behind the wheel of a fire engine during September 11, 2001, when the New York Fire Department was short-handed responding to the collapse of the World Trade center.

Is a big Boston Red Sox fan.

Joe Rogan has claimed that Leary's "angry comedian" act, first used in his stage show "No Cure for Cancer" (later a Showtime special, No Cure for Cancer (1992) (TV)) was based on the comedy act of Bill Hicks. Leary skewered the charge (http://us.imdb.com/news/ni0070130).

Was offered Mark Wahlberg's role in The Departed (2006), but turned it down to scheduling conflicts with his television series, "Rescue Me" (2004). Leary has since commended Wahlberg's performance in the film with admiration.

Good friend of Mario Cantone and Gina Gershon at Emerson College.

Holds an Irish passport.

Leary's "Rescue Me" (2004) character, Tommy Gavin, was probably named for his childhood friend Tommy Spencer, a firefighter who was killed in the December 1999 warehouse fire that inspired Leary to establish the Leary Firefighters Foundation in 2000.

Has dual U.S and Irish Citizenship.

Lives in New York City.

One of seven godparents of Elizabeth Hurley's son Damien.

Good friend of Joe Mantegna.

When Leary guested on "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" (2009), he confessed that he was terrified of bats. Coincidentally, the show concluded with an animal expert who presented Conan with a variety of bats that were conveniently suspended behind Leary on studio "tree branches".

Received an honorary Doctorate from Emerson College and wrote his book "Why We Suck" as 'Dr. Denis Leary'. He was quoted as saying "Sure it's just a celebrity type of thing--they only gave it to me because I'm famous." Leary explained. "But it's legal and it means I get to say I'm a doctor--just like Dr. Phil.".

He claims that people often mistake him for Willem Dafoe, and vice versa.

His parents are from Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland.

Personal Quotes

The things that make me angry still make me angry. George Carlin is 67, and he's still as funny as he's ever been, and he's still angry. And that makes me feel good, because I feel like if I stick around long enough, I'll still be able to work.

Did you ever notice they never take any fat hostages? You never see a guy coming out of Lebanon going: "I was held hostage for seven months and I lost 175 pounds, I feel good and I look good and I learned self-discipline. That's the important thing."

My biggest regret in life is that I didn't hit John Denver in the mouth while I had the chance.

There we were in the middle of a sexual revolution wearing clothes that guaranteed we wouldn't get laid.

Why hate someone for the color of their skin when there are much better reasons to hate them?

Most movies suck, even the independent ones. Hollywood is like baseball: Hit three good ones out of 10 and you're a Hall of Famer. I don't think like those guys who say, "I'm hot again, so I've got to get back into a big movie."

I bought my daughter a Chihuahua and I fell in love with it. So now I carry Coco around with me all the time.

Jon Stewart is exactly the same guy he's always been, only with money. He knows that the moment he really believes he's important, the funny goes away and he becomes Bill O'Reilly, except shorter and Jewish.

We live in a country where Rosa Parks had the courage and conviction to sit down long enough to start a revolution that lead to Al Sharpton screaming racism every time Barry Bonds gets indicted for taking performance enhancing drugs in order to break a home run record set by a black man who didn't even have the benefit of Advil.

Salary

Two If by Sea (1996)	$1,000,000
"Rescue Me" (2004)	$250,000/episode (2009-10)

Where Are They Now

(August 2003) Had a roast held in his honor at the New York Friar's Club

(May 2005) Has a farm house which he shares with his wife in Roxbury, Connecticut. They have several horses there as well.

(2008) Release of his book, "Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid".

(1992) Release of his book, "No Cure for Cancer".