Biography for
Jack Black (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

28 August 1969, Hermosa Beach, California, USA

Birth Name

Thomas Jacob Black

Nickname

JB
Jables

Height

5' 6" (1.68 m)

Mini Biography

Jack Black was born in California, and attended the University of California at Los Angeles. While at UCLA, he was a member of Tim Robbins's acting troupe and it was through this collaboration that led to his 1992 film debut in Bob Roberts (1992). Although he was just a background voice in his first film, Jack's appearances in such television shows as "The X Files" (1993), his breakthrough performance in High Fidelity (2000), and his rock-comedy band Tenacious D have created an ever-growing cult following.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous

Spouse

Tanya Haden

(14 March 2006 - present) 2 children

Trade Mark

His comedy rock band Tenacious D and his scat type singing.

Starts speaking in a slow, quiet tempo and begins to sing in a faster louder cadence.

Trivia

Member of the band Tenacious D.

Filmed a television pilot called Heat Vision and Jack (1999) (TV) co-starring Ron Silver, and Christine Taylor, and directed by Ben Stiller. The show was a parody of "Knight Rider" (1982), as well as other action/ adventure shows, and featured a talking motorcycle voiced by Owen Wilson.

Discovered he could act when he played a game of Freeze after a Passover seder.

Revealed on an Australian late night variety show that his favorite KISS rock song is 1982's "I Love it Loud," where he began singing parodied lyrics to the first verse.

Often competes for the same parts with Philip Seymour Hoffman. On the The School of Rock (2003) DVD audio commentary, he jokingly calls Hoffman "my nemesis."

Shares a birthday with Shania Twain, LeAnn Rimes and Daniel Stern.

Born on the same day as Jason Priestley.

Attended Crossroads High School for the Arts and Sciences.

Is a member of, what the media refers to as the Frat Pack along with Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Steve Carell and Luke Wilson. The Frat Pack name is a reference to the film Old School (2003), which features Vaughn, Ferrell, and Wilson, due to the wide number of films featuring the seven actors. Black's "Frat Pack" films include The Cable Guy (1996), Envy (2004), and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004).

Starred in a management training film "Manager of the Year - Effective Listening (1987)" as a teenager who tells his father that the family car has been stolen.

Had his gall bladder removed.

Hosted the MTV Movie Awards in 2002 along with Sarah Michelle Gellar

Sang backup vocals for the songs in Bob Roberts (1992).

One of his closest friends is David Grohl.

Is good friends with Tim Robbins.

Attended Poseidon School in Santa Monica, California.

Despite poking fun at the genre, he is actually a very knowledgeable fan of a lot hard rock/metal music from the 1970s and 1980s. He even appears as part of Tenacious D in the Ronnie James Dio video for the song "Push.".

Appears in a parody of the Council of Elrond scene shown during the MTV movie awards. Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson later cast him in King Kong (2005).

His parents, who were both rocket scientists, divorced when Black was 10. His mother worked on the Hubble space telescope.

Originally met his wife in high school. They both attended Crossroads, a private school. They met again 15 years after they graduated high school at a friend's birthday party.

Wife, Tanya Haden, is a cellist. She is the daughter of jazz great Charlie Haden.

His wife is a triplet. Her sisters, Petra Haden and Rachel Haden, also musicians, used to be members of the band "That Dog". Petra was also a former member of the band The Decemberists. Their brother is Josh Haden.

He and his wife eloped after dating less than a year. They were married in Big Sur, California by the same minister who performed Shane Stanley and Val Barri's ceremony in 2005.

He and his wife, Tanya Haden, became the parents of a boy, Samuel Jason Black, on June 10th, 2006.

Auditioned for the role of "Cubby Barnes" in Ransom (1996).

Mentioned in the song "High School Never Ends" by Bowling for Soup, as "the clown".

Good friends with Will Smith.

Huge fan of Professional Wrestling.

Was considered for the role of Freddy Lounds in Red Dragon (2002).

Jack and his wife, Tanya Haden, became the parents of their second son, Thomas David Black, on May 23rd 2008.

Said he considers The Who to be the greatest band of all time, explaining that "they were the first ones to ever rock HARD... the recklessness, the deliciousness!".

Was engaged to actor/comedian/producer Laura Kightlinger previously. They were together from 1997 to 2005.

Personal Quotes

[On filming the love scene in Shallow Hal (2001)] It was just strictly professional. It was like a doctor or a carpenter plying his trade. I received no pleasure whatsoever . . . I requested 32 takes for the perfection of the craft.

Never for a second did I think of myself as the sexiest guy in the world. When I was a kid, I thought I was the strongest man in the world. Then, the fastest runner and then the smartest person in the world. One by one my delusions got shut down. Now I just see myself as the lamest guy in the world.

[on co- starring with Gwyneth Paltrow for the first time in Shallow Hal (2001)] You know, I WAS a little afraid that she would fall head-over-heels in love with me, like she did [when co-starring] with Brad Pitt in Se7en (1995).

I'd just like to be in films that I would like to see. I think of myself as an entertainment arsenal. Like I have my acting bazooka and my music machete. And you don't know what I'm going to come at you with.

I was a little worried about working with kids. I wanted to make sure we didn't approach it tip-toeing around the stuff that would normally be funny, or make it gentle, rock-a-bye-baby bullshit.

I'm no Matt Damon, my goal was to be a character actor. I never thought I would get leads the way that I've been able to in the past two years.

I'm hungry for rock 24/7.

The movie This Is Spinal Tap (1984) rocked my world. It's for rock what The Sound of Music (1965) was for hills. They really nailed how dumb rock can be.

I'd rather be the king of kids, than the prince of fools.

There's nothing you can really do to prepare to rock. Do you prepare to eat a delicious meal? Are you hungry? Then you're gonna eat it.

You must never underestimate the power of the eyebrow.

I played, like, a year of piano until I learned The Pink Panther (1963) theme. That was my goal. Once I was good enough, I quit. Now, my music has to have some rock.

If Beethoven and Bach hooked up with Mozart and made a band, they COULD be a distant runner up to The D.

[talking about his experiences early on in his career] It wasn't about control. It was about the co-lla-bo. There's great directors who treat actors like cattle, but I hated it, and I knew if I ever had a choice, I didn't want to work with those guys. Who said that thing about actors and cattle? Hitchcock [Alfred Hitchcock]? Yeah, I don't want to work with that dude."

[on his part and his tights in Nacho Libre (2006)] At first I would have rather been naked to tell you the truth, because I just look so goddang ridiculous. But then I thought, "Wait, that's my job. The stretchy pants are my friends. I love the stretchy pants!" It just took a little mental adjustment, because I know that when I'm embarrassed and scared about acting, that means I'm going to get some good life-nugget knowledge out of it. And I love the knowledge nuggets."

I should take down someone who is strong, so Steven Seagal would be perfect - with his ridiculous Indian gear, ponytail and swagger. He's the best fighter in the world in his own mind, so I'll take him down two notches with my Anaconda Squeeze and Face Melter.

[when asked about his cooking skills] I make a mean peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

[about Shallow Hal (2001)] I wasn't proud of it, and I got paid a lot of money, so in retrospect it feels like a sell-out.

[Of his role in Margot at the Wedding (2007)] I had to show some darker sides of myself than I have in roles past. It was challenging. I was most worried about the crying scenes and the nudity. But I sucked it up and went to those places because I just had to look over at Jennifer [Jason Leigh] who was so fearless in her performance.

Nobody cares about my babies. It's all about Angelina's babies.

I said I named the baby after me. I didn't say that my actual name is Thomas.

When I was ten years old, I fell in love with The Who. I saw the film Tommy (1975) on cable television and despite Jack Nicholson's heinous rendition of "Go to The Mirror!", I was deeply moved by the music and the story. I wasn't deaf, dumb or blind but I could relate to Tommy. I too wanted to be seen, felt and healed. Seriously, not going for the laugh [directed to audience]. I had a supportive family but growing up can be tough no matter what your upbringing. And no other band had the courage or sensitivity to write those kinds of emotionally raw songs. Achingly beautiful melodies touched by the hand of god. Or the devil. Or both. Or neither. I must say neither. Just a collection of ass-kicking songs, the likes of which will never be seen again! On the battlefield of rock, they went toe to toe with the likes of Hendrix and emerged unscathed. Triumphant dragon-slayers of emotionality. And about know they're probably wondering why I was chosen to give this speech. Surely there was someone more qualified. "Why is this moron talking about dragons and emotions?! Who does he think he is?". Who? I'm just one of the millions. Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend. Thank you for blowing our minds and touching our hearts.

Salary

Orange County (2002)	$2,000,000
Shallow Hal (2001)	$2,000,000
Saving Silverman (2001)	$1,000,000

Where Are They Now

(July 2005) Shooting Peter Jackson's King Kong (2005) in New Zealand.

(August 2008) Filming Year One (2009) in New Mexico, USA.

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