Thomas Lennon
Thomas Patrick Lennon (born August 9, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, director, and novelist. He plays Lieutenant Jim Dangle on the series Reno 911!
Thomas Lennon | |
|---|---|
Lennon in 2015 | |
| Born | Thomas Patrick Lennon August 9, 1970 Oak Park, Illinois, U.S. |
| Alma mater | New York University |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Spouse | Jenny Robertson (m. 2002) |
| Children | 1 |
Lennon is an accomplished screenwriter of several major studio comedies with writing partner Robert Ben Garant. They wrote the Night at the Museum films, The Pacifier, Balls of Fury, and Baywatch.
Early life
Lennon was born on August 9, 1970 [1] in Oak Park, Illinois. Of Irish and Scottish descent,[2][3] he is the son of Kathleen (McSheehy) and Timothy Lennon.[4] He graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School in 1988.
At the age of 16, he met friend and future co-star Kerri Kenney at Theatre Camp at Northwestern University. The two later attended NYU,[5] where they joined a comedy troupe called The New Group.
Career
Acting and performing
While Lennon was a member of The New Group, the comedy troupe changed its name to The State. As they performed their material at theaters and clubs in New York City, they worked on the MTV show You Wrote It, You Watch It. This led to the self-titled series The State (1993–95), which was nominated for a 1995 Cable Ace Award for Best Comedy Series. That same year, they created a special for CBS called The State's 43rd Annual All-Star Halloween Special.
Following the departure of The State from MTV, and failed long-term deals with both ABC and CBS, Lennon, along with Kenney, Robert Ben Garant and Michael Ian Black, went on to create and star in the Comedy Central program Viva Variety (1997–99). The show was based on a sketch that Lennon had written for the final season of The State, called "The Mr. and Former Mrs. Laupin Variety Programme." Viva Variety received a 1997 Cable Ace Award nomination for Best Comedy Series. After Viva Variety, Lennon, Kenney and Garant created and starred in Reno 911! (2003–09). The series was initially slated for Fox, but the channel rejected it for being too risque, and the program eventually ended up on Comedy Central.
Lennon has appeared as a guest star in dozens of TV shows, including The League, Childrens Hospital, Party Down, New Girl, How I Met Your Mother, Comedy Bang Bang, Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23. One of his notable guest starring roles was as Joey Tribbiani's blackjack-dealing "identical hand twin" on the Friends fifth-season finale ("The One In Vegas," Pts. I and II). Additionally, he has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show, The Daily Show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and at 31, had the second-highest number of appearances on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
In 2008, Lennon started doing stand-up comedy, occasionally playing guitar and incorporating music. He has appeared on The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail, John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show, The Jeselnik Offensive, and The Benson Interruption. He was the guest on the first episode of Chris Hardwick's The Nerdist Podcast, which was recorded in Lennon's garage.
In 2010, Lennon and Garant created and starred in a sitcom pilot for NBC called The Strip. In May that year it was announced that NBC had decided not to produce it as a series.
In November and December 2011, Lennon filled in as guest voice for the robot sidekick Geoff Peterson on the CBS show The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
Lennon has also appeared in numerous films, including Bad Teacher, Memento, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Transformers: Age of Extinction, and I Love You, Man, for which he and co-star Paul Rudd were nominated for a 2009 MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss. In both Christopher Nolan's film Memento (2000) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Lennon played the role of a doctor.[6]
Lennon's voice acting work includes Kim Possible, Bob's Burgers, Archer and Planet Sheen, in which he played the character of Pinter. He played Scribble in Secret of the Wings and Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast. He supplied the voice of Eddie the Shipboard Computer in the film version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and plays the voice of Fearless Leader in the 2014 DreamWorks short film version of Rocky and Bullwinkle. He is also the voice of Munk on Dawn of the Croods and the voice of Chief O'Hara in the Warner Brothers animated film Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders.
Lennon was a producer of the 2013-2017 late-night panel game show, @midnight, hosted by Hardwick, and appeared 17 times on the show as a panelist/contestant. He won the show seven times.[7]
Lennon played Felix Unger in 2015-2017 television series reboot of The Odd Couple opposite Matthew Perry, who played Oscar Madison.[8] In 2016, he co-starred as a scientist in Paramount Animation's Monster Trucks and began a recurring role on the Fox action sitcom Lethal Weapon as Leo Getz, a character previously portrayed on film by Joe Pesci. At the 2016 People's Choice Awards ceremony, he participated in an on-stage sketch parodying the recent gaffe by Steve Harvey at the Miss Universe 2015 pageant.[9]
In 2020 and 2021, he has recurred in Supergirl’s fifth and sixth seasons as Mr. Mxyzpltk, taking over from Peter Gadiot.[10]
In 2020, Lennon reprised his role as Lieutenant Jim Dangle in the seventh season of Reno 911! which aired on Quibi. He also appeared in the 2021 movie, Reno 911! The Hunt for QAnon. The eighth season of the series, now titled Reno 911! Defunded, premiered on The Roku Channel in February 2022.
Screenwriting
Lennon is a successful screenwriter and script doctor. Most of Lennon's screenplays are written in collaboration with writing partner Robert Ben Garant.[5] Their films have earned over $1.4 billion at the worldwide box office.[11]
Among Garant and Lennon's credits are the Night at the Museum films, the 2005 Disney comedy The Pacifier and the 2006 prison comedy Let's Go to Prison.
In 2010, FX Network ordered a pilot episode for a Garant/Lennon science fiction television comedy called USS Alabama, set 1000 years in the future, aboard a United Nations Peacekeeping spaceship, the U.S.S. Alabama.[6] Garant and Lennon released a book about writing for film called Writing Movies for Fun and Profit: How We Made a Billion Dollars at the Box Office and You Can Too! in 2011.[11]
Garant and Lennon wrote, directed and starred in the 2013 film Hell Baby starring Rob Corddry and Leslie Bibb. The film was produced by Darko Entertainment, and shot on location in New Orleans, Louisiana. Hell Baby premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.[6] Garant and Lennon are credited as story co-writers on the film version of Baywatch (2017).
More recently, The Machine, written by Garant and Lennon, is set to star Vin Diesel. Additionally, their script Action No. 1 is in pre-production.
Lennon is also the author of four of IFC's "50 Greatest Comedy Sketches of All Time."[12]
Novels
Lennon has written three young adult novels titled Ronan Boyle and the Bridge of Riddles, Ronan Boyle and the Swamp of Certain Death, and Ronan Boyle into the Strangeplace. Ronan Boyle and the Bridge of Riddles debuted on the New York Times Bestseller list.[13][14][15][16] He wrote the book for the theatrical production of "Trading Places: The Musical!" which debuted at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta in June 2022.[17]
Personal life
Lennon lives in Los Angeles and Wisconsin with his wife, actress Jenny Robertson, and their son Oliver (born 2009).[5] He is a fan of The Smiths and Morrissey,[18] occasionally performing live with the tribute band "Sweet and Tender Hooligans" as a guitarist.[19]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | A Friend of Dorothy | 'Moonie' | Short film |
| 1998 | Row Your Boat | Census Taker | |
| 1999 | Drop Dead Gorgeous | Documentarian (voice) | |
| 2000 | Memento | Doctor | |
| 2001 | Out Cold | Eric Montclare | |
| 2002 | Boat Trip | The Priest | |
| 2003 | Le Divorce | Roger Walker | |
| How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days | Thayer | ||
| A Guy Thing | Pete Morse | ||
| 2004 | Taxi | Unknown | Writer |
| Heights | Marshall | ||
| 2005 | Conversations with Other Women | Videographer | |
| Herbie: Fully Loaded | Larry Murphy | Also writer | |
| The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | Eddie The Shipboard Computer (voice) | ||
| The Godfather of Green Bay | D.U.G. | ||
| The Pacifier | Unknown | Writer | |
| 2006 | Night at the Museum | ||
| Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas | Police officer | ||
| Let's Go to Prison | Unknown | Writer | |
| Eden Court | Shroeder Duncan | ||
| 2007 | Balls of Fury | Karl Wolfschtagg | Writer, producer |
| Reno 911!: Miami | Lieutenant Jim Dangle | Writer, executive producer | |
| The Ten | Scotty Pale | ||
| 2008 | Hancock | Mike | |
| 2009 | Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian | Orville Wright | Writer Uncredited cameo |
| 17 Again | Ned Gold | ||
| I Love You, Man | Doug | ||
| Al's Brain in 3-D | Co-Worker | Short film | |
| 2010 | Hot Tub Time Machine | Customer | Uncredited |
| 2011 | Cedar Rapids | Roger Lemke | |
| How to Survive a Robot Uprising | Unknown | Writer | |
| Bad Teacher | Carl Halabi | ||
| What's Your Number? | Dr. Barrett 'Barry' Ingold | ||
| A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas | Todd | ||
| 2012 | The Hunger Pains | Buttitch Totalapathy | Short film |
| What to Expect When You're Expecting | Craig | ||
| The Dark Knight Rises | Doctor | ||
| Secret of the Wings | Reading Fairy (voice) | ||
| Howard Cantour.com | Rocco | Short film | |
| 2013 | Hell Baby | Pat | Writer, producer, director (with Robert Ben Garant) |
| Rapture-Palooza | Mr. Murphy | ||
| Jerry, the Exorcist Roommate | Jerry | Short film | |
| We're the Millers | Rick Nathanson | ||
| 2014 | Mr. Peabody and Sherman | Italian Peasant #2 (voice) | Also wrote additional dialogue |
| Transformers: Age of Extinction | Chief of Staff | ||
| Rocky & Bullwinkle | Fearless Leader / Mayan Princess (voice) | Short film; also writer | |
| Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast | Scribble (voice) | ||
| 2015 | Knight of Cups | Tom | |
| Hot Tub Time Machine 2 | BMW Guy | Uncredited | |
| Grand Zero | David Van Vleck | Short film | |
| 2016 | Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders | Chief O'Hara / Prison Warden (voice) | |
| Monster Trucks | Dr. Jim Dowd | ||
| 2017 | Baywatch | Unknown | Story writer |
| Pottersville | Brock Masterson | ||
| Batman vs. Two-Face | Chief O'Hara (voice) | ||
| 2018 | A Futile and Stupid Gesture | Michael O'Donoghue | |
| The 15:17 to Paris | Principal Michael Akers | ||
| Half Magic | Darren | ||
| Dog Days | Greg | ||
| Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich | Edgar Easton | ||
| 2019 | VHYes | Tony V. | |
| 2020 | Valley Girl | Rodney Bingheimer | |
| Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics | Himself | ||
| 2021 | Cherry | Dr. Whomever | |
| Shoplifters of the World | Uncle Dick | ||
| Reno 911! The Hunt for QAnon | Lieutenant Jim Dangle | Writer, executive producer | |
| 2022 | Weird: The Al Yankovic Story | Salesman | |
| Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again | Theodore Roosevelt (voice) | ||
| TBA | Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story | Post-production |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | You Wrote It, You Watch It | Various Characters | Also writer |
| 1993–1995 | The State | Various Characters | Also co-creator and writer |
| 1995 | The State's 43rd Annual All-Star Halloween Special | Various Characters | Television special; also writer |
| 1997 | Viva Variety | Host Meredith Laupin | 16 episodes; also writer |
| 1997–1999 | Hercules | Atlas (voice) | 3 episodes |
| 1999 | Friends | Randall | 2 episodes |
| Strangers with Candy | Unknown | Writer: "Bogie Nights" | |
| 1999–2000 | Jesse | Ernie | 2 episodes |
| 2001 | The Legend of Tarzan | Landlord (voice) | Episode: "Tarzan and the Mysterious Visitor" |
| 2002 | Kim Possible | Unknown (voice) | Episode: "Kimitation Nation" |
| MDs | Chester E. Donge | 8 episodes | |
| 2003–2009, 2020–present | Reno 911! | Lieutenant Jim Dangle | Also creator Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series (2020) |
| 2004–2006 | Brandy & Mr. Whiskers | Vic (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2006 | Stacked | Gary | Episode: "You're Getting Sleepy" |
| 2007 | Wainy Days | Ice Cream Man | Episode: "Dorvid Days" |
| 2009 | The League | Bryce | Episode: "The Usual Bet" |
| 2010 | Party Down | Nick DiCintio | Episode: "Nick DiCintio's Orgy Night" |
| Svetlana | Fyodor | Episode: "Wish Fulfillment" | |
| 2010–2011 | Funny or Die Presents | Richard / Co-Pilot | 5 episodes |
| 2010–2013 | Planet Sheen | Pinter / Blurg (voices) | 15 episodes |
| 2010–2019 | Archer | Charles (voice) | 4 episodes |
| 2011 | Memphis Beat | Keith Grant | Episode: "Inside Man" |
| Childrens Hospital | Pat | Episode: "Home Is Where the Hospital Is" | |
| The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson | Geoff Peterson / The Robot Skeleton / Chloe Banderas (voice) | 3 episodes | |
| 2012–2015 | Comedy Bang! Bang! | Various Characters | 4 episodes |
| 2012 | New Girl | Neil | Episode: "See Ya" |
| How I Met Your Mother | Klaus | 2 episodes | |
| Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 | Trey | Epis | |
| Blake Shelton's Not So Family Christmas | Director | Television special | |
| 2012–2019 | Bob's Burgers | Chuck / various (voice) | 6 episodes |
| 2013 | Franklin & Bash | Harley | Episode: "Shoot to Thrill" |
| NTSF:SD:SUV:: | Santa | Episode: "Wreck the Halls" | |
| @midnight | Contestant | Also executive producer | |
| Key & Peele | Person At People Park #5 | Episode: "Pussy on the Chainwax" | |
| Wendell & Vinnie | Lord Derek | Episode: "Swindle & Vinnie" | |
| 2013–2014 | Sean Saves the World | Max Thompson | 14 episodes |
| Newsreaders | Vincent Gates / Pritchard Batchman | 3 episodes | |
| 2014 | Hollywood Game Night | Himself | Episode: "Things That Go Clue-Boom in the Night" |
| The Goldbergs | Tauntaun Todd | Episode: "A Wrestler Named Goldberg" | |
| Hot in Cleveland | Agent Gilmore | Episode: "Surprise!" | |
| The Birthday Boys | Lou Skywalker | Episode: "Cerf's Folly" | |
| Comedy Central's All-Star Non-Denominational Christmas Special | Unknown | Television special; writer | |
| 2015 | Over the Garden Wall | Jimmy Brown (voice) | Episode: "Chapter 3: Schooltown Follies" |
| The Hotwives | Garrett Truesdale | Episode: "You Make Me Wanna Drought" | |
| Crash Test: With Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer | Studio Security | Television special | |
| Robot Chicken | Various Characters (voices) | Episode: "Garbage Sushi" | |
| 2015–2017 | The Odd Couple | Felix Unger | Main role; 38 episodes |
| 2015–2016 | Another Period | Marquis de Sainsbury | 5 episodes |
| TripTank | Caller / Broker / Rob (voice) | 3 episodes | |
| Dawn of the Croods | Munk / Crud (voices) | 9 episodes | |
| 2015–2019 | Drunk History | Various Characters | 3 episodes |
| 2016 | Animals. | Kevin (voice) | Episode: "Rats." |
| 2016–2017 | Goldie & Bear | Brian (voice) | 2 episodes |
| Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures | Wick Cooper / Cleaning Droid (voices) | 6 episodes | |
| 2016–2019 | Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ | Serge | 9 episodes; also executive producer |
| 2016–2022 | American Dad! | Various Characters voices | 13 episodes |
| 2017–2019 | Santa Clarita Diet | Principal Novak | Recurring role; 6 episodes |
| Lethal Weapon | Leo Getz | Recurring role | |
| 2017 | Milo Murphy's Law | Henry (voice) | Episode: "Murphy's Lard" |
| Justice League Action | Amazo (voice) | Episode: "Boo-ray for Bizarro" | |
| 2017–2018 | Spirit Riding Free | Garrett Truesdale (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2018 | The Thundermans | Assista Boy | Episode: "Side-Kicking and Screaming" |
| For the People | Freddie Morris / Captain Shadow[20] | Episode: "Everybody's a Superhero" | |
| Dallas & Robo | Dr. John Eichler / Dickie St. James (voice) | Episode: "Murder on the Georgia Overdrive" | |
| Legend of the Three Caballeros | Clinton Coot (voice) | 8 episodes | |
| Sideswiped | Aaron Cunningham | Episode: "Matched Up" | |
| Spy Kids: Mission Critical | Dr. Chad Jericho (voice) | Episode: "Ace Off" | |
| 2019 | Teachers | Larry Bop | Episode: "Face Your Peers" |
| Knight Squad | Sir Angus Macchio | Episode: "Knight of the Living Dead" | |
| Critters: A New Binge | Mr. Weber | 3 episodes | |
| American Housewife | Simon | Episode: “Insta-Friends” | |
| At Home with Amy Sedaris | Edwin Chuzzlewit | Episode: "Halloween" | |
| Modern Family | Orson | Episode: "Can't Elope" | |
| Veep | President of CBS | Episode: "Oslo" | |
| Crank Yankers | Himself (voice) | Episode: "Tiffany Haddish, Roy Wood Jr. & Thomas Lennon" | |
| 2019–2021 | Where's Waldo? | Wizard Whitebeard (voice)[21] | Main role |
| 2020 | The Twilight Zone | J.J. Malloy | Episode: "Ovation" |
| Close Enough | Henri (voice) | Episode: "Haunted Couch" | |
| Home Movie: The Princess Bride[22] | Prince Humperdinck | 2 episodes | |
| 2020–2021 | Supergirl | Mr. Mxyzpltk | 4 episodes |
| 2021 | Solar Opposites | Police Cop (voice) | Episode: "The Sacred Non-Repeating Number" |
| Infinity Train | Spiceman (voice) | Episode: "The Party Car" | |
| Friends: The Reunion | Himself (Joey Tribbiani's Hand Twin) | HBO Max special | |
| Central Park | Leslie Portergrave (voice) | Episode: "Central Dark" | |
| Ten Year Old Tom | Neighbor Rick (voice) | Episode: "Tomz Lemonade/A Tale of Two Lunch Ladies" | |
| Aquaman: King of Atlantis | Nuidis Vulko (voice) | 3 episodes | |
| The Big Leap | Zach Peterman | 5 episodes | |
| 2021–2022 | Jellystone! | Top Cat (voice) | Recurring character[23] |
| The Ghost and Molly McGee | Mr. Davenport (voice) | 4 episodes |
Web
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television | Himself | Episode: "For Your Inconsideration" |
References
- ^ @thomaslennon (March 17, 2022). "Lotta websites asking if I'm worried about WWIII. I was born in 1970, bitch. Never thought about anything else" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Hamill, Julie (November 13, 2016). "Julie Hamill • 15 Minutes With Thomas Lennon, actor". Juliehamill.com. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- ^ Pollak, Kevin (September 11, 2018), "KPCS: Thomas Lennon #371", YouTube, archived from the original on November 18, 2021, retrieved September 22, 2018
- ^ Houston, John P. (April 9, 2009). "That cop in the short shorts". Oak Leaves. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
- ^ a b c Pearlman, Cindy. "Oak Park native acts, writes way to 'Reno 911!' and beyond", Chicago Sun-Times. Published April 15, 2009.
- ^ a b c Thomas Lennon at IMDb
- ^ "Tom Lennon". Retrieved March 26, 2015.
- ^ Ausiello, Michael (March 13, 2014). "The Odd Couple Pilot Scoop: Look Who's Playing the Felix to Matthew Perry's Oscar". TVLine.com. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
- ^ "Jane Lynch Spoofs Steve Harvey's Miss Universe Gaffe At People's Choice Awards". Huffington Post. January 7, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Boucher, Geoff; Petski, Denise (December 10, 2019). "'Supergirl': Thomas Lennon To Recur As Mxyzptlk In CW Series". Deadline.
- ^ a b "You Too Can Be A Successful Screenwriter". NPR. Morning Edition. July 5, 2011. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
- ^ "50 Greatest Comedy Sketches of All Time" IFC; April 7, 2008
- ^ "Children's Middle Grade Hardcover Books - Best Sellers - March 24, 2019 - The New York Times". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
- ^ Perkins, Dennis (March 5, 2019). "On The Late Show, Thomas Lennon shows clips from his first novel—wait, what?". The A.V. Club.
- ^ Regan, Jarlath (March 2, 2019). "Tom Lennon". An Irishman Abroad (Podcast) (285 ed.). Retrieved March 6, 2019. Ronan Boyle and the Swamp of Certain Death released on March 17, 2020
- ^ "Ronan Boyle and the Swamp of Certain Death, Thomas Lennon". March 2, 2020.
- ^ ArtsATL.org (June 1, 2022) https://www.artsatl.org/alliances-trading-places-musical-trades-some-dated-plotlines-for-inclusiveness/
- ^ Harris, Will (October 17, 2016). "Interview: Thomas Lennon spontaneously pares down his list of quintessential Smiths songs". Rhino Entertainment. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
- ^ . Sweetandtenderhooligans.com. Archived from the original on June 5, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- ^ Turchiano, Danielle (February 8, 2018). "Thomas Lennon Books Guest Role on 'For The People'". Variety. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
- ^ Petski, Denise (April 26, 2019). "'Where's Waldo?': Joshua Rush, Haley Tju, Eva Carlton & Thomas Lennon Lead Voice Cast For Universal Kids Series From DreamWorks Animationi". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
- ^ Breznican, Anthony (June 26, 2020). "Watch the Celebrity-Filled Fan-Film Version of The Princess Bride". Vanity Fair. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
- ^ "Trailer: Hanna-Barbera Favorites Return in HBO Max Original 'Jellystone!'". June 24, 2021.