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{{COI|date=October 2013}}
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{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person

| image = Thomas Lennon 2009 (cropped).jpg

| caption = Lennon in 2009

| name = Thomas Lennon
|birth_name=Thomas Patrick Lennon
|birth_name=Thomas Patrick Lennon
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1970|8|9}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1970|8|9}}

Revision as of 00:38, 14 November 2013

Thomas Lennon
Born
Thomas Patrick Lennon

(1970-08-09) August 9, 1970 (age 54)
Occupation(s)Actor
Comedian
Writer
Director
Producer
Years active1991–present
SpouseJenny Robertson

Thomas Patrick Lennon[1] (born August 9, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, writer, director and producer best known as a cast member on MTV's The State and for his role as Lieutenant Jim Dangle on the Comedy Central series Reno 911!.

Early life

Lennon was born in Oak Park, Illinois, the son of Kathleen and Timothy Lennon.[2] He is a 1988 graduate of Oak Park and River Forest High School, and is of Irish descent.[3] At age sixteen, Lennon met friend and future co-worker Kerri Kenney at Theatre Camp at Northwestern University. The two later attended NYU,[4] where they joined a comedy troupe called The New Group.

Career

Acting and performing

The New Group later changed their name to The State. After performing their material at various theaters, bars and clubs in New York City, they started work 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 Cable Ace Award for Best Comedy Series.

Following the collapse of The State after a one-night stint on CBS, Lennon, along with Kenney, 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 Cable Ace Award nomination for Best Comedy Series.

After Viva Variety, Lennon, Kenney and Garant created and starred in another TV show, Reno 911! (2003–09). Initially slated for FOX, the program later debuted on Comedy Central. The show is currently syndicated around the world.

Lennon has appeared in dozens of TV shows, including The League, Children's Hospital, Party Down, Archer, New Girl, Comedy Bang Bang, Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23, and is a cult favorite as Joey Tribbiani's blackjack dealing, "identical hand twin" on the Friends fifth season finale ("The One In Vegas," Pts. I and II). He has also appeared in supporting roles in dozens of films, including Bad Teacher, Memento, How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days and I Love You, Man, for which he and costar Paul Rudd were nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss. He has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show, The Daily Show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Talkshow with Spike Feresten, and he holds a record, for his number of appearances on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, both as himself and as Lt. Dangle.

Lennon appeared as a doctor in the Christopher Nolan films Memento (2000) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

Lennon has done various voice work, including the shows Kim Possible, Bob's Burgers, and Planet Sheen, in which he played the character of Pinter. He plays the "The Reading Fairie" in the Tinkerbell movie: Tinkerbell and the Secret of the Wings. He played the voice of Eddie the Shipboard computer in the film version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Lennon has also written for comic books. For The Goon, he wrote a short story called "Jimmy Turtle and the Legendary Box Car of Well-Made Ladies Shoes" and another for Dwight T. Albatross's The Goon Noir #3. He also wrote "The Pigmy Elixir" for Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror #13. [5] He is frequently a presenter at the Eisner Awards, given out each year at Comic-Con.

In 2008, Lennon started doing stand-up comedy, during which he will sometimes play guitar. He appears frequently at Comedy Death Ray in Los Angeles, and he was the photo for the month of July in the Comedy Death Ray 2010 Calendar. In 2009, he opened for Stella (starring The State and Viva Variety! alumni Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter and David Wain) at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. Also in 2009, The State reunited at the Eureka Theatre for two shows at San Francisco's Sketchfest, performing all new material. The shows sold out in minutes.

Lennon and Garant created and starred in a 2010 sitcom pilot for NBC called The Strip. However, in May 2010 it was announced that NBC had decided not to produce it as a series.

Lennon filled in as guest voice for the robot sidekick Geoff Peterson on the CBS show The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in November and December 2011.

In 2012 he guest starred as Neil in the final episode of season one of New Girl.

Screenwriting

Lennon is a screenwriter and script doctor. Most of Lennon's screenplays are written in collaboration with partner Ben Garant.[4] Their films have earned over $1.4 billion at the worldwide box office.[6] Among his credits are the blockbuster film Night at the Museum and four of IFC's "50 Greatest Comedy Sketches of All Time"[7]

In August 2010, John Landgraf, president of FX Network, announced that his network had ordered a pilot episode for a new Lennon/Garant science fiction television comedy called USS Alabama, set a thousand years in the future, aboard a United Nations peacekeeping spaceship, the U.S.S. Alabama.

In 2011, 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![6]

In 2012, Lennon and Garant wrote a film version of Baywatch. They also wrote The Machine, which is set to star Vin Diesel.

Lennon and Garant 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.

Personal life

Lennon lives in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Jenny Robertson,[4] and their son Oliver.

Selected filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1993 The State N/A
1997 Viva Variety Host Meredith Laupin
1999 Friends Blackjack Dealer in Vegas (Joey's Identical Hand Twin)
1999 Drop Dead Gorgeous Documentarian Voice Only
2000 Memento Doctor
2000 Row Your Boat Census Taker
2001 Out Cold Eric Montclare
2002 Boat Trip The Priest
2003-2009 Reno 911! Lieutenant Jim Dangle
2003 Le Divorce Roger Walker
2003 How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days Thayer
2003 A Guy Thing Pete Morse
2004 Taxi N/A Writer
2004 Heights Marshall
2006 Conversations with Other Women Videographer
2005 Herbie: Fully Loaded Larry Murphy Writer
2005 The Godfather of Green Bay D.U.G.
2005 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Eddie the Shipboard Computer Voice Only
2005 The Pacifier N/A Writer
2006 Night at the Museum N/A Writer
2006 Let's Go to Prison N/A Writer
2006 Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas Police Officer
2006 Eden Court Shroeder Duncan
2007 Balls of Fury Karl Wolfschtagg Writer, Producer
2007 Reno 911!: Miami Lieutenant Jim Dangle Writer, Executive Producer
2008 Hancock Mike
2009 Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Orville Wright Writer
Uncredited
2009 17 Again Ned Gold
2009 I Love You, Man Doug
2009 The League Bryce The Usual Bet
2010 Archer Charles Honeypot
2010 Hot Tub Time Machine Customer Uncredited
2010 Party Down Nick DiCintio Season 2 Episode 3 - "Nick DiCintio's Orgy Night"
2010 Planet Sheen Pinter Voice Only
2011 Cedar Rapids Roger Lemke
2011 How to Survive a Robot Uprising N/A Writer
2011 Bad Teacher Carl Halabi
2011 Memphis Beat Keith Grant Season 2 Episode 2
2011 What's Your Number? Dr. Barrett 'Barry' Ingold
2011 A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas Todd
2012 What to Expect When You're Expecting Craig
2012 New Girl Neil
2012 The Dark Knight Rises Doctor
2012 How I Met Your Mother Klaus 8.01, 8.02
2012 Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 Trey 12/5/2012 Guest star
2013 Hell Baby Pat Writer/Director (With Robert Ben Garant)
2013 Planet Sheen Pinter / Blurg
2013 Franklin & Bash Harley Season 3, Episode 9
2013 Newsreaders Vincent Gates
2013 Rapture-Palooza Mr. Murphy
2013 Knight of Cups Rick's Friend
2013 We're the Millers Rick Nathanson
2013 Sean Saves the World Max Recurring role

References

  1. ^ http://www.friarsclub.com/close_up/close_up.htm[dead link]
  2. ^ That cop in the short shorts - Oak Leaves (Oak Park, IL) [April 9, 2009]
  3. ^ http://video.about.com/movies/Thomas-Lennon-17-Again.htm
  4. ^ a b c Pearlman, Cindy. Oak Park native acts, writes way to 'Reno 911!' and beyond, Chicago Sun-Times. Published April 15, 2009.
  5. ^ "Famous Fanboys: Thomas Lennon". ComicBookMovie.com. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  6. ^ a b http://www.npr.org/2011/07/05/137617840/you-too-can-be-a-successful-screenwriter
  7. ^ "50 Greatest Comedy Sketches of All Time" Nerve/IFC; April 7, 2008

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