User:Gflande1/sandbox
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Tom Kenny | |
|---|---|
 Kenny at the Florida SuperCon in June 2015 | |
| Born | Thomas James Kenny July 13, 1962 Syracuse, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, comedian |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Known for | Voice of SpongeBob SquarePants |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian known for his long-running role as the title character in the SpongeBob SquarePants TV series, video games, and films.
Kenny has voiced many other characters including Heffer Wolfe in Rocko's Modern Life (1993–1996), the Ice King in Adventure Time (2010–present), the Mayor in The Powerpuff Girls (1998–2005), Dog in CatDog (1998–2005), and Spyro from the Spyro the Dragon franchise (1999–2002). His live-action work includes the comedies The Edge (1992–1993) and Mr. Show (1995–1998).
Kenny has won two Annie Awards for his voice work as SpongeBob SquarePants and the Ice King.
Biography[edit]
Early life and stand-up comedy[edit]
Kenny was born and raised in Syracuse, New York, to Theresa Bridget (Donigan) and Paul Austin Kenny.[1][2] As a young child, he loved drawing and collecting record albums in the late 1960s and 1970s. in Syracuse. He met Bobcat Goldthwait in first grade and they became life-long friends.[3] In their mid-teens, they saw an ad for an open-mic night at Skaneateles that featured comedian Barry Crimmins with the moniker "Bear Cat". He and Goldthwait went to the event, and performed under the monikers Tomcat and Bobcat, respectively, as a tribute to Crimmins, after which Goldthwait used Bobcat as his stage name.[4][5][6] Describing Kenny's stand-up routines, Goldthwait said, "Tom would get up there and talk about his therapist and he didn't even have a therapist, he just loved Woody Allen."[7]
Kenny went to Bishop Grimes High School, a Catholic high school,[8] After college, Kenny performed stand-up comedy around the country for about eight years before he moved on to other venues.[6]
Television and film career[edit]
Kenny has acted in many films and TV shows, debuting in How I Got Into College (1989) and later appeared in films such as Shakes the Clown (1991) and Comic Book: The Movie (2004). On television, he would host the "Music News" segments of Friday Night Videos in the early 1990s. He appeared in sketch comedy shows The Edge which aired on Fox from 1992–93, and Mr. Show which aired on HBO from 1995 to 1998, both roles in the show were as a regular cast member. He appears in the live-action segments of SpongeBob SquarePants as Patchy the Pirate, appeared on R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour on the season four episode, "Uncle Howee" as Uncle Howee, a high-energy kids' show host with strange powers.
Voice acting[edit]
Kenny said that he voices "a lot of sweet yellow characters for some reason."[9] He described SpongeBob's voice as in between that of a child and an adult, stating "Think a Stan Laurel, Jerry Lewis kind of child-man. Kind of like a Munchkin but not quite, kind of like a kid, but not in a Charlie Brown child's voice on the TV shows."[10]
Joe Murray auditioned Kenny for voice acting roles for Rocko's Modern Life in a casting call in Los Angeles, California.[11] On one occasion, the producers required Kenny to fill the role of Charlie Adler, who was absent. He voices Cupid for the Nickelodeon show The Fairly OddParents.[12]
Joe Murray chose Kenny for several roles on another one of his projects, Camp Lazlo as Scoutmaster Lumpus and Slinkman, because Murray, after seeing Kenny's previous work for Rocko's Modern Life, felt that Kenny "adds writing to his roles" and "brings so much".[13]
He voiced Dog in CatDog, as well as the voice of Cliff. He voices many characters in The Powerpuff Girls, including the Mayor, the Narrator, Mitch Mitchelson, Snake, and Little Arturo from the Gangrene Gang, Rainbow the Clown, etc. He voiced Eduardo, and various other characters in Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, Dr. Two-Brains in the PBS Kids show, WordGirl and the villains Knightbrace, The Common Cold and Mr. Wink in Codename Kids Next Door.
Kenny is The Penguin in 2004 TV series The Batman.
He plays a number of roles in the Transformers Animated TV show. A few of the characters he voices in this series are Starscream and his clones, Isaac Sumdac and Waspinator. Kenny also voiced several characters on the animated show Xiaolin Showdown, as well as the Autobots Skids and Wheelie in the live-action Transformers film series. On Dilbert, Kenny voiced Ratbert, Asok, Dilbert's shower, and some minor characters. He played Mr. Hal Gibson in the animated kids show Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force GO!.
In 2009, Kenny became a regular cast voice in the Fox comedy series Sit Down, Shut Up. He voices Muhammad Sabeeh "Happy" Fa-ach Nuabar, the secretive custodian who is plotting a terrorist attack, as well as Happy's interpreter. The series premiered on April 19, 2009. Kenan Thompson, Kristin Chenoweth, Jason Bateman, Nick Kroll, Cheri Oteri, Henry Winkler, Will Arnett, and Will Forte are the other main cast members.[14]
He plays The Ice King and Magic Man on Adventure Time. In 2011, Kenny took over the role of Rabbit from Ken Sansom in Winnie the Pooh. From 2012–2014, Kenny voiced Woody Johnson on Comedy Central's Brickleberry. He voices Flain, Seismo, and Teslo in Mixels, Sumo in the Cartoon Network show Clarence, Daddo in Henry Hugglemonster, Dr. Otto Octavius on The Ultimate Spider-Man, and Leo Callisto in Miles from Tomorrowland.
He has also provided voices in television advertisements for Best Buy (as an elf for a Christmas spot).[15] and Experian (as a talking modem alongside DC Douglas)[16]
SpongeBob SquarePants[edit]
While working on the animated series Rocko's Modern Life, Kenny met marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, who was also the creative director in the show's fourth season. Hillenburg drew a square sponge that he thought was funny and decided that he had found his character. After the cancellation of Rocko's Modern Life in 1996, Hillenburg began developing the concept and hired former Rocko crew members. To voice the character of SpongeBob, Hillenburg approached Kenny. Hillenburg chose the name SpongeBob and used the name SquarePants as a family name that "had a nice ring to it".
The series premiered on May 1, 1999, on Nickelodeon and became a commercial success in 2000, during its second season. Kenny voices other characters on the show including Gary the Snail, the French narrator (a parody of Jacques Cousteau), SpongeBob's father Harold SquarePants, and his live-action portrayal of Patchy the Pirate. In 2010, Kenny received the Annie Award for "Voice Acting in a Television Production" for his role as SpongeBob in SpongeBob's Truth or Square (season 6, episode 23-24). He also voiced SpongeBob in the sequel film released on February 6, 2015.
Personal life[edit]
Kenny first met his wife Jill Talley in 1992 while working on The Edge. The two have also collaborated on HBO's Mr. Show and SpongeBob SquarePants, they also both appeared in the music video for "Tonight, Tonight" by The Smashing Pumpkins. They have two children, Mack (born c. 1997) and Nora (born August 2003). In 1981, Kenny met and befriended Peter Metz from Syracuse, New York. When asked about his relationship with Metz, Kenny responded "its complicated".[1][17]
Awards and nominations[edit]
| Year | Award | Category | Film/TV Show | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Annie Award | Best Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Male Performer in an Animated Television Production | SpongeBob SquarePants | Nominated |
| 2008 | Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production | Nominated | ||
| 2010 | Golden Raspberry Awards | Worst Screen Couple (shared with Shia LaBeouf and either Megan Fox or any "Transformer") | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | Nominated |
| Annie Award | Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production | SpongeBob SquarePants | Won | |
| 2011 | Golden Raspberry Awards | Worst Screen Ensemble (shared with the entire cast) | Transformers: Dark of the Moon | Nominated |
| 2014 | Annie Award | Outstanding Achievement, Voice Acting in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production | Adventure Time | Won |
| 2015 | Annie Award | Voice Acting in an Animated Feature | The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water | Nominated |
Filmography[edit]
- How I Got into College (1989)
- Shakes the Clown (1992)
- Plughead Rewired: Circuitry Man II (1994)
- Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001)
- The Powerpuff Girls Movie (2002)
- Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights (2002)
- Run Ronnie Run (2002)
- The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004)
- Surviving Christmas (2004)
- Hoodwinked (2005)
- Ant Bully (2006)
- Meet the Robinsons (2007)
- Happily N'Ever After (2007)
- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
- World's Greatest Dad (2009)
- Winnie the Pooh (2011)
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
- God Bless America (2011)
- Frankenweenie (2012)
- Hotel Transylvania (2012)
- Zambezia (2012)
- Back to the Sea (2012)
- I Know That Voice (2013)
- The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015)
- Ant-Man (2015)
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Tom Kenny: Biography". T.V Guide. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
- ^ "Tom Kenny, voice of SpongeBob SquarePants, talks of local ties, life in Bikini Bottom". TimesLeader.com. Times Leader. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ^ "Tom Kenny Finds his Voice as SpongeBob SquarePants". backstage.com. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
- ^ "Barry Crimmins's Life-Changing Comedy". The New Yorker. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
- ^ "Louis C.K. directs CNY comedy legend Barry Crimmins' first-ever standup special". syracuse.com. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
- ^ a b Wojciechowski, Michele (April 21, 2015). "Voice Artist Tom Kenny on Being SpongeBob SquarePants". Parade. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Nieratko, Chris (September 3, 2015). "Bobcat Goldthwait's Latest Documentary Examines Child Sexual Abuse". Vice. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Tom Kenny—Sit Down Shut Up, The Batman, SpongeBob SquarePants—02/27/09". GrouchoReviews.com. Groucho Reviews. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ^ Miller, Emily; Macchione, Elizabeth (June 14, 2003). "A discussion with Tom Kenny of 'SpongeBob Squarepants'". St. Augustine Record.
- ^ "The Oral History of SpongeBob SquarePants". cartoonician.com. September 21, 2012. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
- ^ "Lisa (Kiczuk) Trainor interviews Joe Murray, creator of Rocko's Modern Life", The Rocko's Modern Life FAQ
- ^ Lawson, Tim and Alisa Persons. The Magic Behind the Voices: A Who's Who of Cartoon Voice Actors. p.192.
- ^ Q & A with Joe Murray", Cartoon Network Pressroom
- ^ "Sit Down, Shut Up". Fox. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
- ^ Silver, Stephen. "Best Buy Elf Debuts in Christmas Support Ad". Dealerscope. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
- ^ Douglas, DC. "Experian (w/ Tom Kenny)". DCDouglas.com. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
- ^ Edwards, Ellen (November 30, 2004). "As the voice of SpongeBob, Tom Kenny knows it's hip to be square". Chicago Tribune.
External links[edit]
- Gflande1/sandbox at IMDb
- Gflande1/sandbox at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
- Interview with Tom Kenny on Fresh Air
- Tom Kenny on Behind The Voice Actors
Category:1962 births Category:Living people Category:Male actors from New York (state) Category:American male comedians Category:American male film actors Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American male television actors Category:American male video game actors Category:American male voice actors Category:20th-century American male actors Category:21st-century American male actors Category:Annie Award winners Category:People from Syracuse, New York Category:Comedians from New York (state)