Jack Black

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Biography

Thomas Jacob " Jack " Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American comedian, actor and musician. He makes up one half of the comedy and satirical rock duo Tenacious D . The group has two albums as well as a television series and a film. His acting career is extensive, starring primarily as bumbling, cocky, but internally self-conscious outsiders in comedy films. He was a member of the Frat Pack , a group of comedians who have appeared together in several Hollywood films, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe award. He has also won an MTV Movie Award , and a Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards|Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award as well as hosting the 2006, 2008 and 2011 Kids Choice Awards.

Early life

Black was born in Santa Monica, California|Santa Monica , California, the son of two satellite engineers, Judith (née Cohen), who worked on the Hubble Space Telescope , and Thomas William Black. His mother is Jewish and his father conversion to Judaism|converted to Judaism (Black attended Hebrew school ). On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno|The Tonight Show , he said his surname may have come from the occupational name Blacksmith . The Tonight Show with Jay Leno August 7, 2008 Black's parents divorced when he was 10; Black moved to Culver City with his father and frequently visited his mother’s home. As a child, Black appeared in a commercial for the Activision game Pitfall! in 1982, which was later shown during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live and again on '' The Tonight Show with Conan O' Brien ''. When Black entered high school, his parents enrolled him at the Poseidon School , a private secondary school engineered specifically for students struggling in the traditional school system. Black also attended the Crossroads School (Santa Monica, California)|Crossroads School , where he excelled in drama. He later attended University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA but dropped out during his sophomore year to pursue a career in entertainment, at which point his father discontinued his financial support. Fellow UCLA alumnus Tim Robbins later cast Black in Bob Roberts . He also had recurring roles on the HBO sketch comedy series Mr. Show with Bob and David|Mr. Show .

Career

Acting career

Black's acting career began with prime time television. He played roles on shows including Life Goes On (TV series)|Life Goes On , Northern Exposure , Mr. Show , Picket Fences , and The X-Files . Black appeared in the unaired TV pilot Heat Vision and Jack , directed by Ben Stiller , in which he played an ex-astronaut pursued by actor Ron Silver . He was accompanied by his friend who had merged with a motorcycle, voiced by Owen Wilson .

Black later took on small roles in Airborne (1993 film)|Airborne , Demolition Man (film)|Demolition Man , Waterworld , The Fan (1996 film)|The Fan , Mars Attacks! , Tim Robbins' Dead Man Walking (film)|Dead Man Walking , and others. Black also appeared in a minor role as fiedler in the critically acclaimed movie Enemy of the State . He had a small role in True Romance as a security guard, but the scene was deleted. In 2000, he appeared in High Fidelity (film)|High Fidelity as a wild employee in John Cusack 's record store, a role Black considers his breakout.
His career soon led to leading roles in films such as Shallow Hal , The School of Rock , Nacho Libre , Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny , King Kong (2005 film)|King Kong , Year One (film)|Year One and '' Gulliver's Travels (2010 film)|Gulliver's Travels . He voiced the title role in Kung Fu Panda , which grossed $20.3& nbsp;million on its opening day, June 6, 2008, and Kung Fu Panda 2 ; it is a role he considers his favourite, with a performance enhanced with the tutoring of co-star and two time Academy Award winner, Dustin Hoffman Kung Fu Panda blu-ray Trivia Track, 2011. His next film, The Big Year , a competitive birdwatching comedy co-starring Owen Wilson , Steve Martin , and JoBeth Williams , was released in October 2011. He is referred to in the media as a member of the Frat Pack , a group of comedy actors who frequently work together, which also includes Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson , Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell , Vince Vaughn , and Steve Carell .

He guest-starred on The Office (U.S. TV series)|The Office along with Cloris Leachman , Jessica Alba , and Steve Carell in a movie within the show. He also guest-starred in iCarly , in the episode iStart a Fan War . http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1753341/fullcredits#cast
Black has appeared numerous times on the "untelevised TV network" short film film festival|festival Channel101 , starring in the shows Computerman (TV series)|Computerman , Timebelt , and Laserfart . He also provided an introduction for the unaired sketch comedy Awesometown , donning a British Empire|Colonial -era military uniform. In the introduction, he claims to be George Washington (and takes credit for the accomplishments of other American Presidents such as Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln ). Black also guest starred in the Cartoon Network 's " Adult Swim " show Tom Goes to the Mayor , as a bear-trap store owner.

Black hosted the 2006 '' Nickelodeon (TV channel)|Nickelodeon Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards|Kids Choice Awards on April 1, 2006 and hosted it again March 29, 2008, and April 2, 2011. He also appeared on the MTV video music awards on August 31, 2006. Black has made five appearances on Saturday Night Live '': three times as a host, once as a musical guest (with Kyle Gass as Tenacious D), and another appearance with Tenacious D, not as a host or musical guest. He produced and appeared on VH1 's Internet video show Acceptable.TV .

Black voice acted for The Simpsons episode " Husbands and Knives ", which aired November 18, 2007, voicing the friendly owner of the rival comic book store, Milo. Black took part in the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire celebrity edition along with Denis Leary , Jimmy Kimmel and others and was handed the prize of US$125,000 in October 2001. On December 14, Jack Black hosted the 2008 Spike Video Game Awards . He provided the voice of the main character, roadie Eddie Riggs, in the heavy metal-themed action-adventure video game, Brütal Legend . In 2009, at the Spike Video Game Awards, he earned the Best Voice award for the voice of Eddie Riggs in Brütal Legend . In April 2009, Black also starred in an episode of the children's show "Yo Gabba Gabba!" on Nick Jr. vocalized funny kid songs such as "It's Not Fun to Get Lost", "Friends" and "The Goodbye Song".

Music career

Black, also known as JB or Jables, is the lead singer for the rock comedy band Tenacious D . Along with Kyle Gass , they have released two albums, a Tenacious D (album)|self-titled debut , and the follow-up, The Pick of Destiny , from which one of their songs "The Metal" was used in the music video games " Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock " and " Brütal Legend ". "Rock Your Socks" from the album "Tenacious D" was played in the music videogame " Rock Band Unplugged ", and "Master Exploder" from "The Pick Of Destiny" went on to be used in music video games " Guitar Hero Van Halen " and " Rock Band 2 ", along with their song "Tribute" from "Tenacious D". "Master Exploder" and "The Metal" featured in the film Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny . The film, directed by Tenacious D veteran Liam Lynch (musician)|Liam Lynch , features recurring characters such as Lee the superfan and Sasquatch. Tim Robbins cameos as does Dave Grohl as Satan . Ben Stiller also makes an appearance as a worker at Guitar Center , and also another appearance in the music video for " Tribute (song)|Tribute ".

Tenacious D helped the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation to raise awareness and funds in San Diego on June 16, 2007. Tenacious D can be seen performing in the Pauly Shore film Bio-Dome where the duo is performing its song "The Five Needs" at a "Save the Environment" party. Black was also a guest star on an episode of The Ellen Degeneres Show entitled "Ellen the Musical", alongside Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth and teenage singer-actress Olivia Olson . On the show, besides singing, he discussed his then-upcoming film Nacho Libre with the host.

Black has also appeared on Dave Grohl's Probot (band)|Probot album, providing vocals for the hidden song "I Am The Warlock", and Lynch's Fake Songs album, providing vocals for the song "Rock and Roll Whore". Black performed a cover of Marvin Gaye 's " Let's Get It On " in the last sequence of High Fidelity . He lent his musical abilities to the Queens of the Stone Age song "Burn the Witch" with rhythmic stomps and claps, some performed with his eyes closed. He also provided vocals for The Lonely Island|The Lonely Island's track "Sax Man" from the album Incredibad .

Black has also recorded a duet on Meat Loaf's new CD Hang Cool Teddy Bear. The song is called Like a Rose. Meat Loaf has also played Black's father in the Pick of Destiny movie. Hang Cool Teddy Bear also features Hugh Laurie, Kara Dioguardi, Brian May, Steve Vai & Patti Russo, produced by Rob Cavallo.

Black has appeared in music videos of Beck " Sexx Laws "; Foo Fighters " Learn To Fly ", " Low (Foo Fighters song)|Low ", and " The One (Foo Fighters song)|The One "; The Eagles of Death Metal 's " I Want You So Hard (Boy's Bad News) "; Sum 41 's "Things I Want"; Dio (band)|Dio 's " Killing the Dragon|Push "; and Weezer 's " Photograph (Weezer song)|Photograph ." In October 2010, Tenacious D appeared at BlizzCon 2010 , a convention hosted by the game designers, Blizzard Entertainment .

Personal life

In January 2006, Black became engaged to Tanya Haden . She is the daughter of the jazz double bassist Charlie Haden , and sister of violinist and singer Petra Haden . Haden herself is an accomplished cellist. Both attended Crossroads school and met again 15 years after graduating, at a friend's birthday party. Black proposed marriage around Christmas 2005. They married on March 14, 2006, in Big Sur, California . Their son, Samuel Jason "Sammy" Black, was born on June 10, 2006, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. On May 23, 2008, Black and his wife had their second son, Thomas David Black.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Bob Roberts	Roger Davis
1993	Airborne	Augie
1993	Demolition Man	Wasteland Scrap
1994	The NeverEnding Story III	Slip, Leader of the Nasties
1995	Bye Bye Love	DJ at Party
	Dead Man Walking	Craig Poncelet
	Waterworld	Pilot
1996	Bio-Dome	Tenacious D
	The Cable Guy	Rick
	The Fan	Broadcast Technician
	Mars Attacks!	Billy Glenn Norris
1997	Bongwater	Devlin
	Crossworlds	Steve
	The Jackal	Ian Lamont
1998	Enemy of the State	Fiedler
	I Still Know What You Did Last Summer	Titus Telesco	(uncredited)
	Johnny Skidmarks	Jerry
1999	Cradle Will Rock	Sid
	'' Jesus' Son	Georgie
	The Love Letter	Fisherman	uncredited
2000	High Fidelity	Barry	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actor – Comedy/ Romance Nominated – American Comedy Award
2001	''Frank's Book	Performance Hipster	Short Film
	Saving Silverman	J.D. McNugent
	Shallow Hal	Hal Larson	Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Film- Choice Actor, Comedy
2002	Ice Age	Zeke	Voice only
	Orange County	Lance Brumder
	Run Ronnie Run	Lead Chimney Sweep	DVD Exclusive Award for Best Original Song in a DVD Premiere
2003	Melvin Goes to Dinner	Mental Patient	uncredited Phoenix Film Festival Award for Best Ensemble Acting Nominated – DVD Exclusive Award for Best Supporting Actor in a DVD Premiere
2003	School of Rock	Dewey Finn	Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo>MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Team Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor- Comedy Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Liar
2004	Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy	Motorcyclist	uncredited (cameo)
	Envy	Nick Vanderpark	Nominated – People's Choice Award for Favorite Funny Male Star
	Laser Fart	The Elegant Hunter	Video
	Shark Tale	Lenny	Voice only
2005	King Kong	Carl Denham	Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Movies – Choice Sleazebag
2005	'' Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie	Carl Denham	voice Video game Spike Video Game Award – Best Leading Male Performance
2006	Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties	Orson, Booker and Wolf
	The Holiday	Miles
	Nacho Libre	Nacho	Nominated – Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Male Movie Star Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Fight Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Movies – Choice Actor: Comedy Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Movies – Choice Chemistry Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Movie – Choice Rumble
	Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny	Jack "Jables" Black (JB)
2007	Margot at the Wedding	Malcolm	Nominated – Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast
2007	Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story	Paul McCartney	Uncredited
2008	Be Kind Rewind	Jerry Gerber
	Kung Fu Panda	Po	Voice only Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie Nominated – Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Animated Character in a Motion Picture
	The Secrets of the Furious Five	Po	Voice Short film
	Prop 8: The Musical	Jesus Christ	Viral video short
	Tropic Thunder	Jeff "Fats" Portnoy	Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cast
	Tropic Thunder: Rain of Madness	Jeff "Fats" Portnoy	Video
2009	Brütal Legend	Eddie Riggs	Voice Video game Spike Video Game Award – Best Voice
2009	Year One	Zed
2010	Gulliver's Travels	Gulliver	Nominated – Razzie Award for Worst Actor Nominated – Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards for Favorite Male Movie Star
2011	Kung Fu Panda 2	Po	Voice only Nominated – Teen Choice Awards for Choice Movie Animated Voice Nominated – People's Choice Award for Favorite Animation Movie Voice
	Bernie	Bernie Tiede	Premiered on June 16, 2011 at the Los Angeles Film Festival.
	The Big Year	Brad Harris
	The Muppets	Himself
2012	Bailout	Matt Prior	Filming
2012		Francis	pre-production

Television work

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Our Shining Moments	Teenage Boy	TV Movie
1993	The Golden Palace	Taxi Driver	episode "Seems Like Old Times: Part 2"
1993	Life Goes On	Skinhead	episode "Incident on Main"
1993	Marked for Murder	Car Thief	television film
1993	Northern Exposure	Kevin Wilkins	episode "A River Doesn't Run Through It"
1994	Blind Justice	Private	television film
1994	The Innocent	Marty Prago	television film
1995	All-American Girl	Tommy	episode "A Night at the Oprah"
1995	Pride & Joy	Man	episode "Brenda's Secret"
1995	The Single Guy	Randy	episode "Sister"
1995	Touched By An Angel	Monte	episode "Angels on the Air"
1995	The X-Files	Bart 'Zero' Liqouri	episode "D.P.O."
1995–1996	Mr. Show with Bob and David	Various	4 episodes
1995–1996	Picket Fences	Curtis Williams	2 episodes
1997–2000	Tenacious D (TV series)>Tenacious D	JB	6
1999	Heat Vision and Jack	Jack	television pilot
2001	Space Ghost Coast to Coast	Himself	episode "Sweet for Brak"
2002	2002 MTV Movie Awards	Host
2002	The Andy Dick Show	J.D.	episode "Flipped"
2002	Clone High	Pusher/ Larry Hardcore	episode "Raisin The Stakes"
2002	Crank Yankers	Tenacious D	episode "#1.3"
2002	Jack Black: Spider-Man	Spider-Man	MTV Movie Awards segment
2002	Lord of the Piercing	Jack the Elf	MTV Movie Awards segment Fellowship of the Ring: Extended Edition easter egg
2002	MADtv	Tenacious D	episode "#7.22"
2002	Panic Room with Will Ferrell	Himself	MTV Movie Awards segment
2003	Player$	Tenacious D	episode "Tenacious D a la Mode"
2003	Will & Grace	Dr. Isaac Hershberg	episode "Nice in White Satin"
2003–2004	Computerman	Computerman	6 episodes
2003–2004	Time Belt	Computerman	2 episodes
2004	Cracking Up	Brian	episode "Scared Straight"
2004	Tom Goes to the Mayor	Trapper JB	episode "Bear Traps"
2005	Awesometown	George Washington	television film
2006	'' 2006 Kids' Choice Awards	Himself	Host
2007	The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show	Jables	episode "Break-Up"
2007	The Simpsons	Milo	episode " Husbands and Knives "
2008	Sesame Street	Himself	episode "The Golden Triangle Of Destiny"
2008	'' 2008 Kids' Choice Awards	Himself	Host
2009	The Office	Sam	episode " Stress Relief "
2009	Yo Gabba Gabba	Himself	episode " New Friends "
2010	Community	Buddy	episode "Investigative Journalism"
2010	iCarly		episode iStart a Fanwar
2010–2011	Take Two with Phineas and Ferb	Himself	2 episodes, "Jack Black" and "Neil Patrick Harris"
2010	" Space Ghost Coast to Coast special gag ad episode"	Himself (cameo)	Gulliver's Travels )
2011	Fish Hooks	Chief	episode "Labor Day"
2011	Big Time Rush	Cupid	episode "Big Time Crush"
2011	'' 2011 Kids' Choice Awards	Himself	Host, This will be the third time Jack Black has hosted the Kids Choice Awards, the last times being in 2008 and 2006.
2011	American Idol	Himself	Performed ' Fat Bottomed Girls ' with American Idol contestant Casey Abrams .

Copyright Citations

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1. Tenacious D 2. Andy Dick

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