Denis Leary

Denis Leary got married to Ann Lembeck in 1989 and they are the doting and proud parents of two children – son, John Joseph Jack, and daughter, Devin. He attributes his humor to his happy marriage.

He is an ardent admirer of Barack Obama, who, he believes is the best president, the country ever had.

Denis Leary was the second of four children of the Irish immigrant couple, Nora, a maid, and John, a mechanic. He was brought up in Worcester, Massachusetts.

He attended Saint Peter-Marian High School, in Worcester and aspired to be a professional hockey player, until he saw the Martin Scorsese movie, ‘Mean Streets’ after which he decided to be an actor.

After graduating from high school in 1975, he joined Emerson College, Boston to study theater. Here, he came in contact with many other talented comedians and formed the ‘Emerson Comedy Workshop’.

Leary graduated from Emerson College in 1979 and was offered the job of teaching comedy writing at the college. He accepted and continued for five years during which he fine-tuned his skills.

In 1980, he featured on ‘The Late Show’, a local comedy series. The show was hosted by his friend, ‘Lenny Clarke’ and was written by comedy writer Martin Olson.

He was also featured in the ‘Remote Control’, a MTV game show, which was co-hosted by Colin Quinn and Andy Warhol. He imitated Keith Richards of the ‘Rolling Stones’ in one of his routines.

His first real break came in 1990 with the gig, ‘Rascals Comedy Club’ which was part of ‘Rascals Comedy Hour’. He mastered and executed his high speed ranting.

His rantings during the 1990s for the music band REM and their song ‘Shiny Happy People’ on the MTV sketch earned him not only celebrity status but several MTV commercials as well.

In 1993, Dennis Leary recorded ‘Asshole’, a sarcastic song about the typical American man. It was voted No. 1 by an Australian youth poll and became No. 58 in the UK Singles Chart.

‘No Cure For Cancer’, a DVD of his standup comedy was released in 2004. It covered topics such as smoking, drugs, vegetarians and political correctness. He intended indirect messages for the audience.

His supporting role as George Stacy in the movie, ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ in 2012 was appreciated by critics. The film was a massive box office success, grossing over $752 million worldwide.