Tom Arnold

In 1990, he got married to the well-known comedienne ‘Roseanne Barr’, a much-publicised relationship that lasted for four years.

In 1995, he married hairstylist Julie Champnella and stayed with her in a lavish, Mediterranean-style home in ‘Beverly Hills’. The couple divorced after four years due to personal reasons.

In 2002, he married Shelby Roos, a political consultant. They were married for six years before getting divorced. Tom had to pay $15,000 every month for 25 months as a part of spousal support, but retained ownership of their home in Tarzana, California.

Tom Arnold was born to Linda Kay and Jack Arnold in the working-class town of Ottumwa, Iowa. When he was four, his parents divorced and his father remarried. Tom has six siblings.

He was enrolled to Ottumwa High School and worked at a local Hormel meatpacking plant for a few years, before getting sacked from the job.

He studied at Indian Hills Community College and University of Iowa, where he pursued business administration and writing. Arnold tried his hand in stand-up comedy at the school’s student union.

In the early 1980s, Arnold moved to Minneapolis and started performing his act ‘Tom Arnold and the Fabulous Goldfish Revue’, at the local comedy clubs. During this time, he met the rising comedienne Roseanne Barr, and they both became mutual admirers and friends.

During the next few years, Arnold and Barr toured together. In 1988, Arnold won the ‘Minneapolis Comedy Competition’, and followed it up with a role in the HBO’s special show ‘The Roseanne Barr Show’.

In 1988, Barr convinced Arnold to move to Los Angeles and write for the sitcom ‘Roseanne’, in which Barr played the lead.

In 1990, Barr divorced her husband Bill Pentland, who was also the producer of ‘Roseanne’. This event proved crucial for Arnold both professionally and personally, as he not only married Barr the same year, but also became the show’s executive producer. He also featured in ‘Roseanne’ as a regular in a role which he wrote himself.

From 1990 to 1994, the couple attracted a lot of media attention with their bizarre antics. These included getting unusual tattoos, appearing in a photo shoot which showed them mud-wrestling at a beach in Malibu, appearing in gorilla suits on the cover of ‘Spy’ magazine and even proclaiming a three-way marriage with their assistant ‘Kim Silva’.

Tom Arnold was one of the writers of the extremely successful and long-running comedy show ‘Roseanne’, which was the most watched TV show in the US from 1989 to 1990. In the later seasons of the show, Arnold also featured as an actor.

In 1994, after Arnold’s career had seemingly stalled, he was cast alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger’ in James Cameron’s magnum opus ‘True Lies’, which was also the most expensive movie ever made at that time. Arnold’s role in the film was much acclaimed and loved.

From 2001 to 2004, he was chosen as one of the hosts of the sports-based comedy ‘The Best Damn Sports Show Period’ and featured as a regular for four years. He continued to make appearances in the show during its later seasons too.