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Denis Leary

Denis Leary is the co-creator, executive producer, writer and star of the acclaimed series Rescue Me. He plays the lead role of 'Tommy Gavin,' a senior firefighter with the New York City Fire Department whose dedication to the job is unquestionable. However, Tommy's personal life is in shambles.

Leary garnered his first Golden Globe nomination for his role in Rescue Me, and drew critical praise from numerous publications, including USA Today, which wrote, "Given the best role of his career so far, he has responded with his best performance. Indeed anyone who still thinks of Leary as a stand-up comic who acts will soon realize that he should now be classified simply as an actor -- a very good one."

Leary got his start in stand-up comedy with appearances on MTV's Remote Control in 1987, but it was his one-man act No Cure for Cancer at the 1991 Edinburgh International Arts Festival in Scotland that got him his big break. Despite the controversy over the show's title, No Cure for Cancer aired in the U.S. on Showtime in 1992.

Leary's feature film credits include The Secret Lives of Dentists, Lakeboat, The Thomas Crown Affair, Monument Ave, Wag the Dog, The Ref, The Sandlot and National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon. He lent his voice to the animated films Ice Age and A Bug's Life.

Leary starred in and produced the television series The Job, a half-hour, single-camera comedy about a New York City police detective. He also starred in Comics Come Home and Paramount City, and was a regular guest on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn and Crank Yankers. Leary produced such hits as Blow, the feature film starring Johnny Depp and is currently writing for the upcoming documentary In Search of Ted Demme.

Leary, a native of Worcester, Mass., founded The Leary Firefighters Foundation (www.learyfirefightersfoundation.org) in response to the 1999 warehouse fire in downtown Worcester that killed six firefighters, including his first cousin. The foundation created a separate fund, The Fund for New York's Bravest, in the wake of the events of September 11, 2001.

Leary lives in New York City, but is not a Yankees fan.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2006.
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Denis Leary Facts

OccupationActor
BirthdayAugust 18, 1957 (66)
SignLeo
BirthplaceBoston, Massachusetts, USA
Height6' 3" (1m91)  How tall is Denis Leary compared to you?

Selected Filmography

Ice Age: Collision Course
A Bug's Life
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Ice Age
The Amazing Spider-Man
Ice Age: Continental Drift
Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade
Sandlot, The
Ice Age: The Meltdown
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