Tom Kenny

AKA Thomas James Kenny

Born: 13-Jul-1962

Birthplace: Syracuse, NY



Gender: Male

Religion: Roman Catholic

Race or Ethnicity: White

Sexual orientation: Straight

Occupation: Comic, Actor

Nationality: United States

Executive summary: Mr. Show, SpongeBob SquarePants

Tom Kenny does voice work for cartoons, video games, and commercials. He has described himself as "a man of a thousand voices, many of them gay." His most famous vocal creation is SpongeBob Squarepants, the titular kitchen sponge on Nickelodeon. Kenny's Spongebob squeaks and giggles have been described as "a potent combination of Jerry Lewis's geekmania and Pee Wee Herman's pathological optimism".

Kenny and Bobcat Goldthwait were best friends from their childhood, attending the same parochial elementary school. They first worked together when they were hired as a team by Barry Crimmins (now a succesful comic and political commentator himself). Kenny and Goldthwait performed stand-up together at local clubs as Tomcat & Bobcat, and co-founded a local comedy troupe called Generic Comics. Kenny remembers a conversation with Goldthwait from mid-'70s high school days, when they asked each other whose show-biz careers they wanted to emulate. Goldthwait said he wanted to be John Belushi. Kenny said he wanted to be Mel Blanc.

Of course, there was little career to be had if Kenny stayed in Syracuse. He bagged groceries at Price Chopper for six years, before leaving for Boston and eventually San Francisco. His comedy evolved into impressions and sketch work, and he auditioned for Saturday Night Live, where was a finalist when the show had two openings, which were filled by David Spade and Rob Schneider. Kenny's first steady paycheck as a performer was Fox's sketch comedy The Edge, where he worked with Jennifer Aniston, Julie Brown, Wayne Knight, and Alan Ruck, among others. He later found success on the HBO sketch show Mr. Show with Bob and David, eventually marrying fellow ensemble comic Jill Talley.

Kenny's hyperkinetic vocal abilities have made him so omnipresent, almost any American with a TV is probably familiar with his work. Various permutations of Kenny's cartoon voices can be heard on Batman (as The Penguin), CatDog, Cow & Chicken (as Duck Duck Chicken), Dave the Barbarian, Dexter's Laboratory, Dilbert (as Ratbert), Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights, The Fairly OddParents, Futurama, Mission Hill, The Mummy, Peter Cottontail, The Powerpuff Girls (as the Mayor and narrator), Rocko's Modern Life, and Stripperella. He voiced "Tweety Bird" for Looney Tunes video games, and did further voice work for the "Spyro" video games. He has also done voiceovers in myriad commercials, hawking everything from Home Depot to Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. In Goldthwait's masterpiece Shakes the Clown, Kenny played another clown, Binky. Goldthwait and Kenny also worked together on the Showtime sit-com Out There.

Wife: Jill Talley (two sons)

Son: McKinley Kenny ("Mac", b. 1998)



High School: Bishop Grimes High School, East Syracuse, NY (1980)



TELEVISION

Rick and Morty various (2013-)

The Legend of Korra Voices (2012-)

WordGirl Dr. Two Brains (2007-)

Handy Manny Mr. Lopart, etc. (2006-08)

Brandy & Mr. Whiskers Ed (2004-06)

SpongeBob SquarePants SpongeBob SquarePants (1999-)

Johnny Bravo Carl Chryniszzswics, etc. (1999-2004)

Dilbert Ratbert, Asok, etc. (1999-2000)

The Powerpuff Girls Narrator, the Mayor, etc. (1998-2005)

Mr. Show with Bob and David Various Roles (1995-98)



FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR

Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (22-Jul-2018) [VOICE]

Batman Ninja (24-Mar-2018) [VOICE]

Battle of the Sexes (2-Sep-2017)

The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature (10-Aug-2017) [VOICE]

Transformers: The Last Knight (21-Jun-2017) [VOICE]

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life (6-Oct-2016) [VOICE]

Ant-Man (29-Jun-2015) [VOICE]

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (28-Jan-2015) [VOICE]

Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return (10-Jun-2013) [VOICE]

Frankenweenie (20-Sep-2012) [VOICE]

Hotel Transylvania (8-Sep-2012) [VOICE]

Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3: Viva La Fiesta! (3-Sep-2012) [VOICE]

Delhi Safari (Jun-2012) [VOICE]

God Bless America (9-Sep-2011)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (23-Jun-2011) [VOICE]

Winnie the Pooh (6-Apr-2011) · Rabbit [VOICE]

Space Chimps 2: Zartog Strikes Back (28-May-2010) [VOICE]

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen (19-Jun-2009) [VOICE]

World's Greatest Dad (25-Apr-2009) · Jerry Klein

Space Chimps (17-Jul-2008) [VOICE]

Unstable Fables: 3 Pigs & a Baby (Mar-2008) [VOICE]

Futurama: Bender's Big Score (27-Nov-2007) · Yancy Fry, Jr. [VOICE]

Superman: Doomsday (18-Sep-2007) [VOICE]

Meet the Robinsons (23-Mar-2007) [VOICE]

Happily N'Ever After (5-Jan-2007) [VOICE]

The Ant Bully (28-Jul-2006) · Drone Ant, etc. [VOICE]

The Batman vs Dracula: The Animated Movie (18-Oct-2005) [VOICE]

Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild (11-Oct-2005) · Voices [VOICE]

Sky High (29-Jul-2005)

Lil' Pimp (11-Jan-2005) [VOICE]

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (14-Nov-2004) [VOICE]

Surviving Christmas (22-Oct-2004) · Man Wrapping Gift

Hoodwinked (16-May-2004) [VOICE]

Comic Book: The Movie (27-Jan-2004) · Derek Sprang

Windy City Heat (12-Oct-2003)

Run Ronnie Run! (16-Sep-2003)

The Fairly OddParents in: Abra Catastrophe! (12-Jul-2003) [VOICE]

The Animatrix (17-Apr-2003) [VOICE]

Scooby-Doo! And the Legend of the Vampire (4-Mar-2003) [VOICE]

Eight Crazy Nights (27-Nov-2002) · Sharper Image Chair [VOICE]

The Powerpuff Girls (22-Jun-2002) [VOICE]

Dr. Dolittle 2 (19-Jun-2001) · Male Tortoise [VOICE]

Out There (19-Nov-1995)

Dead Weekend (Aug-1995)

Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 Women (21-Aug-1994) · Director

Plughead Rewired: Circuitry Man II (Apr-1994)

Porco Rosso (18-Jul-1992)

Shakes the Clown (13-Mar-1992)

Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful (1992)

How I Got Into College (19-May-1989)







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