Jack Black

Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician.

He is known for roles in family and comedy films, in addition to his voice work in animated films.

His accolades include an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, and nominations for three Golden Globe Awards.

Thomas Jacob Black was born in Santa Monica, California, on August 28, 1969, the son of satellite engineers Thomas William Black and Judith Love Cohen.

He was raised in Hermosa Beach, California.

His mother worked on the Minuteman nuclear missile guidance system, the Apollo lunar module guidance system, the science ground station for the Hubble Space Telescope, and was also a writer.

He has three older half-siblings through his mother: scientist Neil Siegel, Howard Siegel, and Rachel Siegel.

His mother was born Jewish, while his father converted to Judaism.

Black was raised Jewish, attending Hebrew school and having a bar mitzvah.

His other ancestry includes English, German, Irish, Polish, Russian, and Scottish.

Black's parents divorced when he was 10, and his father then stopped practicing Judaism.

Black moved to Culver City with his father and frequently visited his mother's home.

As a child, he appeared in a commercial for the Activision game Pitfall! in 1982.

For high school, Black's parents enrolled him at the Poseidon School, a private secondary school designed for students struggling in the traditional school system.

He also attended the Crossroads School, where he excelled in drama.

He later attended University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), but dropped out during his second year to pursue a career in entertainment.

Fellow UCLA student Tim Robbins later cast Black in Bob Roberts.

In 1982, Black's first acting job was in a television commercial at age 13 for the video game Pitfall!. In 1987, Black joined the Actors' Gang, a theater troupe founded by UCLA students including Tim Robbins, and appeared in a variety of stage productions.

Black's adult career began with small roles on prime time television, including Life Goes On, Northern Exposure, Mr. Show, Picket Fences, The Golden Palace, 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.

After Tim Robbins cast him in Bob Roberts, Black began appearing in small film roles such as Airborne (1993), Demolition Man, Waterworld, The Fan, The Cable Guy, Mars Attacks!, Dead Man Walking, The Jackal, Crossworlds, Enemy of the State, and others.

He had a small role in True Romance as a security guard, but the scene was deleted.

Black is the lead vocalist of the band Tenacious D which he formed in 1994 with long-time friend Kyle Gass.

After portraying supporting roles in films including Dead Man Walking (1995), The Cable Guy (1996), Mars Attacks! (1996), and Enemy of the State (1998), Black first gained prominence for his role as Barry in High Fidelity (2000).

In 1995 and 1996, he gained recurring roles in the HBO sketch comedy series Mr. Show.

In 2000, Black co-starred in the film High Fidelity as a wild employee in a record store run by John Cusack.

Black considers his role in High Fidelity as his breakout into the Hollywood scene.

He quickly gained leading roles in films such as Saving Silverman, Shallow Hal, Nacho Libre, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, Year One, and Gulliver's Travels.

He received particular praise for his starring role in the well-received School of Rock, earning critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy.

This led to larger roles in films like Shallow Hal (2001) and Orange County (2002), before he solidified his leading man status with his Golden Globe nominated performance as Dewey Finn in School of Rock (2003).

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.

He has also had starring voice-overs in animated features, including Zeke in Ice Age (2002) and Lenny in Shark Tale (2004).

In 2004, Black guest-starred in the first episode of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim show Tom Goes to the Mayor.

He continues to portray lead parts in films such as King Kong (2005), The Holiday (2006), Nacho Libre (2006), Tropic Thunder (2008), Bernie (2011), Goosebumps (2016), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), its sequel Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), and The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018).

He starred in one of his few dramatic roles as the obsessed filmmaker Carl Denham in Peter Jackson's 2005 remake of King Kong, a performance he based on Orson Welles.

In 2006, he played the role of King Herod in a one night benefit concert of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar at the Ricardo Montalban Theatre.

His noteworthy voice role performances include Po in the Kung Fu Panda franchise (2008–present) and Bowser in The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023).

They won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for "The Last in Line" in 2015.

Since 2018, Black has operated a YouTube channel called Jablinski Games.