Chris Parnell Wiki Bio

American actor and comedian Thomas Christopher ‘Chris’ Parnell was born in Memphis, Tennessee USA, on 5 February 1967, making Aquarius his zodiac sign. He has nearly 200 acting credits, but is perhaps known best for voicing Jerry Smith in the critically acclaimed animated adventure comedy series “Rick and Morty”, which stars Justin Roiland, who also created it, together with Dan Harmon. It follows the adventures of a scientific genius and his grandson, the series has been airing since 2013, and has won 18 of its 57 award nominations.

Chris is currently shooting for the upcoming movies “In Fidelity” and “As We Know It”.

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Education and early life

Chris was raised in Memphis by his father Jack Parnell who was a radio personality, and mother who was a housewife but whose name hasn’t been disclosed; Chris is yet to speak about having siblings, which is why he’s believed to be an only child.

He studied at Southern Baptist Educational Center prior to moving to Germantown High School, from which he matriculated in 1985; Chris was 17 when he decided to pursue a career in the film industry.

He then enrolled at University of North Carolina’s School of the Arts, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drama in 1989. Chris then moved to Houston, Texas and attended an acting program at the Alley Theatre, however, as he wasn’t invited to join the company, so he returned to Memphis and taught at a local high school.

He chose to pursue acting again in 1992, moving to Los Angeles, California, and joining the comedy troupe The Groundlings.

Roles in TV series

Chris’ debut TV series role was playing Howard in the 1996 episode “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Funicular” of the comedy “Hope & Gloria”, and the remainder of the decade saw him appear in an episode of the comedies “Seinfeld”, “The Jamie Foxx Show”, and “Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher”.

He appeared in an episode of not so many TV series in the 2000s, and what marked the decade for him was perhaps playing the lead character Vice Principal Bruce Terry in all seven episodes of the 2008 comedy “Miss Guided”, which also starred Judy Greer and Kristoffer Polaha, and was created by Caroline Williams. It follows a woman who’s become a guidance counselor at her former high school, and the series was nominated for only a single award.

From 1998 through 2012, Chris appeared in 148 episodes of the critically acclaimed comedy show “Saturday Night Live”, and from 2011 through 2014, he starred as Fred Shay in 45 episodes of the comedy “Suburgatory”, which also starred Jeremy Sisto and Jane Levy, and was created by Emily Kapnek. It follows teenager Tessa Altman who’s moved from a big city to a suburb, and the series won one of its nine award nominations.

From 2007 through 2015, Chris narrated 129 episodes of the animated action adventure “WordGirl”, and he could then have been seen appearing in an episode of the comedies “Tween Fest”, “Rhett and Link’s Buddy System” and “Comedy Bang! Bang!”

From 2015 through 2017, he starred as Mr. Peabody (voice role) in all 52 episodes of the animated adventure comedy “The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show”, which also starred Max Charles, and follows the adventures of the world’s smartest dog and his owner; the series won four of its 14 award nominations.

Some of Chris’ most recent roles have been in the episode “Get to Know the Energy Division” of the animated comedy “Alpha Betas” (voice role), the episode “HOAs” of the news comedy “Last Week with John Oliver” and the episode “Adventures of Normal Man Pt. 2” of the animated action “My Adventures with Spiderman” (voice role), all released in 2023.

Roles in movies

Chris’ debut film role was playing Toy Store Sales Clerk in the 1996 adventure family comedy “Jingle All the Way”, and the remainder of the decade saw him appear in the 1996 comedy “Shooting Lily”, the 1998 short comedy “I Binky: Bedwetter”, and the 2000 comedy “The Ladies Man”.

In 2003, he portrayed TV Emcee in the popular romantic comedy “Down with Love”, which starred Ewan McGregor and Renee Zellweger, and was directed by Peyton Reed; set in New York City in 1962, the film follows a feminist advice author and a playboy journalist who’ve fallen in love, and it won four of its 12 award nominations. Some of Chris’ following notable performances were in the 2004 comedy “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy”, the 2007 comedy “The Grand” and the 2009 romantic comedy “Labor Pains”.

He portrayed News Anchor in the hit 2012 comedy “The Dictator”, which Sacha Baron Cohen wrote and starred in; it follows the life of a dictator who won’t allow democracy to come to his country, and the movie won one of its two award nominations.

Chris is also known for voicing Fly in the 2015 animated adventure comedy “Hotel Transylvania 2”, which starred Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg, and was directed by Genndy Tartakovsky. It follows Dracula and his friends as they’re ‘training’ Dracula’s half-human half-vampire grandson, and the movie won three of its 14 award nominations.

Some of Chris’ most recent film roles have been in the 2022 animated action adventure “Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers”, the 2022 short animated horror “Rick and Morty: Summer’s Sleepover” and the 2022 animated adventure comedy “Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again”, all voice roles.

Other credits

Chris wrote the 2005 music video “The Lonely Island: Lazy Sunday”.

He received special thanks for the 2012 episode “Live from Studio 6H” of the comedy series “30 Rock”, and the 2013 short action comedy movie “The Bigfoot Hunters”.

Some of Chris’ most recent talk-show appearances have been in “Late Night with Seth Meyers”, “Life is Short with Justin Long” and “This Job Is History”.

Awards and nominations

Chris has been nominated for five Behind the Voice Actors Awards: two for his performance in “Archer”, another two for “Rick and Morty”, and the final for “Hotel Transylvania”.

Love life and wife

Chris avoids speaking about his love life in public, and while it’s known that he’s married and has children, not many details have been disclosed about his family.

It’s known that he and his wife, American actress and comedienne Ana Gasteyer have been married for more than a decade now, but neither’s disclosed the exact date of their wedding; she has 85 acting credits, and is perhaps still known best for starring as Cady’s Mom in the 2004 comedy movie “Mean Girls”.

Chris and Ana have daughter Lisa Marie together, and they’ve also adopted two boys Ryan and Victor.

Some sources mistakenly claim that Ana’s married to another man.

There are no other women whom Chris has perhaps been with, that we know about; he’s married to Ana Gasteyer as of July 2023, and they have three children together (two adopted).

Interesting facts and hobbies

Chris is an expert at stage-fighting, and has been beaten up by various celebrities on the show “Saturday Night Live”, including Jackie Chan, Paul Levesque and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson; some of the people who’ve killed him on the show include Will Ferrell, Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken.

He appeared in nearly all the plays performed at his high school, and his peers voted him ‘most talented in class’.

Chris is a huge fan of Shakespeare, and his dream is to portray Edmund in a production of “King Lear”.

His favorite book is “The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke”, favorite TV series “Twin Peaks”, and favorite movie “Chariots of Fire”.

Two of Chris’ closest friends are American actress and producer Lauren Graham and American actor Ron Livingston.

Height, eyes and wealth

Chris’ age is 56. He has blue eyes and grey hair, is 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall and weighs around 155lbs (70kgs).

Chris’ net worth’s been estimated at over $7 million, as of July 2023.

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