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Denis Leary (born August 18, 1957 in Worcester,
Massachusetts) is an
actor/comedian/writer/Television
director|director, whose father immigrated to
Worcester, Massachusetts|Worcester from Ireland. 
He is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston,
Massachusetts|Boston, where he also taught comedy
writing classes for five years after graduating. 
Leary is a distant cousin through marriage of
Conan O'Brien; contrary to popular belief, they
are not actually related through a recent common
ancestor.

==Career==
Leary first became famous through an MTV sketch in
which he ranted about R.E.M. (band)|REM.  He has
also released two album|records of his stand-up
comedy: No Cure for Cancer (1993) and Lock n' Load
(1997). No Cure for Cancer was written with
contributions from the England|English comedians
Frank Skinner and David Baddiel when Leary was
forced to stay over in London for a short period
due to his son's premature birth there and ensuing
health problems.

In 1994, his sarcasm|sardonic commentary song on
the American lower-middle-class male, "Asshole",
achieved much notoriety.  It was voted #1 in a
major Australian youth radio poll, the Triple J
Hottest 100, and the video became a late-night MTV
staple.  Due to its explicit and controversial
content, however, it received limited airplay on
mainstream American radio stations.

Although he says he is most at home on stage doing
stand-up, Leary has appeared as an actor in over
40 movies, including The Match Maker, The Virgin
Suicides, The Ref, Wag the Dog, and Demolition
Man, and has starred in two television series, 
The Job and Rescue Me (TV show 2004)|Rescue Me. 
He also provided voices for characters in animated
films such as the sabertoothed tiger 'Diego' in
Ice Age (movie)|Ice Age and 'Francis' in A Bug's
Life.  Leary also produces numerous movies,
television shows, and specials, including Comedy
Central's Shorties Watching Shorties and the movie
Blow, through his production company, Apostle.

==Material controversy==
For many years, Leary had been friends with fellow
comedian Bill Hicks. However, when Hicks heard
Leary's 1993 release No Cure For Cancer, he
decided Leary was stealing his material, due to
the perceived similarity in topics covered and
some punchlines of Hicks', particularly those on
Hicks' releases of 1989 (Sane Man) and 1990
(Dangerous).  The friendship ended as a result,
though Leary has said he wanted to patch things up
before Hicks died in 1994.

While it has never been proven that Leary took any
of his jokes from other comedians (a claim he
fiercely denies), some comedians (notably Joe
Rogan and Greg Giraldo) and especially fans loyal
to Hicks consider aspects of Leary's act and
persona to be stolen.  However, many other
comedians - including Jon Stewart, Janeane
Garofalo, Colin Quinn, and Lenny Clarke - have
formed close personal and professional
relationships with Leary, which suggests that the
opinion of him as a material thief is not shared
by everyone within the profession.

==Leary Firefighter Foundation==
On December 3, 1999, 6 firefighters from Leary's
hometown of Worcester were killed in a massive
warehouse fire.  Among the dead were Leary's
cousin, Jerry Lucey, and his close childhood
friend, Lt. Tommy Spencer.  In response, the
comedian founded the Leary Firefighters
Foundation, which has since distributed over $2.5
million (USD) to fire departments in the
Worcester, Boston, and New York City areas for
equipment, training materials, and new vehicles
and facilities, since its creation in 2000.
http://www.learyfirefightersfoundation.org/history
.html

A separate fund run by the Leary's foundation, the
Fund for New York's Bravest, has distributed over
$2 million (USD) to the families of the 343
firemen killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks,
as well as provided funding for necessities such
as a new mobile command center, first responder
training, and a high-rise simulator for the New
York City Fire Department|FDNY's training campus.

As the foundation's president, Leary has been
active in all of the fundraising, and usually
presents large checks and donated equipment
personally.  The close relationship he has
developed with the FDNY, as well as individual
firefighters across the New York/New England area,
has resulted in Leary's most recent television
show, Rescue Me (TV show 2004)|Rescue Me, a
drama-comedy on FX Networks|FX. In the pilot
episode of the show, he is seen wearing a Leary
Firefighter Foundation 9-11 memorial t-shirt.

	Web Quotableonline.com Frasescelebres.org Greatbookscollection.org

Denis Leary (born August 18, 1957 in Worcester,
Massachusetts) is an
actor/comedian/writer/Television
director|director, whose father immigrated to
Worcester, Massachusetts|Worcester from Ireland. 
He is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston,
Massachusetts|Boston, where he also taught comedy
writing classes for five years after graduating. 
Leary is a distant cousin through marriage of
Conan O'Brien; contrary to popular belief, they
are not actually related through a recent common
ancestor.

==Career==
Leary first became famous through an MTV sketch in
which he ranted about R.E.M. (band)|REM.  He has
also released two album|records of his stand-up
comedy: No Cure for Cancer (1993) and Lock n' Load
(1997). No Cure for Cancer was written with
contributions from the England|English comedians
Frank Skinner and David Baddiel when Leary was
forced to stay over in London for a short period
due to his son's premature birth there and ensuing
health problems.

In 1994, his sarcasm|sardonic commentary song on
the American lower-middle-class male, "Asshole",
achieved much notoriety.  It was voted #1 in a
major Australian youth radio poll, the Triple J
Hottest 100, and the video became a late-night MTV
staple.  Due to its explicit and controversial
content, however, it received limited airplay on
mainstream American radio stations.

Although he says he is most at home on stage doing
stand-up, Leary has appeared as an actor in over
40 movies, including The Match Maker, The Virgin
Suicides, The Ref, Wag the Dog, and Demolition
Man, and has starred in two television series, 
The Job and Rescue Me (TV show 2004)|Rescue Me. 
He also provided voices for characters in animated
films such as the sabertoothed tiger 'Diego' in
Ice Age (movie)|Ice Age and 'Francis' in A Bug's
Life.  Leary also produces numerous movies,
television shows, and specials, including Comedy
Central's Shorties Watching Shorties and the movie
Blow, through his production company, Apostle.

==Material controversy==
For many years, Leary had been friends with fellow
comedian Bill Hicks. However, when Hicks heard
Leary's 1993 release No Cure For Cancer, he was
upset to find that Leary was stealing his
material, due to the perceived similarity in
topics covered and some punchlines of Hicks',
particularly those on Hicks' releases of 1989
(Sane Man) and 1990 (Dangerous).  The friendship
ended as a result, though Leary has said he wanted
to patch things up before Hicks died in 1994.

While it has never been proven that Leary took any
of his jokes from other comedians (a claim he
fiercely denies), some comedians (notably Joe
Rogan and Greg Giraldo) and especially fans loyal
to Hicks consider aspects of Leary's act and
persona to be stolen.  However, many other
comedians - including Jon Stewart, Janeane
Garofalo, Colin Quinn, and Lenny Clarke - have
formed close personal and professional
relationships with Leary, which suggests that the
opinion of him as a material thief is not shared
by everyone within the profession.

The controversy was addressed in the Bill Hicks
Story by Cynthia True. 

"Leary was in Montreal to host the Nasty Show at
Club Soda and Colleen one of Bill's managers was
coordinating the talent so she was standing
backstage when she heard Leary doing material that
sounded incredibly similiar to old Hicks riffs,
including his perennial Jim Fixx joke:  ("Keith
Richards outlived Jim Fixx, the runner and health
nut, dude.  The plot thickens.") 
 
When Leary came offstage, Colleen said, more
stunned than angry, "Hey, you know that's Bill
Hicks' material!  Do you know that's his
material?"  Leary stood there, stared at her
without saying a word, and briskly left the
dressing room." 

The book cites several other examples of lines on
No Cure for Cancer that Leary used from older Bill
Hicks rants.

==Leary Firefighters Foundation==
On December 3, 1999, 6 firefighters from Leary's
hometown of Worcester were killed in a massive
warehouse fire.  Among the dead were Leary's
cousin, Jerry Lucey, and his close childhood
friend, Lt. Tommy Spencer.  In response, the
comedian founded the Leary Firefighters
Foundation, which has since distributed over $2.5
million (USD) to fire departments in the
Worcester, Boston, and New York City areas for
equipment, training materials, and new vehicles
and facilities, since its creation in 2000.
http://www.learyfirefightersfoundation.org/history
.html

A separate fund run by the Leary's foundation, the
Fund for New York's Bravest, has distributed over
$2 million (USD) to the families of the 343
firemen killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks,
as well as provided funding for necessities such
as a new mobile command center, first responder
training, and a high-rise simulator for the New
York City Fire Department|FDNY's training campus.

As the foundation's president, Leary has been
active in all of the fundraising, and usually
presents large checks and donated equipment
personally.  The close relationship he has
developed with the FDNY, as well as individual
firefighters across the New York/New England area,
has resulted in Leary's most recent television
show, Rescue Me (TV show 2004)|Rescue Me, a
drama-comedy on FX Networks|FX. In the Television
pilot|pilot episode of the show, he is seen
wearing a Leary Firefighter Foundation 9-11
memorial t-shirt.

==External links==
*imdb name|id=0001459|name=Denis Leary
*http://www.learyfirefightersfoundation.org/ Leary
Firefighters Foundation