Originally had a role in Beautiful Girls (1996) directed by good friend Ted Demme, but had to pull out due to scheduling conflicts.
Graduated from Emerson College
Cousin of Conan O'Brien
Is the second of four children.
Loves sports and originally wanted to be an NHL star. That all changed when he got kicked off his high school team because of poor grades.
Founded the Leary Firefighters' Foundation charity in response to the Dec. 3, 1999 warehouse fire that killed six firefighters in his hometown of Worcester, MA. His cousin Jeremiah Lucey was among the six heroic firefighters killed. Leary also established a second division of LFFF, the Leary Firefighters' Foundation Fund for New York's Bravest in response to the FDNY's losses in the Sept. 11th attacks.
He starred in three films directed by Ted Demme: Who's the Man, The Ref, and Snitch (Monument Avenue); and co-produced Blow. Demme also directed both his concert specials.
His song "Asshole" portrays a stereotype of American humor and lifestyles.
He is one of the six godparents (all males) of Damian Charles Bing, son of Elizabeth Hurley, and attended the child's baptism at Immaculate Conception church in Mayfair, London.
His role on "Rescue Me" (2004) marks his first Golden Globe nomination.
Irish-American.
Father of Jack Leary.
Denis Leary Detailed Biography
Denis Leary burst onto the national scene in 1993. He was touring an acclaimed one-man comedy show, No Cure for Cancer, in Britain and the U.S., when the Showtime Network decided to televise it as a special, directed by Ted Demme.
Combining machine-gun delivery with whip-smart political satire, Leary created a sensation with angry but hilarious rants against no-smoking laws and infringements on personal freedoms. The Hollywood Reporter called the special "one of the strangest, most offensive, and sometimes most infuriating shows you'll ever see. And you should see it, because it is one of the most fascinating one-man stage performances ever seen on TV."
The success of the show opened doors to film and television work. After playing small roles in the action features Demolition Man, Judgment Night and Gunmen, Leary was cast as the lead in Ted Demme's The Ref. In this dark comedy, Leary proved that he could more than hold his own with a superb cast, including Kevin Spacey, Judy Davis, Christine Baranski and Glynis Johns.
Since then, he has continued to amass critical kudos on some 35 features, ranging from studio to indie, action to animation, comedy to drama. Highlights include Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers; Two if by Sea, opposite Sandra Bullock; Operation Dumbo Drop, co-starring with Danny Glover and Ray Liotta; Tom DiCillo's ensemble comedy, The Real Blonde with Matthew Modine and Catherine Keener; The Thomas Crown Affair, co-starring with Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo; Alison Maclean's Jesus' Son, with Billy Cruddup; Lakeboat, directed by Joe Mantegna from a David Mamet script; Ted Demme's Monument Avenue; True Crime, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood; and voice-overs in the animated hit films A Bug's Life and Ice Age.
Leary's television work began with interstitial shorts for MTV. He played the lead in the 2001 ABC series The Job, called smart and irreverently funny by The New York Times, and top-notch by Entertainment Weekly. He also provided voice over for the decidedly offbeat Comedy Central series Crank Yankers, and appeared in the HBO original omnibus film Subway Stories, in a section directed by Bob Balaban.
He has produced and executive produced numerous projects, including his comedy specials No Cure For Cancer and Lock ‘N' Load, the television series The Job, Ted Demme's film Blow, starring Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz; and Tom DiCillo's feature Double Whammy, among others.
