Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962, in East Syracuse, New York) is an American voice actor and comedian perhaps best known for his work in the animated series SpongeBob SquarePants, in which he is the voice of SpongeBob, the narrator, and Gary among others. He also plays Fuzzy Tippsun in the Scamper films and series.b Aside from voice acting, Kenny starred in the short-lived Fox sketch show, The Edge and was a cast member of the HBO sketch comedy program, Mr. Show, where he worked with Jill Talley, whom he subsequently married. He also hosts the show Funday Night at the Movies on TCM. This show tries to encourage kids to watch "old movies." Kenny got his start in comedy performing stand-up with people such as Wendell E. Wild Jr. and Barry Crimmins. He gives all his credit for his work to his cousin, Colin Kenny.
Tom Kenny was the lead singer for a Syracuse-based rock band, The Tearjerkers, in the early-1980s. He replaced original vocalist Buddy Love. Other members of The Tearjerkers included Charlie Robbins, Dave DeCirce, and Dave Soule, who is still active in the central New York music scene. One of The Tearjerkers' roadies would also go on to fame: Bobcat Goldthwait. "Syracuse Summer" was the group's best-known song, which is included on The History of Syracuse Music, Volume XII and XIII. The record also contains early recordings by Ronnie James Dio, under the names "Ronnie and the Red Caps" and "Ronnie Dio and the Prophets." The Tearjerkers did not become a national act.
Kenny played a role in a Smashing Pumpkins music video. He appeared in the 1996 video for "Tonight, Tonight," in which he and his wife (Jill Talley) play a young couple taking their honeymoon on the Moon. The video won six MTV Video Music Awards. Kenny also appeared in the music video for "Sing" by Travis.
Tom Kenny came full-circle with his musical past in 2006 when he co-wrote and recorded SpongeBob SquarePants: The Best Day Ever. While Kenny's singing on the CD is done in the voice of SpongeBob Squarepants and other characters from the show, he was very serious about the quality of the actual music on the disc and was able to enlist help from such musical royalty as Brian Wilson, Tommy Ramone, and Flaco Jimenez. The music pays homage to The Beach Boys, The Archies, The Lovin' Spoonful, and The Troggs, among others.
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Kenny voiced many characters in many productions. Kenny said that he voices "a lot of sweet, kind of stupid yellow characters for some reason."
Kenny's acted his first set of voice actor roles for Rocko's Modern Life. Joe Murray auditioned Kenny for voice acting roles for the series in a large casting call in Los Angeles, California, United States. On one occasion during the production, the producers required Kenny to fill the role of Charlie Adler, who was absent on that occasion. In addition, Kenny had to perform one song and learn how to play another song within ten minutes due to time constraints. Kenny achieved this goal. He said that this helped him believe that he could stand "toe to toe" with other voice actors.
Joe Murray chose Kenny for a voice acting position in Camp Lazlo because Murray, after seeing Kenny's previous work for Rocko's Modern Life, felt that Kenny "adds writing to his roles" and "brings so much."
Nickelodeon's annual Kid's Choice Awards is narrated by Tom Kenny throughout the show. At the 2007 Kid's Choice Awards, he called himself the "Man of 1,000 Voices, all of them this one." Kenny was just recently featured as the Voice in a Box at the 2008 Kids' Choice Awards.
