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Jack Black (born Thomas J. Black, Jr. on August 28, 1969) is a Golden Globe Award nominated American actor, comedian and musician. He is considered a core member of the Frat Pack, a name used by members of the media for a group of comedians active in today's Hollywood films, though he is also in demand for Hollywood blockbusters and indie films. He and Kyle Gass make up the comedy/rock duo Tenacious D. Black is also known by his nicknames, Jables or JB.
BiographyEarly lifeBorn the son of two rocket scientists, his mother, Judith Cohen, is Jewish, and his father, Thomas Black, converted to Judaism after marrying Judith.[1] He was raised in the Jewish religion.[2] In a last-ditch effort to save their failing marriage, his parents briefly joined a polyamorous group, Family Synergy. They divorced when he was ten. Black moved to Culver City with his father and frequently visited his mother’s home until the end of his first year of college at UCLA when his father’s family moved abroad. As a child, Black appeared in an early Atari Pitfall! commercial,[3] which was later shown during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live and again on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Acting careerBlack's acting career began primarily with prime time TV. He played roles on several hit shows; such as The Golden Palace (Taxi Driver), Life Goes On (skinhead), The X-Files and Northern Exposure (Kevin Wilkins, prom king). Black later took on small roles in Airborne, Demolition Man, The Cable Guy, Bob Roberts, Mars Attacks!, Waterworld, The Jackal, Bye Bye Love, Dead Man Walking, Enemy of the State, and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer before a breakthrough role as Barry, the pretentious co-worker to John Cusack's record store owner in High Fidelity.Image:School of Rock promo.jpg Black in School of Rock (2003) Jack Black appeared in a Celebrity Deathmatch episode in a match against Jack White. White beat Black. Black has appeared numerous times on the "untelevised TV network" short film festival Channel101, starring in the shows Computerman, Timebelt, and Laserfart. He also provided an introduction for the unaired sketch comedy, Awesometown, donning a colonial-era military uniform. In the introduction, he claims to be George Washington (and takes credit for the accomplishments of other American Presidents such as Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln) and gives viewers a general idea as to what they should expect from the show. Black has also guest starred in the Adult Swim show Tom Goes to the Mayor as a bear trap store owner.
In a Season 3 episode of The X-Files, titled "D.P.O.", Black played Bart 'Zero' Liquori, friend to Darren, a teen who could cause lightning strikes, played by Giovanni Ribisi. Black recently hosted the 2006 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards on April 1, 2006 and the MTV video music awards on August 31, 2006. Jack is also a member of the famous Frat Pack, which includes Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, and Steve Carell. Jack Black has made five appearances on Saturday Night Live: three times as a host, once as a musical guest (with Kyle Gass as Tenacious D), and another appearance with Tenacious D, not as a host or musical guest. On the website for VH1's upcoming internet video show Acceptable.TV, Jack can be seen in various videos, including the three introduction videos on the main site, as well as all of the tutorial videos.[5] Music careerBlack is the lead singer for the rock comedy band Tenacious D. The D owes much of their popularity to Black's unorthodox, humorous lyrics. Tenacious D's fans often cite his skilled satire of hard rock and metal as much as they do the band's musicianship. Black's singing style is often described as being an odd scat type of music. For example, in the song "Wonderboy", one of his lines is "Rrrigga-gyu-gyu Rrrigga-gyu-gyu", an example of his verbalized guitar solo. This type of singing appears in many Tenacious D songs in place of a melodic or ripping guitar sound. Black has dubbed this form of singing the "ventrili-solo". Black has also performed a two-part scat with bandmate Kyle Gass in the song "Tribute". Tenacious D has, so far, released two albums, the self-titled Tenacious D, and the follow up, The Pick of Destiny. The latter coincides with the movie Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny. The film, directed by Tenacious D veteran Liam Lynch, is a culmination of the band. It features recurring characters such as Lee the superfan and Sasquatch. Tim Robbins cameos naturally, as does Dave Grohl as Satan. Ben Stiller also makes an appearance as a worker at Guitar Center. Black was also a guest star on a singing-themed episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show "Ellen the Musical", alongside Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth and teenage singer-actress Olivia Olson. On the show, besides singing, he discussed his then-upcoming film Nacho Libre with the host. Jack Black has also appeared on Dave Grohl's Probot album, providing vocals for the hidden song "I Am The Warlock", and Liam Lynch's Fake Songs album, providing vocals for the song "Rock and Roll Whore". Jack Black performed a cover of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" in the last sequence of High Fidelity. Jack lent his musical abilities to the Queens of the Stone Age song "Burn the Witch" with rhythmic stomps and claps, some performed with his eyes closed. Black has not only appeared in music videos by Tenacious D, but also in the following:
Personal lifeBlack dated actress and comedian Laura Kightlinger from 1997 until 2005. In January 2006, he became engaged to Tanya Haden (daughter of the famous jazz double bassist Charlie Haden). Haden herself is an accomplished cellist. Both attended Crossroads school, but met again, 15 years after graduating, at a friend's birthday party. Black proposed marriage around Christmas time 2005 with a $220,000 Neil Lane ring. The two married on 14 March 2006, in Big Sur, California. On June 10 2006, they had a son who they named Samuel Jason. Comedic styleJack Black's comedic style combines many key elements from both sides of the traditional double act. Black typically begins a skit in which he presents an earnest, even reverent introduction to a premise or subject that quickly reveals itself to be flawed or fundamentally ludicrous. Black then switches completely to a far-extreme caricature of human emotion. His would-be straight-man Gass often functions to trigger this outbursts. Tenacious D’s subject matter illustrates this technique:
Selected filmography
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