Tom Kenny

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For other people named Tom Kenny, see Tom Kenny (disambiguation).

Tom Kenny
Kenny in 2022
Born
Thomas James Kenny

(1962-07-13) July 13, 1962 (age 61)
Syracuse, New York, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
Years active1981–present
WorksRoles and awards
Spouse
​
(m. 1996)​
[1]
Children2
Kenny's speaking voice
On the conception of the musical adaptation of SpongeBob SquarePants

Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. Since 1999, he has voiced

Annie Awards for his voice work as SpongeBob SquarePants and the Ice King. He is married to fellow voice artist Jill Talley, who plays Karen
on SpongeBob SquarePants, with two children.

Biography

Early life and stand-up comedy

Thomas James Kenny was born in

Skaneateles that featured comedian Barry Crimmins with the moniker "Bear Cat". He and Goldthwait went to the event, and performed under the monikers Tomcat and Bobcat, respectively, as a tribute to Crimmins, after which Goldthwait used Bobcat as his stage name.[5][6][7] Describing Kenny's stand-up routines, Goldthwait said, "Tom would get up there and talk about his therapist and he didn't even have a therapist, he just loved Woody Allen."[8]

Kenny went to Bishop Grimes Junior/Senior High School, a Catholic high school.[9] After college, he performed stand-up comedy around the country for about eight years before he moved on to other venues.[7]

Television and film career

See also: List of roles and awards of Tom Kenny

Kenny has acted in many films and TV shows, debuting in

season four episode
, "Uncle Howee" as Uncle Howee, a high-energy kids' show host with strange powers.

Voice acting

Kenny at the 2015 Florida SuperCon

Kenny said that he voices "a lot of sweet yellow characters for some reason."[11] He described SpongeBob's voice as in between that of a child and an adult, stating "Think a Stan Laurel, Jerry Lewis kind of child-man. Kind of like a Munchkin but not quite, kind of like a kid, but not in a Charlie Brown child's voice on the TV shows."[12]

casting call in Los Angeles, California.[13] On one occasion, the producers required Kenny to fill the role of Charlie Adler, who was absent. He voices Cupid for the Nickelodeon show The Fairly OddParents.[14]

Joe Murray chose Kenny for several roles on another of his projects, Camp Lazlo as Scoutmaster Lumpus and Slinkman, 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".[15]

He voiced Dog in

Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, Dr. Two-Brains in the PBS Kids show, WordGirl, and the villains Knightbrace, the Common Cold and Mr. Wink in Codename: Kids Next Door
.

Kenny is the Penguin in the 2004 TV series The Batman.

He voiced the character Squanchy on Rick and Morty.[16]

Kenny at New York Comic Con in 2014

He plays a number of roles in the

Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force GO!
.

In 2009, Kenny became a regular cast voice in the Fox comedy series

Sit Down, Shut Up. He voices Muhammad Sabeeh "Happy" Fa-ach Nuabar, the secretive custodian who is plotting a terrorist attack, as well as Happy's interpreter. The series premiered on April 19, 2009. Kenan Thompson, Kristin Chenoweth, Jason Bateman, Nick Kroll, Cheri Oteri, Henry Winkler, Will Arnett, and Will Forte are the other main cast members.[17]

He plays the

Dr. Otto Octavius on The Ultimate Spider-Man, and Leo Callisto in Miles from Tomorrowland
.

He has also provided voices in television advertisements for

Talking Tom and Friends.[20]

In video games, Kenny is best known as the voice of

Spyro the Dragon, having replaced previous voice actor Carlos Alazraqui. He first voiced Spyro in Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, and continued to voice the character up until Spyro: A Hero's Tail, where he was replaced by Jess Harnell. He also voiced another character in the series, Sgt. James Byrd, in Spyro: Year of the Dragon.[21] He reprised both roles in Spyro Reignited Trilogy, a collection of modern remakes of the original Spyro trilogy.[22] He also voiced Crash Bandicoot live at E3 1997, switching out performances with Carlos Alazraqui.[23]

Kenny was a guest star on

maître d' of Virtuous Harmony.[24]

He also voiced

Fethry Duck in the 2017 version of DuckTales. In 2022, he voiced Benito Mussolini and other characters in Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
.

Kenny reprised his role as Ice King in the 2023 spinoff series Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake.

SpongeBob SquarePants

Main article: SpongeBob SquarePants
San Diego Comic Con

While working on the animated series

sea sponge, "because it's a funny animal, a strange one."[25]
To voice this character, Hillenburg approached Kenny in 1997.

The series, titled SpongeBob SquarePants, premiered on

Annie Award for "Voice Acting in a Television Production" for his role as SpongeBob in SpongeBob's Truth or Square (season 6, episode 23–24). He also voiced SpongeBob in the sequel film released on February 6, 2015. In 2018 and 2020, he received the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program.[26]

In 2019, he was featured in the live recording of the Broadway musical SpongeBob SquarePants playing the role of Patchy the Pirate.[27]

Personal life

Kenny first met his wife

Studio City, California.[30]

References

  1. ^ "Jill Talley on Instagram: "Happy 25th wedding anniversary, Tom Kenny! I know I post the same photo every year but it 's still my fav!"".
  2. ^ a b "Tom Kenny: Biography". TV Guide. Archived from the original on December 31, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  3. ^ "Tom Kenny, voice of SpongeBob SquarePants, talks of local ties, life in Bikini Bottom". Times Leader. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  4. ^ "Tom Kenny Finds his Voice as SpongeBob SquarePants". backstage.com. Archived from the original on September 11, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  5. ^ "Barry Crimmins's Life-Changing Comedy". The New Yorker. August 6, 2015. Archived from the original on June 16, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  6. ^ "Louis C.K. directs CNY comedy legend Barry Crimmins' first-ever standup special". syracuse.com. October 24, 2016. Archived from the original on September 11, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  7. ^ a b Wojciechowski, Michele (April 21, 2015). "Voice Artist Tom Kenny on Being SpongeBob SquarePants". Parade. Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  8. ^ Nieratko, Chris (September 3, 2015). "Bobcat Goldthwait's Latest Documentary Examines Child Sexual Abuse". Vice. Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  9. ^ "Tom Kenny—Sit Down Shut Up, The Batman, SpongeBob SquarePants—02/27/09". GrouchoReviews.com. Groucho Reviews. Archived from the original on September 22, 2017. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  10. ^ Metro (February 2, 2015). "Interview: Tom Kenny talks voicing SpongeBob Squarepants and 'Mr. Show'". Metro New York. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  11. St. Augustine Record. Archived from the original
    on February 2, 2016.
  12. ^ "The Oral History of SpongeBob SquarePants". cartoonician.com. September 21, 2012. Archived from the original on August 5, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  13. ^ "Lisa (Kiczuk) Trainor interviews Joe Murray, creator of Rocko's Modern Life Archived April 20, 2015, at archive.today", The Rocko's Modern Life FAQ
  14. ^ Lawson, Tim and Alisa Persons. The Magic Behind the Voices: A Who's Who of Cartoon Voice Actors. p.192 Archived January 3, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
  15. ^ Q & A with Joe Murray Archived January 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine", Cartoon Network Pressroom
  16. ^ "You Won't Believe Who Voices These Rick And Morty Characters | CCUK". Archived from the original on September 21, 2018. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
  17. ^ "Sit Down, Shut Up". Fox. Archived from the original on April 17, 2009. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
  18. ^ Silver, Stephen. "Best Buy Elf Debuts in Christmas Support Ad". Dealerscope. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  19. ^ Douglas, DC. "Experian (w/ Tom Kenny)". DCDouglas.com. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  20. ^ Talking Tom and Friends (January 19, 2017), Talking Tom and Friends - Meet the Cast, archived from the original on October 30, 2021, retrieved July 1, 2018
  21. ^ Spyro: Year of the Dragon Manual (PDF). Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. October 24, 2000. p. 18. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 7, 2018. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  22. ^ "Spyro the Dragon is Back in the Spyro Reignited Trilogy!". Activision Blog. Kelly, Kevin. Archived from the original on April 6, 2018. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  23. ^ @carlosalazraqui (December 10, 2023). "We both interchanged during those years at the conference. Not sure about 97" (Tweet). Retrieved February 16, 2024 – via Twitter.
  24. ^ HarmonQuest. October 20, 2019. Archived from the original on October 30, 2019. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  25. ^ Shattuck, Kathryn (July 29, 2001). "For Young Viewers; For This Scientist, Children Are Like, er, Sponges". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  26. ^ Hipes, Patick (April 27, 2018). "Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards: 'Bold And The Beautiful', 'Sesame Street' Top Winners". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 28, 2018. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
  27. ^ SpongeBob Voice Star Tom Kenny Joins Nick’s ‘SpongeBob Musical’ Event as Patchy the Pirate (Video)
  28. ^ Woulfe, Molly (July 15, 2005). "Jill Talley: She's ready to 'Sponge' off the Cubbies". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Archived from the original on June 26, 2021.
  29. ^ Edwards, Ellen (November 30, 2004). "As the voice of SpongeBob, Tom Kenny knows it's hip to be square". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on August 18, 2018. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  30. ^ Herbert, Geoff (January 8, 2015). "Tom Kenny, the voice of 'SpongeBob,' recalls growing up (sort of) in East Syracuse". syracuse.com. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2019.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tom Kenny.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Tom Kenny.
Preceded by Voice of
Spyro the Dragon

1999–2002, 2018-present 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Voice of Starscream
2007–2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Voice of
Wheelie

2009–present 		Succeeded by
current
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