Jack Black (born Thomas J. Black, Jr., August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian and musician. Black and Kyle Gass are the comedy/rock duo Tenacious D. He is considered a core member of the Frat Pack, a name used by some 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 is also known by his nicknames, Jables or JB.

Biography

Early life

Black was born in Redondo Beach, California to Thomas Black and Judith Cohen. His mother is Jewish and his father converted to Judaism before they married. Black grew up in Hermosa Beach. 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, which was later shown during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

During his middle school years, Black started taking drugs in an attempt to fit in and periodically stole money from his mother's wallet to buy cocaine. When he entered high school, his parents suggested that he transfer to the Poseidon School, a private secondary school engineered specifically for students struggling in the traditional school system. Black eagerly accepted the proposition, afraid that he would only be bullied and his drug problem exacerbated if he remained in public school. He also attended the Crossroads School, where he excelled in drama. Black later attended UCLA but dropped out during his sophomore year to pursue a career in the entertainment business, at which point his father discontinued his financial support. Fellow UCLA veteran Tim Robbins later cast Black in Bob Roberts. He also had recurring roles on the HBO sketch comedy series Mr. Show.

Acting career

Jack Black'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), and Northern Exposure (Kevin Wilkins, prom king). Black later took on small roles in 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. His career soon led to leading roles in films such as Shallow Hal, Orange County, School of Rock, and King Kong. Black starred in two films in 2006: Nacho Libre, where he plays a Mexican friar following his childhood dream of wrestling and pursuing true victory by fighting for the children of an orphanage, and "Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny", a fictionalized account of the band's formation and their quest to obtain a "suprenatural" guitar pick. "Nacho Libre" opened on June 16, 2006; "Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny" was released November 22, 2006.

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.

Black appeared in a un-aired pilot episode for a show directed by Ben Stiller called Heat Vision and Jack where he played a super-smart ex-astronaut that was pursued by actor Ron Silver. He was accompanied by his friend who had merged with a motorcycle, voiced by Owen Wilson.

In a Season 3 episode of The X-Files, titled "D.P.O.", Black played Zero, friend to Darin, 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 including Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, and Steve Carell.

JB, as he refers to himself regularly, also appeared briefly alongside Kyle Gass in the Paulie Shore movie Biodome.

Music career

Black is the lead singer for the rock comedy band Tenacious D, which perhaps 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 Sasquach. 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 skillful 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.

Personal life

Black dated actress and comedian Laura Kightlinger from 1997 until 2005. In January 2006, he became engaged to his current wife Tanya Haden (daughter of the famous jazz double bassist Charlie Haden), whommagazine, page 19; "News by Numbers". Printed April 2006. Their first child, son Samuel Jason, was born on June 10, 2006.

Black has admitted to using ecstasy during the filming of King Kong with another member of the crew whose identity he refuses to reveal. He has clarified that it does not reflect on his overall behavior during filming.

Comedic style

Jack Black's unique comedic style combines many key elements from both-sides of the traditional double act. Black typically begins a skit/bit in a clearly articulate character thus embodying some aspects of the straight man. He straightly presents an earnest, even reverent introduction to a premise or subject that quickly reveals itself to be flawed or fundamentally ludicrous and then amplifies the outrageousness of the subject beyond recovery. At or about this exact point of climax, Black switches completely to a far-extreme caricature of human emotionality. His would-be straight-man Kyle is often reduced to being a mere trigger event. Tenacious D’s subject matter illustrates this technique:

1. In "Tribute", TD isn’t telling a story in which they offered a good or even great song to a demanding audience, they claim to have performed "The Best Song in the World" for a "Shiny Demon" who would otherwise "eat their souls".
2. In "Inward Singing", Black doesn’t merely discover a new technique, he discovers "the most powerful tool in singing technology since yodeling".

Selected filmography

Guest appearances

In addition to those of Tenacious D, Black has appeared in the following music videos:

• Beck, "Sexx Laws"
• Dio, "Push"
• Foo Fighters, "Learn To Fly"
• Foo Fighters, "Low"
• Foo Fighters, "The One"
• The Eagles of Death Metal, "I Want You So Hard (Boy's Bad News)"
• Foo Fighters, cover of AC/DC's song "Back in Black" at MTV New Year's Eve Party 2003
• Queens Of The Stone Age, "Burn The Witch"

Salaries

• $1,000,000 - Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny (2006) FILM; Jack Black Revisits The Glory Days Known as Tenacious D New York Times, published October 8, 2006 Split equally with Kyle Gass, with whom will share 10% of gross revenues once production & marketing costs are recouped.
• $8,000,000 - Nacho Libre (2006)
• $2,000,000 - Orange County (2002)
• $2,000,000 - Shallow Hal (2001)
• $1,000,000 - Saving Silverman (2001) IMDB URL last accessed 20 May 2006

Trivia

• Jack Black appears briefly in an episode of the Golden Girls spin-off series, The Golden Palace, as a taxi driver in 1992.
• Jack Black appeared in a Celebrity Deathmatch episode in a match against Jack White. He lost.
• Jack Black and School of Rock were referenced in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, via a pornography spoof titled "School of Cock" starring "Jack Blackcock."
• Before he was a big star, in 2000 he was referenced in the spoof film Scary Movie. Characters in the film talk about how annoying his Jamaican stoner character in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer is. Shawn Wayans' character (Ray) comments, "Ohh, I want to kill that motherfucker."
• Jack Black appeared in one of GameSpot's weekly show "Button Mashing" where he was chosen to take on the remaining contestant and won. The staff awarded him with a copy of Pitfall!, due to his appearance in a commercial for the game.
• Jack Black has made five appearances on Saturday Night Live: three times as a host, once as a musical guest (with Tenacious D), and another appearance with Tenacious D, not as a host or musical guest.

References

External links

• The Frat Pack Tribute

Interviews

• Kansas City Star interview (February 28, 2006)
• The Observer interview (November 2005)
• Ugo.com interview (October, 2003)
• Brant Publications interview (October, 2002)
• The Onion AV Club interview (October 31, 2001)
• The Believer Magazine interview