Denis Leary

Denis Leary was born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, the son of Nora and John Leary, Irish immigrants who had grown up together. After a childhood in the sixties, Mr. Leary went to Emerson College in Boston, where he tried his hand at acting and writing. He was a charter member of Emerson's Comedy Workshop, and taught at the College for five years after graduating. At that point, he had written several pieces in magazines and had worked at stand-up comedy for a time. In 1990, he and his wife Ann flew to London to perform in the BBC's Paramount City. That weekend, Ann's water broke. Their planned weekend trip became a stay of months, and Denis, faced with, well, not much to do, started to write a one-man comedy act. He brought friends in from the States, and they wrote songs to perform on stage. Denis Leary, with Chris Phillips and Adam Roth on guitar, performed No Cure For Cancer at the Edinburgh International Arts Festival in Scotland. Despite some protests about the title, the show won the Critic's Award and the BBC Festival Recommendation. The next year, the show was moved to America. In 1992, No Cure For Cancer was broadcast on Showtime. This spawned a book, CD and cassette, and a videotape. It also started Denis Leary's movie career. Since then, he has starred in several movies.