Early and personal life
Finnerty was born in
Rochester, New YorkRochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, but grew up in the small town of
Bath, New YorkBath is a town in Steuben County, New York, United States. The 2000 population was 12,097. The Town are either named after the city in England or after Lady Bath, daughter of a landowner.The Town of Bath contains the village Bath...
and attended
Emerson CollegeEmerson College is a private coeducational university located in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of oratory," Emerson is "the only comprehensive college or university in America dedicated exclusively to communication and the arts in a liberal arts...
in Boston. He was a member of the hit off-Broadway show
StompStomp may refer to:*Stomp , a downwards kick using the heel*Stomp , a percussive physical theatre troupe*Stomp Records, a record label now part of Union Label Group*Stomp Entertainment, an Australian entertainment group...
in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. On August 8, 1995, he married actress
Kathy NajimyKathy Ann Najimy is an American actress, most notable as Olive Massery on the television series Veronica's Closet, Sister Mary Patrick in Sister Act and the voice of Peggy Hill on the animated television series King of the Hill. Prior to her film work, she was best known for two Off Broadway shows...
.
Gloria SteinemGloria Marie Steinem is an American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader of, and media spokeswoman for, the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s...
officiated the ceremony. The couple has one daughter.
Career
He created and is the lead singer of the cult hit group
The Dan BandThe Dan Band is a comedy band from Los Angeles, California, created by actor/comedian Dan Finnerty.The band is well known for its covers of originally female-performed pop songs, with added obscenities and swearing...
. His
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
show,
Dan Finnerty & The Dan Band: I Am Woman, was filmed as a one hour concert special on Cable TV's Bravo channel, directed by
McGJoseph McGinty Nichol , better known as McG, is an American director and producer of film and television, as well as a former record producer....
and executive produced by
Steven SpielbergSteven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
, who then cast him in
The TerminalThe Terminal is a 2004 American comedy-drama film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It is about a man trapped in a terminal at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport when he is denied entry into the United States and at the same time cannot...
.
Finnerty is best known for his foul-mouthed rendition of "
Total Eclipse of the Heart"Total Eclipse of the Heart" is a song written and produced by Jim Steinman and recorded by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler for her fifth studio album, Faster Than the Speed of Night...
" as the wedding singer at
Will FerrellJohn William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...
's wedding in the movie
Old SchoolOld School is a 2003 American comedy film released by DreamWorks SKG and directed by Todd Phillips, director of the documentary Frat House. The story was written by Court Crandall, and the film was written by Phillips and Scot Armstrong...
, directed by
Todd PhillipsTodd Phillips is an American screenwriter and film director. He is best known for directing the comedy films Road Trip, Old School, The Hangover, and Due Date.-Early life:...
, who continued to feature Dan, using him as the sleazy bat-mitzvah singer in
Starsky & HutchStarsky & Hutch is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips. The film stars Ben Stiller as David Starsky and Owen Wilson as Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson and is a film adaptation of the original television series of the same name from the 1970s....
and again as the irreverent wedding singer in
The HangoverThe Hangover is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha and Jeffrey Tambor...
.
He has released
The Dan Band LiveThe Dan Band Live is the first album released by The Dan Band. It includes humorous covers of various pop songs.-Track listing:#"Free Your Mind/I Am Woman"#"Gloria/Mickey"#"Abba Medley"#"Shoop/Whatta Man/Never Gonna Get It"...
, the full-length CD of his live show, which
Entertainment Weekly dubbed "the hottest ticket in Hollywood." He also released a holiday album called
Ho: A Dan Band Xmas. The album consists completely of original Dan Band songs. Songs on the album include "Ho, Ho, Ho" (a smooth R&B Christmas song about a prostitute) "Merry Christmakwanzakah," "Please Don't Bomb Nobody This Holiday," and "I Wanna Rock U Hard This Christmas" whose video featured
Florence HendersonFlorence Agnes Henderson is an American actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for her role of Carol Brady on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974...
from
The Brady BunchThe Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
making the moves on Santa at a retirement home. The video for "Please Don't Bomb Nobody This Holiday" featured many celebrity cameos, including
Sheryl CrowSheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
,
Christina ApplegateChristina Applegate is an American actress. She is best known for playing Kelly Bundy on the Fox sitcom Married... with Children. Since then, she has established a film and television career, winning a Primetime Emmy and earning Tony and Golden Globe nominations...
,
Nicole ScherzingerNicole Prescovia Elikolani Valiente Scherzinger is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, record producer, model, and actress. Scherzinger is perhaps best known for being the lead vocalist of the Pussycat Dolls....
from The Pussycat Dolls,
Kyle GassKyle Richard Gass , also known as KG or Kage, is an American rock musician, singer-songwriter and actor. He is a member of the bands Tenacious D and Trainwreck. In Tenacious D , Gass plays lead guitar and sings backup vocals, and also plays the role of Black's comic foil in most of their comedy...
from
Tenacious DTenacious D is an American rock band that was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1994. Composed of lead vocalist and guitarist Jack Black and lead guitarist and vocalist Kyle Gass, the band has released two albums – Tenacious D and The Pick of Destiny...
,
Neil Patrick HarrisNeil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, director, and magician.Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold...
,
Meg RyanMargaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra , professionally known as Meg Ryan, is an American actress and producer. Raised in Bethel, Connecticut, Ryan began her acting career in 1981 in minor roles, before joining the cast of the CBS soap opera As the World Turns in 1982...
,
Macy GrayMacy Gray is a Grammy Award-winning American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress, famed for her distinctive raspy voice, and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday and Betty Davis.Gray has released five studio albums, with her fifth studio album, The Sellout,...
,
Christopher GuestChristopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest , better known as Christopher Guest, is an American screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor and comedian. He is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed and starred in several improvisational "mockumentary" films that...
, among others. They've been the house band on
The Ellen DeGeneres ShowThe Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...
,
Pajama PartyPajama party or Sleepover may refer to:*Sleepover, an overnight party*Pajama Party, a 1964 film*Sleepover, a 2004 film*Pajama Party , an episode of Pee-wee's Playhouse...
, and Spike TV's
Spike Guys' Choice AwardsThe Spike Guys' Choice Awards is an awards show produced by the Viacom cable channel Spike and held since 2007. It is patterned after Viacom's MTV Movie Awards...
2009, and wrote and performed the finale song for the final season of
Last Comic StandingLast Comic Standing is an American reality television talent show that has aired from 2003 through 2010.The goal of the program is to select a comedian from a group, who will receive a development contract with the NBC network, and a television special first to air on the cable-TV network Comedy...
as well as numerous appearances on
Jimmy Kimmel LiveJimmy Kimmel Live! is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and broadcast on ABC.The nightly hour-long show made its debut on January 26, 2003, following Super Bowl XXXVII. Jimmy Kimmel Live! is produced by Jackhole Productions in association with ABC Studios...
,
The Late Late ShowThe Late Late Show, sometimes referred to as The Late Late, or in some cases by the acronym LLS, is the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster and the official flagship television programme of Irish broadcasting company RTÉ...
,
Last Call with Carson DalyLast Call with Carson Daly is an American late night talk show that is broadcast on NBC. The show is hosted by Carson Daly, the half-hour show featuring celebrity interviews, documentary-style coverage of a topic, and musical performances. Last Call airs weeknights at 1:35 a.m. Eastern / 12:35 a.m....
, and
CD USACD USA, which debuted in 2006, is an American music television show airing exclusively on DirecTV's" The 101" network in the United States. The show is an American version of CD:UK, a similarly themed music show on ITV in the UK. Its hosts are John Wynn, Becky Baeling, and formerly, Jonathan...
. He has guest-starred on numerous television shows and he voiced Wallo in
Random! Cartoons. Dan was a recurring correspondent on
The Jay Leno ShowThe Jay Leno Show is an American comedy show created by and starring Jay Leno, that aired from September 14, 2009 to February 9, 2010 on NBC following the May 29, 2009 conclusion of Leno's first tenure as host of The Tonight Show...
and has continued as a correspondent on the new
The Tonight Show with Jay LenoThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that initially aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, and resumed production on March 1, 2010. The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise made its debut on May 25, 1992, three days following Johnny...
.
Filmography
| Work | Year | (Notes) Character |
| Lost Souls -Film, TV and radio:* Lost Souls , a special 2008 radio episode of the BBC TV series* Lost Souls , a 2000 movie directed by Janusz Kamiński and starring Winona Ryder and Ben Chaplin...
|
2000 |
Technical Director |
The Wedding PlannerThe Wedding Planner is a 2001 romantic comedy film directed by Adam Shankman, written by Michael Ellis and Pamela Falk, and starring Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey.-Plot:...
|
2000 |
Best Man |
| The Princess and the Pea "The Princess and the Pea" is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a young woman whose royal identity is established by a test of her physical sensitivity. The tale was first published with three others by Andersen in an inexpensive booklet on 8 May 1835 in Copenhagen by C.A...
|
2002 |
Prince Rollo (Singing Voice) |
| Old School Old School is a 2003 American comedy film released by DreamWorks SKG and directed by Todd Phillips, director of the documentary Frat House. The story was written by Court Crandall, and the film was written by Phillips and Scot Armstrong...
|
2003 |
The Wedding Singer |
| Starsky & Hutch Starsky & Hutch is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips. The film stars Ben Stiller as David Starsky and Owen Wilson as Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson and is a film adaptation of the original television series of the same name from the 1970s....
|
2004 |
The Bat Mitzvah Singer |
The TerminalThe Terminal is a 2004 American comedy-drama film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It is about a man trapped in a terminal at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport when he is denied entry into the United States and at the same time cannot...
|
2004 |
The Discovery Store Manager |
| Extreme Movie |
2005 |
Gigundocock |
| I Hate Valentine's Day I Hate Valentine's Day is a 2009 romantic comedy film written and directed by Nia Vardalos. The film stars Vardalos and John Corbett, previously seen together in Vardalos' hit 2002 film My Big Fat Greek Wedding.-Plot:...
|
2009 |
Grouchy Guy |
| The Hangover The Hangover is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha and Jeffrey Tambor...
|
2009 |
The Wedding Singer |
| Rock of Ages |
2012 |
Stacee Jaxx's Tour Manager |
External links