Steven Alexander Wright (born December 6, 1955) is an American
comedianA comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
,
actorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and
writerA writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
. He is known for his distinctly lethargic voice and slow,
deadpanDeadpan is a form of comic delivery in which humor is presented without a change in emotion or body language, usually speaking in a casual, monotone, solemn, blunt, disgusted or matter-of-fact voice and expressing an unflappably calm, archly insincere or artificially grave demeanor...
delivery of
ironicIrony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...
, philosophical and sometimes nonsensical
jokeA joke is a phrase or a paragraph with a humorous twist. It can be in many different forms, such as a question or short story. To achieve this end, jokes may employ irony, sarcasm, word play and other devices...
s and
one-linersA one-liner is a joke that is delivered in a single line. A good one-liner is said to be pithy.Comedians and actors use this comedic method as part of their act, e.g...
with contrived situations.
Early life and career
Wright was born in Mount Auburn Hospital in
Cambridge, MassachusettsCambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, and grew up in
Burlington, MassachusettsBurlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,498 at the 2010 census.- History :It is believed that Burlington takes its name from the English town of Bridlington, however this has never been confirmed....
, one of four children of Lucille “Dolly” (née Lomano) and Alexander K. Wright. He was raised
CatholicThe word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
. His mother was
Italian AmericanAn Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
and his father was of Scottish descent. Wright's father, an electronics technician who "tested a lot of stuff for the Apollo space program," became a truck driver after that program ended.
Wright spent two years obtaining an
associate's degreeAn associate degree is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges, and bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years...
from Middlesex Community College in
Bedford, MassachusettsBedford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is within the Greater Boston area, north-west of the city of Boston. The population of Bedford was 13,320 at the 2010 census.- History :...
, before enrolling at
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...
. He graduated from the latter in 1978 and began performing stand-up comedy in 1979 at the Boston comedy club the Comedy Connection. He cites
George CarlinGeorge Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums....
and
Woody AllenWoody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
among his influences.
In 1982
Peter LassallyPeter Lassally is a former Carson Productions executive who served as the executive producer of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Late Night with David Letterman, and the Late Show with David Letterman...
,
executive producerAn executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
of
The Tonight ShowThe Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
, noticed Wright performing on a bill with other local comics at the comedy club Ding Ho, in Cambridge's
Inman SquareInman Square is a neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It lies north of Central Square, at the junction of Cambridge, Hampshire, and Inman Streets near the Cambridge–Somerville border.-Location:...
, a venue Wright described as "half Chinese restaurant and half comedy club. It was a pretty weird place". Lassally booked Wright on
The Tonight Show, where the comic so impressed host
Johnny CarsonJohn William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
and the studio audience that Wright was brought back less than a week later. In May 2000, Wright and other Ding Ho alumni, including
Lenny ClarkeLenny Clarke is an American comedian and actor, famous for his thick Boston accent and role as Uncle Teddy on the series Rescue Me. During the 1970s, as related in the Comedy Central roast of Clarke's friend Denis Leary, Clarke ran for mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts. When asked by Leary what...
, Barry Crimmins,
Steve SweeneySteve Sweeney is an American comedian.-Biography:Sweeney was born in Charlestown, a section of Boston. His Boston accent and idiosyncratic mannerisms are trademarks of his stand-up act, headlining at comedy clubs across the country, including Caroline's Comedy Club in New York City.A graduate of...
, Bill Sohonage, and
Jimmy TingleJimmy Tingle is an American comic and occasional actor.-Life and career:Tingle was the American correspondent for Sir David Frost’s show for PBS and the BBC, The Strategic Humor Initiative. He completed two seasons with 60 Minutes II on CBS as the humorist / commentator in the Andy Rooney spot...
, appeared at a reunion benefit for comic
Bob LazarusBob Lazarus was an American stand-up comedian and film actor.Lazarus graduated from the University of Massachusetts....
, suffering from
leukemiaLeukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
.
Stand-up success
Wright's 1985 comedy album was entitled
I Have a PonyI Have a Pony is the debut comedy album by American stand-up comedian Steven Wright, released in 1985. It was recorded at Wolfgang's in San Francisco and Park West in Chicago...
. It was released on
Warner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
, received critical acclaim and was nominated for the
Grammy Award for Best Comedy AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album was awarded from yearly 1959 to 1993 and then from 2004 to present day. There have been several minor changes to the name of the award over this time:*From 1959 to 1967 it was Best Comedy Performance...
. The success of this album landed him a much coveted HBO special which he recorded as a live college concert performance,
A Steven Wright Special. By now Wright had firmly developed a new brand of obscure, laid-back performing and was rapidly building a cult-like mystique and eclectic following of "hip", savvy fans. His opening act for the HBO concert was fellow "Ding Ho" comedy alumni Bill Sohonage who recounts that Steven's ultra-casual, nearly catatonic demeanor was no act. "He walked into my dressing room, minutes before I was to take the stage, and asked if he could borrow a shirt, as his had a giant pizza stain. You would think it might be normal to be a little nervous going on a college stage in front of 23,000, let alone having HBO out there filming but as I passed by his room while walking on-stage I saw him sound asleep and loudly snoring". The performance would become one of HBO's longest running and most requested comedy specials and propel him to huge success on the college arena concert circuits.
In 1989 he and fellow producer
Dean ParisotAldo L. "Dean" Parisot is an American film and television director. He won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Short Film, Live Action for The Appointments of Dennis Jennings, which starred comedian Steven Wright...
won an
Academy AwardAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for their 30-minute short film "
The Appointments of Dennis JenningsThe Appointments of Dennis Jennings is a 1988 American short comedy film, starring and co-written by Steven Wright, which won the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film at the 61st Academy Awards in 1988.-Plot:...
", directed by Parisot, written by Mike Armstrong and Wright, and starring Wright and
Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Thin Blue Line...
. In 1992 Wright had a recurring role on the television
sitcomA situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
Mad About YouMad About You is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 23, 1992 to May 24, 1999. The show starred Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a newly married couple in New York City. Reiser played Paul Buchman, a documentary film maker. Hunt played Jamie Stemple Buchman, a public relations specialist...
. He supplied the voice of the radio DJ in writer-director
Quentin TarantinoQuentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
's film
Reservoir DogsReservoir Dogs is an American crime film marking debut of director and writer Quentin Tarantino. It depicts the events before and after a botched diamond heist, but not the heist itself. Reservoir Dogs stars an ensemble cast: Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, and...
that year. "Dean Parisot's wife
Sally MenkeSally JoAnne Menke was an American film editor with more than 20 film credits since 1984. She had a long-time collaboration with director Quentin Tarantino, having edited all of his films...
is Quentin Tarantino's
[film
] editor, so when she was editing the movie and it was getting down toward the end where they didn't have the radio DJ yet, she thought of me and told Quentin and he liked the idea", Wright explained in 2009.
Numerous lists of jokes attributed to Wright circulate on the Internet, sometimes of dubious origin. Wright has stated, "Someone showed me a site, and half of it that said I wrote it, I didn't write. Recently, I saw one, and I didn't write any of it. What's disturbing is that with a few of these jokes, I wish I had thought of them. A giant amount of them, I'm embarrassed that people think I thought of them, because some are really bad".
After his 1990 comedy special
Wicker Chairs and Gravity, Wright continued to do stand-up performances, but he was largely absent from television, only doing occasional guest spots on late-night
talk showA talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
s. In 1999 he wrote and directed the 30-minute short "
One SoldierOne Soldier is a black-and-white short film from 1999 starring and directed by Steven Wright. Also starring is Sandi Carroll.The film tells the story of a confused soldier who narrates throughout the movie his bizarre thoughts about the army and war in general, using Wright's trademark deadpan...
", "about a soldier who was in the Civil War, right after the war, with all these
existentialistExistentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
thoughts and wondering if there is a God and all that stuff".
In 2006 Wright produced his first stand-up special in 16 years,
Steven Wright: When The Leaves Blow AwayWhen The Leaves Blow Away is a stand-up comedy television special by Steven Wright, broadcast by Comedy Central in 2006. The program was released on DVD on April 24, 2007....
, originally airing on
Comedy CentralComedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
on October 21, 2006. Its DVD was released April 23, 2007. On September 25, 2007 Wright released his second album,
I Still Have a PonyI Still Have a Pony is the second live comedy album by Steven Wright. Released 22 years after Wright's first album, it contains the audio from his Comedy Central standup comedy special "When The Leaves Blow Away" Wright claims to have come back with a new album and special because "the people in...
, a CD release of the material from
When The Leaves Blow Away. It was nominated for the
Grammy Award for Best Comedy AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album was awarded from yearly 1959 to 1993 and then from 2004 to present day. There have been several minor changes to the name of the award over this time:*From 1959 to 1967 it was Best Comedy Performance...
but it lost to
The Distant FutureThe Distant Future is the Grammy-award winning EP by New Zealand folk-parody duo Flight of the Conchords, released on August 7, 2007. It was certified Gold in New Zealand on May 11, 2008, selling over 7,500 copies....
by
Flight of the ConchordsFlight of the Conchords are a New Zealand-based comedy duo composed of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. The duo's comedy and music became the basis of a BBC radio series and then an American television series, which premiered in 2007 on HBO, also called Flight of the Conchords.They were named...
.
Awards and honors
Steven Wright was awarded an Oscar in 1989 for Best Short Live-Action Film for The Appointments of Dennis Jennings, which he co-wrote (with Michael Armstrong) and starred in.
On December 15, 2008 Wright became the first inductee to the Boston Comedy Hall of Fame.
In a 2005 poll to find
The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted amongst the top 50 comedy acts by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. He was named #23 on
Comedy CentralComedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
's list of the 100 greatest stand-up comics.
Other interests
While not well known for works outside of the comedy realm, Steven Wright has also recorded several non-comedy songs with his friend and occasional actor Mark Wuethner. Steven also has an apparent interest in painting.
Beginning in 2009, Steven Wright sporadically appears as himself on
The Late Late ShowThe Late Late Show is an American late-night television talk and variety show on CBS hosted by Craig Ferguson since 2005. It immediately follows Late Show with David Letterman and is produced by Letterman's Worldwide Pants Incorporated...
with
Craig FergusonCraig Ferguson is a Scottish American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, and producer. He is the host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, an Emmy Award-nominated, Peabody Award-winning late-night talk show that airs on CBS...
as a visiting celebrity, ostensibly dropping by the show to help out with the fan mail segment. He joins a small cadre of Hollywood celebrities who lend their support to the show in this way.
Filmography
- Desperately Seeking Susan
Desperately Seeking Susan is a 1985 American comedy-drama film directed by Susan Seidelman and starring Rosanna Arquette and Madonna.-Plot:...
(1985) as Larry Stillman D.D.S.
- "The Appointments of Dennis Jennings
The Appointments of Dennis Jennings is a 1988 American short comedy film, starring and co-written by Steven Wright, which won the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film at the 61st Academy Awards in 1988.-Plot:...
" (1988) (short film) (Academy Award for Best Live Action Short FilmThis name for the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film was introduced in 1974. For the three preceding years it was known as "Short Subjects, Live Action Films." The term "Short Subjects, Live Action Subjects" was used from 1957 until 1970. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate...
)
- Stars and Bars
Stars and Bars is an American comedy film released in 1988, directed by Pat O'Connor and based on a book by William Boyd. The film stars Daniel Day-Lewis as Henderson Dores.-Plot:...
(1988) as Pruitt
- Reservoir Dogs
Reservoir Dogs is an American crime film marking debut of director and writer Quentin Tarantino. It depicts the events before and after a botched diamond heist, but not the heist itself. Reservoir Dogs stars an ensemble cast: Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, and...
(1992) (voice only) as K-Billy DJ
- So I Married an Axe Murderer
So I Married an Axe Murderer is a 1993 American comedy-horror film starring Mike Myers and Nancy Travis. Myers plays Charlie McKenzie, a man afraid of commitment until he meets Harriet , who works at a butcher shop and may be a serial killer...
(1993) as Pilot
- Speechless
Speechless is a 1994 romantic comedy film directed by Ron Underwood. It stars Geena Davis , Michael Keaton, Bonnie Bedelia, Ernie Hudson and Christopher Reeve.-Plot:...
(1994) as Eddie
- Natural Born Killers
Natural Born Killers is a 1994 crime/black comedy film directed by Oliver Stone about two victims of traumatic childhoods who became lovers and psychopathic serial killers, and are irresponsibly glorified by the mass media...
(1994) as Dr. Emil Reingold
- The Swan Princess
The Swan Princess is a 1994 American animated film based on the ballet "Swan Lake". Starring the voice talents of Jack Palance, John Cleese, Steven Wright, and Sandy Duncan, the film is directed by a former Disney animation director, Richard Rich, with a music score by Lex de Azevedo...
(1994) as Speed (voice)
- Mixed Nuts
Mixed Nuts is a motion picture comedy directed by Nora Ephron, based on the French comedy film, Le Père Noël est une ordure . Its cast includes Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Rita Wilson, Anthony LaPaglia, Garry Shandling, Juliette Lewis and Adam Sandler...
(1994) as Suicidal man at pay phone
- The Larry Sanders Show
The Larry Sanders Show is a satirical television sitcom that aired from August 1992 to May 1998 on the HBO cable television network in the United States. It starred stand-up comedian Garry Shandling as vain, neurotic talk show host Larry Sanders, and centered on the running of his TV show, and the...
(1994) as himself
- Canadian Bacon
Canadian bacon can mean:* Canadian bacon, a US name for two different pork products - back bacon and a smoked ham* Canadian Bacon, a 1995 comedy film* Canadian Bacon , a peak in the US state of Washington...
(1995) as Royal Canadian Mounted PoliceThe Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
Officer
- Half Baked
Half Baked is a 1998 stoner comedy film starring Dave Chappelle, Jim Breuer, Harland Williams and Guillermo Díaz. The movie was directed by Tamra Davis, and co-written by star Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan...
(1998) as The Guy on the Couch (uncredited)
- Babe: Pig in the City
Babe: Pig in the City is a 1998 sequel to the 1995 film Babe. It occurs in the fictional city of Metropolis. Due to the unexpected darker and more mature subject matter , the film was not received as well as the first Babe film was, as it flopped at the box office and reviews were generally...
(1998) as Bob (voice)
- "One Soldier
One Soldier is a black-and-white short film from 1999 starring and directed by Steven Wright. Also starring is Sandi Carroll.The film tells the story of a confused soldier who narrates throughout the movie his bizarre thoughts about the army and war in general, using Wright's trademark deadpan...
" (1999) (short film)
- The Muse (1999)
- Loser
Loser is a 2000 American romantic comedy film starring Jason Biggs, Mena Suvari and Greg Kinnear. It is about a small town teenager who is accepted into New York University and must cope with the pressures of college life and the big city...
(2000) as Man in Bar
- Coffee and Cigarettes
Coffee and Cigarettes is the title of three short films and a 2003 feature film by independent director Jim Jarmusch. The 2003 film consists of 11 short stories which share coffee and cigarettes as a common thread, and includes the earlier three films....
(2003) as Steven
- The Aristocrats
The Aristocrats is a 2005 documentary film about the famous dirty joke of the same name. It was conceived and produced by comedians Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza, edited by Emery Emery, and released to theaters by TH!NKFilm...
(2005) as himself
- When Stand Up Stood Out
When Stand Up Stood Out is a documentary film by former Boston comedian Fran Solomita which chronicles the explosive popularity of the Boston Stand-up comedy scene in the 80s and early 90s. It was released on DVD on June 20, 2006 by THINKFilm, the distributor behind the documentary The Aristocrats...
(2005) as himself
- Son of the Mask
Son of the Mask is a 2005 American fantasy family-comedy film directed by Lawrence Guterman, starring Jamie Kennedy as Tim Avery, an aspiring cartoonist from Fringe City who has just had his first child born with the powers of the Mask. It is the stand-alone sequel to the successful 1994 film The...
(2005) as The Boss
Discography
- I Have a Pony
I Have a Pony is the debut comedy album by American stand-up comedian Steven Wright, released in 1985. It was recorded at Wolfgang's in San Francisco and Park West in Chicago...
, Warner Bros. Records CD (1985)
- A Steven Wright Special, HBO DVD (1985)
- The Appointments of Dennis Jennings
The Appointments of Dennis Jennings is a 1988 American short comedy film, starring and co-written by Steven Wright, which won the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film at the 61st Academy Awards in 1988.-Plot:...
, DVD (1989)
- One Soldier
One Soldier is a black-and-white short film from 1999 starring and directed by Steven Wright. Also starring is Sandi Carroll.The film tells the story of a confused soldier who narrates throughout the movie his bizarre thoughts about the army and war in general, using Wright's trademark deadpan...
, DVD (1999)
- When the Leaves Blow Away, DVD (2006)
- I Still Have a Pony
I Still Have a Pony is the second live comedy album by Steven Wright. Released 22 years after Wright's first album, it contains the audio from his Comedy Central standup comedy special "When The Leaves Blow Away" Wright claims to have come back with a new album and special because "the people in...
, Comedy Central Records CD (2007)
External links