Jack (I) Black filmography and biography
Date of birth: 28 August 1969, Hermosa Beach, California, USA
Jack (I) Black biography
Jack Black was born in California, and attended the University of California at Los Angeles. While at UCLA, he was a member of Tim Robbins (I)'s acting troupe and it was through this collaboration that led to his 1992 film debut in Bob Roberts. Although he was just a background voice in his first film, Jack's appearances in such television shows as The X Files, his breakthrough performance in High Fidelity, and his rock-comedy band Tenacious D have created an ever-growing cult following.
Jack (I) Black trivia
- Member of the band Tenacious D.
- Filmed a television pilot called Heat Vision and Jack (1999) (TV)
co-starring Ron Silver (I), and Christine Taylor (I), and
directed by Ben Stiller. The show was a parody of
Knight Rider, as well as other action/ adventure shows,
and featured a talking motorcycle voiced by Owen Wilson (I).
- Discovered he could act when he played a game of Freeze after a Passover
seder.
- Revealed on an Australian late night variety show that his favorite
KISS rock song is 1982's "I Love it Loud," where he began
singing parodied lyrics to the first verse.
- Often competes for the same parts with Philip Seymour Hoffman. On
the The School of Rock DVD audio commentary, he jokingly
calls Hoffman "my nemesis."
- Shares a birthday with Shania Twain, LeAnn Rimes and
Daniel Stern (I).
- Born on the same day as Jason Priestley.
- Attended Crossroads High School for the Arts and Sciences.
- Is a member of, what the media refers to as the Frat Pack along with
Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn,
Owen Wilson (I), Steve Carell and Luke Wilson (I).
The Frat Pack name is a reference to the film Old School,
which features Vaughn, Ferrell, and Wilson, due to the wide number of
films featuring the seven actors. Black's "Frat Pack" films include
The Cable Guy, Envy, and
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.
- Starred in a management training film "Manager of the Year - Effective
Listening (1987)" as a teenager who tells his father that the family
car has been stolen.
- Had his gall bladder removed.
- Hosted the MTV Movie Awards in 2002 along with
Sarah Michelle Gellar
- Sang backup vocals for the songs in Bob Roberts.
- One of his closest friends is David Grohl.
- Is good friends with Tim Robbins (I).
- Attended Poseidon School in Santa Monica, California.
- Despite poking fun at the genre, he is actually a very knowledgeable fan
of a lot hard rock/metal music from the 1970s and 1980s. He even
appears as part of Tenacious D in the Ronnie James Dio
video for the song "Push.".
- Appears in a parody of the Council of Elrond scene shown during the MTV
movie awards. Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson (I) later
cast him in King Kong.
- His parents, who were both rocket scientists, divorced when Black was
10. His mother worked on the Hubble space telescope.
- Originally met his wife in high school. They both attended Crossroads, a
private school. They met again 15 years after they graduated high
school at a friend's birthday party.
- Wife, Tanya Haden, is a cellist. She is the daughter of jazz
great Charlie Haden.
- His wife is a triplet. Her sisters, Petra Haden and
Rachel Haden, also musicians, used to be members of the band
"That Dog". Petra was also a former member of the band
The Decemberists. Their brother is Josh Haden.
- He and his wife eloped after dating less than a year. They were married
in Big Sur, California by the same minister who performed
Shane Stanley and Val Barri's ceremony in 2005.
- He and his wife, Tanya Haden, became the parents of a boy, Samuel
Jason Black, on June 10th, 2006.
- Auditioned for the role of "Cubby Barnes" in Ransom.
- Mentioned in the song "High School Never Ends" by
Bowling for Soup, as "the clown".
- Good friends with Will Smith (I).
- Huge fan of Professional Wrestling.
- Was considered for the role of Freddy Lounds in
Red Dragon.
- Jack and his wife, Tanya Haden, became the parents of their
second son, Thomas David Black, on May 23rd 2008.
- Said he considers The Who to be the greatest band of all time,
explaining that "they were the first ones to ever rock HARD... the
recklessness, the deliciousness!".
- Was engaged to actor/comedian/producer Laura Kightlinger previously.
They were together from 1997 to 2005.
Jack (I) Black quotes
- [On filming the love scene in Shallow Hal] It was just
strictly professional. It was like a doctor or a carpenter plying his
trade. I received no pleasure whatsoever . . . I requested 32 takes for
the perfection of the craft.
- Never for a second did I think of myself as the sexiest guy in the
world. When I was a kid, I thought I was the strongest man in the
world. Then, the fastest runner and then the smartest person in the
world. One by one my delusions got shut down. Now I just see myself as
the lamest guy in the world.
- [on co- starring with Gwyneth Paltrow for the first time in
Shallow Hal] You know, I WAS a little afraid that she
would fall head-over-heels in love with me, like she did [when
co-starring] with Brad Pitt in Se7en.
- I'd just like to be in films that I would like to see. I think of myself
as an entertainment arsenal. Like I have my acting bazooka and my music
machete. And you don't know what I'm going to come at you with.
- I was a little worried about working with kids. I wanted to make sure we
didn't approach it tip-toeing around the stuff that would normally be
funny, or make it gentle, rock-a-bye-baby bullshit.
- I'm no Matt Damon, my goal was to be a character actor. I never
thought I would get leads the way that I've been able to in the past
two years.
- I'm hungry for rock 24/7.
- The movie This Is Spinal Tap rocked my world. It's for
rock what The Sound of Music was for hills. They really
nailed how dumb rock can be.
- I'd rather be the king of kids, than the prince of fools.
- There's nothing you can really do to prepare to rock. Do you prepare to
eat a delicious meal? Are you hungry? Then you're gonna eat it.
- You must never underestimate the power of the eyebrow.
- I played, like, a year of piano until I learned
The Pink Panther theme. That was my goal. Once I was good
enough, I quit. Now, my music has to have some rock.
- If Beethoven and Bach hooked up with Mozart and made a band, they COULD
be a distant runner up to The D.
- [talking about his experiences early on in his career] It wasn't about
control. It was about the co-lla-bo. There's great directors who treat
actors like cattle, but I hated it, and I knew if I ever had a choice,
I didn't want to work with those guys. Who said that thing about actors
and cattle? Hitchcock [Alfred Hitchcock (I)]? Yeah, I don't want
to work with that dude."
- [on his part and his tights in Nacho Libre] At first I
would have rather been naked to tell you the truth, because I just look
so goddang ridiculous. But then I thought, "Wait, that's my job. The
stretchy pants are my friends. I love the stretchy pants!" It just took
a little mental adjustment, because I know that when I'm embarrassed
and scared about acting, that means I'm going to get some good
life-nugget knowledge out of it. And I love the knowledge nuggets."
- I should take down someone who is strong, so Steven Seagal would
be perfect - with his ridiculous Indian gear, ponytail and swagger.
He's the best fighter in the world in his own mind, so I'll take him
down two notches with my Anaconda Squeeze and Face Melter.
- [when asked about his cooking skills] I make a mean peanut butter and
jelly sandwich.
- [about Shallow Hal] I wasn't proud of it, and I got paid a
lot of money, so in retrospect it feels like a sell-out.
- [Of his role in Margot at the Wedding] I had to show some
darker sides of myself than I have in roles past. It was challenging. I
was most worried about the crying scenes and the nudity. But I sucked
it up and went to those places because I just had to look over at
Jennifer [Jason Leigh] who was so fearless in her performance.
- Nobody cares about my babies. It's all about Angelina's babies.
- I said I named the baby after me. I didn't say that my actual name is
Thomas.
- When I was ten years old, I fell in love with The Who. I saw the
film Tommy on cable television and despite
Jack Nicholson (I)'s heinous rendition of "Go to The Mirror!", I
was deeply moved by the music and the story. I wasn't deaf, dumb or
blind but I could relate to Tommy. I too wanted to be seen, felt and
healed. Seriously, not going for the laugh [directed to audience]. I
had a supportive family but growing up can be tough no matter what your
upbringing. And no other band had the courage or sensitivity to write
those kinds of emotionally raw songs. Achingly beautiful melodies
touched by the hand of god. Or the devil. Or both. Or neither. I must
say neither. Just a collection of ass-kicking songs, the likes of which
will never be seen again! On the battlefield of rock, they went toe to
toe with the likes of Hendrix and emerged unscathed. Triumphant
dragon-slayers of emotionality. And about know they're probably
wondering why I was chosen to give this speech. Surely there was
someone more qualified. "Why is this moron talking about dragons and
emotions?! Who does he think he is?". Who? I'm just one of the
millions. Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend. Thank you for blowing our
minds and touching our hearts.