Biography of Actor Jack Black

Multi-talented Jack Black is known for many different things, including the hilarious characters he plays on the big screen, as well as the front man to the two-piece rock comedy band named Tenacious D. He is truly one of the comedic masters of our time, and no matter how successful he's been he still refuses to grow up. His story is one just as incredible as his talent.

Jack Black was born in Santa Monica, California. Oddly enough, he was the product of two rocket scientists, Judith Cohen and Thomas Black. Black was raised in the Jewish religion, and his parents formally divorced when he was ten. When he was in high school, his parents urged Jack to attend a secondary school for children struggling in a normal public school system. He followed his parents' advice and ended up excelling in drama. After graduation, he attended UCLA and after once year he dropped out to pursue the entertainment industry. Little did he know then that was the biggest decision he'd ever made. He had a few minor roles in the beginning, such as an HBO sketch comedy series, but nothing was jumping out at Black. He appeared in fellow UCLA alum Tim Robbins' production of Carnage at the 1989 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and would go on to star in Bob Roberts. He also starred in Dead Man Walking and Cradle Will Rock. Most don't realize that Black had a variety of supporting roles such as in Demolition Man and The Cable Guy, where he played a friend to Matthew Broderick.

In 2000, Jack Black had a very memorable role in the film High Fidelity, which co-starred John Cusack. Black played a character named Barry, a record-store employee with a passion for music. The movie also featured some of Black's singing talents which, by this point, had been showcased in a band called Tenacious D a few years prior on the HBO sketch comedy series. Tenacious D, which got its name from a Marv Albert sports commentary quote, is comprised of Jack Black and Kyle Gass. The group has been together since 1994 and they have released several comedy albums.

Black soon moved on to a leading role in the Farrelly brother's comedy, Shallow Hal. The movie was about a superficial man that has a spell put on him by Tony Robbins to where he can only see the inner beauty of a woman. He falls in love with a 300 pound woman and finds out later on that he'd been hypnotized all along. It was the perfect role for Black. Just a few years later in 2003 he starred in his first major hit entitled, School of Rock, about a substitute teacher with a love for heavy metal. In 2004, he put co-starred in the mildly successful comedy Envy, starring alongside Ben Stiller.

Perhaps the biggest role he's had to date was his role in Peter Jackson's remake of the epic film King Kong. This allowed him to showcase his broad range of acting abilities and he proved to audiences that he could to more than raise an eyebrow and make a crowd laugh. In 2006, he was back to his old comedy ways in Nacho Libre, a movie in which he played a wrestler. Most recently, Black appeared in The Pick of Destiny, an ode to the Tenacious D phenomenon and The Holiday, who he co-starred alongside Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz.

As for his personal life, Black dated fellow actress and comedian Laura Kightlinger for nearly eight years until they broke it off in 2005. In January 2006, he got engaged to Tanya Haden. They originally went to school together, but bonded again nearly 15 years after graduation. They married in March of 2006 and they now have a son named Samuel Jason. I look forward to the future Jack Black movies and I'm sure they'll keep me smiling and laughing along the way.