American actor, seen in “The Matchmaker” and “Wag the Dog” as well as the acclaimed cable television series, “Rescue Me.” While attending Boston’s Emerson College, he became a charter member of the school’s Comedy Workshop, and following graduation, spent five years teaching at the institution.
After gaining some success as a stand-up comic and writer, in 1990 he and his pregnant wife Ann traveled to London, where Leary was scheduled to perform for a BBC broadcast. While overseas, the couple’s baby unexpectedly arrived, and a planned weekend trip became a prolonged stay. To fill his time, Leary began writing his breakthrough one-man show, “No Cure for Cancer.” The show included his awful but popular song “Asshole,” (I’m an asshole and I’m proud of it…) After premiering in Scotland, the show found widespread critical acclaim throughout Britain, and moved to American shores the following year.
In 1992, “No Cure for Cancer” was filmed for Showtime; an album and book of the monologue — a bitter rant against the prevalence of no-smoking laws and the loss of personal freedom — soon followed. At about the same time, the in-your-face comedian filmed a series of snarky promotional clips for MTV which greatly boosted his visibility. After a series of small film roles, he graduated to star status for 1994’s black comedy “The Ref.”
Although his romantic comedy “Two If By Sea,” 1996, which Leary also co-wrote, was a critical and commercial failure, he quickly bounced back with a string of projects, including film appearances, TV spots and a projected sequel to “No Cure.” The LP “Lock ‘N Load,” which featured a guest appearance from the great Janeane Garofalo, appeared in 1997.
Chain-smoking and explosive, Leary certainly benefited from the popularity of Sam Kinison and Andrew Dice Clay in the late 1980s and early 1990s. His barbed tongue tackles topics like drugs, smoking, meat, rock stars, earth, and combinations thereof.
In July 2004 a series about post-911 New York firefighters aired. Leary was co-creator and co-writer of the long-running and very popular series.
Link to Wikipedia biography