Billy Gardell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article was considered for deletion and requires cleanup according to the discussion.
Please help improve this article to meet Wikipedia's quality standards or discuss the issue on the talk page. (December 2007)

Billy Gardell

Born	August 20, 1969 (1969-08-20) (age 38) Pittsburgh

Billy Gardell (born August 20, 1969) is an American actor and comedian who has been visible in the comedy world since 1989.

Although a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Gardell attended Winter Park High School in the mid 1980s and was a member of International Thespian Society Troupe 850 (other notable alums include Amanda Bearse and Ben Rock from The Blair Witch Project) where he was known for comedic roles. Beginning as a touring comedian at the age of nineteen, Gardell has opened for famous comedians including George Carlin and Dennis Miller, later appearing on Miller's show Dennis Miller on CNBC conducting "man-on-the-street" interviews. Notably, he created & staged an SNL style performance of a piece called "Winter Park Live" with all the funds received going to Comic Relief. He makes weekly appearances on hometown local radio station WDVE on the Jim and Randy morning show.

Gardell has performed in several feature films including Bad Santa with Billy Bob Thornton, You, Me, and Dupree with Owen Wilson, and Avenging Angelo with Sylvester Stallone and Anthony Quinn, as well as numerous "series regular" or recurring roles in several television series including NBC's Heist, Yes, Dear, Lucky, and The King of Queens. He also appeared as himself on the Comedy Central series Make Me Laugh. In many of his appearances, he plays a character named "Billy".^[1]

In 2006, Gardell released his first comedy album, Billy Gardell: Throwback, and as of 2007 he still continues to tour as a standup comedy headliner. He taped a special for Comedy Central Presents in 2007 that will air on April 4, 2008.

Gardell is recognizable to many Americans as the host of Pizza Talk, an imaginary TV show, in ads for Round Table Pizza.