| Patton Oswalt | |
|---|---|
Oswalt at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con |
|
| Born | January 27, 1969 Portsmouth, Virginia, USA |
| Medium | Stand-up, television, film |
| Nationality | American |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Genres | Observational comedy, surreal humor, black comedy |
| Subject(s) | Pop culture, American culture, Current events |
| Influences | Jonathan Winters, Richard Pryor,[1] Emo Philips, Bugs Bunny, Bill Hicks, Blaine Capatch, Bobcat Goldthwait, Jay Leno, Sam Kinison, Steve Martin,[2] Louis C.K.[3] |
| Spouse | Michelle Eileen McNamara (2005–;[4] 1 daughter) |
| Notable works and roles | Spence Olchin in The King of Queens Remy in Ratatouille Frat Aliens, and Ezekiel in Aqua Teen Hunger Force Werewolves and Lollipops |
| Website | PattonOswalt.com |
Patton Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor and voice actor. He is best known for portraying Spencer Olchin in the popular sitcom The King of Queens, voicing Remy from the film Ratatouille and Thrasher from the Cartoon Network original series Robotomy.
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Oswalt was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, to Carla and Larry J. Oswalt, a career United States Marine Corps officer.[4] While a military brat, he later lived in Ohio and Tustin, California, before settling in Sterling, Virginia.[5] He is a 1987 graduate of Broad Run High School in Ashburn, Virginia and later attended the College of William and Mary, where he majored in English and was initiated into the Alpha Theta Chapter of the Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity.
Oswalt first began performing standup comedy in the late 1980s or early 1990s, by his own reckoning.[6] After writing for MADtv and starring in his own 1996 comedy special for HBO, he went on to garner notable roles in films and television shows. His most prominent and long-running role was as Spence Olchin on The King of Queens. His first starring film role was as the voice of Remy, the lead character in the 2007 Pixar film Ratatouille. He has also appeared in smaller roles in such films as Magnolia and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. He lent his voice as in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as a caller on the WTCR show "The Tight End Zone", and was the voice of a caller on "Chatterbox" on LCFR in the game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. He was also the voice of a reporter on "New World Order", a radio show on VCPR in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. He supposedly lent his voice as Randall Tugman in the zombie game Dead Rising 2, although he denies this. The character Randall Tugman is credited to have been voiced by John Murphy.
Oswalt wrote the comic book story "JLA: Welcome to the Working Week", a backup story in Batman #600; a story for Dwight T. Albatross's The Goon Noir #01 and a story for Masks: Too Hot for TV. Expanding his voice artist repertoire, he began voicing the villainous character "Tobey" on PBS Kids GO! series WordGirl in 2007. He also appeared on the Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner. In August 2007, he appeared on the Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav. In 2007, he appeared on an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, "The Original Fry Cook", as Jim. He also appears as Carl, the Corndog Hut's mascot in American Hi-Fi's music video for "Another Perfect Day". He also appears in an episode of Static Shock. On June 27, 2007, Oswalt was a special guest on the Emeril Live program on the Food Network to promote Ratatouille. Other recent appearances include an episode of Venture Bros. where he voiced an aging boy adventurer Robin parody. In 2008 Oswalt moderated a reunion panel of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 cast at the San Diego Comic-Con International.
In 2009, Oswalt played Paul Aufiero, the leading role in Robert D. Siegel's 2009 directorial debut, Big Fan. He was to star in a 2010 Broadway revival of Lips Together, Teeth Apart.[7] However, the show was postponed then eventually canceled due to Megan Mullally's departure from the production when the director denied her request to replace Oswalt due to his lack of stage experience.[8]
He starred in the Showtime drama The United States of Tara as Neil, an employee of Four Winds Landscaping. He also provides the voice of Thrasher, a robot protagonist from the new Cartoon Network show, Robotomy.
In January 2011, Oswalt released his first book, Zombie Spaceship Wasteland.
In November 2011, Oswalt played the role of Hurlan Heartshe in the surrealist comedy miniseries The Heart, She Holler on cartoon network's late night programming block, adult swim.
Oswalt's stand-up comedy covers topics ranging from pop culture frivolity such as comic book supervillains and 1980s glam metal to deeper social issues like American excess, materialism, foreign policy and religion. He also discusses his atheism in his stand-up. In 2004, Oswalt released a comedy album entitled Feelin' Kinda Patton and later that year a longer, unedited version of the same performance entitled 222 (Live & Uncut), both through the United Musicians collective, and a stand-up special, No Reason to Complain. He is also on a split EP called Patton vs. Alcohol vs. Zach vs. Patton with Zach Galifianakis and is featured on two Un-Cabaret compilations, "The Un & Only" and "The Good, the Bad and the Drugly". On July 10, 2007, Patton released his second CD Werewolves and Lollipops on Sub Pop records.
In 2004, Oswalt put together the Comedians of Comedy tour, made up of modern alt-comics Zach Galifianakis, Brian Posehn and Maria Bamford. The tour performed at smaller, more intimate indie rock venues instead of traditional (and expensive) comedy clubs. The Fall 2004 tour was documented in a 2005 film of the same name, and was followed by a six-episode Comedy Central series based on the Summer 2005 tour. This tour featured special guest appearances from comedians such as Blaine Capatch, David Cross, Rob Gasper, Bobby Tisdale and Todd Barry. Subsequent incarnations of the tour have included Eugene Mirman and Morgan Murphy.
In 2004 Patton's stand up material was featured on Comedy Central's animated series Shorties Watchin' Shorties. That same year a stand up DVD called No Reason to Complain was released. Oswalt appeared several times as a "lawyer" on Lewis Black's Root of All Evil. In the episode "Ultimate Fighting vs. Blogging", he argued that the popular influence of the blogging has been evil, and, in his closing argument, he performed a rick roll on the audience. He also provided the stand-up comedy for the closing ceremony.
On February 28, 2009, Patton recorded his third comedy album at the Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University in Washington D.C. It premiered on Comedy Central as Patton Oswalt: My Weakness is Strong on August 23, 2009, and was released on DVD August 25, 2009.[9] The album was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Patton's latest album, Patton Oswalt: Finest Hour, was released on September 19, 2011 and is currently #1 on the Billboard chart for Comedy albums, #12 for Independent albums and #71 on the top 200. This album was also nominated for a Grammy Award.
Oswalt married writer Michelle Eileen McNamara on September 24, 2005.[4] Their daughter, Alice Rigney Oswalt, was born on April 15, 2009.[10] Oswalt is an atheist.[11]
| Year | Title | Label | Chart Positions[12] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 200 | US Comedy | US Digital | US Indie | US Heat | |||
| 2003 | 222 (Live & Uncut) | Chunklet Magazine | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2004 | Feelin' Kinda Patton | United Musicians | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2007 | Werewolves and Lollipops | Sub Pop | 137 | 1 | — | 18 | 4 |
| 2009 | My Weakness Is Strong | Warner Bros. | 67 | 1 | 5 | — | — |
| 2011 | Finest Hour | Comedy Central Records | 71 | 1 | - | 12 | — |
| Year | Cartoon | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist | Himself | Television |
| 2000–2004 | Static Shock | Specs | Television |
| 2002 | Home Movies | Helmet | Television |
| 2003–2007 | Kim Possible | Professor Dementor | Television |
| 2006–2007 | The Batman | Toymaker, Marty | Television |
| 2004 | The Fairly OddParents | Cameo | Television |
| 2006 | Squidbillies | Giant One-Eyed Squid | Television |
| 2007 | Aqua Teen Hunger Force | DP, Skeeter, Ezekial | Television |
| 2007 | Wrong Turn 2 | Tommy | Film |
| 2007 | Ratatouille | Remy | Film |
| 2007–present | Wordgirl | Tobey, Robots, 4th Grader | Television |
| 2007–2008 | American Dad | Voice | Television |
| 2007 | SpongeBob SquarePants | Jim | Television |
| 2009 | The Venture Bros. | Wonderboy | Television |
| 2010 | Neighbors from Hell | Pazuzu | Television |
| 2010 | Glenn Martin DDS | Volunteer Center Guy | Television |
| 2010–2011 | Robotomy | Thrasher | Television |
| 2011 | Futurama | Unattractive Giant Monster | Television |
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Down Periscope | Stingray Radioman | Cameo |
| 1999 | Man on the Moon | Blue Collar Guy | Cameo |
| 1999 | Magnolia | Delmer Darion | Cameo |
| 2000 | Super Nerds | Lesile | TV Movie |
| 2001 | Zoolander | Monkey Photographer | Cameo |
| 2002 | ZigZag | Shelly | Cameo |
| 2003 | Run Ronnie Run | Dozer | |
| 2003 | Calendar Girls | Larry | Cameo |
| 2004 | Taxi | Impound Cop | |
| 2004 | Blade: Trinity | Hedges | |
| 2004 | Starsky and Hutch | Disco DJ | |
| 2006 | Failure to Launch | Techie Guy | |
| 2007 | Reno 911!: Miami | Jeff Spoder | |
| 2007 | Wrong Turn 2 | Tommy | Voice |
| 2007 | Ratatouille | Remy | Voice |
| 2007 | I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry | Unknown | Cameo |
| 2007 | Balls of Fury | The Hammer | |
| 2007 | Super High Me | Himself | Cameo |
| 2008 | Sex and Death 101 | Fred | |
| 2008 | All Roads Lead Home | Milo | Lead Role |
| 2009 | Observe and Report | Roger | |
| 2009 | Big Fan | Paul Aufiero | Lead Role Nominated - Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Breakthrough Actor |
| 2009 | The Informant! | Ed Herbst | |
| 2010 | Blood Into Wine | Himself | Documentary |
| 2011 | Young Adult | Matt Freehauf | Pending - Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Pending - Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated - Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Runner-Up - Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor |
| 2011 | A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas | Larry Juston | |
| 2012 | Odd Thomas | Ozzie P. Boone | filming |