Chris D'Elia

Chris D'Elia
Born (1980-03-29) March 29, 1980
New Jersey, U.S.[1]
Residence Beachwood Canyon, Los Angeles, California
Other names
  • Chank Smith
  • Remington Tufflips
  • Damien Monroe
  • Crazy Legs
Occupation
  • Comedian
  • actor
  • writer
  • presenter
  • comedy singer
Years active 1996–present
Spouse(s) Emily Montague (2006–10)
Parent(s) Bill D'Elia
Ellie D'Elia
Relatives Matt D'Elia (brother)
Website chrisdelia.com

Chris D'Elia (born March 29, 1980) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, presenter, writer, and comedy singer. He is known for playing Alex Miller on the NBC sitcom Whitney and for the role of Danny Burton on the sitcom Undateable, also on NBC.

Early life

D'Elia was born in New Jersey, the son of TV producer and director Bill D'Elia,[2] and interior decorator Ellie D'Elia (née Dombroski). He has a younger brother, filmmaker/actor Matt D'Elia. His father is first generation Italian-American.[3] D'Elia was raised in New Jersey until age twelve when his family relocated to Los Angeles, California.[4] He graduated from La Cañada High School in Los Angeles in 1998.[5]

Career

D'Elia started acting in high school, did some guest starring parts on Chicago Hope.[6] He went to New York University and studied acting but dropped out after a year because he didn't like college.[6] He then got in a movie that went straight to DVD. During his downtime as an actor he started writing scripts. When he was 25 he decided to do standup, which is what he always wanted to do.[7] D'Elia has been doing stand-up comedy since 2006.[4] He considers himself to be a standup comedian who acts.[7] D'Elia has been featured on Comedy Central's Live at Gotham and Comedy Central Presents as well as on Showtime's Live Nude Comedy. D'Elia was introduced to a broader audience as a regular on the series Glory Daze,[8] which ran for one season on TBS, playing "the Oracle", William Stankowski. He was originally only cast for the pilot but they made him a series regular.[7] He co-starred in the NBC comedy series Whitney, opposite comedian Whitney Cummings for two seasons.[8][9] D'Elia was one of three hosts of the Ten Minute Podcast, along with Bryan Callen and Will Sasso. He currently hosts a weekly podcast: "Congratulations with Chris D'Elia." D'Elia also gained a strong following on Vine in which he harnessed over 2 million followers.

In January 2013, D'Elia released a parody rap album as MC "Chank Smith," releasing a debut album called "Such Is Life" that was produced by Mr. Green.[10] On December 6, 2013, D'Elia's first one-hour stand-up special, White Male Black Comic, aired on Comedy Central.[11] It was directed by his father.[12] In May 2014, D'Elia was cast in the lead role of the NBC sitcom Undateable, which premiered on May 29, 2014.[13] Bill Lawrence is the executive producer.[14] The show is a multi-camera sitcom with a live audience[15] based on the book Undateable: 311 Things Guys Do That Guarantee They Won't Be Dating or Having Sex by Ellen Rakieten and Anne Coyle.[16] The show often incorporates improv, with D'Elia playing Oscar to Brent Morin's straight-man Felix à la The Odd Couple. The cast of the show includes stand-up comics who were good friends before the show.[17][18][19] In 2015 Bill Lawrence and the cast (D’Elia, Brent Morin, Ron Funches, and Rick Glassman) went on a series of stand-up tour dates to promote the show.[20][21]

In 2016, Chris headlined the Leafly 420 Comedy Tour show in Chicago with special guest Ron Funches.[22]

Personal life

D'Elia says he was raised Catholic. In a standup routine, he talked about how he recently attended a mass and joked about how creepy certain aspects of it are. In 2006, D'Elia was married to actress Emily Montague. They divorced in 2010. Despite the fact that his characters in Whitney (Alex Miller) and Undateable (Danny Burton) are both portrayed as frequent drinkers, D'Elia has never done drugs or consumed alcohol in his lifetime, besides communion wine.[23] D'Elia lives in the Beachwood Canyon area of Los Angeles.[24]

At the Chicago Leafly 420 show, D'Elia informed the audience he does not partake in cannabis use.[22]

During an Episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, D'Elia confirmed that he frequently uses a walking aid called "rollator" when he goes shopping. He tries to work against the stigma that old people carry. "I try to make the use of Rollators okay for the young ones. Not great, just okay. Old people matter," he told the bewildered Rogan.[25]

Influences

D'Elia cited Bryan Callen, Eddie Murphy, and Jim Carrey[12][26] as major influences for his comedian career.

Filmography

Films
Year Title Role Notes
2004 Almost Marc
2005 Bad Girls from Valley High Gavin
2005 Crazylove Jake
2012 Celeste and Jesse Forever Snow White
2013 Funny: The Documentary Himself Documentary
2015 Flock of Dudes Adam
2016 XOXO[27] Neil
2017 Band Aid Uber Annoying
2017 Half Magic[28] Edward Completed
2017 Little Evil In post-production
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1996–97 Chicago Hope Luke Sarison Episodes: "Quiet Riot" and "Love on the Rocks"
2000 Get Real Chuck Episodes: "Choices" and "Absolution"
2004 Boston Legal Kevin Quinlan Episode: "An Eye for an Eye"
2005 American Dreams Phil Toolin Episode: "California Dreamin'"Episode:
2005 Monk Cal Gefsky Episode: "Mr. Monk Gets Drunk"
2010–11 Glory Daze Bill Stankowski Main role
2011 Workaholics Topher Episode: "To Friend a Predator"
2011–13 Whitney Alex Miller Main role
2012 Sullivan & Son Ryan Capps Episode: "The Fifth Musketeer"
2013 White Male. Black Comic Himself Television special
2013–16 Sanjay and Craig Remington Tufflips Voice; Recurring role
2014 Jennifer Falls Adam Main role
2014–16 Undateable Danny Burton Lead role
2015 Incorrigible Himself Netflix special
2016 Rush Hour Buddy Episode: "Welcome Back, Carter"
2017 The Great Indoors Aaron Wolf Episode: "Aaron Wolf"
2017 Man On Fire Himself Netflix special
Web
Year Title Role Notes
2012–2016 Ten Minute Podcast[29] Various roles Podcast
2016–present Congratulations with Chris D'Elia Himself Podcast

Discography

Comedy albums
Title Album details
Such is Life[30]

References

  1. ↑ O'Brien, Conan. "Chris D'Elia Loves Mocking British Tough-Guys". Conan on TBS. YouTube. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  2. ↑ Tomashoff, Craig (March 2013). "Like Father, Like Son". Emmy. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  3. ↑ Martin, Babara E. (Winter 2001). "Bill D' Elia: Hollywood Storyteller". WP: The Magazine of William Paterson University. Archived from the original on 30 December 2001. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  4. 1 2 Downs, Gordon (19 January 2011). "Interview With Comedian Chris D'Elia". San Diego. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  5. ↑ Cormaci, Carol (22 May 2017). "La Cañada History: Comedian Chris D’Elia has role in LCHS production of ‘The Pajama Game’". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  6. 1 2 Gleib, Ben (11 July 2012). "#034: Guest Chris D'Elia: "God Particle Testicle Fish"". Last Week on Earth with Ben Gleib. Smodcast. Archived from the original (Audio interview / podcast) on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 Lamoray, Lena (2 February 2011). "Exclusive Interview Chris D’Elia, Chris plays STANKOWSKI in GLORY DAZE on TBS". Lena Lamoray. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  8. 1 2 Wiegand, David (21 September 2011). "'Whitney' review: Too much stand-up in sitcom". San Francisco Chronicle. p. E1. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  9. ↑ Clements, Erin (15 November 2012). "Whitney Cummings, Chris D'Elia Talk Dating Deal-Breakers, Go-To Excuses For HuffPost's #nofilter". Huffington Post. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  10. ↑ Gutierrez, Juan (12 September 2013). "Chris D'Elia's Loveably Clueless Rap Persona". LA Weekly. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  11. ↑ Ortiz, Jen (2 December 2013). "The GQ+A: Comedian Chris D'Elia on His Comedy Central Special and Getting Heckled by Drunk Girls". GQ. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  12. 1 2 King, Larry (6 December 2013). "Larry King Now: Alex Borstein & Chris D'Elia". Larry King Now. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  13. ↑ Kasperowicz, Leslie (March 3, 2013). "Whitney's Chris D'Elia Joins NBC's Undateable Pilot". Cinemablend. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  14. ↑ Stanley, Alessandra (28 May 2014). "A Bunch of Friends? Yeah, Again: ‘Undateable’ Keeps a Sitcom Formula Alive". New York Times. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  15. ↑ Steinberg, Lisa (23 May 2014). "Interviews – TV: Chris D’Elia & Bill Lawrence – Undateable". Starry Constellation Magazine. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  16. ↑ Goldberg, Lesley (20 February 2013). "NBC's Bill Lawrence Comedy 'Undateable' Casts Lead". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  17. ↑ Ray, Lincee (19 June 2014). "5 reasons to watch ‘Undateable’". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  18. ↑ Radish, Christina (6 July 2014). "Brent Morin Talks 'Undateable,' Performing Stand-Up, His Weird Life Journey with Chris D’Elia, Being Funny on Camera, Singing on the Show, and More". Collider.com. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  19. ↑ King, Larry (11 June 2014). "The Cast of "Undateable"". Larry King Now. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  20. ↑ Littleton, Cynthia (25 February 2014). "Bill Lawrence and ‘Undateable’ Stars Hit the Road to Promote NBC Comedy ‘Undateable’". Variety. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  21. ↑ Lawrence, Bill (28 May 2014). "The ‘Undateable’ Comedy Tour: How to Launch (or Not Launch) a TV Show in 2014". Grantland. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  22. 1 2 "Leafly Comedy Tour Chicago | Leafly Events". Leafly Events. Retrieved 2016-04-23.
  23. ↑ Roots, Kimberly (12 November 2012). "Whitney Season 2 Preview: Whitney Cummings on Alex's Issues, the Possible Patter of Little Feet". TV Line. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  24. ↑ David, Mark (8 August 2013). "Comedian Craig Ferguson Sells to Comic Chris D’Elia". Variety. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  25. ↑ PowerfulJRE (2014-08-11), Joe Rogan Experience #533 - Chris D'Elia, retrieved 2017-03-20
  26. ↑ "I am comedian Chris D'Elia (from Workaholics and other things). Ask me anything. (self.IAmA)". Reddit. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  27. ↑ "Hayley Kiyoko Of ‘CSI: Cyber’ Is Cast In ‘XOXO’, Netflix’ Indie-Fest Feature Project". Hollywood Reporter. 8 August 2013.
  28. ↑ "Heather Graham's Directorial Debut Casts Angela Kinsey, Molly Shannon". Hollywood Reporter. 8 August 2013.
  29. ↑ "Last Night On @midnight: Will Sasso, Bryan Callen, Chris D’Elia". Nerdist. 30 May 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  30. ↑ "Chris D'elia AKA Chank Smith released his rap album...."Such is Life"". Duncan Trussell. 30 May 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
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