Harland Williams

Last updated

Harland Williams
Harland Williams, 24 July 2024 08 (cropped).jpg
Williams in 2024
Born (1962-11-14) November 14, 1962 (age 61)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupations
  • Actor
  • author
  • comedian
Years active1988–present
Father John Reesor Williams
Relatives Steve Williams (brother)
Kevin Hearn (cousin)
Website www.harlandwilliams.com OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Harland Williams (born November 14, 1962) is a Canadian-American actor, author and comedian. After several years of performing stand-up comedy in Toronto and Los Angeles, he made his film debut in Dumb and Dumber (1994) before playing starring roles in the short-lived sitcom Simon and the Disney comedy RocketMan (1997). He co-starred in Half Baked and played a psychopathic hitch-hiker in There's Something About Mary in 1998. He later appeared in films such as The Whole Nine Yards (2000), Freddy Got Fingered (2001) and Sorority Boys (2002), and provided voices in works such as Gary & Mike , Robots (2005), Meet the Robinsons (2007), and Sausage Party (2016). He is also an author of children's books, and creator of the children's animated series Puppy Dog Pals (2017–2023).

Contents

Early life

Williams was born on November 14, 1962, in Toronto, Ontario, to Lorraine Mary (née O'Donnell), a social worker and writer, and John Reesor Williams, a lawyer who served as a member of the Ontario legislature. [1] [2] He grew up in Toronto's Willowdale neighbourhood with four sisters. [3] He is the brother of special effects artist Steve "Spaz" Williams, and a cousin to Barenaked Ladies keyboardist Kevin Hearn. [4] [5]

Williams enrolled in Sheridan College in 1983, where he studied animation and media arts, [6] while periodically working as a forest ranger at Fort Frances. [5] [2]

Williams gained American citizenship circa 2009. [7]

Career

Williams at the 34th Annie Awards in 2007 Annie Awards Harland head.jpg
Williams at the 34th Annie Awards in 2007

Williams began in stand-up comedy in 1984, when still at Sheridan College. [6] [8] He performed in Toronto for seven years before relocating to Los Angeles in 1992. [9] He credits a 1993 appearance on Late Night with David Letterman for a break through, [10] and Jim Carrey for bringing him to the attention of the Farrelly brothers, who cast Williams in his debut role as a police officer in Dumb and Dumber (1994). [8] [11]

Other film roles include Freddy Got Fingered , There's Something About Mary , Half Baked , RocketMan , Sorority Boys , Down Periscope , Superstar and Employee of The Month . He has performed his stand-up comedy routines on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno , Late Night with Conan O'Brien , HBO, Comedy Central and at comedy clubs throughout the country.

His improvisational skills led to him winning the award for 'Best Improviser' on an episode of NBC's prime time series Thank God You're Here in 2007.

Williams's ventures include voicing 'Monster' on Nickelodeon's animated series Robot and Monster and starring as Warwick the Warlock in Disney's direct-to-DVD movie Spooky Buddies .

He is the author and illustrator of several children's books, including a series about a dinosaur named Lickety Split, [12] as well as books for adults. [13] [14] [15]

He has a free, bi-weekly podcast called The Harland Highway.

He has appeared on Tom Green's House Tonight and on the Adam Carolla Podcast numerous times. [16] He is known for his performance of bird sounds on Carolla's show.

In August 2012 he began filming in Vancouver a 13-part Citytv comedy series called Package Deal , in which he stars. [17]

Williams created the Disney Junior series Puppy Dog Pals that debuted in 2017. [18]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1994 Dumb and Dumber State Trooper
1996 Down Periscope E.T. 'Sonar' Lovacelli
1997 RocketMan Fred Z. Randall
Wag the Dog Pet Wrangler
1998 Half Baked Kenny Davis
There's Something About Mary HitchhikerUncredited
Dog ParkCallum
Mr. HeadmistressTucker
1999 Superstar Eric Slater
2000 The Whole Nine Yards Special Agent Steve Hanson
Big Money Hustlas Officer Harry Cox
Becoming Dick Richard Breggs
2001 Freddy Got Fingered Darren
2002Back by MidnightSheriff Hubbard
Sorority Boys Doofer / Roberta
2003Family TreeJake
Kart Racer Zee
2005 Lucky 13 Bleckman
Because of Winn-Dixie Policeman
Robots Lug (voice) [19]
2006 Employee of the Month Russell Porpis-Gunders
Surf School Rip
2007 Meet the Robinsons Carl (voice) [19]
The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane
2008 Bachelor Party 2: The Last Temptation Derek
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Giraffe (voice) [19]
2009Fudgy Wudgy Fudge FaceElmore P. Fudge
My Life in Ruins Al 'Big Al' Sawchuck
The Haunted World of El Superbeasto Gerard, The Exterminator (voice) [19]
2010 Dahmer vs. Gacy God
2011 Spooky Buddies Warwick The Warlock
Lloyd the Conqueror Vulcan
2014 Back in the Day Skunk
2016 Sausage Party Ketchup Bottle, Drug Dealer, Baba Ganoush (voices) [19]
2019 The Addams Family Norman Pickering, Ggerri (voices) [19]
The Turkey Bowl Nolan
2020 Fearless Elliot aka Buckethead (voice)
2021Back Home AgainReefer Harfish (voice)Short film
2023 Once Upon a Studio Carl (voice)Short film
2024Half Baked: Totally HighTalking Joint (voice)
Isla MonstroSam (voice) [20] [21]
TBAWing ManPre-production

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1994 Ellen Ticket TakerEpisode: "The Houseguest"
1995 Big News Unknown roleTelevision film
1995–1996 Simon Simon Hemple21 episodes
1996Allen Hansen Cartoon ShowStore Employee, MeltmanVoice; 1 episode
1997 Space Ghost Coast to Coast Himself1 episode
1997–1999 Ned's Newt NewtonVoice; Main role; Episodes 1–35 [19]
1998 The Wonderful World of Disney Tucker, HeadmistressEpisode: "Mr. Headmistress"
2000 Becoming Dick Richard BreggsTelevision film
2000–2001 The Geena Davis Show Alan22 episodes
2000 Sammy Todd BlakeVoice; 9 episodes
2001 Family Guy Jeff Foxworthy / Sam's FatherVoice; Episode: "To Love and Die in Dixie"
The Santa Claus BrothersDaryl ClausVoice; Television film [19]
Gary & Mike MikeVoice; 12 episodes
Horrible Histories Lawrence Dongle (voice)
2004 Las Vegas Kenny1 episode [22]
2005 What's New, Scooby-Doo? GeorgeVoice; Episode: "A Scooby-Doo Valentine"
My Name is Earl Johnny BubblewrapnEpisode: "White Lie Christmas"
2007–2009 Slacker Cats BuckleyVoice; 12 episodes
2008 The Emperor's New School CabbieVoice; Episode: "Cornivale"
2010-2012 Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil PantsyVoice; 5 episodes
2011 Dan Vs. HiramEpisode: "Technology"
Robot Chicken Professor Cornelius Q. QuibblefingersVoice; 1 episode; also writes 4 episodes
2011–2015 Jake and the Never Land Pirates Captain FrostVoice; 6 episodes
2012–2014 The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange Apple / Appilles / Vegetable MobVoice; 53 episodes [19]
2012–2015 Robot and Monster MonsterVoice; 24 episodes [19]
2013Age of Conan: Hyboria HangoverCarl1 episode
2013–2014 Package Deal Sheldon White26 episodes
2014Sweet DreamsTerryEpisode: "Pilot"
2014–2016 TripTank Various rolesVoice; 6 episodes [19]
2015 Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero Helper Hue (voice)Voice; Episode: "It's a Colorful Life" [19]
Webovision: The Tom Green ShowGuest1 episode
2016 Skylanders Academy HugoVoice; 19 episodes
The 7D Sandy the SandmanVoice; 1 episode [19]
Still SingleDemo DTelevision film
2017 Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! Joe McGarthVoice; Episode: "Vote Velma" [19]
Bunnicula Thomas Edison's Ghost, AlienVoice; Episode: "Indistinguishable from Magic"
2017–2023 Puppy Dog Pals BobVoice; Also show creator [19]
2022Super PupZFiskEpisode: "Pilot"
2022 Oddballs Patrick, Podcast Host, GuyVoice; 6 episodes

Video games

YearTitleRoleNotes
2005 Robots Lug

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References

  1. ↑ "WILLIAMS, Lorraine Mary (nee O'Donnell)". The Globe and Mail . Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
  2. 1 2 Riggs, Thomas, ed. (2002). Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. Vol. 40. Detroit: Thomson Gale. p. 371. ISBN   978-1-4144-4510-6.
  3. ↑ Posner, Michael (September 21, 2005). "Laughing his way to the big screen". The Globe and Mail .
  4. ↑ Sumi, Glenn (April 17, 2008). "Q&A: Harland Williams". NOW Magazine . Archived from the original on October 19, 2020.
  5. 1 2 Poisson, Jayme (August 16, 2009). "Harland Williams". Streets of Toronto.
  6. 1 2 Clark, Andrew (November 1995). "What's so funny about Harland Williams?". Saturday Night . Vol. 110, no. 9. p. 97.
  7. ↑ Boedeker, Hal (July 22, 2019). "Comedian Harland Williams: My act is my career". Orlando Sentinel .
  8. 1 2 Harris, Will (August 28, 2014). "Harland Williams heard voices... he listened". The Virginian-Pilot .
  9. ↑ Kronke, David (December 28, 1993). "He Seems Like Such a Pleasant Young Man..." Los Angeles Times .
  10. ↑ Hochman, Steve (October 19, 1997). "Harland Williams / Actor". Los Angeles Times .
  11. ↑ "Profile: Toronto Comic is on Brink of Hollywood Film Stardom". The London Free Press . Canadian Press. March 21, 1996. p. C3 – via NewsBank.
  12. ↑ Johnson, Phil (November 3, 1987). "Likety Split! He's hoping kids' books will zoom him to top". The Toronto Star . pp. N8 – via NewsBank.
  13. ↑ Ciemcioch, Mark (October 30, 2017). "Comedian Harland Williams is rocketing into Helium". The Buffalo News .
  14. ↑ "Funnyman for the Whole Family: Harland Williams". The Washington Post . March 10, 2010.
  15. ↑ Williams, Christian (March 10, 2010). "Harland Williams knew he was destined for greatness". The A.V. Club .
  16. ↑ "The Channel". TomGreen.com. April 13, 2009. Archived from the original on April 27, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
  17. ↑ Hall, Shannon. "Casting Announced for Citytv Original Comedy Series, Package Deal". Thunderbird Films (Press Release). CityTV. Archived from the original on September 6, 2012.
  18. ↑ Milligan, Mercedes (March 23, 2017). "Harland Williams' 'Puppy Dog Pals' to Sit, Stay on Disney TV". Animation Magazine. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Harland Williams (visual voices guide)". Behind the Voice Actors (A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information).
  20. ↑ Gajewski, Ryan (July 24, 2024). "Harland Williams, Spencer Grammer, Harry Lennix Lead Voice Cast for Animated Sci-Fi Movie 'Isla Monstro' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on July 24, 2024. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  21. ↑ "Sitges2024 Completes its Constellation of the World's Best Fantastic Genre". Sitges Film Festival. September 10, 2024. Archived from the original on September 10, 2024. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  22. ↑ "Things That Go Jump in the Night". IMDb .
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