Neil Richard Flynn (born November 13, 1960)[1] is an American actor and comedian. After performing with numerous comedy troupes in the Chicago area during the 1980s, he made his film debut in Major League (1989). During the 1990s, Flynn had supporting roles in the films Rookie of the Year (1993), The Fugitive (1993), and Magnolia (1999).
After a starring voice role as XR on the ABC and UPN animated series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000–2001), Flynn had his breakout with a recurring, later main, role as Janitor on the first eight seasons of the NBC and ABC medical sitcom Scrubs (2001–2009). Following his breakout, he had a starring role in the comedy film Hoot (2006) and supporting roles in the films Mean Girls (2004) and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008).
In The Fugitive, he plays a Chicago police officer who is killed by the one-armed man, Frederick Sykes while he is fighting Dr. Richard Kimble. This role was used in a subplot of the Scrubs episode "My Friend the Doctor" when J.D. notices Flynn's character in the film and believes that Flynn's Janitor character is the actor in the film. In 2008, Flynn worked with Harrison Ford again, playing a suspicious law enforcement official as FBI agent Smith in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
For Scrubs, Flynn auditioned for the role of Dr. Cox but was given the role of Janitor, instead. He was originally only cast for the first episode ("My First Day"), but he became a regular, playing a character known only as the Janitor, who devotes much of his energy to menacing young Dr. John "J.D." Dorian. His name is not revealed in the series until the season 8 finale when, upon J.D.'s first time asking about it, he simply says his name is Glenn Matthews. This is also speculated to be false for two reasons: first after J.D. leaves the shot, an orderly addresses the Janitor as "Tommy"; and second, while watching The Fugitive with Carla and Danni (Dr. Cox's sister-in-law, played by Tara Reid) in the season 3 episode 'My Friend The Doctor', J.D. notices the real-life Flynn's character in the train scene. When the Janitor confirms he was in the movie at the end of the episode, some fans speculated the Janitor's name in Scrubs is Neil Flynn, but this was dismissed by Flynn in an interview.[6] Flynn was a series regular with Scrubs through the first eight seasons.[7] When Scrubs was canceled by NBC and subsequently picked up by ABC, he signed a second position one-year deal for Scrubs season 9, which would have allowed him to continue on Scrubs if his pilot The Middle was not picked up.[7]The Middle pilot was picked up, but he appeared as a guest star in Scrubs' season 9 premiere.[8]
The Middle
Flynn's long-running role, Mike Heck, was on ABC's The Middle (2009–2018). The character had three children and worked at the Orson Limestone Quarry. The Heck Family was a working-class family in Indiana.[9]
↑ Keller, Joel (May 5, 2010). "Patricia Heaton on Spending Mother's Day in 'The Middle'". TV Squad. Retrieved October 10, 2010. And so many of us -- Neil Flynn grew up in the suburbs of Chicago -- and just talking about how he grew up ... And he's also Irish-Catholic, which is how I grew up.
1 2 Moses, Tori (April 7, 2017). "Neil-ed it". BradleyScout.com. Bradley University. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
↑ Flynn, Neil. "Neil Flynn: Cleaning House". Starrymag.com (Interview). Interviewed by Jamie Steinberg. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
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