Tom Arnold (actor)

Tom Arnold
Arnold in 2023
Born	Thomas Duane Arnold (1959-03-06) March 6, 1959 (age 65) Ottumwa, Iowa, U.S.
Occupations	Actor comedian television host
Years active	1981–present
Spouses	Roseanne Barr ​ ​ (m. 1990;div. 1994)​ Julie Lynn Champnella ​ ​ (m. 1995;div. 1999)​ Shelby Roos ​ ​ (m. 2002;div. 2008)​ Ashley Groussman ​ ​ (m. 2009;div. 2020)​
Children	2

Thomas Duane Arnold (born March 6, 1959) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing Arnie Thomas on Roseanne , which starred his ex-wife Roseanne Barr.

He has appeared in several films, including True Lies (1994), Nine Months (1995), Big Bully , Carpool , The Stupids (all 1996), McHale's Navy (1997), Animal Factory (2000), Cradle 2 the Grave (2003), Mr. 3000 (2004), Happy Endings (2005), Pride (2007), The Great Buck Howard (2008), and Madea's Witness Protection (2011). He was also the host of The Best Damn Sports Show Period for four years, and appeared on Sons of Anarchy .

Early life

Arnold was born Thomas Duane Arnold in Ottumwa, Iowa, the son of Linda Kay (née Graham) and Jack Arnold. His mother was Jewish. ^{[1] [2] [3]} He had 2 siblings: a sister Lori and a brother Scott. As a child, Arnold was diagnosed with autism. ^[4] His mother abandoned the family when he was a child, and he and his siblings were raised by their father:

The three were still very young when their mother, who Tom Arnold said was an alcoholic, moved out. That left them in the care of a father in his early 20s whose role as breadwinner left him little time for parenting, Arnold said. ^[5]

In their teens, Arnold and his sister moved back in with their mother. With her mother's consent, Lori was married at age 14 to a man who was 23 years old. Soon Lori was a heavy drug user and dealer running one of the largest meth operations in the Midwest until her arrest in 1989. ^{[6] [7]}

Arnold escaped his sister's fate, and worked at a meatpacking plant. ^[8] He attended Ottumwa High School, Indian Hills Community College, and from 1981 to 1983, the University of Iowa, where he studied business administration and writing. ^{[9] [10]}

Career

In the early 1980s, Arnold had a prop-based comedy routine called "Tom Arnold and the Goldfish Review." ^[11] Roseanne Barr brought him in as a writer for her television sitcom, Roseanne . He married her in 1990, after she divorced her first husband. Arnold wrote himself into the show as the character "Arnie Thomas" (a play on his name).^{[ citation needed ]} The couple's marriage attracted media and especially tabloid attention due to their sometimes outrageous behavior. In 1992, Arnold starred in his own sitcom, The Jackie Thomas Show . Airing after Roseanne on ABC, the show lasted 18 episodes.

In 1993, Arnold and Barr bought a house together in the town of Eldon, Iowa and opened a restaurant, 'Roseanne and Tom's Big Food Diner' nearby. The diner served loosemeat sandwiches similar to the specialty of the fictional Lanford Lunch Box on Roseanne, which in turn was based on the real-life Canteen Lunch in the Alley in Ottumwa. Both appeared in the 1993 movie The Woman Who Loved Elvis , filmed in Ottumwa. ^[12] In 1994, Arnold appeared as the sidekick to Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in James Cameron's action blockbuster film True Lies . Arnold and Barr divorced in 1994 due to irreconcilable differences. Their restaurant closed in 1995.

After Arnold's divorce from Barr, he narrated and starred in several Craftmatic Adjustable Bed commercials that aired throughout 1995. The last commercial that he filmed culminated in Arnold lying in a bed that caught on fire and melted a strand of his underarm hair during the taping; the footage was never released. Arnold commented on Twitter in 2014: "Me and Mike (Michael Jackson) (he was one of my best friends) used to laugh about how [I] had a Pepsi commercial of my own". ^[13]

In November 2000, Arnold played the role of Al Raymond in the second-season Baywatch Hawaii episode, "The Cage".

In a late 1990s interview on radio's The Howard Stern Show , Arnold admitted that his share of his and Barr's estate amounted to "over $20,000,000", including a percentage of the Roseanne ABC-TV series, but would not elaborate, citing a confidentiality clause. From 2001 through 2005, he was one of the hosts of The Best Damn Sports Show Period . From 2003 to 2005, Arnold was the voice of Arby's "Oven Mitt" commercials.

Arnold had his first romantic leading man part in the 2005 movie Happy Endings . That same year, Arnold starred in The Kid & I . From 2008 to 2011, he hosted the CMT show My Big Redneck Wedding. ^[14] He hosted CMT's The Biggest Redneck Wedding Ever in 2008, in which he served as the wedding planner, created a wedding that exceeded the dreams of a couple who wanted to be married in a mud bog, and performed the actual ceremony. ^[15] CMT also made three series of "My Big Redneck Vacation" presented by Arnold and featuring the Clampet Family from Shreveport, Louisiana.

Arnold's role as a child molester in Gardens of the Night sparked revelations that he had been a victim of sexual abuse in his childhood. He decided to take on the role to shed more light on the issue. ^[16]

In January 2017, Tom Arnold was revealed as a celebrity contestant on the Australian edition of I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! . He was the first evictee from the jungle, after 17 days, and stated he was paid between $US600,000 and $US700,000 for his participation in the program.^{[ citation needed ]} In June 2017, Arnold filed a lawsuit against companies Network Ten and 'A List Entertainment' for defrauding him for being on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. Arnold claims that he was promised a payment of $425,000 and a comedy tour in Australia. However, he was missing $140,000 in payment and Network Ten backed out of the comedy tour. ^[17]

In 2018, Arnold's Viceland show The Hunt for the Trump Tapes premiered to low ratings and mainly negative reviews. The show was canceled after one season. ^[18]

Personal life

Arnold in 2004 producing
The 1 Second Film

Arnold met comedian Roseanne Barr when she saw his act in 1983. Their relationship was complicated by his alcoholism and drug addiction, ^[19] but eventually he became sober. The two married in 1990 and divorced in 1994. In an April 2009 interview on Anytime with Bob Kushell , Arnold discussed why when he divorced Barr, he did not take any alimony. ^[20] During the next ten years, Arnold married two subsequent times. Both marriages ended in divorce. In August 2008, Arnold broke his scapula in a motorcycle accident on the Pacific Coast Highway. ^[21]

Over Thanksgiving weekend 2009, Arnold married his fourth wife, Ashley Groussman, in Maui before 75 guests. Dax Shepard served as Arnold's best man. ^[22] He appeared December 10, 2009 on the late night talk show Asia Uncut. ^[23] The couple have two children and four dogs. ^{[24] [25]} In January 2019, the couple announced their intention to divorce. ^[26] The divorce was finalized in July 2020. ^[27]

Arnold was raised a Methodist. ^[28] Some sources say he converted to Judaism upon marrying Roseanne Barr in 1990, ^[29] but in a podcast interview with Andrew Santino he speaks of growing up Jewish in Iowa. ^[30] Arnold has denied converting to Judaism, ^{[31] [32]} which he still practices. ^[33]

Arnold has given much of his time to charities including giving out toys during the holidays to those in need through the Miracle on 1st Street Toy Giveaway, an annual tradition of his. ^[34]

Involvement in Falwell scandal

In 2019, Arnold tape-recorded a phone call with Michael Cohen where Cohen divulged his involvement in the cover-up of a scandal involving Jerry Falwell Jr., his wife, and a pool boy. ^{[35] [36]}

Family reunion

On October 8, 2020, Tom Arnold, his brother Scott, and sister Lori reunited for the first time in 28 years, back together again in their hometown of Ottumwa, Iowa. During this time, Lori was filming a 3-part docu-series called Queen of Meth, which her brother Tom helped to produce. It recounts her time as the "queen-pin" of a huge drug business that she ran from Iowa to California. Queen of Meth was originally released on Discovery+ in May 2021. ^{[6] [7]}

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare	Childless Man
	Backfield in Motion	Howard Peterman
1992	Hero	Chick
1993	The Woman Who Loved Elvis	Jack Jackson	Television film
	Coneheads	Golfer	Uncredited
	Body Bags	Morgue Worker No. 1	Television film
	Undercover Blues	Vern Newman
1994	True Lies	Albert "Gib" Gibson
1995	Nine Months	Marty Dwyer
1996	Big Bully	Roscoe "Fang" Bigger
	Carpool	Franklin Laszlo
	The Stupids	Stanley Stupid
1997	Touch	August Murray
	McHale's Navy	Lt. Commander Quinton McHale, Jr.
	Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery	Texan	Uncredited
	Hacks	Danny
1998	National Lampoon's Golf Punks	Al Oliver
	Buster & Chauncey's Silent Night	Fritz (voice)	Direct-to-video
1999	Jackie's Back	Martin Pritz	Television film
	Dancing Outlaw II: Jesco Goes to Hollywood	Himself	Documentary
2000	Bar Hopping	Eddie
	Animal Factory	Buck Rowan
	We Married Margo	Himself	Cameo
	Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth	Doughy Primesuspect / Hardy (The Killer)	Direct-to-video
	Just Sue Me	Barbuto
	Welcome to Hollywood	Himself	Cameo
2001	Exit Wounds	Henry Wayne
	Lloyd	Tom
2002	Hansel & Gretel	Boogeyman
	Romantic Comedy 101	James Ford	Television film
	Children on Their Birthdays	Lionel Quince
2003	Manhood	Dr. Levanthal
	Cradle 2 the Grave	Archie
	National Lampoon's Barely Legal	Mr. Lewis
	Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star	Himself	Cameo
	Just for Kicks	Coach Martin	Direct-to-video
2004	Soul Plane	Elvis Hunkee
	Mr. 3000	Himself	Cameo
2005	Happy Endings	Frank McKee
	Kicking & Screaming	Himself	Cameo
	Rebound	Himself	Cameo
	The Kid & I	Bill Williams	Also producer and writer
	Chasing Christmas	Jack Cameron	Television film
	Three Wise Guys	Murray Crown	Television film
2007	Homo Erectus	Gay Caveman
	Pride	Richard Binkowski
	Game of Life	Richard	Originally known as Oranges
	Palo Alto	Morgan
	The Final Season	Burt Akers
2008	Gardens of the Night	Alex
	Good Dick	Dad
	This Is Not a Test	Himself
	Remarkable Power	Van Hagen
	Moonlight and Mistletoe	Nick Crosby	Television film
	Unstable Fables: The Goldilocks and 3 Bears Show	Mac Bear (voice)	Direct-to-DVD film
2009	The Skeptic	Sully
	American Summer	Himself
	April Showers	Martin Blackwell
	The 1 Second Film	—	Producer
2010	Group Sex	Herman
2011	Walk a Mile in My Pradas	Joe
	The Jerk Theory	Father Bailey
2012	Fred 3: Camp Fred	Floyd Spunkmeyer	Television film
	Madea's Witness Protection	Walter
	Hit and Run	U.S. Marshal Randy Anderson
	Chilly Christmas	Quarterman	Direct-to-video
2013	Jewtopia	Bruce Daniels
	Pulling Strings	Art
2014	Dumbbells	Daddy
	Shelby	Doug - the dog catcher
2015	Jungle Shuffle	Coati King (voice)
	Underdog Kids	Gene "Geno" Burman
	Sex School	Principal Hyman
	A Mouse Tale	Dalliwog the Wizard (voice)
	I Am Chris Farley	Himself
	The Curse of Downers Grove	Chuck's father
2017	Dead Ant	Danny
	Maximum Impact	Barnes
2018	Bigger	Roy Hawkins
	Saving Flora	Runyon
2019	Christmas Scavenger Hunt	Carl	Hallmark Movie
	Pegasus: Pony With a Broken Wing	Daniel Warren [37]
2021	Hollywood.Con	El Jade
	Christmas Thieves	Frank
	Queen of Meth	Himself
	High Holiday	Greg Corske
2022	Good Mourning	Famous Director
2023	Alien Storm	Mayor Harrison
	Ape vs. Mecha Ape	Hamilton
2024	Dragpires	Bob	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989–1993	Roseanne	Arnold Shep "Arnie" Thomas	20 episodes
1992–1993	The Jackie Thomas Show	Jackie Thomas	18 episodes, co-producer
1993	The Larry Sanders Show	Himself	1 episodes
1994	Tom	Tom Graham	12 episodes
	General Hospital	Billy Boggs	9 episodes
1996	Brotherly Love	Jack	1 episode
1997–1998	The Tom Show	Tom Amross	19 episodes
1998	Space Ghost Coast to Coast	Himself (voice)	Episode: "Joshua"
1999	The Simpsons	Himself (voice)	Episode: "Treehouse of Horror X"
	The Norm Show	Andrew	Episode: "Gambling Man"
2000	Baywatch: Hawaii	Al Raymond	Episode: "The Cage"
2001	Weakest Link	Himself
	The Fairly OddParents	Corporate Santa (voice)	Episode: "Christmas Every Day"
	The Outer Limits	Jerry Miller	Episode: “Family Values”
2003	King of the Hill	Norm Glidewell (voice)	Episode: "Megalo Dale"
2004	Hope & Faith	Bob Thompson	Episode: "Faith's Husband"
	According to Jim	Max	Episode: "Poking the Bear"
2007	The Celebrity Apprentice	Himself
	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Rev. Calvin Riggins	Episode: "Brother's Keeper"
2008–2009	My Big Redneck Wedding	Himself as host and narrator	16 episodes
2009–2011	Sons of Anarchy	Georgie Caruso	4 episodes
2011	Franklin & Bash	Ronny Streppi	Episode: "You Can't Take It With You"
2012	Hawaii Five-0	Ron Alberts	Episode: "Huakaʻi Kula"
2013	The First Family	Vice President Arthur Crandall	3 episodes
2014	Psych	Garth Mathers	Episode: "A Touch of Sweevil"
2015	Workaholics	George
2016	Trailer Park Boys	Himself	3 episodes
2016–2019	NCIS: New Orleans	Elvis Bertrand	4 episodes
2017	I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!	Himself
2017–2019	Funny You Should Ask	Himself	41 episodes
2018	The Hunt for the Trump Tapes with Tom Arnold	Himself	8 episodes
2020	World's Funniest Animals	Guest	1 episode
2022	The Rookie: Feds	Miles Butkus	Episode: "The Reaper"
2023	True Lies	Arnie Orwig	Episode: "Bitter Sweethearts" [38]
	FUBAR	Norm Carlson	Episode: "Here Today, Gone To-Marrow"
	Underdeveloped	Ralph	6 episodes
2024	The Bold and the Beautiful	Captain Deuce Stevens	Guest star, 2 episodes

References

1. "Comedian Tom Arnold is in his happy place". August 8, 2014.
2. Arnold, Tom (November 2003). How I Lost 5 Pounds in 6 Years: An Autobiography. St. Martin's Griffin. p.  14. ISBN   0-312-32244-5.
3. "Tom Arnold profile" . Retrieved May 27, 2014.
4. "Tom Arnold says he's on the Spectrum for the first time..." Facebook . September 17, 2018.
5. Porter, Sierra A. (October 28, 2020) "After 28 years, Hollywood star and Iowan Tom Arnold reconnects with brother, sister — in Ottumwa". Des Moines Register.
6. Porter, Sierra A. (May 10, 2021) "Former 'Queen of Meth' Lori Arnold, Iowa native and sister of actor Tom Arnold, tells all in documentary". Des Moines Register.
7. Beg, Mirza Aaqib (May 13, 2021). "Where to Stream Queen of Meth?". thecinemaholic.com
8. "Tom Arnold profile". Biography.com. Archived from the original on February 4, 2019. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
9. "Tom Arnold – Iowa fan Actor keeping state in front of TV, movie cameras" . The Gazette. June 6, 1992. Retrieved May 27, 2014– via Newsbank.
10. "Tom Arnold: Tackling a monster" . AZ Central. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
11. I Killed: True Stories of the Road from America's Top Comics By Ritch Shydner, Mark Schiff. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
12. The Woman Who Loved Elvis details, IMDb, retrieved November 27, 2015
13. "Tom Arnold". Twitter. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
14. My Big Redneck Wedding: About the Show, Country Music Television. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
15. CMT's Biggest Redneck Wedding Ever: About the Special, Country Music Television. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
16. "Tom Arnold Says He Was Sexually Abused", TV Guide . November 6, 2008. Retrieved November 7, 2008.
17. Cullins, Ashley (June 15, 2017). "Tom Arnold Sues Australian Reality TV Network for Fraud". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved June 16, 2017.
18. Espinoza, Russ. "Tom Arnold To Keep Hunting As 'Trump Tapes' Ends at Viceland". Forbes. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
19. "Tom Arnold profile". Biography.com. Archived from the original on October 5, 2009. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
20. "Anytime with Bob Kushell feat. Tom Arnold". Anytime with Bob Kushell. Season 2. Episode 7. April 28, 2009.
21. Dr. Drew Live, September 4, 2008.
22. Cristina Everett (November 29, 2009). "Tom Arnold and Ashley Groussman wed in intimate Hawaiian ceremony". Daily News . New York.
23. Joyce Eng. "Tom Arnold Marries for Fourth Time". TV Guide.
24. "Tom Arnold Welcomes Son Jax Copeland". People . April 6, 2013. Archived from the original on January 22, 2018. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
25. Murphy, Desiree (December 18, 2015). "Tom Arnold and Wife Welcome a Baby Girl – Find Out Her Adorable Name!". Yahoo!.
26. McDermott, Maeve (January 22, 2019). "Tom Arnold confirms split from wife Ashley Groussman: 'It's a long time coming'". USA Today. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
27. "Tom Arnold's Divorce from Ashley Groussman Finalized After More Than a Decade of Marriage". People. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
28. Schwartz, Missy (January 23, 2002). "Trash of the Titans". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on April 30, 2010. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
29. Arnold, Tom (November 2003). How I Lost 5 Pounds in 6 Years: An Autobiography. St. Martin's Griffin. pp.  145–46. ISBN   0-312-32244-5.
30. "Tom Arnold - Whisky Ginger with Andrew Santino". February 15, 2019.
31. Mal Vincent (August 8, 2014). "Comedian Tom Arnold is in his happy place". The Virginian-Pilot.
32. Arnold, Tom [@tomarnold] (August 21, 2016). "Didn't convert. Jewish blood from mom." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
33. "Comedy: Back in Utah, Tom Arnold to find himself again". The Salt Lake Tribune. July 30, 2009. Archived from the original on August 4, 2009. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
34. "Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Arnold Host Annual 'Miracle On 1st Street' Christmas Toy Giveaway". CBS News. December 14, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
35. Ryan Bort (June 20, 2019). "The Saga of Jerry Falwell Jr.'s Bizarre Relationship With a Miami Beach Pool Boy, Explained". Rolling Stone .
36. Brian Hiatt (August 13, 2018). "Who's Afraid of Tom Arnold?". Rolling Stone .
37. "Pegasus: Pony With a Broken Wing". TVGuide.com.
38. Ayoola, Simbiat (February 2, 2023). "'True Lies' Series Trailer Reveals a Familiar Face From the James Cameron Movie". Collider . Retrieved February 21, 2023.

External links

• Tom Arnold at IMDb