Chris Parnell is a multi-talented American voice artist, comedian, singer and actor, famously known for his appearances in “Saturday Night Live” (1998-2006), and for lending his voice to the Adult Swim series “Rick and Morty”, FOX sitcom “Family Guy”, and FX series “Archer.”
Age, Early Life, and Education Background
Thomas Christopher Parnell was born under the Aquarius zodiac sign on 5 February 1967, in Memphis, Tennessee, so is 55 years old as of 2022. He was raised in a Southern Baptist family by Jack Parnell, a Memphis-based radio personality, voice artist and drummer, and his wife Shirley Parnell. His maternal grandfather and grandmother are August Carl Rauchle and Clara Bessire respectively. Parnell dreamt of becoming a theatre actor, and began his career when he was 17 years old.
Thomas went to Southern Baptist Educational Centre, and later joined Germantown High, where he appeared in various plays at the institution’s Polar Pike Playhouse. He was voted the “Most Talented” senior student in 1985 then after matriculating went to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Drama. He thereafter moved to Houston, Texas, and enrolled in the Alley Theater’s apprentice actor program, and performed at the Berkshire Theater during his stay in Texas. He later went on a semi-hiatus from acting, moved to Los Angeles, California, and began working as an operations manager at FAO Schwartz gift shop, but simultaneously attended The Groundlings Main Company to hone his acting skills.
Facts and Interests
During the initial years of his career, Chris lost interest in theater appearances, and went back to Memphis to teach film and acting in a high school for a year.
Chris is an avid book reader, and his favorite is “The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke.”
He also likes watching films and series – his favorites are “Twin Peaks” (1990) and the 1981 movie “Chariots of Fire.”
Parnell is also a very talented stage fighter and was often ‘beaten up’ and ‘killed’ in the sketches of “Sunday Night Live.”
Career
TV Roles
Chris performed with The Groundlings for several years, and appeared in many commercials and sitcoms such as “Murphy Brown” and “Seinfeld”, before he was discovered by “Sunday Night Live” talent scouts. He moved to New York and joined the show’s cast as a featured player in September 1998, and moved up to become a repertory player in its second season. In 2001, he was laid off from the show by Lorne Michaels due to budgetary cuts but was rehired in the show’s fourth season, and eventually appeared in 148 episodes until 2012. Concurrently, Chris appeared in single episodes of several shows, such as “Ed” in 2002 and “As Told by Ginger” in the year that followed, before he played Dr. Spaceman in 25 episodes of “30 Rock” between 2006-2013.
Parnell came in as the narrator and also voiced various characters in 89 episodes of the children’s TV series “WordGirl” from 2007 to 2015. His next major voicing project was as Buck Henry and Cyril Figgis in “Archer” from 2009, and Fred Shay in the show “Suburgatory” from 2011-2014. He also voiced Giovanni Montalban in 20 episodes of the series “Electric City” in 2012, Jerry Smith in “Rick and Morty” from 2013 to the present, and various characters in the animated show “Nature Cat” from 2015 to 2020.
Chris voiced Mr Peabody in “The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show” from 2015 to 2017, Migs in “Elena of Avalor,” and various characters in “American Dad!” both from 2016. He also voiced Dean Parker in “Grown-ish” in 2018 and most recently, lent his voice in the sitcom “Family Guy” from 2019 – 2021, and “Archibald’s Next Big Project” in 2021.
Chris Parnell will voice Dr. Fluffberg in #ArchibaldsNextBigThing, coming soon to @Netflix! pic.twitter.com/ikHEydUV4P
— dreamworksjr (@dreamworksjr) July 24, 2019
Film Roles and Other Works
Chris made his film debut in 1996 in “Jingle All the Way”, and has since appeared in over 50 more, most notable being “The Ladies Man” in 2000, “National Lampoon’s Barely Legal” in 2003, and “Looking for Kitty” in the year that followed. He also appeared in the “Anchorman” films – “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” in 2004 and its sequel “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” in 2013. Parnell is also credited with voicing Fly in the acclaimed 2012 animated movie “Hotel Transylvania” and “Hotel Transylvania 2” in 2015, and Stan the Fisherman in its second sequel, “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation” in 2018. His recent roles have been in “I Am Woman” as Artie Mogull in 2019, “Home Sweet Home Alone” as Uncle Stu in 2021, and in 2022’s “Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers” as Dave Bolinari.
Parnell has voiced several video game characters too, such as Jerry Smith in “Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality” in 2017, Tom Connors in “Grand Theft Auto Online” in 2019, and came in as the narrator in “Maneater” in 2020.
He’s signed with the Beverly Hills-based United Talent Agency and has appeared in several music videos for The Lonely Island comedy troupe’s first studio album “Incredibad.” The “Saturday Night Live” star wrote and performed the songs “Lazy Sunday” and “Lazy Sunday 2”, together with his fellow cast member Andy Samberg.
Personal Life
Chris is married to his longtime girlfriend and “Sunday Night Live” co-star, the American actress Ana Gasteyer, who is also famous for appearing as Sheila Shay (his onscreen wife), in the sitcom “Suburgatory.” The Tennessee-native revealed how comfortable it was working with his wife in the sitcom during a 2011 interview with Splitsider.com, and added, ‘It’s so much fun and it’s just so comfortable. We really, genuinely like each other a lot and we’re just very comfortable with our rhythms and with the way the other one works. It doesn’t take a lot of effort, which is nice…’ The couple has a daughter named Lisa Marie, and has adopted two sons, Victor and Ryan. Chris now lives together with his family in Los Angeles, California.
Height, Weight, and Physical Appearance
Chris is slimly built, weighs approximately 147lbs (67kgs), and is 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall. He’s of English, Swiss and German ancestry and has blue eyes and brown hair.
Net Worth
Parnell has been active in the entertainment industry since 1996, which has seen him carve a niche for himself in addition to earning a good sum. He also earns through his brand endorsement deals – he appeared in a series of commercials for Dr. Pepper in 2010, Oscar Meyer in 2012, and has voiced The Progressive Box in Progressive Corporation adverts in 2013. Chris is reportedly worth approximately $3 million as of 2022. He formerly lived in a $600,000 house in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, and is now living in a $1.7 million luxury home located in the same area.
