Five Things You Didn’t Know about Denis Leary

Denis Leary is one of those talents it is really hard to classify or to put into a category. Is he an actor? Yes. Is he a comedian? Yes. Is he a writer? Yes. Is he a performer? Yes. Heck, the guy even had a pretty popular song out in the nineties. It’s true. So to say he is just one of the above things is to undersell who he is and just what he can do. Long before some modern comedians made apathy and nihilism funny again, Denis Leary was the cynic who was always angry, but you just couldn’t help but like him anyway. Here are five things you didn’t know about Denis Leary.

Has A Firefighters Foundation

As many of you know from his time on Rescue Me, Denis Leary has a real affection towards fire fighters and what they do for a living. After 9/11, he started the Leary Firefighters Foundation to help make sure these brave men were being taken care of for risking their lives for the public. Check it out here and help make a difference in the life of the people who risk their lives to ensure our families and ourselves are safe.

Has Much Love For His Hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts

Though most people have a lot of love for the places they grew up, Denis Leary has shown Worcester, Boston, and Massachusetts more love than most super stars ever have. From fundraisers to the above foundation, it all stems for a love of his Irish Catholic roots in Massachusetts. You should also make note, that snarky, angry, (but secretly warm and funny) demeanor he carries himself with? Yes, we ALL carry ourselves like that here. God bless him for making it more well known.

Third Cousin of Conan O’ Brien

Another Massachusetts native, Conan O’ Brien is actually Denis Leary’s third cousin. Seems like talent and self deprecation must run in their blood. That might be the Irish Catholic guilt coming through as humor, though. The two have openly talked about this distant familial connection when Leary has appeared on Conan’s show.

MTV Helped Him Out

From appearing as a sketch actor for random bits on the old MTV game show, Remote Control, to his PSA bits and his rather infamous song and video that MTV put into heavy rotation for a few years, seems Deni leary owes a mighty thank you to the one awesome music channel (now reality TV channel) for helping him carve his niche for his Gen-X fan base. In other words, he appeared on MTV back when it was still pretty cool.

Louie CK Claimed He Stole His Bit

You know the song that we talked about in the above entry? Well, comedian Louis C. K claimed some time back that Leary stole that whole bit and idea from him. You can see how to the comedians both have a similar style and how something like that may have happened. Whether by mistake or on purpose, we just can’t be sure. We are also unsure if the issue has been worked out between the two.

Representing Boston strong, Denis Leary doesn’t care what people think. Though his exterior may seem gruff and ever-ready for a fight, he proves with his actions he is really just a sweet dog with a really loud bark. Unless he really did steal that song from Louie, than he is exactly what the song says he is.

(Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)