Bryan Callen (1967)

 early life

Callen's father, Randy Callen, left his mother, Toni McBrier, when he found out she was pregnant. His mother raised him and his half-sister, Kelsey, in the South Bronx of New York City. Callen is of Italian and Irish descent. When he was older, Callen began performing in plays to make extra money.

After graduating from Morris High School in 1985, Callen attended American University on a scholarship, majored in drama, and graduated with honors. In 1993, he moved to Los Angeles, where he was discovered in a comedy club by producers looking for talent for MADtv.

 career

  MADtv

Callen was one of eight original cast members when MADtv debuted in 1995. Callen's most popular characters included Pool Boy from Cabana Chat with Dixie Wetsworth, motivational speaker Al Casdy, and "relationship-challenged" death row inmate Jeremy Anderson. Callen also performed impersonations of Bill Clinton, Robert De Niro, Al Gore, Luke Perry, Steven Seagal, Sammy Hagar, Kevin Bacon, Jim Carrey, Ted Knight, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sean Astin, and Frank Gifford.

  Other television projects

Callen's television credits include Entourage, NewsRadio, Oz, Frasier, Suddenly Susan, NYPD Blue, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, CSI, Sex & the City, 7th Heaven, Rude Awakening, Less Than Perfect, King of Queens, Stacked, Las Vegas, and Reba. Most recently he starred in the Showtime series Fat Actress and How I Met Your Mother.

Currently, Callen hosts the E! show Bank of Hollywood. Callen also appears as a commentator of The Smoking Gun Presents: World's Dumbest... on truTV.

He plays Ricky's father who sexually abused him on The Secret Life of an American Teenager on ABC Family. Callen also makes frequent appearances on Chelsea Lately.

He is the spokesperson in commercials for Gilette's Fusion Proglide product line.

 personal life

As of March 2006, Callen lives in Venice, California.