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Kevin Meaney

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For the Gaelic footballer, see Kevin Meaney (Gaelic footballer).

Kevin Meaney
Birth nameKevin Gerard Meaney
Born(1956-04-23)April 23, 1956
White Plains, New York, U.S.
DiedOctober 21, 2016(2016-10-21) (aged 60)
Forestburgh, New York, U.S.
Resting placeMount Calvary Cemetery, White Plains
MediumStand-up, television, film
Years active1980–2016
Spouse
  • Leanne S. Fader
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1995; ann. 1995)​
  • Mary Ann Halford
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1997; div. 2008)​
ChildrenKate Meaney, born August 14, 1999

Kevin Gerard Meaney (April 23, 1956 – October 21, 2016) was an American stand-up comedian and actor.

Early life

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Meaney graduated from Valhalla High School in Westchester County, New York, and attended State University of New York at Morrisville.[1]

Career

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Meaney came to Boston from upstate New York to begin his career in comedy in 1980.[2][3][4][5][6][7] He appeared on the A&E Network television series An Evening at the Improv, in 1982.[8] He did stand-up in San Francisco.[9]

Meaney had a show called the Sweeney and Meaney Hour at Stitches Comedy Club in Boston.[10][11] His big break into mainstream culture may be considered to be his first HBO comedy special in 1986, followed by his debut performance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1987.[12]

After that, his act was broadcast several times by HBO,[13] Comedy Central and several network television stations with appearances on The Tonight Show, Late Night with David Letterman, Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee, The Oprah Winfrey Show and Conan.[14][15]

His most famous catchphrase was "That's not right!",[16] delivered while doing an impression of his mother, which was followed by, and usually preceded by, her complaints and remonstrations. Typically, his act consisted of commentary about his family and complaints about hotel service. Often, Meaney closed his show with a rendition of the 1985 song "We Are the World" which included comical impressions of the various singers who originally sang the song.[17]

He often ended his performance with a few jokes that intentionally would not get a good response to follow them up with a song reminiscent of "I Don't Care" by Jean Lenox and Harry O. Sutton sung about how he does not care whether the audience laughs at his jokes.[citation needed]

Meaney was involved in a number of television programs, including Ned & Stacey, Dr. Katz, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Garfield and Friends, Rocko's Modern Life, London Underground, and Duckman. He starred as the title character on the short-lived sitcom version of Uncle Buck.

He was also a singer and musician, writing and producing songs for HBO and Comedy Central with his co-writer Martin Olson, with whom he wrote several television series. He intermittently appeared on The Jay Thomas Show as a co-host. In 1996, he wrote and performed a one-man play titled Vegas Vows based loosely on his brief marriage to a woman he had just met.[18]

For seven years in the 2000s, Meaney performed in various roles in the Broadway musical Hairspray.

Personal life

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Meaney was born the third child of five in White Plains, New York. When he was 39 years old, he married a woman he had just met in Las Vegas. The marriage was annulled shortly afterward.[14] He later married television executive Mary Ann Halford and they had one daughter.[12]

In 2002, Meaney was arrested at the San Francisco International Airport. After his wife set off a metal detector and lifted her shirt high enough to expose her bra, he reportedly got belligerent and was asked twice not to film the security operations of the terminal. A scuffle with police ensued.[19]

On XM Radio's "Stand Up Sit Down" on May 5, 2008, Meaney stated publicly that he was gay.[20] He explained that his time on Broadway was where he gained the courage to accept his homosexuality.[21] Soon after, he and his wife divorced.[12]

Death

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Meaney died on October 21, 2016, at age 60, after being found unresponsive in his home in Forestburgh, New York.[22] According to Eastern Daily News he died from a heart attack.[23]

Discography

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  • That's Not Right (2004)

Filmography

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Features

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Television

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References

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  1. ^ LaRue, William (October 23, 2016). "Standup comic Kevin Meaney dead at 60". The Post-Standard. Syracuse, New York. Retrieved February 4, 2022. Meaney grew up in Westchester County, graduating from Valhalla High School. He attended SUNY Morrisville
  2. ^ Sullivan, James (November 5, 2010). "Laugh riot: The Boston Comedy Festival turns 10". The Boston Globe. Retrieved February 5, 2022. Though Meaney had been perfecting his purse-lipped impression of his scolding mother for years on Boston stages, he was in fact raised in suburban New York and introduced in San Francisco, at one of the early International Comedy Competitions there. In San Francisco he met a contingent of comics from the Hub, including Lenny Clarke and Martin Olson, who encouraged him to make the thriving Boston scene his home. They liked his act, even if the judges didn't.
  3. ^ "Kevin Meaney Obituary (1956–2016)". York Daily Record. Retrieved February 4, 2022 – via Legacy.com.
  4. ^ "In Memory of Barry Crimmins". Seven Stories Press. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  5. ^ Crimmins, Barry (2010). Never Shake Hands with a War Criminal. New York: Seven Stories Press. ISBN 978-1-60980-018-5.
  6. ^ Tressler, Bill (October 26, 2016). "Barry Crimmins Remembers Kevin Meaney". The Interrobang. Retrieved February 4, 2022. "It's tough being a 60 year old road comic, let me tell ya. Some of that would wear on him at times, but he'd take that stage and you wouldn't have a fucking hint, not a hint," said Crimmins.
  7. ^ Stedman, Alex (October 23, 2016). "Louis C.K. Pays Tribute to the Late Kevin Meaney". Variety. Retrieved February 4, 2022. He wrote that Crimmins and Meaney "were two guys from upstate New York who came to Boston and, among other guys, were the ones who made all of this happen." ...Whenever Kevin would bomb, and sometimes he would, he would start to sing a song 'I don't care! ...But Barry, for me, created the idea that comedy could be great and mean something. ...
  8. ^ "Meaney, Kevin 1957". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved February 4, 2022. Television Appearances; Series: Himself, An Evening at the Improv, syndicated, 1982...Saturday Night Live (also known as SNL), NBC, 1986...Stage Appearances: School principal, Hairspray, the Musical, Broadway production, 2006.
  9. ^ "Comic Kevin Meaney, starred in TV's 'Uncle Buck,' dies at 60". Los Angeles Times. October 22, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2022. It was his first HBO special, in 1986, that launched his comedy career after he toiled doing stand-up in San Francisco and Boston. In 1987, he took his first turn on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson."
  10. ^ "Louis CK On The Comedy Of Being A Single Dad". sandiego.com. July 29, 2011. Archived from the original on February 5, 2022. Retrieved February 5, 2022. The first time I did it, I went to a place called Stitches... The second time, Kevin Meaney had a show called the Sweeney and Meaney Hour and he put me on and I did even worse. It was just horrible.
  11. ^ "Louis C.K. On Life And Stand-Up: 'I Live In Service For My Kids'". Fresh Air. September 7, 2015. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  12. ^ a b c "Comic Kevin Meaney Shuts Door On His Closet Life". Miami Herald. January 30, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  13. ^ O'Connor, John J. (February 15, 1989). "Review/Television; Stand-Up Comedy at a Safe Distance". The New York Times. Retrieved February 4, 2022. Home Box Office's latest performance entry is One-Night Stand, a series of half-hours ...taped at San Francisco's Fillmore Theater, ...On tap for the coming weeks: Kevin Meaney, Joy Behar, Blake Clark, Dom Irrera and Bill Maher.
  14. ^ a b Rusnak, Jeff (March 22, 1996). "Kevin Meaney Turns Life's Mishaps Into His Shtick". South Florida Sun Sentinel. Fort Lauderdale. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  15. ^ "Official Website Of Kevin Meaney". Kevinmeaney.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 1999. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  16. ^ "Comedian Kevin Meaney, Valhalla Native, Dies At 60". Mount Pleasant Daily Voice. October 22, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2022. best remembered for the catchphrase "That's not right."
  17. ^ Gillis, James J. (February 22, 2012). "Happy And He Knows It". The Newport Daily News. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  18. ^ Deffaa, Chip (July 12, 1996). "A Veiled Threat". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 27, 2009. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  19. ^ Lee, Henry K. (March 5, 2002). "Security No Joke For Comic Arrested At SFO". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  20. ^ "Kevin Meany biography". Kevinmeaney.com. May 28, 2008. Archived from the original on October 25, 2016. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  21. ^ "Joy Behar Show". CNN. November 24, 2009. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  22. ^ Rosenberg, Eli (October 22, 2016). "Kevin Meaney, Veteran Stand-Up Comedian, Dies at 60". The New York Times. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  23. ^ Johnson, Victor (October 25, 2016). "Kevin Meaney From 'Uncle Buck' Dies, Cause Of Death Revealed". Eastern News Daily. Archived from the original on September 11, 2017. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
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