Jack Black, biography, news, photos

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Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black

(eng. Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black; born August 28, 1969 (1969-08-28), Santa Monica, California, USA) is an American actor, comedian, musician and songwriter. Member of the rock band Tenacious D. Two-time nominee for the Golden Globe Award (2004, 2013).

early years

Black was born in Santa Monica, California, and raised in Hermosa Beach, the son of satellite communications engineers Judith Love Cohen and Thomas William Black. Black's mother is Jewish, and his father is a Scot who converted to Judaism, so Jack received a Jewish upbringing as a child. He said on the Tonight Show that his surname most likely comes from the Scottish word Blacksmith. His parents divorced when he was 10, after which Jack moved with his father to Culver City, but visited his mother often until the end of his freshman year at UCLA, when he and his father moved to France.

Childhood: Hermosa Beach, California

Born at the very end of the summer of 1969 into a Californian family of specialists in artificial Earth satellites, the boy was named Thomas Jacob. Mom Judith, a Jew, and dad Tom, a Scotsman who converted to the Jewish faith, gave their son, in addition to a double name, an explosive mixture of genes and upbringing in the traditions of Judaism.

Thomas Jacob (Jack for short), in his own words, grew up as a rather brutal child who adored books about Frankenstein and Dracula, and if any horror movie was shown on TV, he could not be pulled away from the screen.

Jack survived his parents' divorce at the age of ten and began living with his father in Culver City, visiting his mother on weekends. He never tired of making faces in front of the mirror, imagining himself as some kind of monster, creating the most unimaginable images in his fantasies and dreaming of becoming a great actor like Gary Oldman.

Black admitted in his interviews that as a child he was similar to his cartoon character Panda Po (in 2008, Jack voiced the main character in the cartoon “Kung Fu Panda”) both externally and internally. As a fourteen-year-old teenager, he was cast in a cameo role in the TV movie “The Stumbling Guy,” and then in a commercial for Atari.

Career

Black made his first professional appearance on the stage appearing in Tim Robbins' production of Carnage in 1989 at the Edinburgh Festival. He made his film debut in 1992 in the political satire Bob Roberts. Throughout the 90s, Jack Black continued to star in supporting and leading roles in various films. In 1994, in episode 5 of season 5, he played a high school graduate who invited Maggie to the prom in the TV series “North Side.” In 2000, the actor received one of his best roles in “Fanatic.” In this film, Jack Black showcased his talent as a musician on the big screen. The actor began to appear frequently on the television shows Saturday Night Live, Primetime Glick, The Osbournes, and music and film ceremonies. In 2003, Black starred in his first big hit, directed by Richard Linklater, the musical comedy School of Rock, in which he played a metalhead guitarist who teaches the skill to earn cash. Critics were so impressed by the actor's work that they even nominated him for a Golden Globe.

Jack Black formed the duo Tenacious D with Kyle Gass in 1994. The group is still popular and continues to appear regularly on a variety of HBO comedy shows. Black plays acoustic and electric guitar in the band. Among the fans of the unimaginable ensemble is the famous actor John Cusack, who invited Black to star in the film “Fanatic” for his services in the musical field, where he himself played the main role. He also starred in the Humility video with Gorillaz.

Personal life of Jack Black

Black met the emancipated Laura Kightlinger, an actress, screenwriter and producer, on the set of the television series “William and Grace.” Throughout their eight-year romance, the couple participated in many projects together, but the lovers never made it to the altar, breaking up amicably in 2005.

The reason for the separation was Jack's meeting with his school friend Tanya Hayden at a party in Santa Monica, where the band Tenacious D performed at an old friend's house. The actor's dream came true: he finally found the woman with whom he would spend his whole life.

Tanya, also a musician, the daughter of the world-famous double bassist Charlie Haden, managed to turn her relationship with Jack into a kind of fairy-tale adventure that the actor loved so much. One of the main adventures was her pregnancy, which she informed Black about, without insisting on either marriage or living together and raising the unborn baby. But the man who hated official ceremonies immediately offered her his hand and heart. In the spring of 2006, the couple got married in a small town in Big Sur, climbing into a quiet house on the top of a cliff.

Three months later, the happy father tenderly held his firstborn, who was named Samuel Jason Hayden Black. And two years later, a second boy appeared in the family - Thomas David.

Feeling his responsibility for his guys and wife, Jack decided to stop smoking and began to fight excess weight, which is much more difficult for him, since Black is a big fan of fast food.

Filmography

Career: film roles and “School of Rock”

In the nineties, Black often starred in minor films and small cameo roles. This continued until, on the recommendation of Cusack, who received the leading role, Stephen Frears invited him to his film. In Fanatic, Jack met Catherine Zeta-Jones and Iben Yeile, and also enjoyed meeting Tim Robbins again. And, undoubtedly, he embellished this melodramatic comedy with his musical talent and sparkling humor.

Still from the film “Fanatic”

The Farrelly brothers liked his Barry so much that they immediately invited the actor to play the lead role in the dramatic comedy “Love is Evil.” Jack's partner on the set was Gwyneth Paltrow. For this talented work, Black received a fee of three million dollars.

Jack Black in the movie "Love Is Evil"

According to him, after “The Fanatic,” he believed in the lucky star of a rock musician, because soon, while he was portraying a parody Spiderman, he received an invitation from director Richard Linklater to play a rock guitarist in his comedy melodrama “School of Rock.” “School of Rock” - trailer This is where Jack was given the opportunity to show himself in all his glory! Black could have won a Golden Globe for his role as Dewey in 2004, but he was beaten by the eminent Bill Murray with his Lost in Translation. But the MTV Award for Best Comedy Musical Role rightfully went to him.

Jack Black in the movie "School of Rock"

Further in Jack Black’s filmography appeared the leading roles of Nick from “Black Envy”, Miles from “Exchange Holiday”, Nacho from “SuperNacho”, Jerry from “Rewind”, Zed from “The Beginning of Time”. In 2010, the actor played Gulliver in the film Gulliver's Travels, and in 2011 he played undertaker Bernie Teed in Richard Linklater's black comedy Bernie. Top 10 films with the participation of Jack Black Then Black had only leading roles in the films “The Big Year”, “Home Video: Adults Only”, “Horror Movies”. The actor also starred with Pablo Schreiber and Tim Robbins in the political satire – the comedy “On the Edge”, in which the trio are obliged to prevent the Third World War.

Jack Black in the movie "Goosebumps"

But Jack’s cinematic career really turned upside down in the science fiction film “Jumanji. Call of the Jungle." Four teenagers, including the first beauty of the school, Bettany, turn into characters in a game that must be completed in order to survive and return home. So, actor Dwayne Johnson is the shy Spencer (aka Dr. Smolder), Karen Gillan is the clumsy Martha (aka Ruby Roundhouse), Kevin Hart is the burly Fridge (aka Moose Finbar). And only Jack Black is Bettany’s girlfriend (aka Professor Shelley Oberon). “Jumanji. Call of the Jungle” - trailer The actor remembers working on the film with pleasure. To understand what was going on in the girl’s soul, he was interested in the young actress’s musical and cinematic preferences, listened to John Mayer and watched TV series about teenagers. In addition, with nostalgic sadness he rewatched the original film, where his favorite comedian Robin Williams played.

Jack Black now

2018 ended for the actor with the leading role of the good wizard Jonathan Barnavelt in Eli Roth’s science-fiction thriller “The Mystery of the Clock House,” an adaptation of the novel of the same name by John Bellairs. The role of the powerful (but also kind) witch Florence Zimmerman, who fights with pumpkins, was superbly played by Cate Blanchett. “The Mystery of the House with a Clock” - trailer The film “Goosebumps 2”, where Jack got the role of writer Bob Stein, is in full swing towards completion, as well as the comedy “Desperate Measures” with the main role of Matt Pryor, a man who has lost everything, also played by Black . The mass audience will see the film in 2020.

Jack Black will not stop acting in comedies
Along with expanding his filmography, Jack, as a member of the duo Tenacious D (by the way, in 2020 the band won the Grammy Award for Best Song in the Metal Genre), is preparing to release a new album called Post-Apocalypto. The group, as in previous years, will participate in international festivals. Tenacious D - “Post-Apocalypto” Despite his popularity, Jack Black is sure that he will never win an Oscar and will never stop acting in comedies. But it would be better for an actor to look up to Bob Hope, who has not received a single film academic award, than to look up to “Mr. What’s-his-name, whose figurine is collecting dust on the shelf and whose phone is silent.”