Denis Leary was born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, the son of Nora and John Leary, Irish immigrants who had grown up together. After a childhood in the 1960s, Leary went to Emerson College in Boston, where he tried his hand at acting and writing. He was a charter member of Emerson's Comedy Workshop, and taught at the college for five years after graduating. By that point he had written several pieces for magazines and had worked at stand-up comedy for a time. In 1990 he and his wife Ann flew to London to perform in the BBC's Paramount City. That weekend Ann's water broke. Their planned weekend trip became a stay of months, and Denis, with not a whole lot to do in London, wrote a one-man comedy act. He brought friends in from the States, and they wrote songs to perform on stage. Leary, with Chris Phillips and Adam Roth on guitar, performed "No Cure For Cancer" at the Edinburgh International Arts Festival in Scotland. Despite some protests about the title, the show won the Critic's Award and the BBC Festival Recommendation. The next year the show was moved to America, and it was eventually taped and broadcast on Showtime (No Cure for Cancer). The show spawned a book, CD, cassette, and a videotape. It also started Leary's movie career. Since then, he has starred in several films and has had two of his own TV series.
Originally had a role in Beautiful Girls directed by good friend Ted Demme, but had to pull out due to scheduling conflicts. Graduated from Emerson College Cousin of Conan O'Brien and Jane O'Brien. Is the second of four children. Loves sports and originally wanted to be an NHL star. That all changed when he got kicked off his high school team because of poor grades. Founded the Leary Firefighters' Foundation charity in response to the Dec. 3, 1999 warehouse fire that killed six firefighters in his hometown of Worcester, MA. His cousin Jeremiah Lucey was among the six heroic firefighters killed. Leary also established a second division of LFFF, the Leary Firefighters' Foundation Fund for New York's Bravest in response to the FDNY's losses in the Sept. 11th attacks. He starred in three films directed by Ted Demme: Who's the Man?, The Ref and Snitch. He also co-produced Blow. Demme also directed both his concert specials. His song "Asshole" portrays a stereotype of American humor and lifestyles. He is one of the six godparents (all males) of Damian Charles Bing, son of Elizabeth Hurley, and attended the child's baptism at Immaculate Conception church in Mayfair, London. His role on Rescue Me marks his first Golden Globe nomination. Irish-American. Father of Jack Leary. His interest in the perils of firemen and to co-create the series Rescue Me stemmed from a tragic 1999 warehouse fire in his hometown of Worcester, Massachusets, that took the lives of six firemen, including his cousin and a childhood friend. Established the Leary Firefighters Foundation. When 9/11 happened, his foundation went into action and was hailed as "the second-quickest charity" to get money into the hands of grieving families. One auction alone raised $600,000. Denis got behind the wheel of a fire engine during September 11th when the entire New York fire department was short handed responding to the collapse of the World Trade center. Is a big Boston Red Sox fan. His "angry comedian" act, which he first used in No Cure for Cancer, is considered by many to be based on the comedy act of Bill Hicks.