Jack Black was born in Santa Monica, California, and attended the University of California at Los Angeles. While at UCLA, he was a member of Tim Robbins's acting troupe and it was through this collaboration that led to his 1992 film debut in Bob Roberts. Although he was just a background voice in his first film, Jack's appearances in such television shows as The X-Files, his breakthrough performance in High Fidelity, and his rock-comedy band Tenacious D have created an ever-growing cult following.


Orange County (2002): $2,000,000
Shallow Hal (2001): $2,000,000
Saving Silverman (2001): $1,000,000

Member of the band Tenacious D. Discovered he could act when he played a game of Freeze after a Passover seder. Often competes for the same parts with Philip Seymour Hoffman. On the The School of Rock (2003) DVD audio commentary, he jokingly calls Hoffman "my nemesis." Born on the same day as Jason Priestley. Is a member of, what the media refers to as the Frat Pack along with Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Steve Carell and Luke Wilson. The Frat Pack name is a reference to the film Old School (2003), which features Vaughn, Ferrell, and Wilson, due to the wide number of films featuring the seven actors. Black's "Frat Pack" films include The Cable Guy (1996), Envy (2004), and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004). Had his gall bladder removed. Sang backup vocals for the songs in Bob Roberts (1992). Is good friends with Tim Robbins. Despite poking fun at the genre, he is actually a very knowledgeable fan of a lot hard rock/metal music from the 1970s and 1980s. He even appears as part of Tenacious D in the Ronnie James Dio video for the song "Push.". His parents, who were both rocket scientists, divorced when Black was 10. His mother worked on the Hubble space telescope. Wife, Tanya Haden, is a cellist. She is the daughter of jazz great Charlie Haden. He and his wife eloped after dating less than a year. They were married in Big Sur, California by the same minister who performed Shane Stanley and Val Barri's ceremony in 2005. Auditioned for the role of "Cubby Barnes" in Ransom (1996). Good friends with Will Smith. Was considered for the role of Freddy Lounds in Red Dragon (2002). Said he considers The Who to be the greatest band of all time, explaining that "they were the first ones to ever rock HARD... the recklessness, the deliciousness!".