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 Lembeck - www.imdb.com

Denis Leary was an acerbic Boston comedian until 2004, when he refashioned himself as a serious dramatic actor in the cable TV series Rescue Me. A graduate of Boston's Emerson College, he worked the comedy clubs in the northeastern U.S. in the 1980s and got his big break through MTV: Leary did promotional spots in which he smoked cigarettes and ranted with comic urgency on pop culture. That led to national success as a stand-up comedian, a couple of comedy records (1993's No Cure for Cancer and 1997's Lock - www.answers.com

Denis Leary is a five-time loser at the Academy Of Television Arts And Sciences’ annual Emmy Awards. Most recently he lost in the category of Best Supporting Actor In A Miniseries Or Movie for his role as Michael Whouley in HBO’s Recount.   He was then nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for his role in Recount- but he lost.  Denis has previously lost four times for Best Actor In A Drama and once - www.denisleary.com