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Chris Parnell
1 FOLLOWER • 90 CREDITS • FEB 5, 1967 • 57
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​Thomas Christopher "Chris" Parnell (born February 5, 1967) is an American comic actor best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998–2006 and currently for his recurring role as Dr. Leo Spaceman on NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy series 30 Rock. Parnell is currently one of the lead voices on the FX animated comedy Archer. In 2010, Parnell starred alongside his former SNL castmate Horatio Sanz in the Comedy Central series Big Lake. After performing as a company player with The Groundlings for a number of years, Parnell was hired to join the cast of Saturday Night Live as a featured player on September 26, 1998, and was promoted to repertory player the following season. In the summer of 2001, budget cuts and hiring four new cast members required Lorne Michaels to dismiss two cast members; he chose to lay off Parnell and Jerry Minor over Horatio Sanz, Rachel Dratch, and Maya Rudolph. While on SNL, Parnell appeared in numerous sketches, and commercial parodies, and performed memorable impressions of various celebrities. One of his most popular sketches is Lazy Sunday, a rap video he shot with Andy Samberg about buying cupcakes and going to see The Chronicles of Narnia. He has also performed raps about hosts Jennifer Garner, Britney Spears, Kirsten Dunst and Ashton Kutcher. In the summer of 2006, Lorne Michaels announced that four cast members would be fired due to budget cuts, but he did not say who. On September 22, 2006 it was announced that three cast members had been fired: Parnell, Horatio Sanz, and Finesse Mitchell. This effectively made him the only SNL performer to have been fired twice by Lorne Michaels, though Parnell did say in a 2008 interview with The Sound of Young America podcast that he was okay with being let go this time, because he was considering leaving after that season anyway, but added that he probably would have stayed one last season if he was asked back. He had been with SNL for eight seasons; at the time only four people (Darrell Hammond, Tim Meadows, Kevin Nealon, and Al Franken) have been cast members longer. He has since made uncredited cameo appearances on the show, most recently in 2008 parodying newscasters Tom Brokaw, Jim Lehrer, and Bob Schieffer. Parnell and his former SNL castmate Horatio Sanz recently starred together in Big Lake, a 2010 sitcom on Comedy Central from executive producers Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. He also recently appeared as Dr. Drummer/Santa in the SyFy Holiday Special episode from the television show Eureka, which aired on December 7, 2010 (Season 4 Episode 10).
Overview
​Thomas Christopher "Chris" Parnell (born February 5, 1967) is an American comic actor best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998–2006 and currently for his recurring role as Dr. Leo Spaceman on NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy series 30 Rock. Parnell is currently one of the lead voices on the FX animated comedy Archer. In 2010, Parnell starred alongside his former SNL castmate Horatio Sanz in the Comedy Central series Big Lake. After performing as a company player with The Groundlings for a number of years, Parnell was hired to join the cast of Saturday Night Live as a featured player on September 26, 1998, and was promoted to repertory player the following season. In the summer of 2001, budget cuts and hiring four new cast members required Lorne Michaels to dismiss two cast members; he chose to lay off Parnell and Jerry Minor over Horatio Sanz, Rachel Dratch, and Maya Rudolph. While on SNL, Parnell appeared in numerous sketches, and commercial parodies, and performed memorable impressions of various celebrities. One of his most popular sketches is Lazy Sunday, a rap video he shot with Andy Samberg about buying cupcakes and going to see The Chronicles of Narnia. He has also performed raps about hosts Jennifer Garner, Britney Spears, Kirsten Dunst and Ashton Kutcher. In the summer of 2006, Lorne Michaels announced that four cast members would be fired due to budget cuts, but he did not say who. On September 22, 2006 it was announced that three cast members had been fired: Parnell, Horatio Sanz, and Finesse Mitchell. This effectively made him the only SNL performer to have been fired twice by Lorne Michaels, though Parnell did say in a 2008 interview with The Sound of Young America podcast that he was okay with being let go this time, because he was considering leaving after that season anyway, but added that he probably would have stayed one last season if he was asked back. He had been with SNL for eight seasons; at the time only four people (Darrell Hammond, Tim Meadows, Kevin Nealon, and Al Franken) have been cast members longer. He has since made uncredited cameo appearances on the show, most recently in 2008 parodying newscasters Tom Brokaw, Jim Lehrer, and Bob Schieffer. Parnell and his former SNL castmate Horatio Sanz recently starred together in Big Lake, a 2010 sitcom on Comedy Central from executive producers Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. He also recently appeared as Dr. Drummer/Santa in the SyFy Holiday Special episode from the television show Eureka, which aired on December 7, 2010 (Season 4 Episode 10).
Known For
Family Guy
American Dad!
Late Night with Seth Meyers
The Simpsons
Childrens Hospital
black-ish
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Caroline in the City
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
30 Rock
We Bare Bears
Friends
Bob's Burgers
Suddenly Susan
Dawn of the Croods
Glee
Seinfeld
Will & Grace
Love, Death & Robots
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Drunk History
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Ed
Hope and Gloria
Name That Tune
Fallout
Krapopolis
Gravity Falls
Union Square
The $100,000 Pyramid
Eureka
TV Funhouse
Miracle Workers
Murphy Brown
BoJack Horseman
The Life & Times of Tim
Conrad Bloom
Another Period
Ask the Storybots
My Adventures with Superman
Bad Judge
Marvel's M.O.D.O.K.
Close Enough
Great News
Saturday Night Live
Turbo
Hotel Transylvania 2
The Dictator
Jingle All the Way
The Ridiculous 6
Sisters
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
Elena and the Secret of Avalor
Battle of the Sexes
Down with Love
Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again
Life of the Party
Our Little Secret
Hotel Transylvania
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend
Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday
The Laundromat
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
The Five-Year Engagement
The Dink
Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special
Archer
Suburgatory
Hot Rod
Home Sweet Home Alone
21 Jump Street
grown-ish
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Austin Found
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Finding ʻOhana
Big Lake
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween
Senior Year
Slice
The Last Laugh
Dogs in Space
Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice
Happy Together
Highston
Rick and Morty
The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show
Production Credits
Saturday Night Live
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