Jack Black

Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for roles in family and comedy films, in addition to his voice work in animated films. His accolades include a Grammy Award and nominations for two Golden Globe Awards. Some of Black's successful films include High Fidelity (2000), Shallow Hal (2001), School of Rock (2003), King Kong (2005), The Holiday (2006), Nacho Libre (2006), Tropic Thunder (2008), and Bernie (2011). He has since starred in Goosebumps (2016), its sequel Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), its sequel Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), and The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018). He has also performed voice roles in Ice Age (2002), Shark Tale (2004), Po in the Kung Fu Panda franchise, and Bowser in The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023). Black is the lead vocalist of the band Tenacious D, and formed the duo in 1994 with long-time friend Kyle Gass. They won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for "The Last in Line" in 2015. Since 2018, Black has operated a YouTube channel called Jablinski Games. Early life and education Thomas Jacob Black was born in Santa Monica, California, on August 28, 1969, the son of satellite engineers Thomas William Black and Judith Love Cohen. He was raised in Hermosa Beach, California. His mother worked on the Minuteman nuclear missile guidance system, the Apollo lunar module guidance system, the science ground station for the Hubble Space Telescope, and was also a writer. He has three older half-siblings through his mother: scientist Neil Siegel, Howard Siegel, and Rachel Siegel. His mother was born Jewish, while his father converted to Judaism. Black was raised Jewish, attending Hebrew school and having a bar mitzvah. His other ancestry includes English, German, Irish, Polish, Russian, and Scottish.