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Jamie Kennedy
Kennedy signing an autograph for a soldier after performing at an USO event at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq, 2007
Born	James Harvey Kennedy May 25, 1970 (1970-05-25) (age 39) Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Comedian/Actor
Years active	1989–present
Official website

James Harvey "Jamie" Kennedy (born May 25, 1970) is an American comedian and actor.

Biography

Early life

Kennedy, the youngest of six children, was born in Upper Darby Township, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.¹ His family is of Irish Catholic descent.²³ He attended and graduated from Monsignor Bonner High School in 1988. After studying acting in college, he began his career as a Hollywood extra and honed his skills at voice impersonations.

Career

Kennedy used his voice acting skills to create a false persona, screen agent "Marty Power". Posing as Marty Power over the telephone, Kennedy attracted the attention of real agents and managers who would later book his performances. He eventually landed his first major motion picture role in the late 1990s when he was cast as Randy Meeks in the Scream series of horror films. In recent years, he has also performed minor roles in a number of other films, and most often appears opposite actor Kal Penn, including Malibu's Most Wanted, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and Son of the Mask.

Kennedy formed a production company called Wannabe Producers, alongside Josh Etting, through which he has produced the shows The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, Blowin' Up, The Starlet, and Living with Fran. Following Malibu's Most Wanted (2003), which he both wrote and starred in, Kennedy co-wrote the MTV show Blowin' Up (2006) featuring his friend Stu Stone.

Kennedy lent his voice as a celebrity in the videogame ESPN NFL 2K5 as a celebrity adversary with his own football team, the Upper Darby Cheesesteaks and he is also unlockable as a Free Agent tight end in season mode. His stint as Activision's emcee at E3 2007, however, drew critics.⁴

While working on his film Malibu's Most Wanted, Kennedy had ghostwriter Ellen Rapaport write a pseudo-comedic autobiography entitled, Wannabe: A Hollywood Experiment. The book chronicles his life in Hollywood as he attempts to become a star. It gives background on his life and family, and quickly dives into his adventures. It tells of such things as Kennedy's living conditions in the Hollywood slums, his beat up car, his kidney issues, and funky characters throughout the story.

As a performer of stand-up comedy, he is best known for his sketch performances on his television reality show, The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, which became the WB Network's highest ranking new show in 2002, but which was cancelled in April 2004 due to falling ratings.^{citation needed} In 2006, Jizzy Entertainment released Unwashed: The Stand-Up Special. In 2008, Kennedy released the documentary Heckler, about the plight of stand-up comics vs their often-aggressive audience.⁵

More recently, Kennedy plays psychology professor Eli James in the CBS drama Ghost Whisperer.⁶ He is also active in California's tourism campaign, having appeared in several commercials with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.⁷

Personal life

He currently resides in the Griffith Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, and is dating his Ghost Whisperer co-star Jennifer Love Hewitt.⁸

Filmography/TV

• Spring Break '83 (2009) as Ballzack
• Extreme Movie (2008) as Mateus
• Reaper (2008) as Ryan the Musician
• Ghost Whisperer (2008) as Eli
• Heckler (2007) as himself
• Kickin' It Old Skool (2007) as Justin Schumacher (Lead Role)
• Unwashed: The Stand-Up Special (2006) as himself
• Son of the Mask (2005) as Tim Avery/The Mask (Lead Role)
• ESPN NFL 2K5 (2004) (Video Game)
• Malibu's Most Wanted (2003) as Brad "B-Rad" Gluckman (Lead Role)
• Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) as Chaka's Production Assistant
• Max Keeble's Big Move (2001) as Evil Ice Cream Man
• Bait (2000) as Agent Blum
• The Specials (2000) as Amok
• Scream 3 (2000) as Randy Meeks
• Boiler Room (2000) as Adam
• Bowfinger (1999) as Dave
• Three Kings (1999) as Walter Wogaman
• Enemy of the State (1998) as Jamie
• Starstruck (1998) as George Gordon Flynn
• Clockwatchers (1997) as Eddie
• Scream 2 (1997) as Randy Meeks
• Boogie Nights (1997) (deleted scenes)
• As Good as It Gets (1997) as Street Hustler
• Scream (1996) as Randy Meeks
• Romeo + Juliet (1996) as Sampson

See also

• Jamie Kennedy's Blowin' Up

References

External links

• Review of Heckler
• Alternative Review of Heckler
• Jamie Kennedy World (Official site)
• Jamie Kennedy at the Internet Movie Database
• JKSS Records (Jamie Kennedy and Stu Stone's album site)
• Jamie Kennedy's MySpace
• Jamie Kennedy YouTube channel
• Jamie Kennedy Ringtone Store
• Jamie Kennedy on Tom Green Live
• Tunafish Diary Blog