Kyle Gass
Kyle Gass | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Kyle Richard Gass |
Born | Walnut Creek, California, U.S. | July 14, 1960
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Instruments |
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Years active | 1988–present |
Labels | |
Associated acts | |
Website | https://www.kylegassband.com/ |
Kyle Richard Gass (born July 14, 1960)[1] is an American musician and actor best known as a member of Tenacious D, a Grammy-winning comedy band.[2] He co-founded the bands Trainwreck and the Kyle Gass Band, with which he performs. He has acted in the films Elf and Kung Fu Panda as well as the TV shows Friends and Seinfeld.
Early life[]
Kyle Gass was born in Walnut Creek, California, and has two brothers.[1] He attended Las Lomas High School, where he played flute in the marching band, graduating in 1978.[1] He studied acting at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, where he met Tim Robbins. In 1982, he joined Robbins' The Actors' Gang and in the early 1990s met and befriended Jack Black in the group.[3]
Career[]
Acting career[]
Gass first appeared on-screen in a 1988 7-Up Gold commercial,[citation needed] and made his film debut two years later in Brain Dead.
He made a cameo appearance in the Seinfeld episode "The Abstinence" in 1996, in a 1999 episode of the television show Fear of a Punk Planet,[citation needed] and in a 2003 episode of Friends, The One With The Mugging (S9 E15), as Phoebe's street friend Lowell.[citation needed] He appeared in music videos for Good Charlotte's 2002 song "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous", the Foo Fighters' 1999 song "Learn to Fly," and I Prevail's 2017 song "Already Dead".[citation needed]
Gass has played small roles in many of Black's films (Year One, Kung Fu Panda, Shallow Hal, Saving Silverman, The Cable Guy, etc.). He starred with Black in the movie Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny.
Gass appeared in Jacob's Ladder (1990), appeared as the "couch potato" in The Cable Guy (1996), and as an inept author of children's books in the comedy Elf (2003). He had a cameo role as a singing karaoke cowboy in Wild Hogs (2007). In 2008 he played the porn director in Extreme Movie, Walrus Boy in Wieners, the dirty trucker in the men's room in Sex Drive, and Decatur Doublewide in Lower Learning.[4]
Music career[]
In Tenacious D, Gass plays lead guitar and sings backing vocals, and also plays the role of Black's comic foil in most of their comedy routines.
While appearing on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on November 15, 2006,[5] Gass claimed to have been the youngest graduate of the Juilliard School of Music with a degree in classical guitar studies at the age of 13. Juilliard did not have a guitar program in 1973, but began its graduate level guitar program in 1989 under Sharon Isbin, and its undergraduate program in 2007. Earlier, in an article in the Sunday Times on October 29, 2006, Black stated that Gass was the youngest graduate of Juilliard.[6] On May 13, 2008, Gass was a phone-in guest on the Adam Carolla Show. When Adam Carolla asked him "... And did you go to Juilliard?" Kyle replied "I didn't. I—you know, I made that up as a joke," he continued, "and I thought it would be hilarious, and then I've been hearing about it ever since. Apologies to Juilliard."[7]
In 2017, Gass performed the song "Penelope" for Amazon Music's "Love Me Not" compilation album.[8]
Other media[]
Gass starred in a web show, Guitarings, with John Konesky[citation needed] and currently hosts the 'Did We Do It' podcast with Kevin Weisman.[9]
Discography[]
This section does not cite any sources. (August 2021) |
Trainwreck[]
Studio albums[]
- Trainwreck Live (2004)
- The Wreckoning (2009)
EPs[]
- 2 Tracks (2003)
- The EP (2006)
Kyle Gass Band[]
- Kyle Gass Band (2013)
- Thundering Herd (2016)
Tenacious D[]
Studio albums[]
- Tenacious D (2001)
- The Pick of Destiny (2006)
- Rize of the Fenix (2012)
- Post-Apocalypto (2018)
EPs[]
- D Fun Pak (2002)
- Jazz (2012)
Live albums[]
- Tenacious D Live (2015)
Video albums[]
- The Complete Master Works (2003)
- The Complete Master Works 2 (2008)
Filmography[]
This section does not cite any sources. (August 2021) |
Film[]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1990 | Brain Dead | Anaesthetist | |
1990 | Jacob's Ladder | Tony | |
1993 | Mike the Detective | Phil | |
1995 | The Barefoot Executive | Joe | |
1996 | Bio-Dome | KG | |
1996 | The Cable Guy | Couch Potato | |
1997 | Bongwater | Guitarist | |
1999 | Idle Hands | Burger Jungle Guy | |
1999 | Cradle Will Rock | Larry | |
2000 | Almost Famous | Quince Allen | |
2001 | Saving Silverman | Bar Dude | |
2001 | The Zeros | Reed / David | |
2001 | Evolution | Officer Drake | |
2001 | Shallow Hal | Artie | |
2002 | The New Guy | Mr. Luberoff | |
2003 | Elf | Eugene | |
2006 | Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny | KG | |
2007 | Wild Hogs | Lead Singer | |
2007 | Monkeys | Uncredited | |
2008 | Kung Fu Panda | KG Shaw (voice) | |
2008 | Wieners | Walrus Boy | |
2008 | Dead and Gone | Reverend Grass | |
2008 | Lower Learning | Decatur Doublewide | |
2008 | Sex Drive | Trucker | |
2008 | Extreme Movie | Director | |
2009 | Year One | Zaftig the Eunuch | |
2010 | Barry Munday | Jerry Sherman | |
2011 | High Road | Winter Weirdo | |
2012 | Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3: Viva La Fiesta! | Lester | |
2014 | Book of Fire | Sal | |
2015 | Circus | Circus | |
2017 | Gnaw (Apartment 212) | Terry |
Television[]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1996 | Seinfeld | Smoker | Episode: "The Abstinence" |
1997 | Tenacious D | Himself | All |
1999 | Fear of a Punk Planet | Fire Marshal | |
2000 | Manhattan, AZ | Merv | Episode: "Lt. Colonel's Boy" |
2001-2002 | Undeclared | Eugene | Episodes: "Eric Visits Again" "Eric's POV" |
2001 | Space Ghost Coast to Coast | Himself | Episode: "Sweet for Brak" |
2002–2003 | Fillmore! | Mr. Collingwood (voice) | 2 episodes |
2003 | Friends | Lowell | Episode: "The One with the Mugging " |
2003 | Player$ | Himself | Episode: "Tenacious D a la Mode" |
2004 | Cracking Up | Naked Man | Episode: "Panic House" |
2004 | Tom Goes to the Mayor | Trapper Kyle | Episode: "Beat Traps" |
2005 | Living with Fran | Rocker Dude | Episode: "The Concerts" |
2006 | The Jake Effect | Ceissner | Recurring |
2007 | The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show | Himself | Episode: "Break Up" |
2011 | FCU: Fact Checkers Unit | Himself | Episode: "Excessive Gass " |
2012 | Femme Fatales | Willoughby Flagler | Episode: "Gun Twisted" |
2013 | 2 Broke Girls | Buzz | Episode: "And the Extra Work" |
2013 | Ghost Ghirls | Hawk Olsen | Episode: "Spirits of '76: Part 1 & 2" |
2014 | The Birthday Boys | John Allison | Episode: "Freshy's" |
2015 | Drunk History | Fred Eaton | Episode: "Los Angeles" |
2018 | Brooklyn Nine Nine | Dario Moretti | Episode: "Jake & Amy" |
2018 | Tenacious D in Post-Apocalypto | KG | All Episodes |
2018-2019 | Speechless | Carl | 2 episode |
Music videos[]
Year | Video | Role | Label |
---|---|---|---|
1999 | Foo Fighters - Learn to Fly | Flight attendant | Roswell/RCA |
2001 | Good Charlotte - Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous | Lawyer | Epic Records |
2017 | I Prevail - Already Dead | Man on computer | Fearless Records |
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Kyle Gass AKA Kyle Richard Gass". NNDB. Archived from the original on April 2, 2016. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
- ^ "Grammy Awards 2015: The Complete Winners List". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
- ^ "Production History - The Actors' Gang". The Actors' Gang. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
- ^ "Kyle Gass – Actor, producer". Variety. Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved March 9, 2009.
- ^ "Episode 15 November 2006 of Late Night with Conan O'Brien". The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
- ^ Rees, Jasper (August 29, 2006). "Dude, where's my guitar?". The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- ^ "Podcast of interview with Kyle Gass". The Adam Carolla Show. 97.1 FreeFM. May 13, 2008. Retrieved May 14, 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Kyle Gass, Penelope, retrieved December 24, 2020
- ^ "Kyle and Kevin "Did We Do It?"". Bleav Podcast Network. January 15, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kyle Gass. |
- 1960 births
- 21st-century American male actors
- American comedy musicians
- American male film actors
- American male singer-songwriters
- American singer-songwriters
- American male television actors
- American rock guitarists
- American male guitarists
- American rock singers
- Comedy rock
- Grammy Award winners
- Living people
- Male actors from the San Francisco Bay Area
- Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area
- Songwriters from California
- Tenacious D members
- University of California, Los Angeles alumni
- American recorder players
- People from Walnut Creek, California
- Guitarists from California
- 20th-century American guitarists
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American comedians
- Trainwreck (band) members
- Kyle Gass Band members