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Biography
For other people called Tom Green see Tom Green (disambiguation)
Tom Green, as he appears on the Freddy Got Fingered original movie poster
Michael Thomas (Tom) Green (born July 30, 1971) is a Canadian shock comic and television host.
Born in Pembroke, Ontario, Green grew up in suburban Ottawa. While attending Algonquin College he had a radio show on the University of Ottawa's campus radio station, CHUO, before getting his first series on an Ottawa community channel, Rogers Television. It was later picked up by Canada's Comedy Network. He would later go on to write and star in full length Hollywood feature films.
In the early 1990s, Green had a short-lived career as a rapper in a group called Organized Rhyme.
Contents
1 The Tom Green Show
2 Marriage to Drew Barrymore
3 Later career
4 Tom Green today
5 Filmography
6 Discography
6.1 Album
6.2 Singles
7 Music videos
7.1 Solo
7.2 Organized Rhyme
7.3 MC Face
8 External links
8.1 Related Video
The Tom Green Show
The show began as a cable access program on Rogers Cable in the Ottawa region. The show would later be picked up by Canada's Comedy Network. The Tom Green Show was a variety show format, where he would have guests visit the studio and bands play before a live audience. He also had taped segments that typically consisted of stunts played by Green on unsuspecting people. A number of them involved Green's parents, Mary Jane and Richard Green, who consistently appeared to be unamused and occasionally angered by Tom's antics. Some of Green's most notable skits include humping a dead moose (referenced by rapper Eminem), having an X-rated lesbian scene painted on his father's car (labelled the "Slut Mobile"), drinking milk by sucking a cow's udder, and putting a cow head in his parents' bed while they slept. Green also hung his own unauthorized piece of art in the National Gallery of Canada (which remained untouched for days), similar to the subsequent exploits of British graffiti artist Banksy, with the added twist of later coming back and vandalizing it to the horror of onlooking patrons. In one segment, Tom went to the press conference of Grey Owl where he serenaded and kissed Pierce Brosnan. Brosnan, thinking Green was a journalist, advised him not to give up his day job.
After the show moved to MTV, Green became famous in the United States. This fame soon netted Green roles in several Hollywood movies, including Road Trip, Freddy Got Fingered (which he also directed), and Stealing Harvard. Freddy Got Fingered "won" in five categories at the 2001 Golden Raspberry Awards, given to the worst movies of the year. Green appeared at the ceremony to accept his awards.
He also wrote a song called "Lonely Swedish (The Bum Bum Song)", which he composed during MTV's Spring Break while doing a show on a cruise ship. After airing the music video on his show and appealing to his audience to request it, the song became an instant number one hit on Total Request Live. He quickly called for the video to be retired because "it's not fair to 98 Degrees." Later, in his autobiography, he revealed that MTV had pressured him to do so in order to maintain the image that Total Request Live was, in fact, a live request show (the next week's episodes had been pre-taped on location, and the producers of the show were completely unaware of "The Bum Bum Song" at the time).
Green's increasing fame made it harder for him to ambush people on the streets, leading him to target mostly seniors and non-English speakers. After he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in March 2000, he stopped production on his TV show, but continued to appear on the channel via reruns and other promotional materials. He made a one-hour special on his ordeal with cancer, including graphic footage of his own surgery. The episode received wide critical acclaim for revealing a vulnerable, human side of an otherwise juvenile television personality. He also starred in and directed a one-hour special called The Tom Green Subway Monkey Hour, where he tormented strangers in Japan.
Marriage to Drew Barrymore
Tom Green and Drew Barrymore planning to get married live on NBC's Saturday Night Live.
In July 2000, Tom Green became engaged to actress Drew Barrymore. Green and Barrymore met after Barrymore, who was a fan of Green's show, asked Green to appear in Charlie's Angels which Barrymore starred in and produced.
During the build up to their wedding Green and Barrymore frequently joked with the media about when and where they were going to wed. The most notable incident came on November 18, 2000 when Green hosted Saturday Night Live. During the monologue, Green brought Barrymore on stage and teased the audience about the couple marrying at the end of the episode. Ultimately, the stage was set for a wedding before Barrymore in the end, got "cold feet." The SNL incident initially left viewers and the media confused about whether the couple had actually planned to marry on live TV, or were simply staging a publicity stunt. Eventually, Green also went on The Tonight Show to toy with the public once again, this time claiming that his bride might be pregnant.
On February 18, 2001, there was a housefire at the residence of Green and Barrymore. Their dog Flossie woke them around 3:30 a.m. when she barked and "literally banged on their bedroom door." Firefighters estimated damage at $700,000 in the two-story, 3,500 square foot (325 m²) home located north of Beverly Hills. The incident was soon spoofed on Saturday Night Live with guest host Katie Holmes playing Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon playing Tom Green.[1]
Green and Barrymore married on July 7, 2001, but filed for divorce on December 17, 2001, citing irreconcilable differences. Their divorce became official on October 15, 2002. Some speculate that the marriage failed because Green wished to settle down and begin raising a family while Barrymore still had a high profile film career to maintain and still wanted to go out with her friends and have fun.
According to some tabloid reports Green grew annoyed by Barrymore's increasingly neurotic behavior in private. On October 13, 2001, Drew Barrymore hosted Saturday Night Live and Tom Green appeared in the audience wearing a gas mask. The episode came just a month after the September 11th terrorist attacks in New York City, where SNL is produced. Reportedly, Barrymore was already anxious about flying to New York. When news broke that NBC's Rockefeller Center studios where they were rehearsing had received a package containing anthrax, Barrymore fled the set in tears, vowing not to return.
Green would later claim that, at their wedding, most of Barrymore's show business friends (among them, Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, Courtney Love, and Molly Shannon) paid no attention to Green's own friends and family since they "weren't famous." Perhaps on an ironic note, Drew Barrymore actually appeared in her ex-husband's infamous 2001 film Freddy Got Fingered.
Later career
In 2003, Green returned with a nightly talk show on MTV called The New Tom Green Show. Marking a change from his earlier work, he was compared in print to a young Johnny Carson or David Letterman. Nevertheless, it was cancelled by MTV a few months after its premiere due to dwindling ratings. Currently, Tom Green is a recurring contributor to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Aside from his television work, Green is still acting with several films scheduled for release in 2005. Furthermore, Green is editing a new film which he also directed and starred in tentatively titled Prankstar. No further details about the film have yet been released.
Tom Green's autobiography, titled Hollywood Causes Cancer (ISBN 1400052777), co-written with Allen Rucker, was released on October 12, 2004. He also maintains a blog on his official website.
Green has acted as host for a variety of special events, including the 2005 Canada's Walk of Fame induction ceremony, the Canadian Live 8 concert, and the 2005 CASBY Awards. Also, in early 2006, Green appeared in several commercials for the Canadian Cable Public Affairs Channel promoting both the channel and for voters to vote in the forthcoming federal elections which took place on January 23, 2006.
On December 6, 2005 Green released his first solo album Prepare For Impact.
Tom Green today
Tom Green currently satisfies his fanbase with his constant devotion to his website, http:www.tomgreen.com - He personally answers fan e-mails and constantly blogs with written and video entries, usually concerning the minutiae of his life, his dogs (two Siberian huskies named Annie and Steve, both female), his parrot Rex Murphy or his work.
On November 9, 2005, Tom posted his personal cell phone number (310-717-1919) on his blog, and encouraged readers to call him. Since then some readers have posted their own videos of their conversations with Tom [2].
He's currently working on various projects with Canadian television stations including CPAC, the Canadian Parliamentary Channel.
Filmography
The Chicken Tree (1998)
Clutch (1998)
Superstar (1999)
Road Trip (2000)
Charlie's Angels (2000)
Freddy Got Fingered (2001)
Stealing Harvard (2002)
The True Meaning of Christmas Specials (2002)
Grind (2003)
Bob the Butler (2005)
Upcoming:
Danny Roane: First Time Director (2005)
Prankstar (2006) - Was tentatively titled Infamous until December 2005
Discography
Album
Huh? Stiffenin' Against The Wall (1992) As member of rap trio Organized Rhyme
Not The Green Tom Show (1998) Performed as MC Face
Prepare For Impact - (6 December 2005)
Singles
"Lonely Swedish (The Bum Bum Song)" (1999)
From Prepare For Impact: (2005)
"Teachers Suck"
Music videos
Solo
Lonely Swedish (The Bum Bum Song) (1999)
Prepare For Impact:
Teachers Suck (2005)
Organized Rhyme
Huh? Stiffenin' Against the Wall:
Check The OR (1992)
MC Face
Not The Green Tom Show:
Slaughter Ya Oughta (1998)
