Thomas Christopher Parnell ( ; born February 5, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. First breaking through as a performer with the Los Angeles comedy troupe The Groundlings, Parnell found wider success during his tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1998 to 2006. After leaving SNL, he played the role of Dr. Leo Spaceman on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock (2006–2013). Parnell is also a prominent voice actor known for his deep and distinctive voice. In animation, he voices the narrator on the PBS Kids series WordGirl (2007–2015), Cyril Figgis on the FX series Archer (2009–2023), Jerry Smith on Adult Swim's Rick and Morty (2013–present), and Doug on Fox's Family Guy (2019–2022). His work also extends into commercials, having voiced the Hamburger Helper mascot "Lefty", appeared in advertisements as "America's Dad" for Orbit Gum, and voiced "The Progressive Box" in a series of advertisements by the Progressive Corporation.
Early life
Parnell was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and adopted by a Southern Baptist family. His father, Jack Parnell, was a radio personality in Memphis. He attended the Southern Baptist Educational Center, and graduated from Germantown High School. He decided to pursue acting as a career at age 17 and set his sights on being a theater actor. He attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where he received his BFA in Drama. He moved to Houston, Texas after college to do an apprentice actor program for a season at the Alley Theatre, but did not get asked back to join the company. He became temporarily disenchanted with acting, and returned to his hometown and taught acting, film, and video at his alma mater, Germantown High School, for a year. In 1992, he moved to Los Angeles where he worked at FAO Schwarz for five years and took classes at the Groundlings.
Career
While performing as a company player with the Groundlings for a number of years, Parnell began doing commercials and getting guest roles on various sitcoms, such as Seinfeld, Friends, and Murphy Brown. Parnell was rehired in the middle of the following season.
While on SNL, Parnell appeared in numerous sketches and commercial parodies, and performed impressions of various celebrities. Among his notable sketches are "Lazy Sunday", a rap video he shot with Andy Samberg, and "More Cowbell". He has performed raps about hosts Jennifer Garner, Britney Spears, Kirsten Dunst, and Ashton Kutcher. On the DVD commentary for the West Coast version of the 30 Rock episode "Live Show", Tina Fey and Beth McCarthy Miller noted that Parnell was nicknamed "The Ice Man" while working at SNL, because of his apparent immunity to breaking character, citing the "More Cowbell" sketch in which he was the only actor not to break.
thumb|upright|Parnell at the 2007 [[Tribeca Film Festival ]]
In 2006, Michaels laid off Parnell, as well as Horatio Sanz and Finesse Mitchell, due to budget cuts. This effectively made Parnell the only SNL performer to have been released twice by Michaels, although Parnell said in a 2008 interview with The Sound of Young America that he was okay with being let go this time, as he was considering leaving after that season anyway, adding that he probably would have stayed one more season had he been asked back. He had been with SNL for eight seasons; at the time only four people (Darrell Hammond, Tim Meadows, Kevin Nealon, and Horatio Sanz) had been cast members longer. He has since made uncredited cameo appearances on the show, including parodying newscasters Tom Brokaw, Jim Lehrer, and Bob Schieffer. Parnell and his former SNL castmate Horatio Sanz starred together in Big Lake, a 2010 sitcom on Comedy Central from executive producers Will Ferrell and Adam McKay.
Parnell voiced Fly in the animated films Hotel Transylvania and Hotel Transylvania 2, and Stan the Fishman in Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation. He is a series regular on the FX animated series Archer, and is also known for his guest appearances as Dr. Leo Spaceman on 30 Rock. He provides the voice of the narrator on the PBS children's series WordGirl. From 2011 to 2014, Parnell co-starred on the ABC comedy series Suburgatory where he played the husband of the character played by his former SNL castmate Ana Gasteyer. His role started out as recurring in the first season but he was bumped up to a series regular in the second season. The series aired for three seasons on ABC.
Parnell provides the voice of the "Progressive Box" in commercials for Progressive Insurance. Since 2013, Parnell has voiced Jerry Smith (and his alternate reality variants) on the Adult Swim series Rick and Morty. On March 16, 2018, Parnell was cast in the main role of Wayne on the CBS sitcom Happy Together.
Filmography
Film
{| class = "wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| rowspan="2"|1996
| Jingle All the Way
| Toy Store Sales Clerk
|
|-
| Shooting Lily
| Phone Company Salesman
| Voice
|-
| 1997
| Decade of Love
| Bobby Fastdancer
| rowspan="3" | Short film
|-
| 1998
| Operation
| Cadaver
|-
| 1999
| Deadtime
| Junior
|-
| 2000
| The Ladies Man
| Phil Swanson
|
|-
| rowspan="3"|2003
| Evil Alien Conquerors
| Du-ug
|
|-
| Down with Love
| TV Emcee
|
|-
| National Lampoon's Barely Legal
| Mr. Ronald Greitzer
|
|-
| rowspan="3"|2004
| Looking for Kitty
| Guy Borne
|
|-
| Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
| rowspan="2"|Garth Holliday
|
|-
|Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|2006
| I'm Reed Fish
| Ralph
|
|-
| Ira & Abby
| Dr. Ronald Silverberg
|
|-
| rowspan="5"|2007
| The Grand
| Harold Melvin
|
|-
| Hot Rod
| Barry Pasternak
|
|-
| Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
| Theo
|
|-
| Sunny & Share Love You
| Kevin Keith Baker
|
|-
| Kabluey
| Frank
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|2008
| Harold
| Coach Vanderpool
|
|-
| Eavesdrop
| Terrence
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|2009
| Paper Man
| Peter
|
|-
| Labor Pains
| Jerry Steinwald
|
|-
| rowspan="3"|2010
| Hollywood & Wine
| Peter West
|
|-
| The Dogfather
| Brian Franks
|
|-
| Kung Fu Magoo
| Cole Fusion, Ninja
| Voice
|-
| 2011
| Answer This!
| Brian Collins
|
|-
| rowspan="4"|2012
| 21 Jump Street
| Mr. Gordon
|
|-
| The Five-Year Engagement
| Bill
|
|-
| The Dictator
| News Anchor
|
|-
| Hotel Transylvania
| Fly
| rowspan="3"|Voice
|-
| rowspan="2"|2024
| In Fidelity
| Lyle Ayker
|
|-
| Our Little Secret
| Veterinarian
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 2025
| Mimics
| Jack Conrad
|
|-
| A Loud House Christmas Movie: Naughty or Nice
| Gerald
| Voice
|-
| rowspan="3"| 2026
| Lorne
| Narrator
| Documentary
|-
| Stop! That! Train!
|
| Post-production
|-
| The Dink
|
| Post-production
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1996
| Hope and Gloria
| Howard
| Episode: "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Funicular"
|-
| 1996, 1998
| Suddenly Susan
| Phil, Waiter
| 2 episodes
|-
| rowspan="3"|1997
| Seinfeld
| NBC Executive
| Episode: "The Butter Shave"
|-
| The Jamie Foxx Show
| Director
| Episode: "Do the Write Thing"
|-
| Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher
| Announcer
| Episode: "The Weighting Game"
|-
| rowspan="4"|1998
| Union Square
| Don
| Episode: "It Takes a Thief"
|-
| Caroline in the City
| Gene
| Episode: "Caroline and the Cabbie"
|-
| Murphy Brown
| Handler #2
| rowspan="2"|2 episodes
|-
| Conrad Bloom
| Simpson
|-
| 1998–2012
| Saturday Night Live
| Various
| 148 episodes
|-
| rowspan="3"|2001
| TV Funhouse
| James Brolin
| Voice, episode: "Safari Day"
|-
| The Hughleys
| Rick
| Episode: "When Darryl Bumped Sally"
|-
| Friends
| Bob
| Episode: "The One with Rachel's Date"
|-
| 2002
| Ed
| DJ Curtis Morris
| Episode: "The Divorce"
|-
| 2003
| As Told by Ginger
| Radio Announcer, Train Conductor
| Voice, episode: "Far from Home"
| Ben Canelli
| 2 episodes
|-
| The Simpsons
| Mary Tannenbaum's Fiancé
| Voice, episode: "A Springfield Summer Christmas for Christmas"
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2021
| Archibald's Next Big Thing Is Here!
| Dr. Fluffberg
| Voice, 5 episodes
|-
| M.O.D.O.K.
| Alvin Healy / Tenpin
| Voice, episode: "If Saturday Be... for the Boys!"
|-
| 2021–22
| Dogs in Space
| Ed
| Voice, 20 episodes
| Dennis McNicholas
| Blue Ribbon Content
|}