{{short description|American actor, comedian and singer |bot = PearBOT 5}} {{BLP more footnotes needed|date=March 2013}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Dan Finnerty | image = Dan_pic.jpg | caption = Finnerty in 2009 | occupation = {{hlist|Actor|singer}} | years_active = 1995–present | birth_date = | birth_place = [[Rochester, New York]], U.S. | alma_mater = [[Emerson College]] | spouse = {{marriage|[[Kathy Najimy]]|1998}} | children = [[Samia (musician)|Samia]] | website = {{URL| https://www.thedanband.com/}} }} '''Dan Finnerty''' is an American actor and singer.
==Early life== {{BLP unreferenced section|date=September 2024}} Finnerty was born in [[Rochester, New York]], and grew up in the small town of [[Bath, New York]]. He attended [[Emerson College]] in Boston. He was a member of the hit off-Broadway show ''[[Stomp (dance troupe)|Stomp]]'' in [[New York City]].
==Career== He is the lead singer of the cult hit comedy group he created called [[The Dan Band]], which ''Entertainment Weekly'' dubbed "the hottest ticket in Hollywood." The live show was filmed in Los Angeles as a one-hour concert special ''[[Dan Finnerty & The Dan Band: I Am Woman]]'' on the [[Bravo (US TV channel)|Bravo channel]], directed by [[McG]] and executive produced by [[Steven Spielberg]].
Finnerty gained fame for his hilariously foul-mouthed rendition of "[[Total Eclipse of the Heart]]" as the wedding singer at [[Will Ferrell]]'s wedding in the movie ''[[Old School (2003 film)|Old School]]'', directed by [[Todd Phillips]]. Phillips continued to feature Dan, as the sleazy bat-mitzvah singer in ''[[Starsky & Hutch (film)|Starsky & Hutch]]'' and again as the irreverent wedding singer in ''[[The Hangover (film)|The Hangover]]''. After seeing [[The Dan Band]], [[Steven Spielberg]] cast him in ''[[The Terminal]]'' and signed on to executive produce his comedy special.
Finnerty originated the role of Lonny in the world premiere of "[[Rock of Ages (musical)|Rock of Ages]]" in Los Angeles along with [[Kyle Gass]] from [[Tenacious D]] and made a cameo appearance in the film version of "[[Rock of Ages (2012 film)|Rock of Ages]]" as the tour manager for [[Stacee Jaxx]] played by [[Tom Cruise]].
He appeared over 15 times as a comedy correspondent on "[[The Jay Leno Show]]" and ''[[The Tonight Show with Jay Leno]]''.
"[[The Dan Band]]" has released three albums:
''[[The Dan Band Live]]'', the full-length CD of his live show released by [[Side One Dummy Records]].
''[[Ho. A Dan Band Xmas]]'', featuring all original holiday songs, with videos for "I Wanna Rock U Hard This Christmas" featuring [[Florence Henderson]] from ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'' making the moves on Santa at a retirement home, as well as the anthemic "Please Don't Bomb Nobody This Holiday," featuring celebrity cameos including [[Sheryl Crow]], [[Christina Applegate]], [[Nicole Scherzinger]], [[Kyle Gass]] from [[Tenacious D]], [[Neil Patrick Harris]], [[Meg Ryan]], [[Donald Faison]], [[Macy Gray]], [[Christopher Guest]], [[Cheri Oteri]], [[Rachael Harris]], [[Kathy Najimy]], [[Nia Vardalos]], [[Ian Gomez]], [[Nathan Fillion]], [[Ricki Lake]], [[Michael Johns (singer)|Michael Johns]], [[Janeane Garofalo]], [[Lauren Tom]], [[Gia Carides]] and [[Matthew Perry]].
''[[The Wedding Album (The Dan Band album)|The Wedding Album]]'', released 2015 through [[Comedy Dynamics]] includes collaborations with [[Nicole Scherzinger]], [[Rob Thomas (musician)|Rob Thomas]], [[Bridget Everett]], [[Nuno Bettencourt]] and [[Train (band)|TRAIN]].
[[The Dan Band]] appeared numerous times on ''[[The Tonight Show with Jay Leno]]'', ''[[Jimmy Kimmel Live!]]'', ''[[The Late Late Show (U.S.)|The Late Late Show]]'', ''[[Last Call with Carson Daly]]''' and as the [[house band]] on ''[[The Ellen DeGeneres Show]]'', ''Pajama Party'', and Spike TV's [[Spike Guys' Choice Awards]]. Finnerty also wrote and performed the finale song for the final season of ''[[Last Comic Standing]]''.
In March 2017, [[AT&T]] announced that Finnerty would appear in advertisements for [[DIRECTV]] during [[March Madness]], co-starring with [[Greg Gumbel]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://about.att.com/newsroom/att_adds_laughs_to_ncaa_march_madness.html |title=AT&T Adds Laughs to NCAA March Madness |website=att.com |accessdate=March 24, 2017}}</ref> The spots feature Finnerty performing the [[Aerosmith]] song "[[I Don't Want to Miss a Thing]]", with lyrics tailored to each scene (generally people at work while tournament games are on).<ref>{{cite web|last1=Baar|first1=Aaron|title=AT&T Customers Won't 'Miss A Thing' For Tournament|url=http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/297133/att-customers-wont-miss-a-thing-for-tournament.html|website=MarketingDaily|publisher=MediaPost|accessdate=March 26, 2017}}</ref>
He recently appeared in the [[Netflix]] film ''[[Dumplin' (film)|Dumplin']]'' starring [[Jennifer Aniston]] as pageant host Eugene Reed, performing the song "Look At Her" which he co-wrote with [[American Idol]] musical director [[Michael Orland]].
==Personal life== In August 1998, he married actress [[Kathy Najimy]], with [[Gloria Steinem]] officiating the ceremony.<ref name=SGN>{{cite news |url=http://www.sgn.org/sgnnews39_05/mobile/page22.cfm |title=SWC guest Kathy Najimy funny, fierce, and warm |first=Miryam |last=Gordon |website=[[Seattle Gay News]] |date=February 4, 2011 |accessdate=March 24, 2017 |archive-date=March 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170325201830/http://www.sgn.org/sgnnews39_05/mobile/page22.cfm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9789692/najimy_finnerty_married/ |title=Newsmakers |first=W. |last=Speers |url-access=limited |newspaper=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |via=newspapers.com |date=August 13, 1998 |accessdate=March 24, 2017}}</ref> The couple has one daughter, musician [[Samia (musician)|Samia]], born December 1996.
==Filmography== ===Film=== {| class="wikitable" !Year !Title !Role !Notes |- |1998 |''Cosmo's Tale'' |Purse Snatcher | |- |2000 |''[[Lost Souls (2000 film)|Lost Souls]]'' |Technical Director | |- |2000 |''Leaving Peoria'' |Bob |Short film |- |2001 |''[[The Wedding Planner]]'' |Best Man | |- |2001 |''Ca$hino'' |Dramatization Johnny |Short film |- |2002 |''[[The Princess and the Pea (2002 film)|The Princess and the Pea]]'' |Prince Rollo (singing voice) | |- |2003 |''[[Old School (2003 film)|Old School]]'' |Wedding Singer | |- |2004 |''[[Starsky & Hutch]]'' |Bat Mitzvah Singer |based on the [[Starsky & Hutch|television series]] |- |2004 |''[[The Terminal]]'' |Discovery Store Manager | |- |2008 |''[[Extreme Movie]]'' |Gigundocock | |- |2009 |''[[I Hate Valentine's Day]]'' |Grouchy Guy | |- |2009 |''[[The Hangover]]'' |Wedding Singer | |- |2011 |''A Great Catch'' |SWAT Captain |Short film |- |2011 |''Bench Seat'' |Bartender |Short film |- |2012 |''[[Rock of Ages (2012 film)|Rock of Ages]]'' |Tour Manager – Stacee | |- |2018 |''[[Dumplin' (film)|Dumplin']]'' |Eugene Reed | |- |2021 |''[[Single All the Way]]'' |Kevin the Snow Plow Guy | |- |2022 |''[[Forty Winks (2022 film)|Forty Winks]]'' |Vernon Whitaker | |- |2022 |''[[Hocus Pocus 2]]'' |Lucas | |- |2023 |''[[Family Switch]]'' |Gus | |- |2025 |''[[Atrabilious]]'' |Levi Whitaker | |}
===Television=== {| class="wikitable" !Year !Title !Role !Notes |- |1995 |''[[The Tonight Show with Jay Leno]]'' |Stomp |2 episodes |- |1996 |''[[Ellen (TV series)|Ellen]]'' |Doorman |Episode: "[[List of Ellen episodes|No So Great Expectations]]" |- |1997 |''[[American Experience]]'' |Clarence McNeil |Episode: "[[List of American Experience episodes|Gold Fever]]" |- |1997 |''[[Veronica's Closet]]'' |Pizza Guy |Episode: "[[Veronica's Closet|Veronica's Not Happy About the Book]]" |- |1997 |''[[Meego (TV series)|Meego]]'' |Dave |Episode: "[[Meego (TV series)|Fatal Attraction]]" |- |1998 |''[[Ellen (TV series)|Ellen]]'' |Crew Member Dan / Dan |Episode: "[[List of Ellen episodes|Ellen: A Hollywood Tribute (Part 1 & 2)]]" |- |1998 |''[[Any Day Now (TV series)|Any Day Now]]'' |Guy |Episode: "[[Any Day Now (TV series)|It's Who You Sleep With]]" |- |1998–2000 |''[[Rude Awakening (TV series)|Rude Awakening]]'' |Joe the Bartender |Recurring role; 6 episodes |- |2000 |''[[Two Guys and a Girl|Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place]]'' |Himself / Musical Guest |Episode: "Bridesmaid Revisted" |- |2000 |''Pajama Party'' |Dan |unknown episode |- |2003 |''The Dan Show'' |Dan Kennedy |Television Movie; also executive producer |- |2004 |''[[My Life as a Teenage Robot]]'' |Singer (voice) |Episode: "A Robot for All Seasons" |- |2005 |''[[King of the Hill]]'' |Darryl (voice) |Episode: "[[List of King of the Hill episodes|It' Ain't Over 'Til the Fat Neighbor Sings]]" |- |2005 |''[[The Life and Times of Juniper Lee]]'' |Singer |Episode: "Enter Sandman" |- |2009 |''[[Random! Cartoons]]'' |Wallo (voice) |Episode: "The Bravest Warriors" |- |2014 |''[[The Mysteries of Laura]]'' |Sad Sack |"[[List of The Mysteries of Laura episodes|Pilot]]" uncredited |- |2016 |''[[Graves (TV series)|Graves]]'' |unknown role |Episode: "That Dare Not Speak" |- |2022 |''[[That's My Jam]]'' |Himself |1 episode |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category}} * {{IMDb name|278248}} * [http://www.thedanband.com/ The Dan Band official site]
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finnerty, Dan}} [[Category:American male film actors]] [[Category:American comedy musicians]] [[Category:Emerson College alumni]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Male actors from Rochester, New York]] [[Category:Comedy rock]] [[Category:1970 births]] [[Category:People from Bath, New York]] [[Category:Musicians from Rochester, New York]] [[Category:21st-century American singers]] [[Category:21st-century American male singers]] [[Category:American male comedians]] [[Category:Comedians from New York (state)]]