Harland Williams

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Harland Williams
Williams at the 34th Annie Awards in 2007
Born (1962-11-14) November 14, 1962 (age 61)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • author
Years active1988–present
Parent
RelativesSteve Williams (brother)
Kevin Hearn (cousin)
Websitewww.harlandwilliams.com Edit this at Wikidata

Harland Williams (born November 14, 1962) is a Canadian actor. After several years of stand-up in Toronto and Los Angeles he made his film debut in Dumb and Dumber (1994) before playing starring roles in the short-lived sitcom Simon and the Disney comedy RocketMan (1997). He co-starred in Half Baked and played a psychopathic hitch-hiker in There's Something About Mary in 1998. He later appeared in films such as The Whole Nine Yards (2000), Freddy Got Fingered (2001) and Sorority Boys (2002), and provided voices in works such as Gary & Mike, Robots (2005), Meet the Robinsons (2007), and Sausage Party (2016). He is also an author of children's books, and creator of the children's animated series Puppy Dog Pals (2017–2023).

Early life[edit]

Harland Williams was born on November 14, 1962, in Toronto, Ontario, to Lorraine Mary (née O'Donnell), a social worker and writer, and John Reesor Williams, a lawyer who served as a member of the Ontario legislature.[1][2] He grew up in Toronto's Willowdale neighborhood with four sisters.[3] He is the brother of special effects artist Steve "Spaz" Williams, and a cousin to Barenaked Ladies keyboardist Kevin Hearn.[4][5]

Williams enrolled in Sheridan College in 1983, where he studied animation and media arts,[6] while periodically working as a forest ranger at Fort Frances.[5][2]

Williams gained American citizenship circa 2009.[7]

Career[edit]

Williams began in stand-up comedy in 1984, when still at Sheridan College.[6][8] He performed in Toronto for seven years before relocating to Los Angeles in 1992.[9] He credits a 1993 appearance on Late Night with David Letterman for a break through,[10] and Jim Carrey for bringing him to the attention of the Farrelly brothers, who cast Williams in his debut role as a police officer in Dumb and Dumber (1994).[8][11]

Other film roles include Freddy Got Fingered, There's Something About Mary, Half Baked, RocketMan, Sorority Boys, Down Periscope, Superstar and Employee of The Month. He has performed his stand-up comedy routines on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, HBO, Comedy Central and at comedy clubs throughout the country.

His improvisational skills led to him winning the award for 'Best Improviser' on an episode of NBC's prime time series Thank God You're Here in 2007.

Williams's ventures include voicing 'Monster' on Nickelodeon's animated series Robot and Monster and starring as Warwick the Warlock in Disney's direct-to-DVD movie Spooky Buddies.

He is the author and illustrator of several children's books, including a series about a dinosaur named Lickety Split,[12] as well as books for adults.[13][14][15]

He has a free, bi-weekly podcast called The Harland Highway.

He has appeared on Tom Green's House Tonight and on the Adam Carolla Podcast numerous times.[16] He is known for his performance of bird sounds on Carolla's show.

In August 2012 he began filming in Vancouver a 13-part Citytv comedy series called Package Deal, in which he stars.[17]

Williams created the Disney Junior series Puppy Dog Pals that debuted in 2017.[18]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1994 Dumb and Dumber State Trooper
1996 Down Periscope E.T. 'Sonar' Lovacelli
1997 RocketMan Fred Z. Randall
Wag the Dog Pet Wrangler
1998 Half Baked Kenny Davis
There's Something About Mary Hitchhiker Uncredited
Dog Park Callum
Mr. Headmistress Tucker
1999 Superstar Eric Slater
2000 The Whole Nine Yards Special Agent Steve Hanson
Big Money Hustlas Officer Harry Cox
Becoming Dick Richard Breggs
2001 Freddy Got Fingered Darren
Horrible Histories Lawrence Dongle (voice)
2002 Back by Midnight Sheriff Hubbard
Sorority Boys Doofer / Roberta
2003 Family Tree Jake
Kart Racer Zee
2005 Lucky 13 Bleckman
Because of Winn-Dixie Policeman
Robots Lug (voice) [19]
2006 Employee of the Month Russell Porpis-Gunders
Surf School Rip
2007 Meet the Robinsons Carl (voice) [19]
The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane
Slacker Cats Buckley (voice)
2008 Bachelor Party 2: The Last Temptation Derek
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Giraffe (voice) [19]
2009 Fudgy Wudgy Fudge Face Elmore P. Fudge
My Life in Ruins Al 'Big Al' Sawchuck
The Haunted World of El Superbeasto Gerard, The Exterminator (voice) [19]
2010 Dahmer vs. Gacy God
2011 Spooky Buddies Warwick The Warlock
Lloyd the Conqueror Vulcan
2014 Back in the Day Skunk
2016 Sausage Party Ketchup Bottle, Drug Dealer, Baba Ganoush (voices) [19]
2019 The Addams Family Norman Pickering, Ggerri (voices) [19]
2019 The Turkey Bowl Nolan
2020 Fearless Elliot aka Buckethead (voice)
2021 Back Home Again Reefer Harfish (voice) Short film
2023 Once Upon a Studio Carl (voice) Short film
TBA Wing Man Pre-production

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1994 Ellen Ticket Taker Episode: "The Houseguest"
1995 Big News Unknown role Television film
1995–1996 Simon Simon Hemple 21 episodes
1996 Allen Hansen Cartoon Show Store Employee, Meltman Voice; 1 episode
1997 Space Ghost Coast to Coast Himself 1 episode
1997–1999 Ned's Newt Newton Voice; Main role; Episodes 1–35[19]
1998 The Wonderful World of Disney Tucker, Headmistress Episode: "Mr. Headmistress"
2000 Becoming Dick Richard Breggs Television film
2000–2001 The Geena Davis Show Alan 22 episodes
2000 Sammy Todd Blake Voice; 9 episodes
2001 Family Guy Jeff Foxworthy / Sam's Father Voice; Episode: "To Love and Die in Dixie"
The Santa Claus Brothers Daryl Claus Voice; Television film[19]
Gary & Mike Mike Voice; 12 episodes
2005 What's New, Scooby-Doo? George Voice; Episode: "A Scooby-Doo Valentine"
My Name is Earl Johnny Bubblewrapn Episode: "White Lie Christmas"
2007–2009 Slacker Cats Buckley Voice; 12 episodes
2008 The Emperor's New School Cabbie Voice; Episode: "Cornivale"
2010-2012 Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil Pantsy Voice; 5 episodes
2011 Dan Vs. Hiram Episode: "Technology"
Robot Chicken Professor Cornelius Q. Quibblefingers Voice; 1 episode; also writes 4 episodes
2011–2015 Jake and the Never Land Pirates Captain Frost Voice; 6 episodes
2012–2014 The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange Apple / Appilles / Vegetable Mob Voice; 53 episodes[19]
2012–2015 Robot and Monster Monster Voice; 24 episodes[19]
2013 Age of Conan: Hyboria Hangover Carl 1 episode
2013–2014 Package Deal Sheldon White 26 episodes
2014 Sweet Dreams Terry Episode: "Pilot"
2014–2016 TripTank Various roles Voice; 6 episodes[19]
2015 Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero Helper Hue (voice) Voice; Episode: "It's a Colorful Life"[19]
Webovision: The Tom Green Show Guest 1 episode
2016 Skylanders Academy Hugo Voice; 19 episodes
The 7D Sandy the Sandman Voice; 1 episode[19]
Still Single Demo D Television film
2017 Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! Joe McGarth Voice; Episode: "Vote Velma"[19]
Bunnicula Thomas Edison's Ghost, Alien Voice; Episode: "Indistinguishable from Magic"
2017–2023 Puppy Dog Pals Bob Voice; Also show creator[19]
2022 Super PupZ Fisk Episode: "Pilot"
2022 Oddballs Patrick, Podcast Host, Guy Voice; 6 episodes

Video games[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2005 Robots Lug

References[edit]

  1. ^ "WILLIAMS, Lorraine Mary (nee O'Donnell)". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Riggs, Thomas, ed. (2002). Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. Vol. 40. Detroit: Thomson Gale. p. 371. ISBN 978-1-4144-4510-6.
  3. ^ Posner, Michael (September 21, 2005). "Laughing his way to the big screen". The Globe and Mail.
  4. ^ Sumi, Glenn (April 17, 2008). "Q&A: Harland Williams". NOW Magazine. Archived from the original on October 19, 2020.
  5. ^ a b Poisson, Jayme (August 16, 2009). "Harland Williams". Streets of Toronto.
  6. ^ a b Clark, Andrew (November 1995). "What's so funny about Harland Williams?". Saturday Night. Vol. 110, no. 9. p. 97.
  7. ^ Boedeker, Hal (July 22, 2019). "Comedian Harland Williams: My act is my career". Orlando Sentinel.
  8. ^ a b Harris, Will (August 28, 2014). "Harland Williams heard voices... he listened". The Virginian-Pilot.
  9. ^ Kronke, David (December 28, 1993). "He Seems Like Such a Pleasant Young Man..." Los Angeles Times.
  10. ^ Hochman, Steve (October 19, 1997). "Harland Williams / Actor". Los Angeles Times.
  11. ^ "Profile: Toronto Comic is on Brink of Hollywood Film Stardom". The London Free Press. Canadian Press. March 21, 1996. p. C3 – via NewsBank.
  12. ^ Johnson, Phil (November 3, 1987). "Likety Split! He's hoping kids' books will zoom him to top". The Toronto Star. pp. N8 – via NewsBank.
  13. ^ Ciemcioch, Mark (October 30, 2017). "Comedian Harland Williams is rocketing into Helium". The Buffalo News.
  14. ^ "Funnyman for the Whole Family: Harland Williams". The Washington Post. March 10, 2010.
  15. ^ Williams, Christian (March 10, 2010). "Harland Williams knew he was destined for greatness". The A.V. Club.
  16. ^ "The Channel". TomGreen.com. April 13, 2009. Archived from the original on April 27, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
  17. ^ Hall, Shannon. "Casting Announced for Citytv Original Comedy Series, Package Deal". Thunderbird Films (Press Release). CityTV. Archived from the original on September 6, 2012.
  18. ^ Milligan, Mercedes (March 23, 2017). "Harland Williams' 'Puppy Dog Pals' to Sit, Stay on Disney TV". Animation Magazine. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Harland Williams (visual voices guide)". Behind the Voice Actors (A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information).

External links[edit]

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