Jump to content

Paul Greenberg (voice actor)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paul Greenberg
OccupationsWriter, producer, actor, comedian, voice actor
Years active1993–present
SpouseJackie Harris Greenberg
AwardsPrimetime Emmy Award; two Writers Guild of America Awards

Paul Greenberg is a Canadian comedy writer, producer, actor, comedian and voice actor. He was a founding member of the Toronto sketch-comedy troupe The Vacant Lot and later became a television writer and producer whose work has included the Tony Awards, the Academy Awards, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Weakest Link and the sitcom Return of the Mac.[1][2]

Greenberg won a Primetime Emmy Award for special material written for The 63rd Annual Tony Awards and received three additional Emmy nominations for subsequent Tony Awards broadcasts.[3] He also won Writers Guild of America Awards for The 66th Annual Tony Awards and the 2020 revival of Weakest Link.[4][5] Greenberg has had long-running creative associations with Neil Patrick Harris and Jim Carrey.

Career

[edit]

Greenberg began his career performing sketch comedy in Toronto. He formed The Vacant Lot with Rob Gfroerer, Nick McKinney and Vito Viscomi. The troupe developed original material while performing at Toronto venues including the Rivoli. A 1994 profile by comedy critic Andrew Clark praised the group's writing.[6] Greenberg, Gfroerer, McKinney and Viscomi served as the writers and performers of the troupe's television series, The Vacant Lot. The six-episode sketch series aired on CBC Television in Canada and was subsequently broadcast by Comedy Central in the United States.[7][6] Greenberg and the other members of the troupe received a 1995 Gemini Award nomination for Best Writing in a Comedy or Variety Program or Series for an episode of The Vacant Lot.[8][9]

After The Vacant Lot, Greenberg worked as a sketch and character performer in American film and television. He played multiple roles on MTV's The Jenny McCarthy Show and VH1's Random Play. Greenberg also performed in Los Angeles with actress and comedian Jackie Harris Greenberg, his wife.[9] Both appeared in Andy Prieboy's musical comedy White Trash Wins Lotto. The production was developed during a three-year residency at Largo in Los Angeles. An LA Weekly profile described Greenberg as "an excellent physical comedian".[10] They later appeared together at SF Sketchfest in Don't Say... with Paul and Dave, a live comedy show.[11]

Television writing and producing

[edit]

Greenberg increasingly moved from performance into television writing and producing. By the mid-2000s, his credits included consulting and producing work on Viva La Bam, Blue Collar TV, The Reality Show, Party @ the Palms, the MTV Movie Awards and other comedy and variety programming.[9] The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has credited Greenberg's television work as including The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the Primetime Emmy Awards and the People's Choice Awards.[1]

Greenberg developed a long-running professional relationship with actor Neil Patrick Harris, who has stated that Greenberg has been his go-to awards-show writer throughout their working relationship.[12] Greenberg wrote special material for the 63rd Tony Awards, hosted by Harris, and won the 2010 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special. He received further nominations in the corresponding variety-special writing category for the 65th, 66th and 67th Tony Award ceremonies.[3] Greenberg was part of the team which received the Writers Guild of America award for Comedy/Variety—Music, Awards, Tributes—Specials for their work on the 66th Awards.[4] Greenberg was one of Harris's writing team for the 87th Academy Awards.[1] Greenberg also collaborated with Jim Carrey during the development of Carrey's character material for Sonic the Hedgehog 3.[13]

Greenberg co-created, wrote, produced and appeared in the paranormal-comedy series International Ghost Investigators: Hollywood Division with David Anthony Higgins. The series aired on DirecTV's Audience network.[1] In 2016, Pop ordered Return of the Mac, a scripted comedy starring Joey McIntyre. Greenberg co-created the series and served as an executive producer and writer. The show premiered in 2017 and ran for eight episodes.[2][14] Greenberg was a writer on NBC's revival of Weakest Link. In 2021, its writing team won the Writers Guild of America Award for Quiz and Audience Participation.[5]

Awards and nominations

[edit]
Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Work Result
1995 Gemini Award Best Writing in a Comedy or Variety Program or Series The Vacant Lot Nominated
2010 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special The 63rd Annual Tony Awards Won
2012 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special The 65th Annual Tony Awards Nominated
2013 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special The 66th Annual Tony Awards Nominated
Writers Guild of America Awards Comedy/Variety—Music, Awards, Tributes—Specials The 66th Annual Tony Awards Won
2014 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special The 67th Annual Tony Awards Nominated
2021 Writers Guild of America Awards Quiz and Audience Participation Weakest Link Won

Sources: Television Academy, Writers Guild of America, Writers Guild of America East, Playback and Gale.[3][4][5][8][9]

Selected filmography

[edit]

Film

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1995 Tommy Boy Skittish student
1997 As Good as It Gets Bar waiter
1998 The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald: Scared Silly Fry Kid No. 2 Voice; direct-to-video
1999 Thumb Wars Prissypeo Voice; short film
2001 Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius Yolkian guard Voice
2006 The Ant Bully Sleeping ant; lice Voice
2016 Yo-kai Watch: The Movie Bear Bernstein; Bronzlow; Manjimutt; Dandoodle; Happierre Voice
2019 Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus Poonchy Voice

Television acting and voice roles

[edit]
Year(s) Title Role Notes
1994 The Vacant Lot Various characters Writer and performer; six episodes
1997–1998 The Jenny McCarthy Show Various characters
1998 The Wild Thornberrys Barno Voice
1999 Stark Raving Mad Yuppie
2000 Curb Your Enthusiasm Dinner guest Episode: "Porno Gil"
2000 Growing Up Brady Davy Jones Television film
2001 Time Squad Edgar Allan Poe Voice
2001 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Shempy vampire Episode: "Bargaining, Part One"
2001–2003 Invader Zim Various voices
2002 As Told by Ginger Naked mole-rat expert Voice; also writer
2002–2005 The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius Ooblar; Brobot; man on television Voice
2005–2006 Reno 911! Scott Greenberg Three episodes
2007 All Grown Up! Racine Voice
2008–2011 Back at the Barnyard Various voices
2008–2009 The Mr. Men Show Mr. Bump; Mr. Quiet Voice
2010–2019 The Jungle Book Daruka; Phaona Voice
2013–2015 International Ghost Investigators: Hollywood Division Paul Co-creator, writer and producer
2014–2018 Yo-kai Watch Bear Bernstein; Manjimutt; various characters Voice

Selected writing and producing

[edit]
Year(s) Title Credit
1994 The Vacant Lot Co-creator, writer and performer
1999 Random Play Writer and performer
2003–2005 Viva La Bam Creative and story consultant
2004–2005 Blue Collar TV Co-producer
2005 The Reality Show Producer
2005 Party @ the Palms Producer
2009 The 63rd Annual Tony Awards Special material writer
2011 The 65th Annual Tony Awards Special material writer
2012 The 66th Annual Tony Awards Special material writer
2013 The 67th Annual Tony Awards Special material writer
2013–2015 International Ghost Investigators: Hollywood Division Co-creator, writer, producer and performer
2015 87th Academy Awards Special-material writing team
2017 Return of the Mac Co-creator, executive producer and writer
2020 Weakest Link Writer

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 4 "Oscar Host Neil Patrick Harris's Writing Team Announced for 87th Oscars". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. December 9, 2014. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  2. 1 2 "Pop Orders Scripted Comedy With New Kids on the Block's Joey McIntyre". Variety. July 31, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 "Paul Greenberg". Television Academy. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 "Writers Guild Awards Winners & Nominees: 2025–2013". Writers Guild of America. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 "2021 Writers Guild Awards: Winners Announced". Writers Guild of America East. March 21, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  6. 1 2 Clark, Andrew (December 15, 1994). "Comedy: The Vacant Lot". eye Weekly. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  7. ↑ Weber, Bruce (August 12, 1994). "TV Weekend; Son of 'Saturday Night Live' and 'Kids in the Hall'". The New York Times.
  8. 1 2 "The 1995 Gemini nominees". Playback. January 30, 1995. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Greenberg, Paul". Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. Gale. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  10. ↑ "What to Do When Your Career Is Dead? A) Sell Your Amps on EBay, B) Wait Tables at Miceli's, C) Write a Rock Opera". LA Weekly. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  11. ↑ "18th Annual SF Sketchfest". Brava for Women in the Arts. January 11, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  12. ↑ Piccalo, Gina (February 12, 2015). "Q&A: Neil Patrick Harris on hosting the Oscars and good karma". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  13. ↑ Nemiroff, Perri (December 17, 2024). "'What the Hell Have I Done to Myself?' Jim Carrey on His 'Sonic the Hedgehog 3' Transformation and Creative Process". Collider. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  14. ↑ Petski, Denise (October 19, 2016). "'The Joey Mac Project' Sets Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_Greenberg_(voice_actor)&oldid=1377319681"