As a writer, producer, and actor, Tom Arnold has established himself to both television and film audiences worldwide, having won such awards as the Peabody Award for writing, and a Golden Globe Award for writing and producing. Additionally, he helped put Fox Sports Network on the map with his hosting duties on “Best Damn Sports Show Period.”
Arnold cornered the market on playing the resident comic relief in films like “Nine Months” with Hugh Grant, Julianne Moore, and Robin Williams, James Cameron’s “True Lies” with Arnold Schwarzenegger, “Hero” with Dustin Hoffman, and “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery” with Mike Myers.
Arnold has successfully broken out of the comedic stereotype and is ironically becoming a fixture at film festivals by landing more mature and dramatic roles. He appeared in three films at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival: “The Great Buck Howard” starring John Malkovich and Tom Hanks, “Good Dick” opposite Jason Ritter, and “The Year of Getting to Know Us” opposite Sharon Stone, Jimmy Fallon and Lucy Liu. Tom was also seen at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival in “Gardens of the Night,” opposite John Malkovich. In 2005, he received critical praise for his role in Don Roos’ “Happy Endings” for Lions Gate Films (which premiered at Sundance), starring opposite Maggie Gyllenhaal and Lisa Kudrow. He was also seen in “Pride” opposite Terrance Howard, and “Animal Factory,” directed by Steve Buscemi, another role for which Tom received great critical notice.
Arnold began his career in comedy at the University of Iowa before moving to Minneapolis, where he won the Minneapolis Comedy Competition in 1988. He then moved to Los Angeles to write on the highly successful television series, “Roseanne,” before eventually serving as executive producer for the sitcom. He went on to star in three installments of his own HBO special entitled “Tom Arnold: The Naked Truth,” and then wrote, produced and starred in three of his own television series “The Jackie Thomas Show,” “Tom” and “The Tom Show.”
Other film credits include “Soul Plane,” “Cradle to the Grave,” and “Exit Wounds.” Arnold also starred in “The Kid & I,” an action comedy he wrote for a 16-year-old family friend with cerebral palsy. The film was directed by Penelope Spheeris, with cameos by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Linda Hamilton.
Born in Iowa, he has established a writing scholarship and runs an acting workshop for students at the Indian Hills Community College in Iowa. He is also very active with the San Diego Center for Children, which cares for abused and neglected children as well as The Race to Erase MS, The Kayne-Eras Center and Hollygrove Children’s Home.
