Chris Parnell

Chris Parnell
Parnell at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.
Born	Thomas Christopher Parnell (1967-02-05) February 5, 1967 (age 50) Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, comedian, singer
Years active	1995–present

Thomas Christopher "Chris" Parnell (born February 5, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He is best known as a cast member on NBC's Saturday Night Live from 1998–2006 and for his role as Dr. Leo Spaceman on NBC's comedy series 30 Rock. He also voices Cyril Figgis on the FX comedy series Archer and Jerry Smith on the Adult Swim sci-fi comedy series Rick and Morty.

Parnell was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to a Southern Baptist family. He graduated from Germantown High School and later attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where he received his BFA in Drama. After graduating, he moved back to Tennessee and taught acting and film at his former high school. With a strong passion for performing, he eventually moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. While there, he began performing with The Groundlings.

After performing as a company player with The Groundlings for a number of years, Parnell was hired to join the cast of Saturday Night Live as a featured player on September 26, 1998, and was promoted to repertory player the following season. In the summer of 2001, budget cuts and hiring four new cast members required Lorne Michaels to dismiss two cast members; he chose to lay off Parnell and Jerry Minor over Horatio Sanz, Rachel Dratch, and Maya Rudolph, but Parnell was rehired in the middle of the next season.