Dave Foley | |
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Foley in 2012
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Born |
David Scott Foley January 4, 1963 Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada |
Other names | David Foley |
Occupation | Actor, stand-up comedian, director, producer, writer |
Years active | 1986–present |
Spouse(s) |
Tabatha Southey (m. 1991; div. 1997) Crissy Guerrero (m. 2002; div. 2008) |
Children | 3 |
David Scott "Dave" Foley (born January 4, 1963) is a Canadian actor, stand-up comedian, director, writer and producer. He is known as a co-founder of the comedy group The Kids in the Hall, responsible for their eponymous sketch show and the feature length film Brain Candy. He played Dave Nelson in the sitcom NewsRadio, voiced Flik in A Bug's Life and hosted the game show Celebrity Poker Showdown.
Foley was born in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada the son of Mary, a homemaker, and Michael, a steamfitter.
After dropping out of high school, Foley pursued standup comedy for about a year in the Toronto Second City Training Centre, where he began taking improv classes and met Kevin McDonald who gave him a job as an usher at a local art house movie theatre. He played Lewis Allen in the miniseries Anne of Avonlea. Foley, McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson formed The Kids in the Hall, which debuted on television from 1988 to 1995. Foley played some characters, including Hecubus, one of the Sizzler sisters, the A. T. & Love boss, Bruno Puntz Jones, Mr. Heavyfoot, Jocelyn and Lex. Initially involved with Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy, he left the troupe in the middle of the writing, dissatisfied with the internal strife and the quality of the script, and joined the NewsRadio cast instead. As he had not signed any contract with the studio, Foley agreed to sign a deal which would allow the rest of the troupe to get paid for the script, though he was convinced that it would never be shot. When it was greenlit, Foley did the film because he was contractually obligated. He is the only member of the group who is uncredited as a writer. Foley rejoined the troupe in 2000 and has been an integral part of their various reformations. He appeared in the Kids in the Hall 2010 reunion project Death Comes to Town.Paul Simms, creator of NewsRadio, happened to be a huge fan of Foley's work and wrote the role of Dave Nelson specifically for him. Much of his character on the show was based on his own personality quirks, including his coffee addiction and his love of the sitcom Green Acres.