Jamie Kennedy

Jamie Kennedy
Kennedy at the 2012 Comic-Con in San Diego.
Birth name	James Harvey Kennedy
Born	(1970-05-25) May 25, 1970 (age 46) Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, United States
Medium	Stand-up, film, television, music
Nationality	American
Years active	1989–present
Genres	Observational comedy, Character comedy

James Harvey "Jamie" Kennedy (born May 25, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian, television producer, screenwriter, and actor.

Kennedy was born in Upper Darby Township, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Kennedy was raised Roman Catholic. He attended and graduated from Monsignor Bonner High School in 1988. After high school, Kennedy began his career as a Hollywood extra. Meanwhile, he worked on voice impersonations.

When Kennedy first arrived in Los Angeles, he became a professional Hollywood extra. During his first night in L.A., he was reading a Joan Rivers autobiography in a diner when the waiter explained to him that he had been in a dozen movies as an extra. Kennedy asked, "If you've been in so many movies, why are you a waiter?" The waiter responded, "I have to keep my day job."

After a few years of struggling, Kennedy was unable to find an agent and worked as a host at Red Lobster. He auditioned for over 80 commercials and could not book one. He then took a job as a telemarketer, and learned that he had a talent in selling things. Kennedy then thought that if he could sell anything, "why not sell myself?", becoming his own agent.

Kennedy created a false persona, screen agent "Marty Power", to attract the attention of real agents and managers over the phone, who would later book his performances. He came to prominence in the late 1990s for playing Randy Meeks in the Scream film series. His lead role as Tim Avery in Son of the Mask earned him a Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Actor.

Kennedy formed a production company called Wannabe Producers, alongside Josh Etting, through which he has produced the shows The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, Blowin' Up, The Starlet, and Living with Fran. Following Malibu's Most Wanted, in which he both wrote and starred, Kennedy co-wrote the MTV show Blowin' Up (2006) featuring his friend Stu Stone.