Early life

Born in Swissvale, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, Gardell attended Winter Park High School in Orange County, Florida during 1985 As a child, he moved to Florida with his mother and younger brother and sister after his parents divorced. After that, he only visited Pennsylvania in the summers. He has said living in Florida was a positive experience. At the age of 15, he started working at a department store warehouse in the receiving area where he would unload trucks and stack pallets. In 1987, he started cleaning bathrooms, seating people, and answering phones at a local comedy club, Bonkerz. On December 28, he started performing at the comedy club's open-mic nights after he made a dare with some co-workers. "If I didn't do an open mic night, I couldn't cover the bet. I was running my mouth that I would do it. They bet me I wouldn't," he explained. He eventually started opening for Dennis Miller and George Carlin.

Gardell was a member of International Thespian Society Troupe 850 whose other notable alumni include Amanda Bearse, also a graduate of Winter Park High School, and Ben Rock of The Blair Witch Project.

Career

Gardell is known for his comedic roles and is influenced by Jackie Gleason. He has also listed Richard Pryor, George Carlin, John Candy, and John Belushi as his influences. Although Bonkerz helped launch his comedy career, he has credited the support from his grandmother, saying "She told me when I was 8 years old that I could be a comic". Before Mike & Molly, Gardell revealed that he was actually considering a career in radio after being on the road for his comedy act was affecting his family time. He has performed in several feature films, including Bad Santa (with Billy Bob Thornton) You, Me, and Dupree (with Owen Wilson) and Avenging Angelo (with Sylvester Stallone and Anthony Quinn) as well as appearing numerous times in recurring roles in several U.S. television series, including NBC's Heist, The Practice, Yes, Dear, Desperate Housewives, Lucky, Bones, My Name Is Earl, Monk, and The King of Queens. Gardell appeared as himself on the Comedy Central series Make Me Laugh. Subsequently, he appeared on Miller’s television program Dennis Miller, telecast on the U.S. financial news network CNBC (conducting “man-on-the-street” interviews). Notably, he created and staged a SNL-style charity performance of a piece called Winter Park Live, the proceeds from which were donated to Comic Relief.

Gardell continues to make weekly appearances on hometown local radio station, WDVE, appearing on The DVE Morning Show. Gardell also appeared on Chelsea Lately, as a roundtable participant. Gardell appeared on a special for Comedy Central Presents in 2007 that aired on April 4, 2008. Gardell also played the host of Pizza Talk, an imaginary TV series, in commercials for Round Table Pizza.

In 2006, Gardell's first comedy album, Billy Gardell: Throwback, was released.

From September 2010 to May 2016, Gardell starred in Mike & Molly, alongside Melissa McCarthy.

In November 2011, he lent his voice to Santa in Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas.

His new stand-up special Halftime was released in 2011 and aired on Comedy Central. It was filmed in Pittsburgh and profiles working-class America. As of 2011, he continues to tour as a stand-up comedian in addition to acting. In a 2011 Orlando Sentinel article, Gardell said he wouldn't mind doing movies again.

In 2015, Gardell started hosting the lottery game show Monopoly Millionaires' Club, featuring contestants who bought tickets for the Monopoly Millionaires' Club lottery game; the latter began on October 19, 2014.

Personal life

Gardell has been married to Patty Knight since 2001. They have an 11-year-old son, William. In a 2011 USA Today article, Gardell said he may retire when his son is a teenager to spend more time with him. His parents still live in Florida where he occasionally visits them. Regarding his weight, Gardell has explained that he "always had a little gut" and weighed 350 lbs... at one point. Gardell is allergic to dogs.

Gardell is a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, having participated in several Terrible Towel waves with other Steeler fans at Heinz Field. His favorite player growing up was Jack Lambert, with his son liking former Steeler Hines Ward.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Gary the Rat	Jack Harrison
2002	Avenging Angelo	Bruno
2003	Bad Santa	Milwaukee Security Guard
2006	Room 6	Taxi Driver
2006	You, Me and Dupree	Bartender Dave
2007	Alive 'N Kickin'	Billy	Television film
2007	Dragon Wars: D-War	Mr. Belafonte
2011	Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas	Santa	Television special
2014	Jersey Boys	Our Sons Owner
2015	Undrafted	Umpire Haze	Post-production
2015	Dancer and the Dame	Dancer	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	The King of Queens	Billy Kelner	Episode: "Block Buster"
2000	Judging Amy	Lyle Cooper	4 episodes
2001	Cover Me	Mike Dulgari	Episode: "Vegas Mother's Day: Part 2"
2001	It's Like, You Know	Eddie	Episode: "Lust for Life"
2001-2006	Yes, Dear	Billy Colavita	26 episodes
2003	Lucky	Vincent Sticcarelli	13 episodes
2003	Gary the Rat	Jackson Buford Harrison	3 episodes
2003	Monk	Ian Agnew	Episode: "Mr. Monk and the 12th Man"
2004	The Practice	Manny Quinn	4 episodes
2004	Quintuplets	Brad	2 episodes
2005	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Charlie Jackson	Episode: "Iced"
2006	Heist	Billy O'Brien	6 episodes
2006	Las Vegas	Sid Turner	Episode: "Delinda's Box: Part 1"
2007-2009	My Name Is Earl	Officer Billy Hoyne	12 episodes
2008	Comedy Central Presents	Himself	Episode: "Billy Gardell"
2008	Desperate Housewives	Roy Harding	Episode: "The Gun Song"
2009	Bones	Bob Sayles	Episode: "The Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood"
2010-2016	Mike & Molly	Mike Biggs	127 episodes
2012	Family Guy	Mike Biggs	Episode: "Ratings Guy"
2012-2014	Sullivan & Son	Lyle Winkler	3 episodes
2013	Phineas & Ferb	Mayor Chickenen	Episode: "Love at First Byte"
2015	The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson	Guest Host
2015	Monopoly Millionaires' Club	Host
2016	Girl Meets World	Coach Bobby Campagnola	Episode: Girl Meets High School Part Two

[ Source: Wikipedia ]