Chris Hardwick

For other people named Chris Hardwick, see Chris Hardwick (disambiguation).
Chris Hardwick

Hardwick at the 2013 WonderCon
Birth name Christopher Ryan Hardwick
Born (1971-11-23) November 23, 1971
Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Medium Stand-up, podcast, television, film
Alma mater UCLA (B.A., Philosophy, 1993)
Years active 1991–present
Genres Observational comedy, sarcasm, musical comedy, self-deprecation
Subject(s) Human behavior, pop culture, nerd culture
Spouse Lydia Hearst (m. 2016)
Partner(s) Chloe Dykstra (2011–2014)
Notable works and roles Hard 'n Phirm
Host of Singled Out
Host of Shipmates
Host of Wired Science
Host of Web Soup
Host of The Nerdist Podcast
Host of @midnight with Chris Hardwick
Voice of Otis in Back at the Barnyard
Host of Talking Dead
Host of Talking Bad
Website Nerdist.com

Christopher Ryan "Chris" Hardwick (born November 23, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, voice artist, television host, writer, producer, podcaster and musician. He is the chief executive officer of Nerdist Industries, the digital division of Legendary Entertainment. He currently hosts Talking Dead, an hourly after-show discussion program on AMC, affiliated with the network's very popular "zombie" drama series The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead; @midnight with Chris Hardwick, a nightly comedy-game show series on Comedy Central.

Hardwick originated the role of Stacee Jaxx in Rock of Ages during its premiere run in Los Angeles (2005-2006).[1] In 2011, he began hosting Ministry of Laughs, a BBC America Britcom block, and Talking Dead, a live hour talk show on AMC following episodes of The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead. In 2013, Hardwick hosted Talking Bad, a live half-hour talk show on AMC following the final eight episodes of Breaking Bad, and in 2016 he started to host Talking Saul for Breaking Bad's spin-off, Better Call Saul. He is also known for performing with Mike Phirman in Hard 'n Phirm, hosting Singled Out, Wired Science, Web Soup, and Nerdist Podcast, and as the voice of Otis in Back at the Barnyard, replacing Kevin James.

Early life

Hardwick was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on November 23, 1971, the son of professional bowler Billy Hardwick (1941–2013) and Sharon Hills (née Facente), a real estate agent in Pasadena, California.[2][3] His maternal grandfather was Italian American, and opened a bowling alley where his parents first met.[4] Hardwick was raised in the Roman Catholic faith of his mother.[5] Hardwick grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, attending St. Benedict at Auburndale high school, later moving to Regis Jesuit High School in Colorado, and then spending his senior year at Loyola High School in California.[6]

Hardwick studied philosophy at UCLA, where he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity during his freshman year and graduated in 1993.[6][7] Hardwick was roommates with Wil Wheaton for some time.[8][9] They met at a showing of Arachnophobia in Burbank, California.[8]

Career

Hardwick was a DJ on Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM during the mid-1990s.[6] In the fall of 1998, he starred in the UPN comedy Guys Like Us; the show aired 12 episodes before it was cancelled in January 1999.[10]

Hardwick appeared in Rob Zombie's horror films House of 1000 Corpses and Halloween 2.[6] He also made a small appearance in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.[10] In 2010, he was featured in the film The Mother of Invention. He made guest appearances on such shows as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Married... with Children,[6] Boy Meets World[6] and Zoey 101, and was a guest commentator on VH1's I Love the '90s, which aired in 2005.[6] He appeared as a television host on hip hop group Little Brother's 2005 album, The Minstrel Show.[11]

Hardwick is a contributing writer for Wired magazine (since 2007), wrote for Web Soup and Back at the Barnyard,[6] and he made regular appearances on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and Chelsea Lately. As part of what Hardwick calls his "nerd media empire", he runs Nerdist Theater, an entertainment space at Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles.[12][13][14] He entered into an equity partnership with GeekChicDaily in June 2011[15] to form Nerdist Industries.[16]

Hardwick published a self-help book, The Nerdist Way: How to Reach the Next Level (In Real Life), with Penguin Publishing, in late 2011. In February 2012, GeekChicDaily fully merged with Nerdist Industries and became Nerdist News, with Hardwick operating as Chief Creative Officer.[17]

On July 10, 2012, Nerdist Industries was acquired by Legendary Entertainment. Hardwick was given the title of co-president of Legendary's digital business.[18]

Voice-over work

Hardwick voiced Alexander Hamilton in The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd and Otis in the Barnyard series (the character was originally voiced by actor Kevin James in the movie Barnyard: The Original Party Animals).

He provided the voice for Green Arrow/Oliver Queen on The Batman and Lego Dimensions, Glowface in The X's, and Sokka in The Legend of Korra,[19] as well as voice work for The Minstrel Show from the rap group Little Brother, and narration for the introduction video for the Flash animation game George Plimpton's Video Falconry. Between May 2013 and July 2016, he voiced "Craig the Snake" on Sanjay and Craig. He also voiced the character Vaughn in Telltale Games's Tales from the Borderlands.[10]

Hosting

Chris Hardwick, at left, emceeing the Legendary Comics panel at the 2012 New York Comic Con. Beside him from left to right: Bob Schreck, Matt Wagner, Grant Morrison, Guillermo del Toro and Travis Beacham.

In 1993, Hardwick hosted the game show Trashed.[20]

Hardwick was first known as the host of MTV's Singled Out. While working on Singled Out, he met fellow MTV personality Jacinda Barrett, to whom he was engaged but never married. Later, he hosted the syndicated dating show Shipmates.

From October through December 2007, Hardwick hosted the weekly series Wired Science on PBS, while writing for Wired magazine. On June 7, 2009, he became the host of G4's Web Soup, a spinoff of E!'s The Soup. Hardwick had previously guest hosted The Soup's predecessor, Talk Soup.

Since February 2010, Hardwick has been producing the "Nerdist" podcast, which he hosts with Jonah Ray and Matt Mira.[21] The podcast was named one of 2010's best by The A.V. Club[22] and one of the 10 best comedy podcasts by Rolling Stone.[23]

In May 2011, Hardwick signed a deal with BBC America to host a pilot of a panel talk show for the network based on the podcast. The deal also included Hardwick doing intros and outros for BBC America's new Saturday night Ministry of Laughs comedy block of Britcoms.[24]

In 2011, Hardwick began hosting Talking Dead, a live half-hour (later expanded to one hour) talk show companion series to AMC's hit series The Walking Dead. Hardwick interviews celebrity fans of The Walking Dead as well as members of its cast and crew, interacts with the studio audience, re-airs clips of the episode, plays games with and polls the viewers via the Internet, and offers exclusive clips of the next episode. Talking Dead is currently in its fifth season. In August 2013, Hardwick began hosting Talking Bad, a live half-hour (later expanded to one hour on the final episode) talk show companion series to the final eight episodes of the AMC series Breaking Bad. In February 2016, Hardwick began hosting Talking Saul, a live one hour talk show companion series to the season two premiere and finale of the AMC series Better Call Saul.

On December 24, 2011, BBC America aired The Nerdist: The Year in Review, a comedy special hosted by Hardwick in Los Angeles. In August 2012, he hosted a special episode of The Nerdist on BBC America to "debate" the effects of time and space with other friends and celebrity nerds. The episode was really an effort to promote the network's upcoming September 1 seventh-season premiere of its series Doctor Who.

On April 30, 2013, Comedy Central announced that Hardwick would host a half-hour comedic panel show called @midnight with Chris Hardwick. Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant, formerly of Reno 911!, serve as executive producers/showrunners.[25] It premiered on October 21, 2013.

On November 7, 2014 he hosted the "Talent, Art, Movie and Costume" section of the BlizzCon gaming convention.

Stand-up comedy

Hardwick in July 2011

Hardwick is also a stand-up comedian and performs with Mike Phirman in the music comedy duo Hard 'n Phirm, whose half-hour comedy special Comedy Central Presents: Hard 'n Phirm premiered in January 2008.[26]

In 2004, Comedy Central used some of his material for an animated series called Shorties Watchin' Shorties.[27] In 2007, both his solo standup and duo act were featured on the comedy compilation CD Comedy Death Ray. Hard 'n Phirm completed several songs for the 2009 Rob Zombie animated movie The Haunted World of El Superbeasto. Hardwick announced plans to do a live stand-up album from his 2009 tour. He has toured as a featured comedian for Joel McHale. In 2010, he appeared as a stand-up comic on John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show twice. In the same year, Hardwick performed on the Comedy Central show The Benson Interruption.[10]

On February 17, 2012, Chris Hardwick filmed Mandroid, his first one-hour stand-up special for Comedy Central in New York City. Jonah Ray was his unaired opener.[28] The special aired on Comedy Central on November 10, 2012 and was well received.[29] Extended and uncensored DVD, CD, and digital versions were released January 22, 2013.[30][31]

Personal life

Hardwick was previously engaged to model/actress Jacinda Barrett and was in relationships with actress Janet Varney from 2004–11,[32] and with model and actress Chloe Dykstra from late 2011 to July 2014.[33][34] He became engaged to model, blogger, heiress and actress Lydia Hearst on September 12, 2015,[35] and the two married on August 20, 2016, in Pasadena, California.[36]

Hardwick talks openly about being a recovering alcoholic and has been sober since October 8, 2003.[37]

Discography

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1997 Courting Courtney Tim
1998 Win a Date Evrett Short film
1998 Beach House Ross
1998 Art House Weston Craig
2000 Jack & Diane Jack Short film
2002 Jane White Is Sick & Twisted Burger
2003 House of 1000 Corpses Jerry Goldsmith
2003 Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines Engineer
2004 Spectres Sam Phillips
2004 Johnson Family Vacation Arson investigator
2005 Life Coach, TheThe Life Coach Milos
2009 Mother of Invention, TheThe Mother of Invention Drake Wooderson
2009 Halloween II David Newman
2010 Lego: The Adventures of Clutch Powers Bones (voice) Direct-to-DVD
2013 Booker, Catch! Booker Short film
2016 Me Him Her Culk Didip

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1991 Thirtysomething Young man Episode: "Closing the Circle"
1995–98 Singled Out Himself (host) 130 episodes
1996 Boy Meets World Himself Episode: "Singled Out"
1996 Married... with Children Dan Inwood Episode: "Spring Break (Parts 1 & 2)"
1996 MADtv Himself Episode: "1.16"
1998–99 Guys Like Us Sean Barker 13 episodes
2001 The Zeta Project Ro's Brother (voice) Episode: "Ro's Reunion"
2001–03 Shipmates Himself (host)
2005 Zoey 101 Garth Berman - Executive Chairman Episode: "Spring Fling"
2005–06 The X's Glowface (voice) 20 episodes
2006 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Mikey Shoemaker Episode: "Rashomama"
2007 WIRED Science Himself (host) 11 episodes
2007–08 Batman, TheThe Batman Green Arrow/Oliver Queen (voice) 3 episodes
2007–11 Back at the Barnyard Otis (voice) 52 episodes
2008 Comedy Central Presents Himself Episode: "Hard 'n Phirm"
2008 The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd Alexander Hamilton Episode: "407"
2008–13 Attack of the Show! Himself (correspondents) 73 episodes
2009–11 Web Soup Himself (host) 53 episodes
2010 John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show Himself 2 episodes
2010 The Benson Interruption Himself Episode: "1.1"
2010–11 McBusters Morgan Spurlock (voice) 2 episodes
2011–12 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated Various voices 2 episodes
2011–present Talking Dead Himself (host)
2012 Legend of Korra, TheThe Legend of Korra Sokka (voice) Episode: "Out of the Past"
2012 Chris Hardwick: Mandroid Himself Stand-up Special
2012–13 The Nerdist Himself (host) 18 episodes
2013 Video Game High School Anchorman Episode: "Loopholes"
2013 Talking Bad Himself (host) 8 episodes
2013–16 Sanjay and Craig Craig (voice) 60 episodes
2013–present @midnight with Chris Hardwick Himself (host) Also creator, executive producer, writer
2013–15 Comedy Bang! Bang! Himself 3 episodes
2014 Garfunkel & Oates Himself Episode: "Rule 34"
2014 Maron Himself Episode: "Marc on Talking Dead"
2015 Family Guy Johnny Lawrence (voice) Episode: "Once Bitten"
2016–present Talking Saul Himself (host)
2016 Talking Preacher Himself (host)
2016 Critical Role Gern Blanston Episode: "Cindergrove Revisited"

Video games

Year Title Voice
2014–15 Tales from the Borderlands Vaughn (voice)
2015 Lego Dimensions Green Arrow (voice)

Awards and nominations

Year Title Nominated work Result
2014 Spike Guys' Choice Award for Smartacus Won
2014 Primetime Emmy Award for Original Interactive Program[38] @midnight with Chris Hardwick Won

References

  1. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0362534/otherworks
  2. ↑ Silberman, Stephen M. (September 30, 1996). In Their Own Prime Time. People
  3. ↑ "Logansport Pharos-Tribune from Logansport, Indiana · Page 12". Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ Hardwick, Chris (November 11, 2011). "Happy Veterans Day". Nerdist.com. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Nerdist Podcast 335: Live from Gilda's Laugh Fest". Nerdist.com. March 15, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Nerdist Podcast 90: Finish Book". Nerdist.com. May 20, 2011. 4:35 minute mark. Retrieved June 29, 2014. Chris validates and rejects entries on his Wikipedia page...
  7. ↑ Schools for Chris Hardwick, search for "Chris Hardwick's Schools" at myspace.com; accessed September 29, 2014.
  8. 1 2 "Nerdist Podcast 63: Wil.Wheaton". Nerdist.com. February 22, 2011. 8 minute mark. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  9. ↑ Wheaton, Wil (September 2, 2001). "Wil Wheaton dot Net:1.5: Nimrod's Son". WilWheaton.net. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Chris Hardwick at the Internet Movie Database
  11. ↑ Staff (2013-08-26). "Chris Hardwick Destined to Host Everything". Theblacksheeponline.com. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
  12. ↑ Leijon, Erik (July 28, 2011). "The dean of dweebs: Chris Hardwick fine-tunes his nerd-dar at Just for Laughs". Montreal Mirror. Retrieved November 15, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Chris Hardwick Reveals Details of BBC America Deal, How Nerdist Podcast Will Be Adapted For TV". The Hollywood Reporter. May 25, 2011. Retrieved November 15, 2011.
  14. ↑ "The NerdMelt Origin Story". NerdMelt. Retrieved November 15, 2011.
  15. ↑ Finke, Nikki. "Nerds And Geeks Unite In MultiPlatform Deal". Deadline. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  16. ↑ Graser, Marc (June 6, 2011). "Nerdist, GeekChic team up". Variety. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
  17. ↑ Hardwick, Chris. "Nerd is the Word". The Nerdist. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  18. ↑ "Legendary Entertainment Acquires Nerdist Industries". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  19. ↑ "Voice Of Glowface". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
  20. ↑ Grace Bello (2012-01-13). "Talking to The Nerdist's Chris Hardwick, January 2012". Theawl.com. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  21. ↑ Hardwick, Chris (February 8, 2010). "The Nerdist Podcast: Now A Thing!". nerdist.com.
  22. ↑ "The Best Podcasts of 2010". The A.V. Club. December 29, 2010.
  23. ↑ Berkowitz, Joe (April 6, 2011). "The 10 Best Comedy Podcasts of the Moment". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 17, 2011.
  24. ↑ Wicks, Kevin. "Chris Hardwick to Host 'Ministry of Laughs' and 'Nerdist' Pilot for BBC America". bbcamerica.com. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  25. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (April 30, 2013). "Comedy Central To Launch Late-Night Show Hosted By Chris Hardwick, Funny Or Die Produces, Tom Lennon & Ben Garant To Run". Deadline.com. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
  26. ↑ "Tonight: Hard 'N Phirm's Comedy Central Presents Special | Insider Blog | Comedy Central's Insider". CCInsider.ComedyCentral.com. 2008-01-25. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
  27. ↑ comedycentral.com
  28. ↑ The Nerdist Podcast & http://skirballcenter.nyu.edu/
  29. ↑ Heisler, Steve. "Chris Hardwick: Mandroid". The AV Club. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  30. ↑ Chris Hardwick: Mandroid (2013-01-01). "Chris Hardwick: Mandroid: Chris Hardwick: Movies & TV". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
  31. ↑ "Chris Hardwick: Mandroid - Widescreen - DVD". Bestbuy.com. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
  32. ↑ "Chris Hardwick: Nerdism For Fun and Profit". Gothamist. June 30, 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  33. ↑ Chloe Dykstra (2014-07-14). "Chloe Dykstra Twitter Account". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  34. ↑ Chis Hardwick (2014-07-14). "Chris Hardwick Twitter Account". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  35. ↑ "Chris Hardwick and Lydia Hearst Are Engaged – Check Out Her Sweet Ring". People. 13 September 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  36. ↑ "Talking Dead's Chris Hardwick and Lydia Hearst Are Married!".
  37. ↑ "Chubby Emo Chris Hardwick of 2003 Says, "You Can Do It!"". Nerdist.com. 2011-04-17. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  38. ↑ "2014 Emmy Nominations: 'Breaking Bad,' 'True Detective' Among the Honored". New York Times. July 10, 2014. Retrieved July 10, 2014.

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