Neil Flynn

Neil Flynn

Flynn on May 17, 2012
Born Neil Richard Flynn
(1960-11-13) November 13, 1960
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation Actor, comedian
Years active 1982–present

Neil Richard Flynn (born November 13, 1960) is an American actor and comedian, known for his role as Janitor on the NBC medical comedy-drama Scrubs. He currently portrays Mike Heck on the ABC sitcom The Middle. In many of his acting roles, he has portrayed a police officer.

Early life

Flynn was born on the south side of Chicago. He is of Irish descent and was raised Roman Catholic.[1] He moved to Waukegan, Illinois, at an early age. As a student at Waukegan East High School in 1978, he and partner Mike Shklair won an Illinois Individual Events state championship for "Humorous Duet Acting." He attended Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, where he was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity and participated on the Bradley University Speech Team. After graduating in 1982, Flynn returned to Chicago to pursue an acting career.

Career

In Chicago, he acted with the renowned Goodman and Steppenwolf theaters. Flynn was nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award (Actor in a Principal Role, for The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, 1986). He also performed at the Improv Olympic and the Second City Comedy Troupe.

Although his role on Scrubs had been to that point the most visible, he had other small roles in a variety of different TV shows and movies, including That '70s Show, Baby's Day Out, CSI, My Boys, Seinfeld, and Smallville.

In The Fugitive, he plays a Chicago police officer who is killed by the one-armed man, Frederick Sykes (Andreas Katsulas) while he is fighting Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford), Chicago Police Department detectives to hunt Ford's character. This role was used in a subplot of the Scrubs episode "My Friend the Doctor" when J.D. (Zach Braff) notices Flynn's character in the film, and believes that Flynn's Janitor character is the actor in the film. In 2008, he worked with Harrison Ford again, playing a suspicious law enforcement official as FBI agent Smith in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Flynn had a minor role in Mean Girls as the father of Lindsay Lohan's character. He then played the part of an anonymous police officer in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy; this scene was cut out of the final version of the film, though it can be viewed in the straight-to-DVD spin-off film Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie, and in the deleted scenes of the Anchorman DVD. He had a minor role in Major League as a longshoreman and fan of the Cleveland Indians. Flynn had a role on Phil Hendrie's animated pilot that was not picked up by FOX. He was also the first baseman in the movie Rookie of the Year.[2]

Flynn once appeared in an episode of The Drew Carey Show, playing the fake husband of future Scrubs co-star Christa Miller. He appeared on an episode of Seinfeld, playing a police officer.

Scrubs

For Scrubs, Flynn auditioned for the role of Dr. Cox, but was given the role of Janitor, instead. Flynn was originally only cast for the first episode ("My First Day"), but he became a regular, playing a character known only as the Janitor, who devotes much of his energy to menacing young Dr. John "J.D." Dorian. His name is not revealed in the series until the Season 8 finale when, upon J.D.'s first time asking about it, he simply says his name is Glenn Matthews. This is also speculated to be false for two reasons: first, after J.D. leaves the shot, an orderly addresses the Janitor as "Tony"; and second, while watching The Fugitive with Carla and Danni (Dr. Cox's sister-in-law, played by Tara Reid) in the Season 3 episode 'My Friend The Doctor', J.D. notices the real-life Flynn's character in the train scene. When the Janitor confirms he was in the movie at the end of the episode, some speculated the Janitor's real name in Scrubs is actually Neil Flynn.[3] Flynn was a series regular with Scrubs through the first eight seasons.[4] When Scrubs was cancelled by NBC and subsequently picked-up by ABC, he signed a second position one-year deal for Scrubs season nine, which would have allowed him to continue on Scrubs if his pilot The Middle was not picked up.[4] The Middle was picked up, although he did guest star in the Season 9 premiere of Scrubs.

The Middle

Flynn plays Heck family patriarch Mike Heck on the ABC show, The Middle.[5] In 2013, the series celebrated 100 episodes.

Voice-over work

He has also done voice acting for the animated series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, though he is better known for voicing the popular characters Skidd McMarx and the Plumber in the first three Ratchet & Clank games for the PlayStation 2. He also was the voice of a fashion policeman in Kim Possible.

Flynn voiced the character Max Flush on the FOX TV show Bob's Burgers in episode "O.T. the Outside Toilet".

As of 2015, he is providing the voice of Chuck, the foster father of the title character in the DC Comics animated web-series Vixen.

Beer Shark Mice

Neil Flynn performs regularly with his improv group, Beer Shark Mice. The cast includes veteran comedians Mike Coleman, Pat Finn, Pete Hulne, David Koechner, and Paul Vaillancourt.

For years, Beer Shark Mice has been performing to sold-out houses at the iO West theatre in Los Angeles.

Voted Chicago Improv Festival’s Ensemble of the Year and considered one of the best long-form improvisational groups in the country, the cast boasts an impressive list of credits, both collectively and individually, including Scrubs, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Seinfeld, American Body Shop, How High, My Boys, Ed, Mean Girls, Thank You for Smoking, and Saturday Night Live, among many others.

Filmography

Movies

Film[6]
Year Title Role Notes
1989 Major League Longshoreman
1993 Rookie of the Year Stan Okie
The Fugitive Transit cop
1994 Baby's Day Out Cop in the park
The Fence Dominick
1996 Chain Reaction Cop on the observatory roof
1997 Home Alone 3 Cop responding to Alex Pruit's 9-1-1 call
1999 Magnolia Daniel Hill
2000 The Right Temptation Max
2001 The Removers Alien Mask Man
2003 Brainwarp (Straight-to-video) Detective Jim Fist
2004 Mean Girls Chip Heron
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy Cop Deleted scenes
2006 Hoot Mr. Eberhart
2007 Sex and Death 101 Zack
Alive and Well Joel
5-25-77 Dr. Callahan
2008 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull FBI agent Paul Smith
2009 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Weather News Network Producer Voice

Television

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1982 Brookside Sozza (buried under patio) Episode #1.6
1987 CBS Summer Playhouse LAPD Officer Episode: "Kung Fu: The Next Generation"
Sable Real Security Guard Episode: "Copycat"
1989 Tour of Duty SEAL Episode: "Sealed with a Kiss"
Doogie Howser, M.D. Policeman #1 Episode: "Pilot"
1996 To Sir, with Love II Detective Dennis TV movie
1996–97 Early Edition Cop at Newsstand/Kellaher/Marilyn 3 episodes
1997 Seinfeld Cop #1 Episode: "The Summer of George"
1998 The Drew Carey Show Scott Honey Episode: "Kate's Family"
Ellen George Episode: "It's a Gay, Gay, Gay, Gay World!"
1999 That 70s Show The Bouncer Episode: "The Velvet Rope"
Sliders Officer Phil Episode: "Easy Slider"
Chicago Hope John Derricks Episode: "Vigilance and Care"
2000 Then Came You Cop Episode: "Then Came the Monthiversary"
Family Law Jack Lumberg Episode: "Telling Lies"
2000–01 Buzz Lightyear of Star Command XR 24 episodes; Voice
2001 The District George Ryerson Episode: "Vigilante"
Norm Lee Episode: "Norm vs. Deception"
2001–09 Scrubs Janitor 166 episodes, Main Cast Season 1-8 Guest Season 9
2002 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Officer Yarnell Episode: "Identity Crisis"
Boston Public Walter Andrews Episode: "Chapter Thirty-Four"
NYPD Blue Kevin Healey Episode: "Low Blow"
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie Janitor/himself TV movie
2002–03 Clone High U.S.A. Various Characters 12 episodes; Voice
2003–04 Smallville Pete Dinsmore 2 episodes
2005 King of the Hill Turpin Episode: "Arlen City Bomber"
Love, Inc. Nathan Episode: "Love, Inc."
2006 Joey Father O'Neill 2 episodes
My Boys Danny Finn Episode: "When Heroes Fall from Grace"
Re-Animated Head of Appleday Board TV movie
2007 The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show Hitchhiker Episode: "T-Bones TV"
2009 Monkey Talk Kevin TV movie
2009–present The Middle Michael "Mike" Heck Main Cast; 173 episodes
2013 Bob's Burgers Max Flush Voice; Episode: "O.T. The Outside Toilet"
2014 Surviving Jack Sport teacher Episode 06: "She Drives Me Crazy"
2015 Undateable Customer Episode: "A Live Episode Walks Into a Bar"
Jeopardy! Himself 2 episodes
Web
Year Title Role Notes
2015–2016 Vixen Chuck McCabe Recurring (6 episodes)

Video games

Year Title Role
2002 Ratchet & Clank Plumber, Skid McMarx, Robot Lieutenant, Inventor, Foreman
2003 Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando Plumber
2004 Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal Plumber, Skid McMarx/Shadow Dude, Taxi Driver, Gary
2012 Ratchet & Clank Collection Plumber, Skid McMarx, Robot Lieutenant, Inventor, Foreman, Taxi Driver, Gary

References

  1. ↑ Keller, Joel (May 5, 2010). "Patricia Heaton on Spending Mother's Day in 'The Middle'". TV Squad. Retrieved October 10, 2010. And so many of us -- Neil Flynn grew up in the suburbs of Chicago -- and just talking about how he grew up ... And he's also Irish-Catholic, which is how I grew up.
  2. ↑ "Rookie of the Year at IMDB". IMDb. Retrieved January 10, 2010.
  3. ↑ Starrymag.com
  4. 1 2 Andreeva, Nellie (15 May 2009). "ABC renews 'Scrubs'". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  5. ↑ Ng, Philiana (13 October 2013). "'The Middle': Patricia Heaton, Creators Reflect on Road to 100 Episodes". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  6. ↑ "Neil Flynn". IMDB. Retrieved January 10, 2010.
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