Brian Haley

Brian Carlo Haley, born February 12, 1963, in Seattle, Washington, is an American actor and comedian. The fifth of six children in a large Catholic family, his father was an airline executive of Irish and Italian descent — the source of Haley's Italian middle name — and his mother worked as a homemaker and part-time maid. When Haley was three years old, his family relocated to Saint-Jovite, Quebec, where he was placed in a boarding home and became fluent in French. He disliked the experience enough that after returning to Seattle eighteen months later, he refused to speak the language, making an exception only to translate for his younger sister, who spoke no English. He began performing in community and school theater in the Seattle area as a child. As a teenager, he encountered the film crew shooting Scorchy (1976) in downtown Seattle, worked briefly as an extra, and met the film's star, Connie Stevens — an experience that solidified his ambition to pursue show business. At fifteen, he moved to rural Ellensburg, Washington, and after high school worked as a lumberjack, hay bucker, and ranch hand before enlisting in the U.S. Army to join the Green Berets.

Haley served in the Army from 1980 to 1985, earning letters of commendation and the Army Achievement Medal before leaving early to pursue an entertainment career. During his service in 1983, he appeared in a production of Guys and Dolls starring Joe Namath at the Fort Bragg Playhouse. After his discharge, he returned to Seattle and began performing stand-up comedy, quickly reaching headliner status. In 1988, he moved to Los Angeles, where he won a "Hollywood's Hottest New Comic" competition, appeared on stand-up television programs including An Evening at the Improv, and was signed by ABC Television to a one-year holding deal. That same July, he competed across multiple episodes of the Alex Trebek-hosted game show Classic Concentration, winning $11,285 in prizes. His 1990 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson proved to be the turning point that generated a sustained wave of television and film work, including an HBO comedy special.

Haley's film career gained significant momentum in 1994 with two notable releases. He played Veeko, an incompetent kidnapper, in Baby's Day Out, a film that achieved particular popularity in overseas markets — running for over a year at a large theater in Calcutta and later being remade with an Indian cast under the title Sisindri. That same year he appeared in Little Giants as the exuberant football father Mike Hammersmith, known as Spike's dad. In 1995, he replaced Thomas Haden Church on the NBC series Wings, taking on the role of mechanic Budd Bronski. Also in 1995, he appeared in a Clio Award-winning Super Bowl advertisement for Miller Lite beer, portraying hard-luck quarterback Elmer Bruker. He went on to play The Hooded Avenger on The Weird Al Show in 1997 and bartender Tom Vanderhulst on the CBS series Maggie Winters from 1998 to 1999. Guest appearances across his television career have included 30 Rock, The Drew Carey Show, ER, and recurring roles on The Hughleys, Third Watch, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Haley has appeared in several prominent theatrical films in supporting and character roles. He played a detective in the Coen Brothers film The Man Who Wasn't There and in Martin Scorsese's The Departed, and portrayed Police Captain Hill in Tony Scott's The Taking of Pelham 123. In 2008, he played Mitch Kowalski, Clint Eastwood's discontented son, in Gran Torino. In 2003, he was cast alongside Randy Quaid and John Carroll Lynch in the CBS pilot The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire, but was later replaced by Chris Penn due to story restructuring.

In February 2007, Haley made his Broadway debut in Terrence McNally's play Deuce, directed by Michael Blakemore, portraying tennis commentator Ryan Becker. Haley's stand-up comedy style is characterized by the contrast between his all-American appearance and manic, absurd material. He has also provided commentary alongside Tim Kitzrow for the video game NFL Blitz and operates a production company called Haleywood Productions. Haley has been married to Marj McCoshen since 1988; the couple have five children. He is active with the relief organization World Vision and currently resides in New York City.