Patton Oswalt

Patton Oswalt
Oswalt at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con
Born	(1969-01-27) January 27, 1969 (age 44) Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S.
Medium	Stand up, television, film
Nationality	American
Years active	1988–present
Genres	Observational comedy, surreal humor, black comedy
Subject(s)	American culture, current events, pop culture
Influences	Jonathan Winters, Richard Pryor,[1] Emo Philips, Bugs Bunny, Blaine Capatch, Bill Hicks, Bobcat Goldthwait, Jay Leno, Sam Kinison, Steve Martin,[2] Louis C.K.[3]
Spouse	Michelle Eileen McNamara (2005–;[4] 1 daughter)
Notable works and roles	Spence Olchin in The King of Queens Remy in Ratatouille Seymour in Weird Al Show, TheThe Weird Al Show
Website	PattonOswalt.com

Patton Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor and voice actor known for roles such as Spencer Olchin in the popular sitcom The King of Queens, and voicing Remy from the film Ratatouille.

Early life[edit]

Oswalt was born January 27,^[5][6] 1969,^[7] in Portsmouth, Virginia, to Carla and Larry J. Oswalt, a career United States Marine Corps officer.^[4] He was named after General George S. Patton.^[8] While a military brat, he later lived in Ohio and Tustin, California, before settling in Sterling, Virginia.^[9] He is a 1987 graduate of Broad Run High School in Ashburn, Virginia and later attended the College of William and Mary, where he majored in English^[10] and was initiated into the Alpha Theta Chapter of the Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity.^[11]

Career[edit]

Oswalt first began performing standup comedy in the late 1980s or early 1990s, by his own reckoning.^[12] After writing for MADtv and starring in his own 1996 comedy special for HBO, he went on to garner notable roles in films and television shows. His most prominent and long-running role was as Spence Olchin on The King of Queens. His first starring film role was as the voice of Remy, the lead character in the 2007 Pixar film Ratatouille. He has also appeared in smaller roles in such films as Magnolia and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. He lent his voice as in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as a caller on the WTCR show "The Tight End Zone", and was the voice of a caller on "Chatterbox" on LCFR in the game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. He was also the voice of a reporter on "New World Order", a radio show on VCPR in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.

Oswalt wrote the comic book story "JLA: Welcome to the Working Week", a backup story in Batman #600; a story for Dwight T. Albatross's The Goon Noir #01 and a story for Masks: Too Hot for TV. Expanding his voice artist repertoire, he began voicing the villainous character "Tobey" on PBS Kids GO! series WordGirl in 2007. He also appeared on the Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner. In August 2007, he appeared on the Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav. In 2007, he appeared on an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, "The Original Fry Cook", as Jim. Early in 2001, he also appears as Carl, the Corndog Hut's mascot in American Hi-Fi's music video for "Another Perfect Day". He also appears in an episode of Static Shock. On June 27, 2007, Oswalt was a special guest on the Emeril Live program on the Food Network to promote Ratatouille. Other recent appearances include an episode of Venture Bros. where he voiced an aging boy adventurer Robin parody. In 2008 Oswalt moderated a reunion panel of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 cast at the San Diego Comic-Con International.

In 2009, Oswalt played Paul Aufiero, the leading role in Robert D. Siegel's 2009 directorial debut, Big Fan. He was to star in a 2010 Broadway revival of Lips Together, Teeth Apart.^[13] However, the show was postponed then eventually canceled due to Megan Mullally's departure from the production when the director denied her request to replace Oswalt due to his lack of stage experience.^[14]

He starred in the Showtime drama The United States of Tara as Neil, an employee of Four Winds Landscaping. He also provides the voice of Thrasher, a robot protagonist from the new Cartoon Network show, Robotomy.

In January 2011, Oswalt released his first book, Zombie Spaceship Wasteland.

In November 2011, Oswalt played the role of Hurlan Heartshe in the surrealist comedy miniseries The Heart, She Holler on Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. Also in November 2011, Oswalt was depicted blowing the second-ever puff of 3D pot smoke in A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas. In December 2011, Oswalt played Matt Freehauf in Jason Reitman's black comedy Young Adult.

He originated the role of Billy Stanhope on Two and a Half Men in 2012. In 2013, he appeared in a CollegeHumor skit as the Penguin, a Batman villain.

Stand-up comedy[edit]

Patton Oswalt at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International.

Oswalt's stand-up comedy covers topics ranging from pop culture frivolity such as comic book supervillains and 1980s glam metal to deeper social issues like American excess, materialism, foreign policy and religion. He also discusses his atheism in his stand-up. In 2004, Oswalt released a comedy album entitled Feelin' Kinda Patton and later that year a longer, unedited version of the same performance entitled 222 (Live & Uncut), both through the United Musicians collective, and a stand-up special, No Reason to Complain. He is also on a split EP called Patton vs. Alcohol vs. Zach vs. Patton with Zach Galifianakis and is featured on two Un-Cabaret compilations, "The Un & Only" and "The Good, the Bad and the Drugly". On July 10, 2007, Patton released his second CD Werewolves and Lollipops on Sub Pop records.

In 2004, Oswalt put together the Comedians of Comedy tour, made up of modern alt-comics Zach Galifianakis, Brian Posehn and Maria Bamford. The tour performed at smaller, more intimate indie rock venues instead of traditional (and expensive) comedy clubs. The Fall 2004 tour was documented in a 2005 film of the same name, and was followed by a six-episode Comedy Central series based on the Summer 2005 tour. This tour featured special guest appearances from comedians such as Blaine Capatch, David Cross, Rob Gasper, Bobby Tisdale and Todd Barry. Subsequent incarnations of the tour have included Eugene Mirman and Morgan Murphy.

In 2004 Oswalt's stand up material was featured on Comedy Central's animated series Shorties Watchin' Shorties. That same year a stand up DVD called No Reason to Complain was released. Oswalt appeared several times as a "lawyer" on Lewis Black's Root of All Evil. In the episode "Ultimate Fighting vs. Blogging", he argued that the popular influence of blogging has been evil, and in his closing argument, he performed a rick roll on the audience. He developed much of the material for his closing arguments on the program.

On February 28, 2009, Oswalt recorded his third comedy album at the Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University in Washington D.C. It premiered on Comedy Central as Patton Oswalt: My Weakness is Strong on August 23, 2009, and was released on DVD August 25, 2009.^[15]

Columbia University 2010 General Studies valedictorian Brian Corman ^[16] plagiarized one of Oswalt's comedic routines - which used Star Trek based science problems - while giving his valedictorian speech, claiming the absurdist questions (which were stolen from Oswalt's sketch) as being part of an undergraduate class that Corman had taken.

Oswalt's latest album, Patton Oswalt: Finest Hour, was released on September 19, 2011. The extended and uncensored DVD of this special was released in April 2012, a few days after its television premiere on Comedy Central.^[17][18]

Personal life[edit]

Oswalt married writer Michelle Eileen McNamara on September 24, 2005. Their daughter, Alice Rigney Oswalt, was born on April 15, 2009.^[19]

Oswalt is an atheist,^[20] and has referenced his atheism in his comedy specials, No Reason to Complain, Feelin' Kind of Patton, My Weakness is Strong, and Finest Hour. It was also referenced by Katt Williams in the opening act of The Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav.

He is also a fan of Metalcore music.^[21]

In 2013, he teamed up with PETA and spoke out against chaining pet dogs, and sent a letter to the Mayor and members of the city council of Newport News, Virginia urging them to ban the practice.^[22]

Discography[edit]

Albums[edit]

EPs[edit]

• Patton vs. Alcohol vs. Zach vs. Patton (2005) with Zach Galifianakis^[24]
• Melvins/Patton Oswalt split 7 (2006) with The Melvins^[25]
• Comedians of Comedy Tour 3"CD (2006)
• The Pennsylvania Macaroni Company (2006) with Brian Posehn, Maria Bamford, and Eugene Mirman^[26]
• Frankensteins and Gumdrops (2008) Available during the WFMU pledge drive

Compilation album appearances[edit]

• Beth Lapides' Un-Cabaret – The Un & Only (2002)
• Beth Lapides' Un-Cabaret – The Good, The Bad, and the Drugly (2006)
• Comedy Death-Ray (2007)^[27]

DVDs[edit]

• No Reason to Complain (DVD) (2004)
• My Weakness Is Strong (DVD) (2009)
• Finest Hour (DVD) (2012)

DVD appearances[edit]

• Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2 DVD (2004)^[28]
• The Comedians of Comedy: Live at the El Rey (2005)
• The Comedians of Comedy: Live at the Troubadour (2007)

Filmography[edit]

Music video appearances

• American Hi-Fi – "Another Perfect Day" (2001)
• The Ettes – "Excuse" (2011)
• The Coup - "The Magic Clap" (2013)

Bibliography[edit]

• JLA: Welcome to the Working Week (DC Comics, 2003)
• The Overrated Book (co-author with Henry H. Owings, 2006)
• The Goon noir (co-author with Thomas Lennon, Steve Niles and Eric Powell, 2007)
• The Rock Bible: Unholy Scripture for Fans & Bands (co-author with Henry H. Owings, 2008)
• Serenity: Float Out (Dark Horse Comics, 2010)
• Zombie Spaceship Wasteland (2011)

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Patton Oswalt

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Patton Oswalt

• Official website
• Patton Oswalt on Myspace
• Patton Oswalt at the Internet Movie Database
• Patton Oswalt at Comedy Central
• Brand new audio interview on The Sound of Young America from PRI.
• Interview with Oswalt from August 2006 on public radio program The Sound of Young America
• Random Rules: Patton Oswalt a feature from The A.V. Club
• Hustler Interview: Patton Oswalt
• IMPOSE interview
• Note Books essay on Largehearted Boy
• Reading John Collier's "The Chaser" at Daytrotter
• Interview by "Rotten.com"
• 'Getting Late' interview by Pete Dominick on Sirius Radio
• "Finest Hour" review