David Koechner | |
---|---|
Born | David Michael Koechner August 24, 1962 Tipton, Missouri, U.S. |
Occupation(s) | Actor, comedian |
Years active | 1986–present[1] |
Spouse |
Leigh Koechner
(m. 1998; sep. 2020) |
Children | 5 |
David Michael Koechner (/ˈkɛknər/ KEK-nər;[2] born August 24, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing roles such as Champ Kind in the Anchorman films and Todd Packer on The Office series.
Koechner first became involved in performing when he began studying improvisational comedy in Chicago at ImprovOlympic, before joining the Second City Northwest. Koechner relocated to New York City in 1995, doing year-long stints of sketch comedy as a cast member on Saturday Night Live (1995–1996) and as a sketch regular on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in the mid-1990s. In 1997, Koechner moved to Los Angeles and started working regularly in various film and television comedies, making his first film appearances with small roles in the films such as Wag the Dog, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, and Man on the Moon.
While filming the country mockumentary film Dill Scallion in 1998, Koechner befriended actor/comedian Dave 'Gruber' Allen, and eventually began performing as the comedy duo, The Naked & T-Bones Show, a live musical comedy act. The act became a hit at Hollywood clubs such as Largo, and Allen and Koechner were invited to open for Tenacious D. In 2007, Koechner and Allen created and starred together in a Naked Trucker & T-Bones Show sketch comedy series that ran for one season on Comedy Central.
After his breakout role as Champ Kind in the 2004 comedy Anchorman, Koechner began appearing frequently with larger supporting roles in many high-profile comedic films including Talladega Nights, Thank You for Smoking, Waiting..., Semi-Pro, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, and Extract. His first leading film role, as Coach Lambeau Fields in sports comedy, The Comebacks opened on October 19, 2007. More recently, Koechner reprised his role of Champ Kind for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, co-starred in the horror-comedy Krampus, and received praise from critics for his dark turn in the 2014 black comedy Cheap Thrills. He co-starred in the sitcoms Bless This Mess and Superior Donuts and recurred on Another Period and on the reboot of Twin Peaks. He makes regular appearances on the sitcom The Goldbergs and provides the voices of Dick Reynolds on American Dad!.