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Scott Thompson (actor)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the comedian also named Scott Thompson, see Carrot Top.
Not to be confused with Scott Thomson (actor).
Scott Thompson
Thompson in 2012
Born
John Scott Thompson

(1959-06-12) June 12, 1959 (age 65)
North Bay, Ontario, Canada
Occupation(s)Actor, comedian
Years active1980–present
Websitenewscottlandland.com

John Scott Thompson (born June 12, 1959), known professionally as Scott Thompson, is a Canadian actor and comedian, best known as member of the comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall and for playing Brian on The Larry Sanders Show.

Early life

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Thompson was born in North Bay, Ontario and grew up in Brampton. Named for his uncle, he later dropped the name "John" to simplify his name for the stage. He is the second oldest of the five children in his family.

He attended Brampton Centennial Secondary School, and was a witness to the 1975 Brampton Centennial Secondary School shooting.[1] He enrolled at York University but in his third year was asked to leave for being "disruptive". He joined the comedy troupe The Love Cats, where he met Mark McKinney.

Career

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Thompson at his Brampton Arts Walk of Fame star unveiling, 2014

In 1984, Thompson became a member of The Kids in the Hall, whose eponymous sketch comedy series aired starting 1989 on the CBC in Canada and on HBO in the United States, but moved to CBS for its fourth and fifth seasons. Openly gay,[2] Thompson became best known on the show for his monologues as "alpha queen" socialite Buddy Cole, and his appearances as Queen Elizabeth II, secretary Cathy, businessman Danny Husk, suburban housewife Fran, actress Francesca Fiore, and the demented old man in the popular "Love and Sausages" sketch.

Concurrently with The Kids in the Hall, Thompson and his writing colleague Paul Bellini collaborated in a queercore punk band called Mouth Congress.[3]

During the mid-1990s Thompson ran an interactive website, developed by his younger brother Craig and called ScottLand. It had a live-chat area, voting and comedy espionage and sold Buddy Cole T-shirts and video tapes of comedy sketches.[4]

He also appeared regularly on The Larry Sanders Show as Hank Kingsley's personal assistant Brian, and made numerous guest appearances on other television series, including Politically Incorrect, The Late Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and Train 48. Thompson hosted a reality television program in Canada called My Fabulous Gay Wedding. Thompson defended Mordecai Richler's novel Cocksure in Canada Reads 2006. He has continued to tour, and act in numerous movies and on TV. He joined the other Kids in the Hall to tour as recently as 2014, guest-starred in two episodes of Reno 911!, and performed in the project Death Comes to Town (2010) with fellow KITH members Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Kevin McDonald. He had a recurring role in the NBC series Hannibal, playing Jimmy Price, an FBI crime scene investigator.[5]

Thompson published a humour book, Buddy Babylon: The Autobiography of Buddy Cole, and a graphic novel, The Hollow Planet, based on characters from The Kids in the Hall,[6] and has written and performed two one-man shows. In 2014, Thompson, in character as Buddy Cole, did a series of reports on The Colbert Report as the program's correspondent for the 2014 Winter Olympics.[7]

In 2015, Bellini and Thompson uploaded all of their Mouth Congress recordings to Bandcamp,[3] and they reunited the following year for several live shows to promote the release.[8] They launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a documentary film about the band; that film, Mouth Congress, premiered at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival in 2021.[9]

Around this time, Thompson performed his Buddy Cole monologues at the Portland Queer Comedy Festival.[10][11][12]

In 2018, Thompson launched Après le Déluge – The Buddy Cole Monologues, a one-man show in character as Buddy Cole.[13]

Personal life

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Firebombing

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In 2000, Thompson was living with his boyfriend, French documentarian Joel Soler, in Hollywood. Soler had smuggled footage out of Iraq to make an E! News-style satiric political documentary comedy, Uncle Saddam, about the eccentricities in the home life of Saddam Hussein and his family, which bubbled behind Hussein's dictatorial façade. Thompson wrote the narration for the movie, which was read by actor Wallace Langham. Following the movie's release, Thompson and Soler's West Hollywood home was firebombed on November 1, 2000. Thompson has discussed the details of this incident in interviews with Jesse Brown of Canadaland and fellow Canadian comic Elvira Kurt, as being inspiration for his future show The Lowest Show on Earth. In the interview with Kurt, he says of the attack, "We were sleeping and a group came to our home. They filled our giant garbage cans with gasoline and set them on fire on our front lawn. They had buckets of red paint. They covered the house with it so it dripped off like blood. They put a note in the front hall that said, 'In the name of Allah, the merciful and compassionate, burn this Satanic film or you will be dead'. They underlined "dead" just in case we weren't freaked out enough".[14]

This, along with many other incidents throughout Thompson's life, including the 1975 Centennial Secondary School shooting at his Brampton high school, led him to process incidents of terror on micro- and macrocosmic levels through his one-man comedy show The Lowest Show on Earth. Thompson went on tour with this show and secured a spot in New York, off-Broadway. The posters—featuring Thompson lying supine on the ground with a big wad of semen dripping down the side of his face—went up around the city on September 10, 2001. The following day, the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center made the one-man show's difficult material impossible to talk about.[15]

Health

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In March 2009, Thompson was diagnosed with B-cell non-Hodgkin's gastric lymphoma. He completed six rounds of chemotherapy and one month of radiation and is now cancer free.[16][17]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1985 Head Office Man Outside Office Building Uncredited
1989 Millennium Controller
1994 Super 8½ Buddy Cole
1996 Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy Baxter / Mrs. Hurdicure / Wally
1997 Hijacking Hollywood Russell
1997 Hayseed J.D. Wood
1999 Mickey Blue Eyes FBI Agent Lewis
2001 Tart Kenny
2002 Run Ronnie Run! Scott Thompson
2003 Nobody Knows Anything! Mechanic
2004 My Baby's Daddy Cashier
2004 Ham & Cheese Floyd
2005 The Pacifier Director
2006 Another Gay Movie Andy's Dad
2008 Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild!
2014 Patch Town Executive No. 2
2017 Don't Talk to Irene Barrett
2018 The Go-Getters Young Guy
2023 Zombie Town Andy
2023 My Animal Marcel

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1987 Street Legal Director Episode: "Desperate Alibi"
1988, 1990 The Campbells Red 2 episodes
1988–1995; 2022 The Kids in the Hall Various characters 109 episodes
1995–1998 The Larry Sanders Show Brian 35 episodes
1998 Tracey Takes On... Matthew Episode: "Religion"
1998 More Tales of the City Arlington Luce Episode #1.2
1998 Veronica's Closet Scotty Episode: "Veronica's Great Model Search"
1999 Jesse Cecil Episode: "Cecil, the Angry Postman"
1999 Star Trek: Voyager Tomin Episode: "Someone to Watch Over Me"
2000 Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child Prince Rip / Rabbit Episode: "The Frog Princess"
2001 Dharma & Greg David Episode: "Kitty Dearest"
2001 Further Tales of the City Arlington Luce 3 episodes
2001 Providence Elliot Anderman 9 episodes
2002 The Red Sneakers Aldo Television film
2002–2004 RoboRoach Rube 52 episodes
2003 Odd Job Jack Dr. Prof. Randalf Episode: "Lord of the 3-Ring Binder"
2003 Touched by an Angel Herbert Episode: "The Show Must Not Go On"
2003 Made in Canada Charles Strong Episode: "Richard's Brother"
2003 Lilo & Stitch: The Series Mrs. Pleakley 2 episodes
2003–2018 The Simpsons Grady 4 episodes
2004 Prom Queen: The Marc Hall Story Lonnie Winn Television film
2004 Aqua Teen Hunger Force Dusty Gozongas Episode: "Dusty Gozongas"
2004 Grounded for Life Dr. Kagan Episode: "Psycho Therapy"
2005 Puppets Who Kill Jules Cashear Episode: "Cuddles the Artist"
2005 Burnt Toast Tim Television film
2005, 2006 G-Spot Counsellor / Group Leader 2 episodes
2006 The Jane Show Dr. Tyler Milgram Episode: "Should Have Said"
2007 Fawlty Tower Oxnard The Major 3 episodes
2007, 2008 Carpoolers Tom / Rich Carpooler 4 episodes
2009 Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Ricardo Episode: "Hair"
2009 Reno 911! Gary Werner 2 episodes
2010 The Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town Various roles 8 episodes
2010 The Soup Grownup Pageant Princess 1 episode
2011 ACME Saturday Night Guest Host Episode: "Scott Thompson"
2011 She's the Mayor Walter Sussman Episode: "Gimme Shelter"
2011 Dream Crushers Scott 2 episodes
2011–2012 Wingin' It Agent 45 3 episodes
2012 Comedy Bar Swa S. Tika Episode: "Episode 2"
2013 Rocket Monkeys Baron von Monkey 2 episodes
2013 Fugget About It Queen Elizabeth II Episode: "Royally Screwed"
2013 But I'm Chris Jericho! AJ Mirkin 10 episodes
2013–2015 Hannibal Jimmy Price 27 episodes
2014 Working the Engels Harry Le Maire Episode: "Meet Irene Horowitz"
2014 Spun Out Sebastian Episode: "Middle Aged Men in the Hall"
2014 Rocky Road Reverend Television film
2014 Dark Rising Skcraab 5 episodes
2014 Odd Squad Professor Square Episode: "Crime at Shapely Manor"
2014 The Stanley Dynamic Mr. Blount Episode: "The Stanley Feud"
2015 Degrassi: The Next Generation Mr. Bane 4 episodes
2015 Degrassi: Don't Look Back Mr. Bane
2015 SuperMansion Kid Victory Episode: "A Shop in the Dark"
2016 Man Seeking Woman Tiresias Episode: "Balloon"
2016 Bruno & Boots: Go Jump in the Pool Headmaster Hartley Television film
2016 HumanTown Dr. Photon
2016 The Amazing Gayl Pile Mike 3 episodes
2016 Holiday Joy Mr. Elderberry Television film
2017 What Would Sal Do? Father Luke 8 episodes
2017 American Gods Kind Man Episode: "Head Full of Snow"
2017 Pitch Off with Doug Benson Guest Episode: "Pitch "Woody Allen Disney Movie" to Doug."
2017 American Dad! Henchman Episode: "The Long Bomb"
2018 Let's Get Physical Herbert Langworth Episode: "Paybacks a Bitch"
2018 Conan Queen Elizabeth II 1 episode
2019 Save Me Dan Episode: "First Call"
2019 Snowbound for Christmas Jean-Luc Television film
2021 Hey Lady! Judge Episode #1.8
2022–present Pinecone & Pony Thistle (voice) Recurring role
2022 Sort Of Bryce guest star 4 episodes
2022 Shoresy Shoresy's foster father Episode #1.4
2023 FUBAR Dr. Louis Pfeffer Recurring role

Other works

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  • Buddy Babylon: The Autobiography of Buddy Cole (with Paul Bellini) in 1998, a humour novel; ISBN 0-440-50828-2
  • The Lowest Show on Earth, a 2001 one-man show produced in Toronto
  • Scottastrophe, 2006 multimedia show
  • The Hollow Planet, a graphic novel by Scott Thompson, Kyle Morton, and Stephan Nilson, from IDW Publishing; featuring Thompson's The Kids in the Hall character Danny Husk.

References

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  1. ^ "Just for Laughs venue for new 'shock' material", CTV Television Network, July 21, 2001, archived from the original on July 13, 2010, retrieved September 9, 2008
  2. ^ Hanania, Joseph (October 25, 1996). "Ellen Takes Back Seat at Talk on Gays' Role in Hollywood". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  3. ^ a b Mike Vanderbilt, "Now you can listen to Scott Thompson's pre-Kids In The Hall band online". The A.V. Club, September 28, 2015.
  4. ^ "An actor's site gag", Entertainment Weekly, October 20, 1995.
  5. ^ Van Meter, William (May 16, 2013). "Kids in the Hall Alum Scott Thompson on Hannibal and Why Being Gay Is Now Boring". Vulture. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  6. ^ "Scott Thompson Goes Straight With New Comic". Torontoist, March 16, 2011.
  7. ^ "Buddy Cole Learns About Russia's Anti-Gay Laws, Prepares To Visit Sochi For The Colbert Report", Huffington Post, February 11, 2014.
  8. ^ Carly Maga, "Two different kinds of Canadian classic: Plus, an exciting sampler of African Canadian dance to cap off Black History Month". Toronto Star, February 21, 2016.
  9. ^ Norman Wilner, "Scott Thompson and Paul Bellini resurrect a gay punk band you've never heard of". Now, March 2, 2021.
  10. ^ "Scott Thompson – Portland Queer Comedy Festival".
  11. ^ "Home".
  12. ^ "Our Picks for the 2019 Portland Queer Comedy Festival".
  13. ^ "Scott Thompson goes toe-to-toe with political correctness ... again". The Globe and Mail, October 22, 2018.
  14. ^ Kurt, Elvira (September 4, 2013). "Scott Thompson on how terror helped him to love his gift". DailyXtra. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  15. ^ Brown, Jesse (August 9, 2015). "Scott Thompson: Veteran comedian Scott Thompson on why nothing happened after The Kids In The Hall, the biggest problems with the Canadian film & TV industry, and why gay men still have to be defanged to be accepted". CANADALAND. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  16. ^ "Nothing is sacred in new Kids in the Hall series". Xtra!, December 28, 2009.
  17. ^ "Scott Thompson overcomes cancer and career setbacks on road to Kids comeback" Archived January 11, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Yahoo! News, January 10, 2010.
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