Tom Arnold (actor)

Thomas Duane Arnold (born March 6, 1959) is an American actor and comedian.

Tom Arnold
Arnold in 2000
Born	Thomas Duane Arnold (1959-03-06) March 6, 1959 Ottumwa, Iowa, U.S.
Occupation	Actor comedian television host
Years active	1970–present
Spouse(s)	Roseanne Barr ​ ( m. 1990; div. 1994) Julie Lynn Champnella ​ ( m. 1995; div. 1999) Shelby Roos ​ ( m. 2002; div. 2008) Ashley Groussman ​ ( m. 2009; div. 2019)
Children	2

He has appeared in several films, including Nine Months (1995), True Lies (1994), McHale's Navy (1997), Animal Factory (2000), Cradle 2 the Grave (2003), Mr. 3000 (2004), Happy Endings (2005), The Great Buck Howard (2008), and Madea's Witness Protection (2011). He was also the host of The Best Damn Sports Show Period for four years, and appeared on Sons of Anarchy.

Early life

Arnold was born Thomas Duane Arnold in Ottumwa, Iowa, the son of Linda Kay (née Graham) and Jack Arnold.[1][2] He has six siblings. His mother abandoned the family when he was a child, and he and his siblings were raised by their father. He was sexually abused from age 4–7 by a male babysitter.[3]

During his youth, he worked at a meatpacking plant.[4] He attended Ottumwa High School, Indian Hills Community College, and the University of Iowa from 1981 to 1983, where he studied business administration and writing.[5][6]

Career

In the early 1980s, Arnold had a prop-based comedy routine called "Tom Arnold and the Goldfish Review."[7] Roseanne Barr brought him in as a writer for her television sitcom, Roseanne. He married her in 1990, after she divorced her first husband. Arnold wrote himself into the show as the character "Arnie Thomas" (a play on his name). The couple's marriage attracted media and especially tabloid attention due to their sometimes outrageous behavior. In 1992, Arnold starred in his own sitcom, The Jackie Thomas Show. Airing after Roseanne on ABC, the show lasted 18 episodes.

In 1993, Arnold and Barr bought a house together in Arnold's hometown of Eldon, Iowa and opened a restaurant, 'Roseanne and Tom's Big Food Diner' nearby. The diner served loosemeat sandwiches similar to the specialty of the fictional Lanford Lunch Box on Roseanne, which in turn was based on the real-life Canteen Lunch in the Alley in Ottumwa. Both appeared in the 1993 movie The Woman Who Loved Elvis, filmed in Ottumwa.[8] Arnold and Barr divorced in 1994 due to irreconcilable differences. Their restaurant closed in 1995.

After Arnold's divorce from Barr, he narrated and starred in several Craftmatic Adjustable Bed commercials that aired throughout 1995. The last commercial that he filmed culminated in Arnold lying in a bed that caught on fire and melted a strand of his underarm hair during the taping; the footage was never released. Arnold commented on Twitter in 2014: "Me and Mike (Michael Jackson) (he was one of my best friends) used to laugh about how [I] had a Pepsi commercial of my own".[9]

In November 2000, Arnold played the role of Al Raymond in the second-season Baywatch Hawaii episode, "The Cage".

In a late 1990s interview on radio's The Howard Stern Show, Arnold admitted that his share of his and Barr's estate amounted to "over $20,000,000", including a percentage of the Roseanne ABC-TV series, but would not elaborate, citing a confidentiality clause. In 1994, Arnold appeared as the sidekick to Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in the James Cameron's action blockbuster film True Lies. From 2001 through 2005, he was one of the hosts of The Best Damn Sports Show Period. From 2003 to 2005, Arnold was the voice of Arby's "Oven Mitt" commercials.

Arnold had his first romantic leading man part in the 2005 movie Happy Endings. That same year, Arnold starred in The Kid & I. From 2008 to 2011, he hosted the CMT show My Big Redneck Wedding.[10] He hosted CMT's The Biggest Redneck Wedding Ever in 2008, in which he served as the wedding planner, created a wedding that exceeded the dreams of a couple who wanted to be married in a mud bog, and performed the actual ceremony.[11] CMT also made three series of "My Big Redneck Vacation" presented by Arnold and featuring the Clampet Family from Shreveport, Louisiana.

Arnold's role as a child molester in Gardens of the Night sparked revelations that he had been a victim of sexual abuse in his childhood. He decided to take on the role to shed more light on the issue.[12]

In January 2017, Tom Arnold was revealed as a celebrity contestant on the Australian edition of I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. He was the first evictee from the jungle, after 17 days, and stated he was paid between $US600,000 and $US700,000 for his participation in the program. In June 2017, Arnold filed a lawsuit against companies Network Ten and 'A List Entertainment' for defrauding him for being on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. Arnold claims that he was promised a payment of $425,000 and a comedy tour in Australia. However, he was missing $140,000 in payment and Network Ten backed out of the comedy tour.[13]

In 2018, Arnold's Viceland show The Hunt for the Trump Tapes premiered to low ratings and mainly negative reviews. The show was canceled after one season.[14]

Personal life

Arnold in 2004 producing
The 1 Second Film

Arnold met comedian Roseanne Barr when she saw his act in 1983. Their relationship was complicated by his alcoholism and drug addiction,[15] but eventually he became sober. The two married in 1990 and divorced in 1994. In an April 2009 interview on Anytime with Bob Kushell, Arnold discussed why when he divorced Barr, he did not take any alimony.[16] During the next ten years, Arnold married two subsequent times. Both marriages ended in divorce. In August 2008, Arnold broke his scapula in a motorcycle accident on the Pacific Coast Highway.[17]

Over Thanksgiving weekend 2009, Arnold married his fourth wife, Ashley Groussman, in Maui before 75 guests. Dax Shepard served as Arnold's best man.[18] He appeared December 10, 2009 on the late night talk show Asia Uncut.[19] The couple have two children and four dogs.[20][21] In January 2019, the couple announced their intention to divorce.[22] The divorce was finalised in July 2020.[23][24]

Arnold was raised a Methodist.[25] Some sources say he converted to Judaism upon marrying Roseanne Barr in 1990,[26] but in a podcast interview with Andrew Santino he speaks of growing up Jewish in Iowa. He still practices Judaism.[27]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare	Childless Man
1991	Backfield in Motion	Howard Peterman
1992	Hero	Chick
1993	The Woman Who Loved Elvis	Jack Jackson	Television film
1993	Coneheads	Golfer	Uncredited
1993	Body Bags	Morgue Worker No. 1	Television film
1993	Undercover Blues	Vern Newman
1994	True Lies	Albert "Gib" Gibson
1995	Nine Months	Marty Dwyer
1996	Big Bully	Roscoe "Fang" Bigger
1996	Carpool	Franklin Laszlo
1996	The Stupids	Stanley Stupid
1997	Touch	August Murray
1997	McHale's Navy	Lt. Commander Quinton McHale, Jr.
1997	Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery	Texan	Uncredited
1997	Hacks	Danny
1998	National Lampoon's Golf Punks	Al Oliver
1998	Buster & Chauncey's Silent Night	Fritz (voice)	Direct-to-video
1999	Jackie's Back	Martin Pritz	Television film
2000	Bar Hopping	Eddie
2000	Animal Factory	Buck Rowan
2000	We Married Margo	Himself	Cameo
2000	Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth	Doughy Primesuspect / Hardy (The Killer)	Direct-to-video
2000	Just Sue Me	Barbuto
2000	Welcome to Hollywood	Himself	Cameo
2001	Exit Wounds	Henry Wayne
2001	Lloyd	Tom
2002	Hansel & Gretel	Boogeyman
2002	Romantic Comedy 101	James Ford	Television film
2002	Children on Their Birthdays	Lionel Quince
2003	Manhood	Dr. Levanthal
2003	Cradle 2 the Grave	Archie
2003	National Lampoon's Barely Legal	Mr. Lewis
2003	Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star	Himself	Cameo
2003	Just for Kicks	Coach Martin	Direct-to-video
2004	Soul Plane	Elvis Hunkee
2004	Mr. 3000	Himself	Cameo
2005	Happy Endings	Frank McKee
2005	Kicking & Screaming	Himself	Cameo
2005	Rebound	Himself	Cameo
2005	The Kid & I	Bill Williams	Also producer and writer
2005	Chasing Christmas	Jack Cameron	Television film
2005	Three Wise Guys	Murray Crown	Television film
2007	Homo Erectus	Gay Caveman
2007	Pride	Richard Binkowski
2007	Game of Life	Richard	Originally known as Oranges
2007	Palo Alto	Morgan
2007	The Final Season	Burt Akers
2008	Gardens of the Night	Alex
2008	Good Dick	Dad
2008	This Is Not a Test	Himself
2008	Remarkable Power	Van Hagen
2008	Moonlight and Mistletoe	Nick Crosby	Television film
2008	Unstable Fables: The Goldilocks and 3 Bears Show	Mac Bear (voice)	Direct-to-DVD film
2009	The Skeptic	Sully
2009	American Summer	Himself
2009	April Showers	Martin Blackwell
2009	The 1 Second Film		Producer
2010	Group Sex	Herman
2011	Walk a Mile in My Pradas	Joe
2012	Fred 3: Camp Fred	Floyd Spunkmeyer	Television film
2012	Madea's Witness Protection	Walter
2012	Hit and Run	U.S. Marshal Randy Anderson
2012	Chilly Christmas	Quarterman	Direct-to-video
2013	Jewtopia	Bruce Daniels
2013	Pulling Strings	Art
2014	Dumbbells	Daddy
2014	Shelby	Doug the Dog Catcher
2015	Jungle Shuffle	Coati King (voice)
2015	Underdog Kids	Gene "Geno" Burman
2015	Sex School	Principle Hyman
2015	A Mouse Tale	Dalliwog the Wizard (voice)
2015	I Am Chris Farley	Himself
2015	The Curse of Downers Grove	Chuck's father
2017	Maximum Impact	Barnes
2018	The Hunt for the Trump Tapes with Tom Arnold	Himself
2018	Bigger	Roy Hawkins
2019	Christmas Scavenger Hunt	Carl	Hallmark Movie

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989–1993	Roseanne	Arnold Shep "Arnie" Thomas	20 episodes
1992–1993	The Jackie Thomas Show	Jackie Thomas	18 episodes co-producer
1994	Tom	Tom Graham	12 episodes
1994	General Hospital	Billy Boggs	9 episodes
1997–1998	The Tom Show	Tom Amross	19 episodes
1998	Space Ghost Coast to Coast	Himself (voice)	Episode: "Joshua"
1999	The Simpsons	Himself (voice)	Episode: "Treehouse of Horror X"
2001	Weakest Link	Himself
2001	Fairly OddParents	Corporate Santa (voice)
2007	The Celebrity Apprentice	Himself
2007	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Rev. Calvin Riggins	Episode: "Brother's Keeper"
2008–2009	My Big Redneck Wedding	Himself as host and narrator	16 episodes
2009–2011	Sons of Anarchy	Georgie Caruso	4 episodes
2011	Franklin & Bash	Ronny Streppi	Episode: "You Can't Take It With You"
2013	The First Family	Vice President Arthur Crandall	3 episodes
2015	Workaholics	George
2016	Trailer Park Boys	Himself	3 episodes
2016–2019	NCIS: New Orleans	Elvis Bertrand	4 episodes
2017	I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!	Himself

References

1. Arnold, Booty (November 2003). How I Lost 5 Pounds in 6 Years: An Autobiography. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 14. ISBN 0-312-32244-5.
2. "Tom Arnold profile". Retrieved May 27, 2014.
3. CBS (November 6, 2008). "New Film Tackles Child Abuse" – via YouTube.
4. "Tom Arnold profile". Biography.com. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
5. "Tom Arnold – Iowa fan Actor keeping state in front of TV, movie cameras". The Gazette. June 6, 1992. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
6. "Tom Arnold: Tackling a monster". Retrieved May 27, 2014.
7. I Killed: True Stories of the Road from America's Top Comics By Ritch Shydner, Mark Schiff. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
8. The Woman Who Loved Elvis details, IMDb, retrieved November 27, 2015
9. "Tom Arnold". Twitter. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
10. My Big Redneck Wedding: About the Show, Country Music Television. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
11. CMT's Biggest Redneck Wedding Ever: About the Special, Country Music Television. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
12. "Tom Arnold Says He Was Sexually Abused", TV Guide. November 6, 2008. Retrieved November 7, 2008.
13. Cullins, Ashley (June 15, 2017). "Tom Arnold Sues Australian Reality TV Network for Fraud". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
14. Espinoza, Russ. "Tom Arnold To Keep Hunting As 'Trump Tapes' Ends at Viceland". Forbes. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
15. "Tom Arnold profile". Biography.com. Archived from the original on October 5, 2009. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
16. "Anytime with Bob Kushell feat. Tom Arnold". Anytime with Bob Kushell. Season 2. Episode 7. April 28, 2009.
17. Dr. Drew Live, September 4, 2008.
18. Cristina Everett (November 29, 2009). "Tom Arnold and Ashley Groussman wed in intimate Hawaiian ceremony". Daily News. New York.
19. Joyce Eng. "Tom Arnold Marries for Fourth Time". TV Guide.
20. "Tom Arnold Welcomes Son Jax Copeland". People. April 6, 2013. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
21. Murphy, Desiree (December 18, 2015). "Tom Arnold and Wife Welcome a Baby Girl – Find Out Her Adorable Name!". Yahoo!.
22. McDermott, Maeve (January 22, 2019). "Tom Arnold confirms split from wife Ashley Groussman: 'It's a long time coming'". USA Today. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
23. "Tom Arnold's Divorce from Ashley Groussman Finalized After More Than a Decade of Marriage". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
24. "Tom Arnold's Divorce from Ashley Groussman Finalized After More Than a Decade of Marriage". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
25. Schwartz, Missy (January 23, 2002). "Trash of the Titans". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
26. Arnold, Tom (November 2003). How I Lost 5 Pounds in 6 Years: An Autobiography. St. Martin's Griffin. pp. 145–46. ISBN 0-312-32244-5.
27. "Salt Lake City News, Sports, Archive". The Salt Lake Tribune. July 30, 2009. Retrieved April 11, 2013.

External links

• Tom Arnold on IMDb
• Tom Arnold at AllMovie