1967-02-05 ( 58 years old ) in Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Thomas Christopher "Chris" Parnell (born February 5, 1967) is an American comic actor best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998–2006 and currently for his recurring role as Dr. Leo Spaceman on NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy series 30 Rock. Parnell is currently one of the lead voices on the FX animated comedy Archer. In 2010, Parnell starred alongside his former SNL castmate Horatio Sanz in the Comedy Central series Big Lake.
After performing as a company player with The Groundlings for a number of years, Parnell was hired to join the cast of Saturday Night Live as a featured player on September 26, 1998, and was promoted to repertory player the following season. In the summer of 2001, budget cuts and hiring four new cast members required Lorne Michaels to dismiss two cast members; he chose to lay off Parnell and Jerry Minor over Horatio Sanz, Rachel Dratch, and Maya Rudolph.
While on SNL, Parnell appeared in numerous sketches, and commercial parodies, and performed memorable impressions of various celebrities. One of his most popular sketches is Lazy Sunday, a rap video he shot with Andy Samberg about buying cupcakes and going to see The Chronicles of Narnia. He has also performed raps about hosts Jennifer Garner, Britney Spears, Kirsten Dunst and Ashton Kutcher.
In the summer of 2006, Lorne Michaels announced that four cast members would be fired due to budget cuts, but he did not say who. On September 22, 2006 it was announced that three cast members had been fired: Parnell, Horatio Sanz, and Finesse Mitchell. This effectively made him the only SNL performer to have been fired twice by Lorne Michaels, though Parnell did say in a 2008 interview with The Sound of Young America podcast that he was okay with being let go this time, because he was considering leaving after that season anyway, but added that he probably would have stayed one last season if he was asked back. He had been with SNL for eight seasons; at the time only four people (Darrell Hammond, Tim Meadows, Kevin Nealon, and Al Franken) have been cast members longer. He has since made uncredited cameo appearances on the show, most recently in 2008 parodying newscasters Tom Brokaw, Jim Lehrer, and Bob Schieffer.
Parnell and his former SNL castmate Horatio Sanz recently starred together in Big Lake, a 2010 sitcom on Comedy Central from executive producers Will Ferrell and Adam McKay.
He also recently appeared as Dr. Drummer/Santa in the SyFy Holiday Special episode from the television show Eureka, which aired on December 7, 2010 (Season 4 Episode 10).
Movies
SNL50: The Homecoming Concert
2025-02-14
Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music
2025-01-27
Our Little Secret
2024-11-27
In Fidelity
2024-11-04
Micro Budget
2024-08-24
As We Know It
2023-11-24
Millennial Hunter
2023-08-13
Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again
2022-12-08
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
2022-05-20
Senior Year
2022-05-11
Hot Mess Holiday
2021-12-11
Yung Punx: A Punk Parable
2021-11-12
Home Sweet Home Alone
2021-11-11
Finding ʻOhana
2021-01-29
I Am Woman
2020-08-28
The Laundromat
2019-09-27
The Last Laugh
2019-01-11
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween
2018-10-11
Slice
2018-09-10
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
2018-06-28
Life of the Party
2018-05-10
Battle of the Sexes
2017-09-22
Elena of Avalor: Realm of the Jaquins
2017-08-12
Austin Found
2017-07-07
Elena and the Secret of Avalor
2016-11-20
Electric City
2016-01-07
Sisters
2015-12-18
The Better Half
2015-12-15
The Ridiculous 6
2015-12-11
Hotel Transylvania 2
2015-09-21
Jeff Dunham: Unhinged in Hollywood
2015-09-17
The Maya Rudolph Show
2014-05-19
AJ's Infinite Summer
2014-05-16
Break Point
2014-03-08
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
2013-12-18
Turbo
2013-07-11
Escape from Planet Earth
2012-10-09
Hotel Transylvania
2012-09-20
The Dictator
2012-05-15
The Five-Year Engagement
2012-04-27
21 Jump Street
2012-03-14
WordGirl: The Rise of Ms. Power
2012-01-01
Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice
2011-12-05
Answer This!
2011-10-13
Hollywood & Wine
2011-05-03
The Women of SNL
2010-11-01
Kung Fu Magoo
2010-05-11
The Dogfather
2010-04-12
Labor Pains
2009-06-19
Paper Man
2009-06-15
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Amy Poehler
2009-04-18
Eavesdrop
2008-08-01
Harold
2008-07-13
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
2007-12-21
Hot Rod
2007-08-03
Kabluey
2007-06-25
The Grand
2007-06-07
I'm Reed Fish
2007-06-01
Sunny and Share Love You
2007-01-01
Ira & Abby
2006-06-23
Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie
2004-12-28
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
2004-06-28
Looking for Kitty
2004-05-06
Evil Alien Conquerors
2003-12-03
Barely Legal
2003-05-15
Down with Love
2003-05-08
Farm Sluts
2003-01-01
A Freezerburnt Christmas
2002-12-21
The Religetables
2002-11-16
The Ladies Man
2000-10-13
Jingle All the Way
1996-11-21
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