Biography
Brash, bullyish American comic actor Tom Arnold held down a number of "Joe" jobs after college--meat packer, box stacker, bartender, bouncer--before giving stand-up comedy at try. He was very funny in a blunt sort of way, but did not really make it big until his notorious union with comedienne Roseanne Barr in 1990. At the behest of his powerful spouse, who featured him as a semi-regular on her smash hit ABC sitcom
Roseanne and made him a producer, Tom starred in two expensive network sitcoms, playing an obnoxious TV comedy star in one (The Jackie Thomas Show) and a standard-issue "lovable dad" in the other (
Tom). Despite the strenuous efforts of
Roseanne's production staff, neither program clicked with the public, though Arnold proved in both instances that he had the talent to stand on his own without the input of his wife.
The Roseanne/Tom marriage went down in flames in 1993, with scorching and libelous incriminations from both parties. Industry pundits predicted that Tom Arnold was washed up, but he confounded his enemies with a well-received performance as a gregarious secret agent in the blockbuster
Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle
True Lies (1994). He then did a memorable turn in the
Hugh Grant vehicle
Nine Months (1995). Subsequently, Arnold has steadily worked in a number of decidedly mediocre films including the roundly panned McHales Navy (1997) in which he played the role created by
Ernest Borgnine for his mid-1960s television series of the same name.
Over the next several years, Arnold's film roles primarily consisted of straight-to-video comedies like
National Lampoon's Golf Punks and
Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday The 13th, but in 2001 he became one of the hosts of Fox Sports'
The Best Damn Sports Show Period. The talk-show became one of the network's most popular series with Arnold remaining on full-time for four years and continuing to make guest appearances thereafter.
After leaving
The Best Damn Sports Show, Arnold tried his hand at screenwriting with the 2005 comedy The Kid & I, which he also produced and starred in. The film failed to excite critics or audiences, but that same year, Arnold turned in an impressive and rare dramatic performance in the indie dramedy
Happy Endings.
In 2007, Arnold could be seen in supporting roles in two sports dramas,
Pride and
The Final Season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide