Chris Parnell
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1967-02-05
Place of Birth
Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Chris Parnell
Biography
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).
Also Known For
Hot Rod
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Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Dec 21, 2007
Evil Alien Conquerors
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Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
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Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie
Dec 28, 2004
Turbo
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I'm Reed Fish
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Yung Punx: A Punk Parable
Nov 12, 2021
Eavesdrop
Aug 01, 2008
Paper Man
Jun 15, 2009
Escape from Planet Earth
Feb 14, 2013
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
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Answer This!
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Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice
Dec 05, 2011
Electric City
Jul 17, 2012
Millennial Hunter
Aug 13, 2023
Break Point
Mar 08, 2014
As We Know It
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Hot Mess Holiday
Dec 11, 2021
Austin Found
Jul 07, 2017
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Will Ferrell
Sep 28, 2002
Kung Fu Magoo
May 11, 2010
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Commercial Parodies
May 23, 2006
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Amy Poehler
Apr 18, 2009
Our Little Secret
Nov 27, 2024
Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again
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Ira & Abby
Jun 23, 2006
The Ridiculous 6
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The Grand
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Jeff Dunham: Unhinged in Hollywood
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Hotel Transylvania
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The Ladies Man
Oct 13, 2000
Sisters
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Jingle All the Way
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Labor Pains
Jun 19, 2009
The Religetables
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Micro Budget
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Harold
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Kabluey
Jun 25, 2007
Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special
Feb 07, 2017
Elena and the Secret of Avalor
Nov 20, 2016
Looking for Kitty
May 06, 2004
The Five-Year Engagement
Apr 27, 2012
Barely Legal
May 15, 2003
Life of the Party
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AJ's Infinite Summer
May 16, 2014
Hollywood & Wine
May 03, 2011
Battle of the Sexes
Sep 22, 2017
The Dictator
May 15, 2012
The Better Half
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Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween
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21 Jump Street
Mar 14, 2012
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
Jun 28, 2018
Hotel Transylvania 2
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Slice
Sep 10, 2018
The Laundromat
Sep 27, 2019
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
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The Last Laugh
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Sunny and Share Love You
Jul 21, 2007
The Women of SNL
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The Maya Rudolph Show
May 19, 2014
A Freezerburnt Christmas
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Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend
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WordGirl: The Rise of Ms. Power
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Home Sweet Home Alone
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I Am Woman
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Farm Sluts
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Senior Year
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In Fidelity
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The Dink
SNL50: The Homecoming Concert
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Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music
Jan 27, 2025
Mimics
Feb 06, 2026
Harry and the Mutant Mid-Century Furniture
Wake
Saturday Night Live in the 2000s: Time and Again
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A Loud House Christmas Movie: Naughty or Nice
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Seinfeld
Jul 05, 1989
Saturday Night Live
Oct 11, 1975
Friends
Sep 22, 1994
The Jamie Foxx Show
Aug 28, 1996
Ed
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Murphy Brown
Nov 14, 1988
30 Rock
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Dawn of the Croods
Dec 24, 2015
Dawn of the Croods
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Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Sep 13, 1993
Miss Guided
Mar 18, 2008
Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday
Oct 09, 2008
Better Off Ted
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American Dad!
Feb 06, 2005
Gravity Falls
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Gravity Falls
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Archer
Sep 17, 2009
Marvel's M.O.D.O.K.
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Glenn Martin, DDS
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WordGirl
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Conan
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Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
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Big Lake
Aug 17, 2010
Suburgatory
Sep 28, 2011
Another Period
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Saturday Night Live
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I Just Want My Pants Back
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Rick and Morty
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Benched
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Family Guy
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Family Guy
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Family Guy
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Union Square
Sep 25, 1997
Eureka
Jul 18, 2006
Drunk History
Jul 09, 2013
American Dad!
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American Dad!
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Dogs in Space
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American Dad!
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American Dad!
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American Dad!
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Highston
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The Spoils Before Dying
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Curb Your Enthusiasm
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Great News
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My Adventures with Superman
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Elena of Avalor
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Alien News Desk
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The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show
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Ask the Storybots
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The Tom and Jerry Show
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BoJack Horseman
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Conan
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Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero
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Fish Hooks
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Childrens Hospital
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Late Night with Seth Meyers
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Family Guy
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Bob's Burgers
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Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
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Family Guy
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Archer
Sep 17, 2009
Comedy Bang! Bang!
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grown-ish
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American Dad!
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Happy Together
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T.U.F.F. Puppy
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Name That Tune
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The Life & Times of Tim
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Love, Death & Robots
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Bajillion Dollar Propertie$
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Miracle Workers
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Hope and Gloria
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Suddenly Susan
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Krapopolis
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Match Game
Jun 26, 2016
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Sep 17, 2013
Glee
May 19, 2009
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Fallout
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Will & Grace
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The $100,000 Pyramid
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The Goldbergs
Sep 24, 2013
TV Funhouse
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American Dad!
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Family Guy
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Drunk History
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Drunk History
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Dummy
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Close Enough
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American Dad!
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Suddenly Susan
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Garfunkel and Oates
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Caroline in the City
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American Dad!
Feb 06, 2005
Conrad Bloom
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Family Guy
Jan 31, 1999
American Dad!
Feb 06, 2005
Adam Ruins Everything
Sep 29, 2015
Family Guy
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Family Guy
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The Simpsons
Dec 17, 1989
Family Guy
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Dec 24, 2015
Bad Judge
Oct 02, 2014
American Dad!
Feb 06, 2005
Oh My God... Yes! A Series of Extremely Relatable Circumstances
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Love, Death & Robots
Mar 15, 2019
Workaholics
Apr 06, 2011
Drunk History
Jul 09, 2013
GOLF
Robot Chicken
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Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!
Oct 05, 2015
The Hughleys
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