John Black was a late 19th century/early 20th century hobo and professional burglar, living out the dying age of the Wild West. He wrote You Can't Win (Macmillan, 1926) a memoir or sketched autobiography describing his days on the road and life as an outlaw. Black's book was written as an anti-crime book urging criminals to go straight but is also his statement of belief in the futility of prisons and the criminal justice system, hence the title of the book. Jack Black was writing from experience, having spent thirty years (fifteen of which were spent in various prisons) as a traveling criminal and offers tales of being a cross-country stick-up man, home burglar, petty thief, and opium fiend.Jack Black is an essentially anonymous figure (even his actual name is uncertain) who is recognized through association with William S. Burroughs. Although his philosophy on life was especially influential to Burroughs, who associated with similar characters in his early adulthood and mirrored the style of You Can't Win with his first published book, Junkie, Black's writings also had a profound effect on the writings and lives of all the Beat Generation.After his last spell in prison Jack Black became friends with wealthy patron Fremont Older and worked for Older's newspaper The San Francisco Call. He worked on his autobiography with Rose Wilder Lane and eventually composed essays and lectured throughout the country on prison reform. He was also rumored to have received a stipend of $150 dollars a week to draft a screenplay titled Salt Chunk Mary with co-author Bessie Beatty, based around the infamous vagabond ally and fence of the same name in You Can't Win. The play flopped, although he was able to attain some amount of popularity, which subsided quickly. He is believed to have committed suicide in 1932 by drowning, as he reportedly told his friends that if life got too grim, he would row out into New York Harbor and, with weights tied to his feet, drop overboard. In You Can't Win Black describes this state of mind as being "ready for the river."
Member of the band Tenacious D.
Filmed a television pilot called Heat Vision and Jack co-starring Ron Silver , and Christine Taylor , and directed by Ben Stiller. The show was a parody of "Knight Rider" , as well as other action/ adventure shows, and featured a talking motorcycle voiced by Owen Wilson.
Discovered he could act when he played a game of Freeze after a Passover seder.
Revealed on an Australian late night variety show that his favorite KISS rock song is 1982s "I Love it Loud," where he began singing parodied lyrics to the first verse.
Often competes for the same parts with Philip Seymour Hoffman. On the The School of Rock DVD audio commentary, he jokingly calls Hoffman "my nemesis."
Attended Crossroads High School for the Arts and Sciences.
Is a member of, what the media refers to as the Frat Pack along with Will Ferrell , Ben Stiller , Vince Vaughn , Owen Wilson , Steve Carell and Luke Wilson. The Frat Pack name is a reference to the film Old School , which features Vaughn, Ferrell, and Wilson, due to the wide number of films featuring the seven actors. Blacks "Frat Pack" films include The Cable Guy , Envy , and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy .
Starred in a management training film "Manager of the Year - Effective Listening " as a teenager who tells his father that the family car has been stolen.
Had his gall bladder removed.
Hosted the MTV Movie Awards in 2002 along with Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sang backup vocals for the songs in Bob Roberts .
One of his closest friends is Dave Grohl.
Is good friends with Tim Robbins , Cesar Gonzalez and Will Smith.
Attended Poseidon School in Santa Monica, California.
Despite poking fun at the genre, he is actually a very knowledgeable fan of a lot hard rock/metal music from the 1970s and 1980s. He even appears as part of Tenacious D in the Ronnie James Dio video for the song "Push.".
Appears in a parody of the Council of Elrond scene shown during the MTV movie awards. Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson later cast him in King Kong .
His parents, who were both rocket scientists, divorced when Black was 10. His mother, Judith Love Cohen , worked on the Hubble space telescope.
Originally met his wife in high school. They both attended Crossroads, a private school. They met again 15 years after they graduated high school at a friends birthday party.
Wife, Tanya Haden , is a cellist. She is the daughter of jazz great Charlie Haden.
His wife is a triplet. Her sisters, Petra Haden and Rachel Haden , also musicians, used to be members of the band "That Dog". Petra was also a former member of the band The Decemberists. Their brother is Josh Haden.
He and his wife eloped after dating less than a year. They were married in Big Sur, California by the same minister who performed Shane Stanley and Val Barri s ceremony in 2005.
Auditioned for the role of "Cubby Barnes" in Ransom .
Mentioned in the song "High School Never Ends" by Bowling for Soup , as "the clown".
Huge fan of Professional Wrestling.
Was considered for the role of Freddy Lounds in Red Dragon .
Said he considers The Who to be the greatest band of all time, explaining that "they were the first ones to ever rock HARD... the recklessness, the deliciousness!".
Was engaged to actor/comedian/producer Laura Kightlinger , previously. They were together from 1997 to 2005.
Was considered for the role of Hal Jordan / Green Lantern in an un-produced script by Robert Smigel. The idea was ultimately scrapped by Warner Brothers for a less comedic script.
Jacks paternal grandfather had English, Scottish, and Scots-Irish (Northern Irish) ancestry, partly by way of Canada, and Jacks paternal grandmother was from an ethnic German family that lived in Romania and Ukraine. Jacks maternal grandparents, Morris Cohen and Sarah Roisman, were Russian Jewish immigrants. Jacks father converted to Judaism when he married Jacks mother.
Became a father for the 1st time at age 36 when his wife Tanya Haden gave birth to their son Samuel Jason Black on June 10, 2006.
Became a father for the 2nd time at age 38 when his wife Tanya Haden gave birth to their son Thomas David Black on May 23, 2008.
(July 2005) Shooting Peter Jackson s King Kong in New Zealand.
Born on the same day as Jason Priestley.
(August 2008) Filming Year One in New Mexico, USA.
Friends with Steve Harvey.
[on filming the love scene in Shallow Hal (2001) ] It was just,strictly professional. It was like a doctor or a carpenter plying his,trade. I received no pleasure whatsoever . . . I requested 32 takes for,the perfection of the craft.
Never for a second did I think of myself as the sexiest guy in the,world. When I was a kid, I thought I was the strongest man in the,world. Then, the fastest runner and then the smartest person in the,world. One by one my delusions got shut down. Now I just see myself as,the lamest guy in the world.
You must never underestimate the power of the eyebrow.
I played, like, a year of piano until I learned,The Pink Panther (1963) theme. That was my goal. Once I was good,enough, I quit. Now, my music has to have some rock.
If Beethoven and Bach hooked up with Mozart and made a band, they COULD,be a distant runner up to The D.
[when asked about his cooking skills] I make a mean peanut butter and,jelly sandwich.
[on the difficulty of getting Frank or Francis (????) made] - . .
My children are magical creatures and I love them to death.
You must never underestimate the power of the eyebrow.
