Harland Michael Williams (born November 14, 1962) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, and writer. After several years of stand-up in Toronto and Los Angeles he made his film debut in Dumb and Dumber (1994) before playing starring roles in the short-lived sitcom Simon (1995–96) and the Disney comedy RocketMan (1997). He co-starred in Half Baked and played a psychopathic hitch-hiker in There's Something About Mary in 1998. He later appeared in films such as The Whole Nine Yards(2000), Freddy Got Fingered (2001) and Sorority Boys (2002), and provided voices in works such as Gary & Mike, He plays Lug in Robots (2005), and Carl the Robot in Meet the Robinsons (2007). He is also an author of children's books, and creator of the children's animated series Puppy Dog Pals.
Early life[]
Harland Williams was born on November 14, 1962, in Toronto, Ontario, to Lorraine Mary (née O'Donnell), a social worker and writer, and John Reesor Williams, a lawyer who served as a member of the Ontario legislature from.[1][2]He grew up in Toronto's Willowdale neighborhood with four sisters.[3] He is the brother of special effects artist Steve "Spaz" Williams, and a cousin to Barenaked Ladies keyboardist Kevin Hearn.[4][5]
Williams enrolled in Sheridan College in 1983, where he studied animation and media arts,[6] while periodically working as a forest ranger at Fort Frances.[5][2]
Williams gained American citizenship circa 2009.[7]