# Glenn Howerton

Glenn Franklin Howerton III (born April 13, 1976) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Dennis Reynolds on the long-running sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005–present) on FX/FXX, a series he co-developed with Rob McElhenney, and on which he serves as an executive producer and writer. On film, he is best known for his portrayal of Jim Balsillie in the Canadian film BlackBerry (2023), for which he received widespread critical acclaim.
His other notable performances on television include Corey Howard in That '80s Show (2002), Cliff Gilbert on Fox's The Mindy Project (2012–2017), Don Chumph on the first season of FX's Fargo (2014) and Jack Griffin, the lead role on NBC's A.P. Bio (2018–2021). He also voices Fred Jones in the HBO Max series Velma (2023–2024).
Howerton also co-hosted The Always Sunny Podcast with his fellow co-creators McElhenney and Charlie Day from 2021 to 2023.

## Early life and education

Glenn Franklin Howerton III was born on April 13, 1976, in Japan, the son of American parents Janice and Glenn Franklin Howerton Jr. His father was a fighter pilot. He has an older sister named Courtney.
Almost immediately after his birth, his family moved to Arizona and then New Mexico for a short while. When he was three years old, they settled in the English town of Felixstowe, Suffolk for four years. They subsequently moved to Virginia, followed by South Korea, where they lived in Seoul. When he was 10 years old, the family moved to Montgomery, Alabama.
After graduating from Jefferson Davis High School, Howerton moved to Miami where he spent two years at New World School of the Arts of Miami Dade College. In 1996, he entered Juilliard School's Drama Division in New York City where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts as part of Group 29 (1996–2000).

## Career

In 2002, Howerton starred as Corey Howard in That '80s Show. He went on to guest star on ER as Dr. Nick Cooper in 2003. He had small roles in the films Must Love Dogs (2005), Serenity (2005), Two Weeks (2006), and The Strangers (2008). He also appeared as a doctor in Crank (2006), and reprised the role in its 2009 sequel, Crank: High Voltage.
Howerton is most well known for playing the deeply narcissistic and anti-social bartender of Paddy's Pub, Dennis Reynolds, one of the main characters on the FX sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005–present). The series was co-created by Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and him, and the three serve as executive producers, writers and main cast members alongside Kaitlin Olson and Danny DeVito. As of season 14, he has also directed two episodes. In December 2021, Always Sunny became the longest-running live-action American comedy of all time with the release of its fifteenth season.
In 2008, Howerton co-created sci-fi comedy Boldly Going Nowhere with Day, McElhenney and writing assistant Adam Stein, but the pilot was permanently shelved. He has also had producing roles on various projects created by other Always Sunny colleagues like David Hornsby such as How to Be a Gentleman, Unsupervised and The Cool Kids. Howerton also did several voice roles including a recurring part on The Cleveland Show as Ernie Krinklesac.
He played the lead role in a film for the first time in 2013, when he landed the character of Will in the CollegeHumor comedy film Coffee Town with co-stars Steve Little and Ben Schwartz. Soon after, he landed recurring roles on the Fox comedy series The Mindy Project (2012–2017) as Cliff Gilbert, the divorce lawyer introduced in season 2 as one of Mindy's love interests, on the critically acclaimed first season of the FX dark comedy series Fargo (2014–present) as Don Chumph, and on the Showtime comedy-drama series House of Lies (2012–2016) starring Don Cheadle in its final season as the young mayoral candidate Seth Buckley. Howerton also played a small part as the gun-running Dominic in the Netflix Original film Officer Downe (2016) starring Kim Coates.
His next major television role came in 2018 on the NBC single-camera comedy created by Mike O'Brien, A.P. Bio (2018–2021), where he played Jack Griffin, an arrogant Harvard philosophy professor whose fall from grace had forced him to get a job teaching biology to high school students in his hometown of Toledo while plotting to exact revenge on his nemesis and restore his career. The show ran for two seasons on NBC before it was cancelled and then picked up by Peacock, NBC's streaming service, where it ran for another two seasons. In December 2021, it was cancelled for good. In October 2022, it was announced that he would be voicing Fred Jones on the upcoming HBO Max animated series Velma.
Starting in November 2021, Day, McElhenney and Howerton launched The Always Sunny Podcast, a weekly show loosely based on the rewatch format of podcasting, which had grown in popularity in recent years, to coincide with the release of the record-breaking season 15 of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. In June 2022, they released Four Walls Whiskey with all proceeds from the 15-year single-malt Irish whiskey going towards supporting the Pennsylvania hospitality industry which was badly hit by the pandemic.
In August 2022, after production had wrapped, it was announced that Howerton would be co-starring with Jay Baruchel in a Canadian biopic directed by Matt Johnson on the rise and fall of BlackBerry as one of its co-founders. The film BlackBerry (2023) premiered in competition at Berlinale 2023 on February 17 to positive reviews from critics with Howerton's performance as Jim Balsillie being especially well received.
In July 2024, it was announced that Howerton would be playing Ethan Corbin II, a lifelong bachelor burning through his trust fund, on the upcoming Netflix dark comedy limited series Sirens.

## Personal life

Howerton dated actress Morena Baccarin when they were in Juilliard together.
Howerton married actress and dancer Jill Latiano on September 5, 2009. The two had been engaged for over a year. In September 2011, the couple welcomed their first son. In 2014, the couple announced the birth of their second son.
Howerton was diagnosed with ADHD in 2023. Howerton has said that he follows a vegan diet "about 95% of the time."

## Filmography

Key :
| † | Denotes works that have not yet been released |

### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2005 | Must Love Dogs | Michael | |
| 2005 | Serenity | Lilac Young Tough | |
| 2006 | Crank | Doctor | |
| 2006 | Two Weeks | Matthew Bergman | |
| 2008 | The Strangers | Mike | |
| 2008 | Happy Wednesday | Spencer Scott | Short film |
| 2009 | Crank: High Voltage | Doctor | Uncredited |
| 2010 | Everything Must Go | Gary | |
| 2013 | Coffee Town | Will | |
| 2014 | All the Wilderness | — | Executive producer |
| 2016 | Officer Downe | Dominic | |
| 2020 | The Hunt | Richard | |
| 2020 | Archenemy | The Manager | |
| 2021 | How It Ends | John | |
| 2022 | The Send-Off | — | Producer |
| 2022 | The Thief Collector | Jerry | |
| 2023 | BlackBerry | Jim Balsillie | |
| 2023 | Fool's Paradise | Business Manager | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2002 | Monday Night Mayhem | Dick Ebersol | Television film |
| 2002 | The Job | Young Guy | Episode: "Gay" |
| 2002 | That '80s Show | Corey Howard | Main role (13 episodes) |
| 2003 | ER | Dr Nick Cooper | 6 episodes |
| 2005–present | It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia | Dennis Reynolds Wendell Albright | Main role Also co-creator (uncredited), developer, executive producer, writer and director |
| 2008 | Boldly Going Nowhere | Lt Zander Centauri | Guest role (unaired pilot) Also co-creator, executive producer and writer |
| 2009 | American Dad! | Animal Control Guy #1 | Voice; Episode: "Weiner of Our Discontent" |
| 2009–2010 | Glenn Martin, DDS | Various voices | 3 episodes |
| 2009–2013 | The Cleveland Show | Ernie Krinklesac, various roles | Voice; 30 episodes |
| 2011 | Vietnam in HD | Donald DeVore | Miniseries (5 episodes) |
| 2011 | How to be a Gentleman | — | Consulting producer (8 episodes) |
| 2012 | Unsupervised | Clint / Dirt | Voice; 4 episodes Also executive producer and writer (13 episodes) |
| 2013–2017 | The Mindy Project | Cliff Gilbert | Recurring role in seasons 2, 3 and 6 (13 episodes) |
| 2014–2015 | Family Guy | Various roles | Voice; 4 episodes (uncredited in season 12, credited in season 13) |
| 2014 | Fargo | Don Chumph | 5 episodes |
| 2015 | On the Record with Mick Rock | — | Executive producer |
| 2015 | TripTank | Congressman Rothbard Congressman Hume Congressman Adorno | Episode: "Mr. Winchester Goes to Washington" |
| 2016 | House of Lies | Seth Buckley | 4 episodes |
| 2018 | The Cool Kids | — | Executive producer |
| 2018–2021 | A.P. Bio | Jack Griffin | Main role (42 episodes) Also co-executive producer, producer (season 1) and director |
| 2020 | The Fugitive | Jerry | Main role (14 episodes) |
| 2023–2024 | Velma | Fred Jones | Voice; main role |
| 2025 | Abbott Elementary | Dennis Reynolds | Episode: "Volunteers" |
| TBA | Sirens † | Ethan Corbin II | Netflix limited series |

### Web

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2021–present | The Always Sunny Podcast | Himself/host | 68 episodes |

### Music videos

| Year | Title | Artist | Notes |
| 2017 | "Rich Friends" | Portugal. The Man | |

## Theatre

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2000 | Compleat Female Stage Beauty | Duke of Buckingham |
| 2001 | The Credeaux Canvas | Jamie |
| 2015 | The Comedy of Errors | Antipholus of Ephesus, Antipholus of Syracuse |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2015 | International Online Cinema Awards | Best Writing for a Comedy Series (shared with Charlie Day and Rob McElhenney) | It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia | Nominated |
| 2019 | IGN Summer Movie Awards | Best TV Ensemble (shared with Charlie Day, Rob McElhenney, Kaitlin Olson, and Danny DeVito) | It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia | Nominated |
| 2023 | Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | Best Supporting Actor | BlackBerry | Nominated |
| 2023 | Gotham Awards | Outstanding Supporting Performance | BlackBerry | Nominated |
| 2023 | Hollywood Film Critics Association Midseason Awards | Best Supporting Actor | BlackBerry | Won |
| 2023 | Indiana Film Journalists Association | Best Lead Performance | BlackBerry | Nominated |
| 2023 | Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards | Best Supporting Actor | BlackBerry | Nominated |
| 2023 | North Texas Film Critics Association | Best Supporting Actor | BlackBerry | Won |
| 2023 | Toronto Film Critics Association Awards | Outstanding Supporting Performance | BlackBerry | Runner-up |
| 2023 | Toronto Film Critics Association Awards | Outstanding Performance in a Canadian Film | BlackBerry | Won |
| 2023 | UK Film Critics Association Awards | Supporting Actor of the Year | BlackBerry | Nominated |
| 2024 | ASTRA Awards | Game Changer Award | BlackBerry | Won |
| 2024 | ASTRA Awards | Best Supporting Actor | BlackBerry | Nominated |
| 2024 | Canadian Screen Awards, CA | Performance in a Supporting Role, Comedy | BlackBerry | Nominated |
| 2024 | Chicago Indie Critics Awards | Best Supporting Actor | BlackBerry | Nominated |
| 2024 | Columbus Film Critics Association | Best Supporting Performance | BlackBerry | Nominated |
| 2024 | DiscussingFilm Critic Awards | Best Supporting Actor | BlackBerry | Nominated |
| 2024 | Georgia Film Critics Association | Best Supporting Actor | BlackBerry | Nominated |
| 2024 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Supporting Performance | BlackBerry | Nominated |
| 2024 | Music City Film Critics' Association Awards | Best Supporting Actor | BlackBerry | Nominated |
| 2024 | Online Film & Television Association | Best Breakthrough Performance: Male | BlackBerry | Nominated |
| 2024 | Vancouver Film Critics Circle | Best Supporting Male Actor in a Canadian Film | BlackBerry | Won |
| 2024 | Canadian Screen Awards | Best Supporting Performance in a Comedy Film | BlackBerry | Won |