
Callen was born in
New York City. His father, Randy Callen, left his mother, Toni McBrier, when he found out she was
pregnant. His mother raised him and his half-sister, Kelsey, in the
South Bronx of
New York City. Callen is of
Scottish,
Irish and
Native American descent. When he was older, Callen began performing in plays to make extra money.
After graduating from
Morris High School in 1985, Callen attended
American University on a scholarship, majored in drama, and graduated with honors. In 1993, he moved to
Los Angeles, where he was discovered in a comedy club by producers looking for talent for
MADtv. As of
March 2006, Callen lives in
Venice, California.
Callen was one of eight original cast members when
MADtv debuted in 1995. Callen's most popular characters included Pool Boy from
Cabana Chat with Dixie Wetsworth, motivational speaker Al Casdy, and "relationship-challenged"
death row inmate Jeremy Anderson. Callen also performed impersonations of
Bill Clinton,
Robert De Niro,
Al Gore,
Luke Perry,
Steven Seagal,
Sammy Hagar,
Kevin Bacon,
Jim Carrey,
Ted Knight,
Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Sean Astin, and
Frank Gifford.
Callen's television credits include
Entourage,
NewsRadio,
Oz,
Frasier,
Suddenly Susan,
NYPD Blue,
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,
CSI,
Sex & the City,
7th Heaven,
Rude Awakening,
Less Than Perfect,
King of Queens,
Stacked,
Las Vegas, and
Reba. Most recently he starred in the
Showtime series
Fat Actress and
How I Met Your Mother. Callen also appears as a commentator of
The Smoking Gun Presents: World's Dumbest... on
truTV.
He plays Ricky's father who sexually abused him on "The Secret Life of an American Teenager" on ABC Family.
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