William Frederick Burr (born June 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and podcaster. He created and stars in the Netflix animated sitcom F Is for Family (2015–present), played Patrick Kuby in the AMC crime drama series Breaking Bad (2008–2013), and played Migs Mayfeld in the Star Wars television series The Mandalorian (2019–present). He co-founded the All Things Comedy network and has hosted the twice-weekly comedy podcast, titled Monday Morning Podcast, since May 2007. His stand-up comedy special, Paper Tiger, received a nomination for Best Comedy Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.
Early life
William Frederick Burr was born on June 10, 1968, in Canton, Massachusetts, the son of nurse Linda Ann (née Wigent) and dentist Robert Edmund Burr. He has four brothers and one sister and is of German-Irish heritage. He graduated from high school in 1987. In 1993, he obtained a bachelor’s degree in radio from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. In college, one of his professors was writer David Foster Wallace. He worked in warehouses before starting his comedy career, later stating that he enjoyed the freedom of the job: “If my boss gave me a rough time, I could just get on a forklift and just, like, drive away.”
Career
Burr’s comedy career began in 1992. He moved to New York City in 1994. Since May 2007, Burr has recorded a weekly one-hour podcast, Bill Burr’s Monday Morning Podcast, in which he speaks about his experiences, current events, going on tour, and sports, and offers advice to questions submitted by the listeners. The podcast is available on Burr’s website and on the All Things Comedy network. He is sometimes joined by his wife Nia and has featured guests and interviews with other comedians. Burr premiered a new podcast co-hosted with fellow comedian Bert Kreischer, called the Bill Bert Podcast, in October 2019.
Burr also appears as a guest on radio shows and other comedians’ podcasts, such as Opie and Anthony, You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes, The Adam Carolla Show, The Joe Rogan Experience, WTF with Marc Maron, The Nerdist Podcast, The Adam Buxton Podcast, and Nobody Likes Onions. Burr was also the first guest on Tom Green’s podcast. On April 18, 2011, he guest hosted the Hollywood Babble-On podcast alongside Ralph Garman.
Burr has sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden on November 14, 2015, the Royal Albert Hall on June 6, 2018 and consecutive shows on March 4 and 5, 2019. Burr holds the record for the most consecutive sold-out shows at the Wilbur Theatre, where he performed 19 sold-out shows in a row, besting the record of 10 set by Aziz Ansari. Burr sold out 20,000 seats at the Los Angeles Forum on September 28, 2018.
In 2008’s Grand Theft Auto IV, Burr voices Jason Michaels of the biker gang The Lost MC in the mission “No Love Lost”. In 2009, he reprised his role in the game’s expansion pack The Lost and Damned.
Burr’s first hour-long special, Why Do I Do This? (2008), was filmed in New York. Burr’s special Let it Go was recorded at The Fillmore in San Francisco and premiered on Comedy Central on September 18, 2010. A later special, You People Are All the Same, premiered in 2012 as a Netflix exclusive. In 2014, Burr filmed his fourth hour-long special I’m Sorry You Feel That Way at the Tabernacle Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. Unusual for modern comedy specials, the film was shot in black and white. He was also a regular on Chappelle’s Show.
Burr has been referred to as a “comedian’s comedian” by observers of the American stand-up comedy circuit. Burr appeared in the movie Date Night as Detective Walsh. He has also appeared in the fourth and fifth seasons of AMC’s Breaking Bad as Patrick Kuby. He played Mark Mullins in the 2013 buddy cop film The Heat.
Burr voices lead character Frank Murphy in F Is for Family, which premiered on Netflix on December 18, 2015. The show, an animated sitcom, draws on Burr’s stand-up and the absurdity of political correctness. Season 4 of the animated series debuted on Netflix on June 12, 2020. Burr writes and executive produces the series along with Michael Price. Burr’s fifth hour-long special, Bill Burr: Walk Your Way Out, debuted on Netflix on January 31, 2017. He appeared in the third episode (titled “Bill Burr”) of the second season of the HBO series Crashing.
Burr’s sixth hour-long special, Bill Burr: Paper Tiger, debuted on Netflix on September 10, 2019. In December 2019, he portrayed the character Migs Mayfeld in the sixth and fifteenth episodes of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian.
On October 10, 2020, Burr hosted NBC’s Saturday Night Live for the first time.
Bill Burr’s You People Are All the Same was the first Original Netflix Standup Special and F Is for Family the first Original Netflix Animated Series.
Style
Rolling Stone magazine called Burr “the undisputed heavyweight champ of rage-fueled humor”. Burr often portrays himself as “that loud guy in the bar” with “uninformed logic”. In an interview with The Boston Globe, Burr stated, “I’m the ‘dude, bro’ guy.” According to the Montreal Gazette, Burr is “a cynic and a contrarian who has never paid any heed to political correctness”. The New York Times in 2013 called Burr “one of the funniest, most distinctive voices in the country for years”.
Burr cites Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Bill Cosby, Sam Kinison and Patrice O’Neal as the five greatest stand-up comedians of all time.
Politics
Burr voted for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader in the 2000 United States presidential election. In an interview with Forbes, he said political correctness does not address the problems it is aimed at fixing – such as racism – since it only addresses vocabulary rather than changing the attitudes that people have. He said it has no answer for or impact on other major socio-political issues, like those about banks and pharmaceutical companies. Burr wanted Bernie Sanders to become president in the 2016 and 2020 US Elections because according to Burr “he truly gives a shit about regular people”.
Personal life
Burr married Nia Renee Hill in 2013. Their daughter was born on January 20, 2017. Their son was born in June 2020. They reside in Los Angeles. Hill sometimes appears as a guest on his podcast.
Burr is a licensed helicopter pilot. In his spare time, he plays drums. He enjoys heavy metal music and is a fan of Metallica, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Pantera, Ministry, Slayer, Iron Maiden, and Meshuggah.[citation needed] He cited drummers John Bonham and Dave Lombardo as inspirations for taking up drumming, and enjoys smoking cigars.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Perfect Fit | Guardian of the Door | Credited as Billy Burr |
| 2002 | Passionada | Blackjack Player | |
| 2007 | Twisted Fortune | — | |
| 2010 | Date Night | Detective Walsh | |
| 2011 | Cheat | Billy | Short film |
| 2012 | Stand Up Guys | Larry | |
| 2013 | The Heat | Mark Mullins | |
| 2014 | Walk of Shame | Officer Walter | |
| Zombeavers | Joseph | ||
| Black or White | Rick Reynolds | ||
| 2015 | Daddy’s Home | Jerry | |
| 2017 | Daddy’s Home 2 | ||
| 2018 | The Front Runner | Pete Murphy | |
| 2020 | The King of Staten Island | Ray Bishop | |
| The Opening Act | Barry | ||
| 2021 | The Guilty | Post-production |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Townies | Ryan Callahan | 15 episodes; Credited as Billy Burr |
| 1998 | Two Guys and a Girl | Fitzey | Episode: “Two Guys, a Girl and a Party”; Credited as Billy Burr |
| 2002 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Jogger | Episode: “Maledictus” |
| 2004 | Chappelle’s Show | Various Characters | 3 episodes |
| 2006 | Jamie Foxx Presents Laffapalooza | Himself | 1 episode, also writer |
| 2011–2013 | Breaking Bad | Patrick Kuby | 5 episodes |
| 2013–2016 | New Girl | Bobby | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | Maron | Himself | Episode: “The Joke” |
| Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee | Episode: Smoking Past the Band | ||
| 2014–2015 | Kroll Show | Detective Smart | 6 episodes |
| 2015 | The Jim Gaffigan Show | Himself | Episode: “My Friend the Priest” |
| 2015–present | F Is for Family | Frank Murphy | Creator; Voice; also writer and executive producer 36 episodes |
| 2016 | The Simpsons | Boston Football Fan | Voice; Episode: “The Town” |
| 2018 | Crashing | Himself | Episode: “Bill Burr” |
| I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman | Episode: “S1 E14 – 9/27/18” | ||
| 2019–2020 | The Mandalorian | Migs Mayfeld | Episodes: “Chapter 6: The Prisoner” & “Chapter 15: The Believer” |
| 2020 | Saturday Night Live | Host | Episode: “Bill Burr/Jack White” |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Grand Theft Auto IV | Jason Michaels (voice) |
| 2009 | Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned |
Comedy albums and specials
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Emotionally Unavailable | CD release |
| Comedy Central Presents | Stand-up half hour | |
| 2005 | One Night Stand | |
| 2008 | Why Do I Do This? | |
| 2010 | Let It Go | |
| 2012 | You People Are All the Same | Netflix special |
| 2014 | Live At Andrew’s House | Limited vinyl release |
| I’m Sorry You Feel That Way | Netflix special | |
| 2017 | Walk Your Way Out | |
| 2019 | Paper Tiger |
