Craig Ward Anton (born August 28, 1962) is an American

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

. He is best known for his roles as Mr. Pettus in '' Lizzie McGuire'' and Lloyd Diffy in ''

Phil of the Future ''Phil of the Future'' is an American science fiction comedy television series that originally aired on Disney Channel for two seasons from June 18, 2004, to August 19, 2006. It was created by Douglas Tuber and Tim Maile and produced by 2121 Pr ...

''.

Early life

Anton was born and raised in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, the eldest son of Antoinette (Akromis) and Arthur Ward Anton. He has a younger brother, Brian, and two sisters, Toni and Megan. Anton graduated from Omaha Burke High School in 1980, and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 1996.

Career

Anton started acting as a kid in

and made his career as a stand-up comedian at age 17, performing in comedy clubs in 1978 while in high school. He attended the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

and graduated in 1983 with a B.A. in

Theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

and English. Anton began his career as a college circuit comedian in the 1980s. In 1984, he traveled the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

and

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

as part of an all-comedy USO tour, spending two months in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

entertaining troops. In 1985, he was named Showtime's Funniest Person in

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. In the late 1980s, Anton moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and pursued some acting opportunities, then moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He currently teaches at SCAD in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

2 Headed Dog

He is a member of comedy group 2 Headed Dog with comedians Jim Turner, Mark Fite, and Dave (Gruber) Allen.

''First Time Out'' and ''MADtv''

In the fall of 1995, Anton booked two TV pilots in

. He was cast as Nathan in

The WB The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on ter ...

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

'' First Time Out'' which premiered in September and was later cast on the FOX

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...

MADtv ''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series created by David Salzman, Fax Bahr, and Adam Small. Loosely based on the humor magazine '' Mad'', ''Mad TVs pre-taped satirical sketches were primarily parodie ...

'' in October. Anton's other show '' First Time Out'' was quickly cancelled two months after the premiere of ''

''. His most enduring character was

Clorox The Clorox Company (formerly Clorox Chemical Company) is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products. As of 2024, the Oakland, California-based company had approximately 8,000 employees worldwide. N ...

from the "Star Trek: Deep Stain Nine" sketches.

was supposed to be the main nemesis of the sketch and he was loosely based on Q from ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

''. He impersonated Dennis Miller and Nate Richert before leaving the show in 1998 at the end of the third season.

Other television projects

Since leaving ''

'', Anton developed an extensive resume on television. He has made appearances on such television series as '' Mr. Show with Bob and David'', '' Coach'', '' Boston Legal'', '' Entourage'', ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', also known colloquially simply as ''Curb'', is an American television comedy of manners created by Larry David that premiered on HBO with an hour-long special in October 17, 1999, followed by 12 seasons broadcast from Oc ...

'', ''

The King of Queens ''The King of Queens'' is an American television sitcom that ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007, with a total of 207 half-hour episodes spanning nine seasons. The series was created by Michael J. Weithorn and David Litt, who al ...

'', ''

Ally McBeal ''Ally McBeal'' is an American legal comedy-drama television series created by David E. Kelley that originally aired on Fox from September 8, 1997, to May 20, 2002. It revolves around Calista Flockhart in the title role as a lawyer working ...

'', '' Lizzie McGuire'', ''

'', ''

Everybody Loves Raymond ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' is an American television sitcom created by Philip Rosenthal that aired on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005, with a total of 210 episodes spanning nine seasons. It was produced by Where's Lunch and Wor ...

'', '' Weekends at the D.L.'', ''

2 Broke Girls ''2 Broke Girls'' (stylized as ''2 Broke Girl$'') is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from September 19, 2011, to April 17, 2017. The series was produced for Warner Bros. Television and created by Michael Patrick King and Whitn ...

'', and ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...

''. After leaving ''MADtv'' Craig was cast as Mr. Pettus in ''Lizzie McGuire''. After Season 1 ended Craig Anton left the show. He was eventually cast as Lloyd Diffy in ''Phil of the Future''.

Film projects

Anton has appeared in such films as ''Mail Bonding'' (1995), '' Deliver Us From Eva'' (2003), ''The Goldfish'' (2003), '' Run Ronnie Run'' (2002), ''D-WAR'' (2005), and ''Careless'' (2007). He also took part in the feature film is '' The Mother of Invention'' (2010).

Voice acting projects

In 2004, Anton starred in the animated series '' Tom Goes to the Mayor''. He provided the voice (and body) of one of the three city council members.

''Tomorrow Show''

Along with

s Ron Lynch and Brendon Small, Craig hosted the ''Tomorrow Show'', a weekly

live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...

comedy show at the Steve Allen Theater in Los Angeles, California. Though Anton and Small are no longer actively involved with the show the two occasionally make surprise appearances including a yearly anniversary performance.

Personal life

Anton married Lesley Gray in September 1994. They have twin daughters, Delphine and Ruby. They currently live in

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anton, Craig 1962 births Living people American male film actors American stand-up comedians American male television actors American male voice actors Male actors from Omaha, Nebraska American sketch comedians 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians University of Nebraska alumni Comedians from Nebraska