Luke Farrell Kirby (born June 29, 1978) is a Canadian actor. He played the role of

Lenny Bruce Leonard Alfred Schneider (October 13, 1925 – August 3, 1966), better known by his stage name Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and satirist. He was renowned for his open, free-wheeling, and critical style of come ...

in the

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

series '' The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'', for which he received a

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. Prior to 1988 the category was not gender specific, thus was called Outstanding Guest Performer in a Comedy Series. These awards, l ...

. In 2024, he starred as Chuck Brooks in the

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

winning film '' Out of My Mind'' from

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

Early life

Kirby was born in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, to American parents. His mother is from

Brooklyn, New York City Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, and his father grew up "along the eastern seaboard." His parents moved from New York City to Canada in 1974. He studied drama at the

National Theatre School of Canada The National Theatre School of Canada (NTS, ) is a private institution of professional theatre studies in Montreal, Quebec. Established in 1960, the NTS receives its principal funding from grants awarded by the Government of Canada and cultural ...

, a theatre conservatory focusing on classical works, and graduated in 2000.

Career

Kirby has performed since his teens, after he was accepted at The National Theatre School of Canada. He graduated in May 2000, and after two auditions began working on two separate projects: the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

/Alliance

mini-series In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

''Haven'', and director

Léa Pool Léa Pool C.M. (born 8 September 1950) is a Canadian and Swiss filmmaker. She has directed several documentaries and feature films, many of which have won significant awards including the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, and she was the first wom ...

's feature ''

Lost and Delirious ''Lost and Delirious'', ''Rebelles'' in French, is a 2001 Canadian drama film directed by Léa Pool, and based on the novel ''The Wives of Bath'' by Susan Swan. ''Lost and Delirious'' is told from the perspective of Mary (Mischa Barton), who obser ...

'' (2001). Soon after, he portrayed Morgan in the

Factory Theatre Factory Theatre is a Theater (structure), theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded as Factory Theatre Lab in 1970 by Ken Gass and Frank Trotz, and it was run for almost 20 years by Dian English. Factory theatre was the first to anno ...

's production of ''Geometry in Venice'' in Toronto, a performance that brought him a Best Actor nomination at the

Dora Mavor Moore Award The Dora Mavor Moore Awards (also known as the Dora Awards or the Doras) are awards presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), honouring theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moor ...

s. This was quickly followed by the role of Patroclus in Theatre for a New Audience's 2001 production of ''

Troilus and Cressida ''The Tragedy of Troilus and Cressida'', often shortened to ''Troilus and Cressida'' ( or ), is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1602. At Troy during the Trojan War, Troilus and Cressida begin a love affair. Cressida is forc ...

'', directed by Peter Hall in New York City. In 2006, Kirby performed in the Women's Project Theater production of ''Jump/Cut''. His other theatre credits include

Judith Thompson Judith Clare Thompson, OC (born September 20, 1954) is a Canadian playwright. She has twice been awarded the Governor General's Award for drama, and is the recipient of many other awards including the Order of Canada, the Walter Carsen Performi ...

's premiere of ''Habitat'' at

Canadian Stage Canadian Stage is a Canadian non-profit contemporary theatre company, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. History The company was founded in 1988 with the merger of Centre Stage and Toronto Free Theatre. Canadian Stage has produced more than 3 ...

, and Daniel Brooks premiere of ''The Good Life'' at the

Tarragon Theatre The Tarragon Theatre is a theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the main centers for contemporary playwriting in the country.

(both in Toronto). His latest theatre venture was in New York City, where he had the lead role in ''Defender of the Faith'' (

Irish Repertory Theatre The Irish Repertory Theatre is an Off-Broadway theatre company founded in 1988. History The Irish Repertory Theatre was founded by Ciarán O'Reilly and Charlotte Moore and opened its doors in September 1988 with Sean O'Casey's '' The Plough ...

). Kirby's first feature film role was that of Jake Hollander in ''

'' (2001), followed by '' Halloween: Resurrection'' (2002), where he played Jim. His other film credits include lead roles in

Peter Wellington Peter William Wellington (born 21 August 1957) is an Australian politician. He was the independent member for Nicklin in the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 1998 to 2017, and served as Speaker from 2015 to 2017. Wellington has held the ...

's feature ''Luck'' and '' Mambo Italiano'' directed by

Émile Gaudreault Émile Gaudreault, ( born March 6, 1964) is a Quebec director, author, screenwriter and producer. Since 1994, he has been directing, writing and producing feature films as well as episodes for television series. Several of his films have won awar ...

. ''Mambo Italiano'' received a gala presentation at the 2003

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

to a standing ovation, and earned Kirby a Canadian Comedy Award Nomination. He then played a part written for him in the feature film '' Shattered Glass'', produced by Cruise/Wagner. In 2007, he had the lead role of Ray Dokes opposite

Rachael Leigh Cook Rachael Leigh Cook (born October 4, 1979) is an American actress and model. She has starred in the films ''The Baby-Sitters Club (film), The Baby-Sitters Club'' (1995), ''She's All That'' (1999), and ''Josie and the Pussycats (film), Josie and ...

and

Keith Carradine Keith Ian Carradine ( ; born August 8, 1949) is an American actor. In film he is known for his roles as Tom Frank in Robert Altman's ''Nashville'', E. J. Bellocq in Louis Malle's ''Pretty Baby'', and Mickey in Alan Rudolph's '' Choose Me.'' ...

in the Canadian feature '' All Hat''. In 2009, he appeared opposite

Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Dee Lohan ( ; born July 2, 1986) is an American actress, singer, producer, and businesswoman. Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Lohan was signed to Ford Models at age three. She appeared as a regular on the soap opera ' ...

in ''

Labor Pains Labor (or labour) pains may refer to: * Pain experienced during the process of childbirth Childbirth, also known as labour, parturition and delivery, is the completion of pregnancy, where one or more Fetus, fetuses exits the Womb, internal e ...

''. In television, one of Kirby's favourite roles was in the TMN/ Showcase mini-series ''

Slings & Arrows ''Slings & Arrows'' is a Canadian television series set at the fictional New Burbage Festival, a Shakespearean festival similar to the real-world Stratford Festival. It stars Paul Gross, Stephen Ouimette and Martha Burns. Rachel McAdams appeared ...

'', featuring Canadian actors and directed by his friend Peter Wellington. Kirby was nominated for a

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

for his role in ''

Sex Traffic ''Sex Traffic'' is a two-part British-Canadian television thriller, written by Abi Morgan and directed by David Yates, that first broadcast on Channel 4 on 14 October 2004. The series, produced by Veronica Castillo and Derek Wax, stars John ...

'', a mini-series for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

and

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

that aired in the fall of 2004 under British director

David Yates David Yates (born 8 October 1963) is an English filmmaker, who has directed feature films, short films, and television productions. He is best known for directing the final four films in the Harry Potter (film series), ''Harry Potter'' series ...

. That year, Kirby received a second Gemini nomination for his guest-star role in the dramatic series '' The Eleventh Hour''. In the fall of 2005, he was a series regular in

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

's '' Tell Me You Love Me'', directed by Patricia Rozema, whose first season aired in September 2007. He starred as Jimmy Burns in the 2009–2010

Canwest Global Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate name Canwest, was a major Canadian media conglomerate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place (now called 201 Portage). It held radio, ...

series ''

Cra$h & Burn ''Crash & Burn'' (stylized as ''Cra$h & Burn'') is a Canadian television drama series created by Malcolm MacRury. The show takes place in Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, provi ...

''. In 2017, Kirby joined the cast of the award-winning

series '' The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'', portraying comedian

, for which he received a

. In 2025 he played Jack McMillan in the

series '' Étoile.'' From December 2019 through January 2020, Kirby starred in the off-Broadway play ''Judgment Day'' at New York's Park Avenue Armory.

Filmography

Film

Television

Podcasts

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirby, Luke 1978 births Living people Canadian people of American descent Male actors from Hamilton, Ontario Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors 20th-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian male actors National Theatre School of Canada alumni Primetime Emmy Award winners