Thomas James Kenny was born on 13 July 1962, in Syracuse, New York State USA, and is a singer, comedian and screenwriter, but is perhaps best known as a voice actor, particularly for voicing SpongeBob for the popular animated TV series “SpongeBob SquarePants” around the turn of the century.
How rich is Tom Kenny? According to authoritative sources, Tom Kenny’s net worth is estimated to be $16 million, which he has accumulated mostly through his career as a voice actor, during which he has voiced a number of popular and sometimes beloved characters since his career began in the 1980s.
Tom Kenny Net Worth $16 Million
Tom Kenny was educated at Thomas Grimes High School, where he befriended later film director Bobcat Goldthwait. The pair went to an open-mic night at Skaneateles, at which Barry Crimmins – a comedian with the stage name “Bear Cat” – performed, and Tom and Goldthwait did a turn as Tomcat and Bobcat respectively, as a tribute to Crimmins, after which Bobcat became Goldthwait’s stage name.
Kenny subsequently wandered around the US after college, doing stand-up comedy for several years. He then moved into TV and films, first in “How I Got Into College” (1989) then “Shakes the Clown” (1991). During the early ’90s, he hosted the “Music News” segments of Friday Night Videos, and appeared regularly in the comedy sketch shows “The Edge” on Fox in 1992–93, and on HBO in “Mr. Show” from 1995 to ’98, plus in live-action segments of “SpongeBob SquarePants” as Patchy the Pirate, and in the episode “Uncle Howee” as Uncle Howee – a kids’ show host with strange powers – on R.L. Stine’s “The Haunting Hour”. All these efforts added steadily to Tom’s net worth.
In the late ’90s, Tom was approached by animator Stephen Hillenburg to voice the character of SpongeBob, an offer he immediately accepted.The series premiered on Nickelodeon in 1999, and in the next year became an instant success with the audience. In addition to voicing the main character in the series, Tom Kenny also gave voice to Gary the Snail, the French narrator parodied as Jacques Cousteau, SpongeBob’s father Harold SquarePants, and Patchy the Pirate. In 2004, the animated series was adapted into the animated comedy film “The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie”, which turned out to be a box-office success, grossing over $140 million. Undoubtedly, the revenues from the movie, the series, as well as commercial products, have significantly contributed to Tom Kenny’s net worth.
In 2010, Kenny received an Annie Award for “Voice Acting in a Television Production” for his role as a SpongeBob, and has subsequently voiced the main character in the sequel SpongeBob film released in late 2015. Tom Kenny is indeed an incredibly versatile voice actor. Among many characters that Kenny has given voice to, the most remarkable are Mayor from “The Powerpuff Girls”, Rabbit from “Winnie the Pooh”, Eduardo from “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends”, as well as Carl from “Johny Bravo”.
During his career, Tom Kenny has made several attempts at making music as well. He has been the lead vocalist of the New York-based band “The Tearjerkers” since the 1980s, and also briefly appeared with the pop punk band “The Trend” in 1980. Kenny has made several appearances in music videos as well; his most notable role was with his wife Jill Talley, in The Smashing Pumpkins’ video “Tonight, Tonight”, which proved to be an instant hit, winning six MTV Video Music Awards.
For all his productions, Tom Kenny has been publicly acknowledged as well, by being nominated for several awards, including Annie but also Golden Raspberry Awards, and in 2014 won an Annie Award for an Outstanding Achievement for the animated series “Adventure Time”. Tom Kenny currently voices several characters in Cartoon Network’s “Adventure Time with Finn and Jake”, as well as supporting characters in the animation entitled “Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated”, so his net worth is still being maintained.
In his personal life, Tom Kenny married fellow actor/voice actor Jill Talley in 1995, and they have a son and a duaghter.
