Dane Jeffrey Cook, simply known as Dane Cook, is a famous American actor, voice actor, film producer, as well as a comedian. To the public Dane Cook is perhaps best known as a stand-up comedian, who first debuted on stage in 1994. Since then, Dane Cook has released several comedy albums, such as “Rough Around the Edges: Live from Madison Square Garden”, “Isolated”, “Harmful If Swallowed” and “Retaliation”. The latter album debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200 and has become the most successful comedy album since “A Wild and a Crazy Guy” released by Steve Martin in 1978. “Retaliation” did extremely well on the market, as it received a Gold certification six days after its release, which is an impressive accomplishment. Up to date, the album has sold more than 1.2 million copies worldwide and is currently certified Platinum by the RIAA.
Dane Cook Net Worth $30 Million
Dane Cook’s stand-up performances helped him venture into the television industry and appear in various films and projects. Ever since his film debut with “Flypaper” in 1997, Dane Cook has starred in such movies as “My Best Friend’s Girl” with Kate Hudson, Jason Biggs and Alec Baldwin, “Good Luck Chuck” with Jessica Alba, “Employee of the Month” with Jessica Simpson and Dax Shepard, and “Dan in Real Life” to name a few.
In addition to the revenue collected from his stand-up performances and film appearances, Dane Cook has managed to add significant amounts of money to his wealth from going on tours, the most recent of which entitled “Globo Thermo Tour” happened in 2009.
A famous comedian and an actor, how rich is Dane Cook? According to sources, Dane Cook’s net worth is estimated to be $30 million. Undoubtedly, most of Dane Cook’s net worth and wealth came from his stand-up comedy and on screen appearances.
Dane Cook was born in 1972, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but spent the majority of his childhood in Arlington, where he graduated from Arlington High School. In order to become a comedian, Cook moved out from Arlington to New York where he started giving performances in various bars. Soon after, he moved out again, this time to Los Angeles, where he earned his big breakthrough. Cook’s large public and media exposure came in 1998, when he performed on a comedy-sketch series that aired on Comedy Central called “Premium Blend”. Many comedians, such as Daniel Tosh, Stephen Lynch, Ron White and Gabriel Iglesias, who went on to appear on “Premium Blend”, later launched successful careers and came out with their own specials on “Comedy Central Presents” program.
Ever since Cook debuted with “Harmful If Swallowed” he has received much praise, yet he hasn’t been able to avoid criticism either. Many commentators and critics deemed Cook’s sense of humor as “unfunny”, while his huge ego earned him more enemies than friends among fellow comedians. In addition to that, Dane Cook was criticized for plagiarizing Louis C.K’s material in his second album called “Retaliation”, an argument which was later played out in Louis C.K.’s series “Louie”, where Cook played himself.
A famous stand-up performer, Dane Cook has an estimated net worth of $30 million.
Good Luck Chuck, My Best Friend's Girl, Employee of the Month, Dane Cook: Vicious Circle, Mr. Brooks, Dan in Real Life, 400 Days, Planes, Planes: Fire & Rescue, Detention, Simon Sez, Answers to Nothing, Stuck on You, Mystery Men, Guns, Girls and Gambling, Farce of the Penguins, Windy City Heat, Dave...
TV Shows
Tourgasm, Next Caller, Maybe This Time
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Trademark
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Deep voice
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Excitable, high-energy stage presence
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Observational comedy mixed with dark humor and comedic violence
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Quote
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[2011, on Answers to Nothing (2011)] What appealed to me about this film is that it was an ensemble piece. Little movie, low budget and we were all going to be in the trenches, together. We wanted to get it above the line, we hoped that it would get into theaters, we hoped people would see it. Those were the early conversations. Hopefully with this success and if people find the film, I'll be up for more compelling roles that are not necessarily just dramatic but different kinds of comedy. Like Jason Reitman that I admire or Woody Allen. It's funny because I love comedic directors that know how to utilize a comic's ability for the tender moments as well.
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[2011, on his dream role] Neil LaBute's play, Fat Pig - we were set to do that and we were about a week away from going back to rehearsal when we lost our key financier. So, unfortunately now, it's looking like we might not be doing it until the spring, if we can do it at all. The part of "Carter" though, that I saw a few years ago when Chris Pine played him - I saw the play and immediately said, "That's the character I want to play."... It's a four-person play. "Tom", my character's best friend, basically falls in love with an obese woman. We all think she is the greatest until we meet her. Based on physicality, I try to talk him out of this relationship. My character is just an asshole - a caustic, sterile, verbally abusive character. Yet, there is this great moment where Carter talks about his obese mother and what he experienced growing up with her. Similar to my character in Answers to Nothing (2011), it starts out with my character being a complete jerk. No [audience member] is going to want this guy back and yet there is this tremendous floodgate moment where he just opens up and admits that he hated his mother because of her weight. I love roles where you take risks and I don't mind that these characters polarize people.
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(2011) My nickname for my mom was "The Compass." She actually passed away a few years ago. She always knew the direction I had before I knew it. I had zero belief in myself growing up. I grew up very self-loathing. I was a phobic. I had anxiety. I had panic attacks. Once I left my house I was a wreck. Yet, here was this empowered, funny, very cool woman - my mom would listen to AC/DC's "Hells Bells" with my friends in the car - and she would tell me, "You have a lot of soul, Dane. Every day, you have to believe in yourself." I had so much insecurity though and she saw [my whole future] laid out. I can't tell you how many times I'd call my mom to tell her, "I'm hosting SNL" and she'd just say, "I know." She knew it was all going to happen.
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(2011) My mom and dad passed away from cancer. Within nine months, I lost both of my folks. Immediately after that, I had a horrible betrayal where my brother, who worked for me, stole a lot of my money. He's in jail now. Here I was, reaching a larger success in my life but simultaneously dealing with this. My professional dreams were coming true while I was living a personal nightmare. It's amazing the lessons that came out of that. I had to go inward and first, I had to accept my accomplishments which I had never done. I don't think I ever sat and enjoyed them. I was always thinking, "What's next, what's next" or just trying to accomplish something for my folks. A gift that [those experiences] gave me was that they taught me to stop and appreciate what I've done. I've done a lot and it's okay to share that. Now, I'm starting with something that is all for me. I don't have to do anything for anyone else's benefit anymore. I just want to exceed my own expectations.
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(2011) There was a moment with a heckler where - I haven't thought about this in so long - I think I was having such a strong performance that night that this guy's date was attracted to my powerful energy - me being the guy performing. Maybe in this guy's life, he was that powerful guy. Anyway, he shouted some shit at me. We had a little toe-to-toe and what I ended up doing is breaking down to this guy's date why she shouldn't be with a man like this. It was surgical the way I was going in and asking her questions and getting truth out of her. By the end of the show, they had stormed off angrily. Then two days later, I got an e-mail from her asking me out to dinner...She wrote, "I don't want to be with a guy who's like that." So many truths had come to the surface just from what I - I learned that when you really get that eye contact with somebody and you're on stage, you can pull the truth out of someone. Just like Howard Stern does on the radio. He pulls the truth out of his listeners before they even realize it. I kind of learned those tricks and how to get into audience members' souls a little. I'd have therapeutic moments like that which would lead to somewhat life-altering moments. Sometimes they are minuscule but in this case, it led to the end of a relationship. He was a douchebag and maybe his date didn't realize it until he behaved in that manner. I just brought it all out of him.
$30 Million
