• Daniel Lawrence Whitney is a stand-up comedian, producer, actor and music artist, known professionally as Larry the Cable Guy. • As of mid-2018, Larry the Cable Guy has a net worth of $80 million. • He grew up in a pig farm with his father who was a minister and entertainer, and attended The King’s Academy and Berean Christian School. • Larry the Cable Guy is known for his voice work in the “Cars” film franchise, and for his stand-up comedy specials released on Netflix. • He is married with two children, and is an REO Speedwagon fan, and has donated $5 million to the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children.
Known for movies
Cars (2006) as Mater
Cars 2 (2011) as Mater
Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie (2003) as Writer
Daniel Lawrence Whitney was born on 17 February 1963, in Pawnee City, Nebraska USA, and is a stand-up comedian, producer, actor, and music artist, best known from performing professionally as Larry the Cable Guy. He’s released seven comedy albums throughout his career, three of which have been certified gold by the RIAA.
How rich is Larry the Cable Guy? As of mid-2018, sources estimate a net worth that is at $80 million, earned through success in his numerous endeavors; he’s starred in several films as well as television series. As he continues his career, it is expected that his wealth will also continue to increase.
Early Life and Career Beginnnings
Larry grew up in a pig farm with his father who was a minister and entertainer as well as his mother. He attended The King’s Academy in the late 1970s, where his father served as the principal. He then went to Berean Christian School located in West Palm Beach, and after matriculating, attended the Baptist University of America, before moving to the University of Nebraska where he majored in drama and speech. However, he never completed his studies, dropping out after his junior year to pursue a career in comedy.
In the early 1990s, he started to be heard on various radio programs, such as “The Ron and Ron Show” and “The Todd and Tyler Show”. He was also a frequent guest in “The Johnny Dare Morning Show” and also on “Greg and the Morning Buzz”. He also tried his hand at stand-up comedy, but didn’t have much success until he developed the Cable Guy character. He eventually decided to maintain the character which has a stereotypical redneck appearance and a Southern accent; He mentions that he usually turns on his accent off-stage so that he doesn’t forget. He later released his autobiography “GIT-R-DONE” based on his famous comedy act expression.
He released his first comedy album in 2001 entitled “Lord, I Apologize”, and his second four years later entitled “The Right to Bare Arms” – both were certified gold by the RIAA, and he then released his third special in 2007, before two years later being roasted in a Comedy Central special. In 2011 he started working on a travelogue series entitled “Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy”, shown on the History Channel – as a part of the show, he became the first on-air talent from a non-news crew to be allowed into the War Room.
He is also known for his voice work in the “Cars” film franchise, on which he voices the character Mater. In 2012, Disneyland released land as a part of their theme park “Cars Land”, which is called “Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree”. He has voiced Mater on nearly every occasion that the character has appeared. There is also a line of Larry the Cable Guy food products, including boxed hamburger dinners. Part of its profits are donated to the Git-R-Done Foundation.
In the latter part of his career, Larry focused more on his film work, appearing in several films such as “Jingle All the Way 2” and “A Madea Christmas”. He also reprised his voice role in the animated film “Cars 3”, and appeared in the 2016 documentary “Jeff Foxworthy & Larry the Cable Guy: We’ve Been Thinking”.
He also continues his association with Disney, being heard as a voice actor for several video games, including “Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes”, “Disney Infinity 3.0”, and “Cars 3: Driven to Win”. In 2017, he returned to stand-up comedy through releasing a special with Netflix entitled “We’ve Been Thinking (with Jeff Foxworthy)”. He is one of the numerous comedians who started deals with Netflix to release stand-up comedy specials. He’s mainly stayed under the radar for the last five years, and time will tell if he continues to release comedy content through Netflix.
Personal Life
For his personal life, it is known that Larry married Cara in 2005, and they have two children together. The family resides on a 180 acre farm in Lincoln, Nebraska. He is known to be a keen Nebraska Cornhuskers football fan, and is frequently seen with a gold Nebraska “N” chain around his neck. He is also an REO Speedwagon fan, and even appeared with them on stage on one occasion. Larry also does a lot of charity work, and has donated $5 million to the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children to help advance developments against Hip Dysplasia. The hospital later opened a new wing called the Wyatt Whitney Wing, named after his son.
General Info
Family
Accomplishments
Social profile links
General Info
Full Name
Larry the Cable Guy
Net Worth
$50 million, $50 million
Date Of Birth
February 17, 1963
Height
1.78 m, 1.78 m
Profession
Screenwriter, Television producer, Comedian, Film producer, Voice Actor, Author, Philanthropist, Radio personality, Screenwriter, Television producer, Comedian, Film producer, Voice Actor, Author, Philanthropist, Radio personality
Education
Berean Christian School, Baptist University of America, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, The King's Academy, Berean Christian School, Baptist University of America, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, The King's Academy
Tom Whitney Sr., Shirley Whitney, Tom Whitney Sr., Shirley Whitney
Siblings
Debbie Whitney, Tom Whitney Jr., Debbie Whitney, Tom Whitney Jr.
Accomplishments
Awards
Billboard Music Award for Comedy Artist of the Year, VES Award for Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture, Billboard Music Award for Comedy Album of the Year, Billboard Music Award for Comedy Artist of the Year, VES Award for Outstanding Animated Character in an Animate...
Movies
Edmonton, AB, Canada, Medicine Hat, AB, Canada, West Wendover, NV, United States, Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector, Cars, Cars 2, Witless Protection, Delta Farce, A Madea Christmas, Cars 3, Tooth Fairy 2, Blue Collar Comedy Tour: One for the Road, Jingle All the Way 2, Mater and the Ghostlight,...
What I do onstage, there's maybe .0001 percent of the population that acts like that. I talk like that because it makes me laugh, and because I know a couple of people that talk like that. They're really that Southern. And they do funny things. I love 'em; they're awesome. They're good people.
2
The only reason I'm ever in character as 'Larry The Cable Guy' is because that's what I'm hired to do. In my movies, obviously they hired 'Larry The Cable Guy' to be 'Larry The Cable Guy.' When I do my shows, I'm 'Larry The Cable Guy.' When I do Jay Leno, it's: 'Please welcome 'Larry The Cable Guy.''
3
The thing that's changed the way I do my stand-up act is having kids and getting older and wiser and smarter. There might be a joke or two in the past that I wish I hadn't done, but in the past, you can't have it back.
4
Tony Orlando is one of the nicest guys I have ever met - bar none - in my entire life. I was always a fan when I was a kid - you know, huge fan. Who wasn't a fan of Tony Orlando?
5
We try to make the name longer and longer every year. First, it was 'Larry the Cable Guy's Christmas Spectacular.' Then it was 'It's a Very Larry Christmas.' Now it's 'Larry the Cable Guy's Hula-palooza Christmas Luau.' I'll tell you what it is: It's funny. That's what it is. Who cares what the name of it is? It is a funny special.
6
What a piece of garbage this smart car is. There's a commercial - the smart car has zero percent interest for six years. Well, good, I got zero percent in six years in buying this smart car. I'll tell you that much. I mean, it's ridiculous. My buddy has a smart car, totaled it. He hit a deer tick.
7
I think probably one of the coolest things was when I went to play basketball at Rucker Park in Harlem. First of all, who would think that Larry the Cable Guy would go to Harlem to play basketball? And I was received like a rock star. It was amazing! There were people everywhere. There were guys walking by yelling, 'Git 'r done!'
8
I was always a fan of the old-style comics. I loved vaudeville. I loved Milton Berle, Dick Shawn, Phyllis Diller, Don Rickles, Charlie Callas, all those guys. Hilarious. I love the Bing Crosby and Bob Hope movies, and Abbott & Costello. My television influences were 'Monty Python's Flying Circus,' 'Benny Hill,' and 'Hee Haw.'
9
I'm a huge NASCAR fan, but I'm not a gearhead. I've never been into fixing cars. It's not because I don't like it. I would love to know more. It's just my dad never taught me that stuff because my dad wasn't a mechanic.
10
It's nice if people can finally loosen up a little bit and just go out laugh at silliness. I mean, people take themselves way too seriously sometimes.
11
One of my little girls is named Reagan. Her first words were, 'Mr. Larry, tear down this crib.' That was her first words, it was very sweet. My first words were, 'Are you going to finish that sandwich?'
12
I don't judge people by their accent, or how they word things, or how grammatically correct their speech is. Some of the smartest men in the world couldn't spell. I judge a person by their character.
13
I don't really get to see a lot of other comedians, because I work with the same people all the time. The guy I really like is Nick DiPaulo. I love Nick DiPaulo, but again, he's a buddy of mine. But I liked him for a long time. I liked him before he was a buddy of mine.
14
I just developed my act way back in the late '80s. I went to college in Georgia, so I picked up the Southern accent. I talked like that with my friends all the time, because it was fun. It was funny... All my friends were real Southern. We're buddies, so I'd say stuff to make them laugh. So that was pretty much it.
15
I love food: biscuits and gravy, cheese grits, spaghetti and meatballs, chicken-fried steak with white gravy... but my favorite dish is my wife's beanie weenie cornbread casserole. It's so good. It sounds stupid, but if you eat it, it's heaven. Of course, it's only something you can eat if you've got a lot of money.
16
I saw a sign one time that said 'hemorrhoids awareness week' at the doctor's office. Let me tell you, if you got hemorrhoids, I'm sure you are aware of it. You don't need a sign to tell anybody about it.
17
I don't even see it as cable TV anymore. I've been called 'Larry the Cable Guy' for so long, I don't even think about it being about cable. I don't know anything about cable.
18
As a comedian, I don't know if they're laughing because it's funny or if they're laughing at me because I'm not funny. And I'm thinking, 'Who cares? They're laughing.' If you go on stage, and they're laughing at you full-on for 60 minutes? You know, whatever puts them in the seats.
19
'Cars' has been a godsend. I mean, I get paid to talk into a mic. Honestly, I had no idea it would become as big as it did. When I first got the part of Mater, it was actually a small part. I did the voicing for it, though, and the animators liked it so much they rewrote the original script so that Mater could be in it more.
20
Doing a kid's movie is fun when you have kids. You don't want to do kids' movies if you don't have kids. When you have kids, things change in your life.
21
Even before I did stand-up, I've always been the kind of guy - and I talk about it on stage - who says I like people and I always look for the good in people. I say, 'Every person has something good about them, if you can just find it.'
22
I've never judged anybody by how they look or how they dress. I basically judge them on their character. And that's how I lead my own life.
23
I've only been to these foreign countries: Canada, L.A. and Miami.
24
Our whole wedding cost 180 bucks. Afterward, we re-heated lasagna for everyone and set off fireworks.
25
We're homebodies. I've gotten to see my kids' first steps, first smiles, first words. Every day is a weekend.
26
When Pixar calls and says, 'Hey, you wanna be in a Pixar movie?' you don't do a lot of contemplating!
27
Every July, I look forward to taping a Christmas show - in July in Nashville. In 98-degree weather. I love it.
28
I'm not a party guy, and I'm not a Hollywood guy, either.
29
I'm saying, Come on, the global warming thing? How did the ice melt during the ice ages? Was the dinosaurs driving SUVs around back then?
30
I'm so sick of gay this, gay that. I could care less. It ain't affecting my life at all.
31
I've always felt that if you've been blessed, you should try to help as many people as you can. I just think that's the right thing to do.
Facts
#
Fact
1
Dr. Chad Price at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando, Florida helped cure Larry's son, Wyatt, of hip dysplasia, while Wyatt was an infant. Following this, Larry and his Git-R-Done foundation donated $5 million to the International Hip Dysplasia Institute at the hospital in September, 2010.
In 2007, Forbes Magazine estimated his earnings for the year at $20 million.
4
Son, Wyatt, born August 2006.
5
Daughter, Reagan, born 29 October 2007.
6
Well before hitting it big with the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, he contributed short, daily commentaries for the rock station 101.1 WJRR, which broadcasts out of Maitland, Florida. He also had put in a short stint with another Orlando-area rock station (100.3 WDIZ) before they abruptly changed formats, prior to his work with WJRR.
7
While Larry's stand-up act contains a great deal of raunchy material he does not use four-letter words.
8
One of his closest friends is fellow comic Lewis Black, who is pretty much his opposite when it comes to political views, background, and performance material.
9
Larry is a huge University of Nebraska fan (mostly football). Although he's lived in Florida for 27 years, he still calls Nebraska home. His accent is a combination of Pawnee City, NE, and his current home near Orlando, FL. He's lived there since he was 16. He's bought a second home south of Lincoln, watches as many games as he can, and recently bought one of the new (2006) sky boxes in the North end-zone. He also tries to wear some article of clothing (usually a hat) that says "Nebraska" or "Huskers" during every performance.
Is expecting first child with wife Cara Whitney, due August 2006. If it's a girl, they plan on naming the baby Reagan (he says because Ronald Reagan was the greatest president, ever), or Colton if it's a boy, because he says it's a good cowboy name and he likes cowboys.
12
He is a member of the Blue Collar Comedy group, a group of "rednecks" who do stand-up and sketch comedy, together. The other members are his friends: Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall and Ron White.
