Chris Parnell

Born and raised in Memphis, TN, Parnell took to acting and comedy after his family relocated to nearby Germantown and he got involved with the Poplar Pike Playhouse. Constantly auditioning for nearly every production while taking multiple acting and music classes, Parnell attended the North Carolina School of Arts after graduation and later worked at Houston's Alley Theater after obtaining his B.F.A. Later teaching acting, film, and video back at Germantown High before moving to Los Angeles, the future SNL star worked at FAO Schwartz while taking classes at the Groundlings theater and acting in small roles in commercials and television sitcoms. Parnell was flown to New York for an SNL audition after he was spotted by a talent scout from the show, joining the cast in the fall of 1999 alongside fellow freshmen Jimmy Fallon and Horatio Sanz. After his feature debut in 1996's Jingle All the Way, Parnell could be seen on the big screen in fellow SNL cast member Tim Meadows' The Ladies Man in 2000. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide