Jerry Trainor

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Jerry Trainor
Trainor in April 2022
Born
Gerald William Trainor

(1977-01-21) January 21, 1977 (age 47)[1]
EducationUniversity of California, Santa Barbara (B.F.A.)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • musician
Years active2000–present

Gerald William "Jerry" Trainor (born January 21, 1977)[1] is an American actor and musician. He played Spencer Shay in the teen sitcom iCarly and its revival series of the same name, winning three Kids' Choice Awards for his performances. He also appeared in Drake & Josh as "Crazy" Steve and T.U.F.F. Puppy as Dudley Puppy, for which he received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination. Since 2004, Trainor has worked primarily on the Nickelodeon network. Outside of this, he has had recurring and guest roles on young adult-oriented shows on the Disney Channel and Netflix as well as in the more mature shows Crossing Jordan and 2 Broke Girls.

Early life[edit]

Trainor was born and raised in San Diego, California, the son of Bill Trainor, a retired Navy fighter pilot and public defender, and Madelyn Trainor, a retired high school calculus teacher. He has an older sister named Liz. He is of Irish descent.[2]

Trainor grew up in the San Diego community of Scripps Ranch and attended the University of San Diego High School.[3] He studied drama at the University of California, Santa Barbara and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.[1][4] He studied improvisation at The Groundlings school in Los Angeles. Before becoming an actor, he worked at San Diego SeaWorld.[5]

Career[edit]

Trainor in 2012

His first television role was in the MTV series Undressed as Eric. Some of his other television credits include Law & Order True Crime, Angel, and Malcolm in the Middle. His first recurring TV role was as Brian "the A.V. guy" on Crossing Jordan. He has had a number of small roles in films such as the science fiction drama Donnie Darko and the cheerleader comedy Bring It On Again. He appeared on the web series Hungry Girl.[6]

Trainor had a recurring role on Drake & Josh as "Crazy Steve”, a movie theater worker, from 2004 to 2007. He starred in iCarly as Spencer Shay, the older brother and guardian of Miranda Cosgrove's title character from 2007 to 2012 (he and Cosgrove had previously acted together on Drake & Josh, as Cosgrove played the role of the title duo's little sister). For iCarly, he won three Kids' Choice Awards. He completed the 2008 music-themed comedy Wreckless Epic, in which he stars. Trainor starred in the animated series T.U.F.F. Puppy as the voice of Dudley Puppy, for which he was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program.

Trainor was involved in a World of Warcraft video series titled Project Lore, playing the Draenei shaman Goggins. He was replaced by Jeff Cannata after leaving the series in February 2009. He also starred alongside iCarly co-star Jennette McCurdy in the Nickelodeon TV movie Best Player, where he played Quincy Johnson, a video-game enthusiast whose main competition in a video-gaming contest is McCurdy's character.

In 2013, Trainor starred in the short-lived series Wendell & Vinnie as Vinnie, the uncle and guardian of Buddy Handleson's character Wendell. He played Commander Michael Sullivan for both seasons of the Halo in-universe podcast Hunt the Truth. In 2017, Trainor voiced the recurring role of Commander Cone on Bunsen Is a Beast.

Trainor at the 2021 Kids Choice Awards

Since 2018, Trainor and Mike O'Gorman have starred in a comedy Web series called The Porch, which can be found on YouTube. In 2018, Trainor starred in the film Cover Versions written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Todd Berger. The film premiered at the 2018 Palm Springs Film Festival and was acquired for distribution by Sony Pictures. Parts of the film were shot on location during the KAABOO Del Mar music festival (in coastal northern San Diego County). Trainor's performance was heralded as being edgy and thought-provoking.

In March 2021, it was announced that iCarly was being revived. The series premiered on Paramount+ in June of that year, with Trainor reprising his role as Spencer Shay.[7]

Music career[edit]

In October 2015, Trainor formed the band Nice Enough People with guitarist-vocalist Mike O'Gorman, drummer Andrew Zuber, and guitarist Allison Scagliotti, who also happened to be a co-star of Trainor's in Drake & Josh as the character Mindy Crenshaw.[8] Trainor plays bass for the group.[8] The group released its first EP, Hanover Hideaway, on June 22, 2016.[9]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2001 Donnie Darko Lanky Kid Cameo[10]
Evolution Tommy Cameo[citation needed]
Wayside Tommy Direct-to-video film
2004 Bring It On Again Smug Guy Direct-to-video film
2007 Waking Dreams Andrew Direct-to-video film
2008 Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh Crazy Steve TV film
2009 Factory 9 Roland Waters Direct-to-video film
Wreckless Epic: The Journey to SXSW Kelly Kirkwood
2009 The Gamers Himself TV film
2011 Best Player Quincy "Q" Johnson TV film
2011 iParty with Victorious Spencer Shay TV film
2012 Holiday Road Doug Segment: "October"
2013 Pororo, The Racing Adventure Walter Featherbottom Voice role
2017 Cover Versions Travis
2018 Alex & Me "Nigel"/Nick Direct-to-video film
2022 Snow Day Snowplow Man TV film

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2000 Undressed Eric 2 episodes
2001 Malcolm in the Middle Private Edwards Episode: "Evacuation"
2002 My Wife and Kids Star Trek fan Episode: "The Bowling Show"
Angel Jared Episode: "Supersymmetry"
ER Darius Episode: "One Can Only Hope"
2004–05 Crossing Jordan Brian - A.V. Guy Recurring role; 5 episodes
2004–07 Drake & Josh "Crazy" Steve Recurring role; 10 episodes
2007–12 iCarly Spencer Shay Main role; also Director: "iApril Fools" and "iLost My Head in Vegas"
2009 BrainSurge Himself Contestant
2010 The Penguins of Madagascar Eddie (Cockroach) Voice role; episode: "Stop Bugging Me"
2010–15 T.U.F.F. Puppy Dudley Puppy Main voice role
2010–13 Victorious Audience member Episode: "Jade Dumps Beck" (uncredited)[citation needed]
Spencer Shay Episode: "April Fools Blank"
2011 That Movie Show N/A 1 episode
2012–13 Doc McStuffins Will Recurring voice role; 4 episodes
2012 Simian Undercover Detective Squad Kelly the Elastic Man / Heptagan Scientist 2 episodes
2013 Wendell & Vinnie Vinnie Main role
2014 Sam & Cat "Crazy" Steve / Himself 2 episodes
Living the Dream Cal Logan Television film
2016 2 Broke Girls Lenin Episode: "And the Partnership Hits The Fan"[11]
Still the King P.M.S. Leader 3 episodes
Star vs. the Forces of Evil Roy Voice role; episode: "Goblin Dogs"
2017 Bunsen Is a Beast Commander Cone Voice role; 3 episodes
Law & Order True Crime Will Canton Episode: "The Menendez Murders: episode 3"
2018 The Adventures of Kid Danger The Wahoo Punch Bro Voice role; episode: "The Wahoo Punch Bro"
Henry Danger Joey Episode: "Thumb War"
2019 No Good Nick Todd Recurring role; 5 episodes
2020 Apocalypse Goals News Janitor Recurring role; 3 episodes
Bunk'd Dave Episode: "My Fairy Lady"
2021–2023 iCarly Spencer Shay Main role; also Producer
2021–2022 Tooned In Himself Co-host (season 2)

Video games[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2009 iCarly Spencer Shay Voice role
2010 iCarly: iDream in Toons
iCarly 2: iJoin the Click!
2014 Cars: Fast as Lightning Todd Marcus

Discography[edit]

  • Hanover Hideaway (2016)

Soundtrack appearances[edit]

Year Title Song
2022 Snow Day "These Kids"

Awards and nominations[edit]

Year Award Category Work Result Refs
2009 Teen Choice Awards Choice TV Actor: Comedy iCarly Nominated [12][13]
2010 Australian Kids' Choice Awards Big Kid Award Won [14][15]
LOL Award (shared with ensemble) Won [14]
2011 UK Kids' Choice Awards Nick UK's Funniest Person Won [16]
Meus Prêmios Nick Brazil Funniest Character Nominated [17][18]
2012 Kids' Choice Awards Favorite TV Sidekick Nominated [19]
2013 Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program T.U.F.F. Puppy Nominated [20]
2022 Kids' Choice Awards Favorite Male TV Star (Family) iCarly Nominated [21]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Jerry Train or Biography, Celebrity Facts and Awards". TV Guide.
  2. ^ Trainor, Jerry [@jerrytrainor] (April 18, 2013). "@SeddieMania I'm Irish, of course I want some of your baked potato! Duh! Get it in my stomach now!" (Tweet). Retrieved March 3, 2021 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ "San Diego native stars in new Nickelodeon series". San Diego Union-Tribune. 2013-02-16. Archived from the original on 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  4. ^ "Jerry Trainor". sfsketchfest2015.sched.com. 2015. Archived from the original on June 26, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  5. ^ "San Diego native stars in new Nickelodeon series - the San Diego Union-Tribune". Archived from the original on 2021-09-21. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  6. ^ HungryGirlTV (December 15, 2008). "Fun With... The Hungry Girl Book". Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved November 7, 2011 – via YouTube.
  7. ^ "iCarly's Miranda Cosgrove, Jerry Trainor and Nathan Kress to Reunite at the Kids' Choice Awards". PEOPLE.com. Archived from the original on 2021-03-07. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  8. ^ a b Grant, Stacey (April 12, 2016). "Crazy Steve And Mindy From Drake & Josh Started A Band With A Very Appropriate Name". MTV News. Archived from the original on August 25, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  9. ^ Nice Enough People [@NiceEnoughPpl] (June 22, 2016). "It's here! Our debut EP "Hanover Hideaway" now on iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify & Amazon etc. Here's the iTunes link" (Tweet). Retrieved August 23, 2016 – via Twitter.
  10. ^ Sethi, Arjun (1 June 2020). "'iCarly': What has happened with Jerry Trainor (Spencer) and how it looks today? - News series". Code List. Archived from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  11. ^ "Goofing around on the set of Two Broke Girls". facebook.com. Archived from the original on 2023-10-31. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  12. ^ "Teen Choice Awards 2009 nominees". Los Angeles Times. June 15, 2009. Archived from the original on October 5, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
  13. ^ "Announcing the Winners of the 2009 Teen Choice Awards!". PopSugar. August 9, 2009. Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
  14. ^ a b "Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards 2010 Winners List & Orange Carpet Video!". Take40. October 8, 2010. Archived from the original on September 26, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  15. ^ "2010 Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards Nominations List!". Take40. August 18, 2010. Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  16. ^ "Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards 2011 Winners!". Fun Kids. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  17. ^ "Nickelodeon anuncia finalistas do Meus Prêmios Nick 2011" [Nickelodeon announces 2011 Nick Awards finalists]. ANMTV (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on February 17, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  18. ^ "Nickelodeon divulga os vencedores do Meus Prêmios Nick 2011" [Nickelodeon announces the winners of My Nick Awards 2011]. ANMTV (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on August 2, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  19. ^ "Lista completa de ganadores Kids Choice Awards 2012" [Complete list of winners Kids Choice Awards 2012]. Solo Famosos (in Spanish). Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
  20. ^ "Microsoft Word - day_1213_nominations_v02.doc" (PDF). The Emmys. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 12, 2013. Retrieved May 2, 2013.
  21. ^ "Miranda Cosgrove and Rob Gronkowski to Co-Host "Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards 2022," Live on Saturday, April 9, at 7:30 P.M. (ET/PT)" (Press release). Nickelodeon. March 9, 2022. Archived from the original on August 25, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2022 – via The Futon Critic.

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