- published: 16 Mar 2016
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Bryan Christopher Callen (born January 26, 1967) is an American actor. Callen is notable for being one of the original cast of comedians on the sketch comedy series MADtv.
Callen was born in the Philippines then moved to India (Calcutta and Bombay) where his sister was born. The family then moved to Beirut, Lebanon where they lived for almost 3 years. Then Pakistan for 2 years, then back to Lebanon for another 2 years until the civil war broke out and the family was evacuated to Greece. Bryan's father, Michael Callen was working for what was then First National City Bank (later Citibank). After 3 years in Greece the family moved yet again to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The schools in Saudi Arabia only go to the 9th grade for foreigners so Bryan was shipped to a boarding school in Massachusetts called Northfield Mount Herman. He then went to American University in Washington D.C. where he earned his B.A. in History.
Callen was one of eight original cast members when MADtv debuted in 1995. Callen's most popular characters included Pool Boy from Cabana Chat with Dixie Wetsworth, motivational speaker Al Casdy, and "relationship-challenged" death row inmate Jeremy Anderson. Callen also performed impersonations of Bill Clinton, Robert De Niro, Al Gore, Luke Perry, Steven Seagal, Sammy Hagar, Kevin Bacon, Jim Carrey, Ted Knight, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sean Astin, and Frank Gifford.