Born November 13, 1960 in Chicago, Illinois, Neil Flynn is an actor best known for his role as the sarcastic, intriguing and a little bit crazy Janitor on the NBC hit series Scrubs. Growing up, his family moved from the south side of Chicago to Waukegan at an early age. He attended Waukegan East High School and, together with partner Mike Shklair, won an Illinois Individuals Events championship for Humorous Duet Acting, perhaps a sign of his future as a comedian. After high school, he went on to attend and graduate from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, where he participated in the nationally known Bradley University Speech Team. He then moved to Chicago to pursue acting professionally.
As with a lot of actors, Neil Flynn started out with the theater circuit in Chicago. He was with the renowned Goodman and Steppenwolf Theaters, where he earned a nomination for a Joseph Jefferson Award for Actor in a Principal Role for The Ballad of the Sad Caf? in 1986. After this, he toured with Second City Comedy Troupe and performed at the Improv Olympic.
Flynn had several minor roles in many different and well-known television series such as Seinfeld, That 70’s Show and Smallville but in 2001 he finally landed a role that would put him on the map. He was cast as the janitor in the NBC comedy series Scrubs, and even though creator Bill Lawrence originally planned for the character to appear only in the pilot, he felt compelled to keep the character after watching the episode, which proved greatly fortunate for Flynn.
As for the big screen, Flynn bagged a minor role in the movie that catapulted Lindsay Lohan to mainstream popularity Mean Girls. He played the father of Lohan’s character who brought her to America from Africa. He also had roles in the comedy Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Major League, Rookie of the Year, as well as an animated pilot that didn’t see the light of day.