Welcome back to The Deep Dive. We take your source
material, break it all down, and give you the
essentials. That's what we do. Today, we're really
digging into the career of someone you'll definitely
recognize. Maybe the face more than the name
sometimes. Craig Anton. Yeah, the ultimate character
guy. Always popping up. Always memorable. So
our mission today, it sounds simple maybe, but
it's tracking his whole evolution. American actor,
comedian. But what you find when you look at
the bio we have here. It's well, it's way more
varied than you might think. It goes way beyond
just the roles people maybe know best. Right.
We're tracing him from, you know, stand up in
Nebraska, then sketch comedy, that big Disney
Channel phase and what he's up to now. OK, yeah,
let's jump right in, because when you say Craig
Anton, I bet most people their minds go straight
to Disney Channel. Like Mr. Pettis in Lizzie
McGuire. The guidance counselor. Always looks
slightly stressed out. Totally. Or Lloyd Diffie
in Phil of the Future. The dad from the future.
Right. The kind of frazzled time traveling dad.
Right. But that's just one slice. And the real
sort of moment here with the thing we want you
to see is how that versatility works. Yeah. How
does one guy go from like really edgy, sometimes
weird sketch comedy to super family friendly
stuff and then. Boom. He's in serious dramas
like Mad Men or doing cult live comedy. It's
quite the range. It really is. And that adaptability,
that's kind of the core lesson, right? Right.
About how you build a career that actually lasts
decades in this business. So let's get the basics
down. Craig Ward Anton, born August 28, 1962,
Omaha, Nebraska. Yeah. Heartland roots. He really
is the definition of a working actor. And it
all started there in Omaha. Yeah. That foundation
seems key. Grew up there. Eldest son. Went through
the school system there, Omaha Burke High. Graduated
in 1980. Okay. Then off to the University of
Nebraska -Lincoln. Got his B .A. in 83. Theater
and English. You know what really jumped out
at me from the bio was just how early he started
performing. Oh, yeah. I mean, acting as a kid,
sure. But stand -up comedy at 17. In 1978, he
was still in high school. Wow. Okay, that is,
that's intense. Right. You learn to read a room
fast doing that. Oh, for sure. That's like trial
by fire. Yeah. Stand -up forces you to be adaptable.
Right. Instantly. No script, no scene partner
to lean on, really. Yeah. So he built on that
through the early 80s doing the college circuit.
But then there's this detail in the source material,
this really unique thing. His 1984 USO tour.
Oh, I saw that. That's incredible. An all comedy
USO tour. And not just a quick trip. Two full
months. Mediterranean Middle East. Yeah. Entertaining
troops. The bio lists Turkey, Greece, Bahrain.
Italy, Israel, Spain. Wow. Think about that.
You go from, I don't know, a college bar in Lincoln
to performing for soldiers overseas. Totally
different vibe. Completely different stakes.
You've got to connect instantly, adjust your
humor, handle, well, probably chaos sometimes.
Yeah, that's more than just comedy training.
That's like life training. Build serious resilience.
Exactly. Bomb -proof character building, you
could say. Which probably helps when you need
to step into wildly different roles later on.
And people back home noticed. Just the next year,
85, Showtime named him the funniest person in
Nebraska. Right. So that recognition, that probably
gave him the push. Must have. The bio says the
next step was moving. First, New York City for
acting. Okay. But then, eventually, L .A., and
that's where the TV stuff really seems to kick
in. Early 90s. This leads us straight into that
whole sketch comedy scene. Yeah. Big time in
the 90s. Right. And when he got to L .A., he
didn't just audition around. He co -founded a
sketch group, Two -Headed Dog. Yeah, and that's
important context. That group had some heavy
hitters or guys who would become well -known.
Yeah. Jim Turner, Mark Fite, Dave Allen, Gruber
Allen. Right, right. So that improv background,
that collaborative writing, it really sets the
stage for, well, the next big thing for him,
1995. Okay, 1995. This part's fascinating because
it shows you the hustle. He booked two pilots
at the same time. Whoa. Edging his bets, huh?
Totally. So on one side, there's this WB sitcom,
first time out. He's playing Nathan. That premiered
in September 95. And then also he gets cast in
the original lineup for FOX's new sketch show,
MADTV, premiered October 95. Wow. Okay, taking
on two big projects at once. Risky. And the outcome.
Well, that's the kicker. First time out. Gone.
Canceled super fast. Like two months after MADTV
started. Ouch. So the universe kind of decided
for him. Seems like it. Sketch comedy it was.
And he stuck with MADTV for a while, right? Yeah.
Became a core part of those early seasons. Yeah.
Stayed until the end of the third season, left
in 98. He did great impressions. The source mentions
Dennis Miller and Nate Richard. But if you talk
to people who watched back then, it was his original
characters, right? That's what stuck. Absolutely.
The big one, the most enduring one, has to be
Clorox. Yes. From Star Trek, Deep Stain 9. Exactly.
The main bad guy, this weird parody of Q from
Star Trek. Totally absurd. Completely. And it
showed he could do more than just impressions.
He could create these memorable, really out there
sketch characters. That's a specific skill he
honed right there. So, okay. Three years doing
intense, edgy, late night sketch on MADTV. You're
developing that like absurdity muscle. What's
the obvious next career move? The Disney Channel.
Bingo. It seems like such a wild pivot, right?
It really does. But it proves that point about
being versatile, useful. After the chaos of MADTV,
he lands Mr. Pettis on Lizzie McGuire. Huge show.
Massive. Yeah. And suddenly he's cementing this
whole family -friendly image. It's the ultimate
bridge between genres, isn't it? Totally. He's
using the same comedic timing, the same ability
to sell a weird situation they use for Clorox.
Right. But now it's for, you know, middle school
problems. Right. Burnous chaos. And even though
he only did the first season of Lizzie, that
role kind of locked him into that Disney world.
Yeah, it seems like it opened that door. Because
then later he comes back to Disney for Phil of
the Future, playing the dad, Lloyd Diffie. That
ran 2004 to 2006. Right. And if you think about
it, that's sketch training. Probably perfect
for sitcoms. Well, think about it. How common
was it then for someone from like a really edgy
sketch background to jump straight into Disney?
Not that common, maybe. Right. It suggests producers
knew that someone with that kind of intense improv
skill, someone who can nail timing, maybe ad
lib a bit. Yeah. They're gold for sitcoms. They're
adaptable. Scripts change. Things happen on set.
That's a valuable commodity. He's definitely
a TV utility player, just slides between genres.
And once he had that sitcom base, man, he really
spread out. Yeah, look at the range of stuff
he did after that. You've got prestigious drama
like Mad Men. He was Frank Gleason. Oh, right.
And Boston Legal, too, as Ray Richardson. And
even more recently. The girl from Plainville
on Hulu. He played Samuel Sutter in a couple
episodes. Serious stuff. Then, bam, right back
to classic sitcom territory. Yep. King of Queens.
Yeah. Twice. Played different characters. Mitch
one season, Neil Berger another. Oh. Everybody
loves Raymond as Neil. And, oh, The Office. The
Valentine's Day episode. He played a guy named
Craig. Nice. Little cameo there. And what's cool
is he didn't ditch his, like, cult comedy roots
either. Right. Like Curb. Yeah. Yeah. Played
a character also named Craig. Funnily enough,
first season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, the beloved
Ant episode. Classic. And going way back, even
did voice work on Mr. Show with Bob and David
as Expert Truck. Expert Truck. So he kept a foot
in both worlds, the mainstream sitcoms and the,
you know, weirder niche comedy. That duality.
You know, wholesome Disney dad one day doing
Mr. Show the next. It really highlights that
versatility isn't just about finding work. It's
about keeping your artistic side happy across
different kinds of projects. Exactly. And speaking
of different avenues, we should definitely mention
his voice work because that's another whole track.
Oh, yeah. Animation. He found a niche there,
too. Definitely. Remember, Tom goes to the mayor
on Adult Swim back in 2004. Vaguely. Very unique
style. Super unique. He voiced and provided the
body movements for one of the city council members.
That weird jerky animation style. Okay, yeah,
I remember that now. And then more recently and
maybe more widely known, he's been a recurring
voice on Bob's Burgers. Oh, who is he on Bob's?
Mr. Dowling. He's been in four episodes, the
bio says, between 2012 and 2023. Okay. And he
was in the Bob's Burgers movie, too, voicing
Dowling. So his voice, his specific comedic delivery,
it just translates perfectly to animation. Seems
like it. Yeah. And it also shows you something
about his commitment maybe to live performance,
too. Because he kept that going alongside everything
else. You mean the Tomorrow Show? Yeah. That
weekly live comedy show he hosted in L .A. for
years at the Steve Allen Theater. With Ron Lynch
and Brendan Small. Exactly. It's like that stand
-up thing starting way back when he was 17 in
Omaha. That need for immediate live audience
feedback. He kept finding ways to do that, even
in L .A. And the source mentioned he and Brendan
Small still pop in sometimes, do surprise shows.
Yeah, yearly anniversary shows, things like that.
It suggests that pure performance aspect is still
really important to him. Makes sense. His film
work is diverse, too. Mostly supporting roles,
it looks like. Ronnie Run back in 02. Comedy?
Deliver Us from Eva in 03, that rom -com. Right.
And looking forward, he's apparently in a movie
called Bride Hard coming out in 2025. So, yeah,
still working, still popping up. He's just consistently
there. It's been a real career journey to him.
unpack, but we need to wrap up with where he
is now. Kind of a new chapter. Right. Personal
life details. Right. Married Leslie Gray way
back in September 94. They have twin daughters,
Delphine and Ruby. Okay. And the big move, they
live in Savannah, Georgia now. Savannah? Doing
what? He teaches. He's faculty at SCAD. SCAD,
Savannah College of Art and Design. Wow. Yep.
Teaching the next generation. So, okay, let's
sum this up. We started with this familiar face,
maybe mostly from Disney. Right. But we uncovered
this whole journey from a USO tour, which is
wild. Crazy. To the controlled chaos of MADTV,
the niche comedy of Two -Headed Dog, nailing
sitcoms, doing prestige drama like Mad Men, voicing
cartoons. The comment thread really seems to
be just relentless versatility. He built it himself.
And the big takeaway for you listening. Is that
maybe real career length, real staying power.
It's not just talent. It's being able to master
completely different ways of working. Right.
His path shows that the skills you get from live
immediate stuff like that USO tour or stand up.
Those are the exact skills that let you slide
into a structured sitcom. Or even a serious drama.
And now he's taking all that experience. And
sharing it with students at SCAD. That adaptability
is now part of his teaching, you have to assume.
Which leaves us with a final thought for you,
the listener, to maybe mull over. He's teaching
at SCAD in Savannah now, right? An art and design
school. So how does that very specific, very
immediate experience of doing raw, live comedy,
high stakes, instant feedback. How does that
translate? How does it inform the wisdom he gives
to students who are focused on maybe the much
longer, more structured process of creating visual
art or design? Interesting connection. Something
to think about. The link between immediate performance
and long haul creativity. Definitely something
to chew on. Thanks for diving in with us today.
Yeah. Thanks for listening. We'll catch you on
the next deep dive.