Luke Kirby

Luke Farrell Kirby (born June 29, 1978) is an American-Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Lenny Bruce in the Amazon Prime Video comedy-drama series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.

Early life
Kirby was born in Hamilton, Ontario to American parents. His mother is from Brooklyn, New York City, and his father grew up "along the eastern seaboard." His parents moved from New York City to Canada in 1974. He studied drama at the National Theatre School of Canada, a theatre conservatory focusing on classical works, and graduated in 2000.

Career
Kirby has performed since his teens, after he was accepted at The National Theatre School of Canada. He graduated in May 2000, and after two auditions began working on two separate projects: the CBS/Alliance mini-series Haven, and director Léa Pool's feature Lost and Delirious (2001).

Soon after, he portrayed Morgan in the Factory Theatre's production of Geometry in Venice in Toronto, a performance that brought him a Best Actor nomination at the Dora Mavor Moore Awards. This was quickly followed by the role of Patroclus in Theatre for a New Audience's 2001 production of Troilus and Cressida, directed by Peter Hall in New York City.

In 2006, Kirby performed in the Women's Project Theater production of Jump/Cut. His other theatre credits include Judith Thompson's premiere of Habitat at Canadian Stage, and Daniel Brooks premiere of The Good Life at the Tarragon Theatre (both in Toronto). His latest theatre venture was in New York City, where he had the lead role in Defender of the Faith (Irish Repertory Theatre).

Kirby's first feature film role was that of Jim in Halloween: Resurrection (2002). His other film credits include lead roles in Peter Wellington's feature Luck and Mambo Italiano directed by Émile Gaudreault. Mambo Italiano received a gala presentation at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival to a standing ovation, and earned Kirby a Canadian Comedy Award Nomination. He then played a part written for him in the feature film Shattered Glass, produced by Cruise/Wagner. In 2007, he had the lead role of Ray Dokes opposite Rachael Leigh Cook and Keith Carradine in the Canadian feature All Hat. In 2009 he appeared opposite Lindsay Lohan in Labor Pains.

In television, one of Kirby's favourite roles was in the TMN/Showcase mini-series Slings & Arrows, featuring Canadian actors and directed by his friend Peter Wellington. Kirby was nominated for a Gemini Award for his role in Sex Traffic, a mini-series for Channel 4 and CBC that aired in the fall of 2004 under British director David Yates. That year, Kirby received a second Gemini nomination for his guest-star role in the dramatic series The Eleventh Hour. In the fall of 2005, he was a series regular in HBO's Tell Me You Love Me, directed by Patricia Rozema, whose first season aired in September 2007. He starred as Jimmy Burns in the 2009–2010 Canwest Global series Cra$h & Burn.

In 2017, Kirby joined the cast of the award-winning Amazon Prime Video comedy-drama series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, portraying comedian Lenny Bruce, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.

From December 2019 through January 2020, Kirby starred in the off-Broadway play Judgment Day at New York's Park Avenue Armory.