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Jerry Trainor
Jerry Trainor in 2022.png
Trainor in April 2022
Born
Gerald William Trainor

(1977-01-21) January 21, 1977 (age 47)
Education University of California, Santa Barbara (B.F.A.)
Occupation
  • Actor
  • musician
Years active 2000–present

Gerald William "Jerry" Trainor (born January 21, 1977) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for his roles as "Crazy" Steve in Drake & Josh and 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 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

Jerry 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.

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

Career

Jerry Trainor
Trainor in 2012

..... 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.

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.

Jerry Trainor KCA 2021
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.

Music career

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. Trainor plays bass for the group. The group released its first EP, Hanover Hideaway, on June 22, 2016.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2001 Donnie Darko Lanky Kid Cameo
Evolution Tommy Cameo
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

Year Title Role Notes
2000 ... 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"
2004–2005 Crossing Jordan Brian - A.V. Guy Recurring role; 5 episodes
2004–2007 Drake & Josh "Crazy" Steve Recurring role; 10 episodes
2007–2012 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"
2010–2015 T.U.F.F. Puppy Dudley Puppy Main voice role
2010–2013 Victorious Audience member Episode: "Jade Dumps Beck" (uncredited)
Spencer Shay Episode: "April Fools Blank"
2011 That Movie Show N/A 1 episode
2012–2013 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"
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

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

  • Hanover Hideaway (2016)

Soundtrack appearances

Year Title Song
2022 Snow Day "These Kids"

Awards and nominations

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

See also

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