Thomas Patrick Lennon (born August 9, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, writer, director and producer best known as a cast member on MTV's The State and for his role as Lieutenant Jim Dangle on the Comedy Central series Reno 911!. Lennon is a native of Oak Park, Illinois, and the son of Kathleen and Timothy Lennon. He is a 1988 graduate of Oak Park River Forest High School, and is of Irish descent. At age sixteen, Lennon met friend and future co-worker Kerri Kenney at Theatre Camp at Northwestern University. The two later attended NYU, where they joined a comedy troupe called The New Group. The New Group later changed their name to The State. After performing their material at various theaters, bars and clubs in New York City, The State started work on the MTV show You Wrote It, You Watch It. This led to the self-titled series The State (1993–95), which was nominated for a Cable Ace Award for Best Comedy Series. Following the collapse of The State after a one-night stint on CBS, Lennon, along with Kenney, Ben Garant, and Michael Ian Black went on to create and star in the Comedy Central program Viva Variety (1997–99).