Thomas Christopher "Chris" Parnell (born February 5, 1967) is an American actor and comedian who was a Saturday Night Live cast member in 1998-2001 and 2002-2006. He has a recurring role as Dr. Leo Spaceman (pronounced Spa-Che-Man) on NBC's Emmy Award-winning 30 Rock and was a supporting cast member of the short-lived 2008 sitcom Miss Guided.

Biography

Career

He joined Saturday Night Live as a featured player on September 26, 1998, and was promoted to regular cast status the following season. In the summer of 2001, budget cuts and hiring four new cast members required Lorne Michaels to fire two cast members; he chose to lay off Parnell and Jerry Minor over Horatio Sanz, Rachel Dratch, and Maya Rudolph. However, thanks to lobbying from Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan, Lorne rehired Parnell, who returned to the cast in March 2002.