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Dane Cook

American actor and comedian

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 27, 2026
Entity authorityQ359969 ↗
Source-derived summary

Dane Jeffrey Cook (born March 18, 1972) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is known for his use of observational, often vulgar, and sometimes dark comedy. He has released five comedy albums: Harmful If Swallowed (2003), Retaliation (2005), Vicious Circle (2006), Rough Around the Edges: Live from Madison Square Garden (2007), and Isolated Incident (2009).

He is one of the first comedians to use a personal webpage and Myspace to build a large fan base,

and in 2006 was described as "alarmingly popular".

Cook starred in numerous films such as Employee of the Month (2006), Good Luck Chuck (2007), and My Best Friend's Girl (2008). He also acted in Mystery Men (1999), Waiting... (2005), Dan in Real Life (2007), Mr. Brooks (2007) and provided the lead voice role in the 2013 animated sports comedy film Planes, and its 2014 sequel Planes: Fire & Rescue as Dusty Crophopper.

He was the second comedian (after Andrew Dice Clay) to sell out Madison Square Garden's large arena space. In 2006, Retaliation became the highest-charting comedy album in 28 years and went platinum.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Dane Cook” as american actor and comedian. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Dane, Cook and American.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1972, 2003, 2005, 2006—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1972-03-18. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Dane, Cook and American providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Dane Cook”, the useful work is to connect “american actor and comedian” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q359969. VIAF identifies the subject as 39096955. The Library of Congress control number is no2004107930. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1972, 2003, 2005 and 2006.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Dane Cook”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Dane Cook primary sources, Dane Cook archive and Dane research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Dane Cook”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Dane Cook” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.