What Is Billy Gardell's Net Worth?
Billy Gardell is an American comedian and actor who has a net worth of $8 million. Billy Gardell is best known for playing the role of Mike Biggs on the series "Mike & Molly." He appeared in all 127 of the show's episodes between 2010 and 2016. Gardell fell into a comedy career after being dared by his co-workers to perform at an open mic night. Eventually, he would find himself working as an opener for comedy superstars such as George Carlin and Dennis Miller. Gardell had dozens of TV and film credits to his name before landing his lead role on "Mike & Molly," including "The King of Queens," "Judging Amy," "Bad Santa," "The Practice," "Yes, Dear," "You, Me and Dupree" and "My Name is Earl." However, he is still best known and earned the majority of his net worth from "Mike & Molly," which co-starred Melissa McCarthy. Billy has also lent his voice to several animated characters on "Phineas and Ferb," "Family Guy," "and "Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas." Gardell is an avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan and has been married to his wife, Patty, since 2001.
Early Life
Billy Gardell was born William Gardell Jr. on August 20, 1969, in Swissvale, Pennsylvania. His family later moved to Orange County, Florida, after his parents got divorced. He lived with his mother and younger siblings but would visit his father in Pennsylvania during the summers. Billy enjoyed entertaining people from a young age. At the age of 8, his grandmother told him that he should be a comic. He attended Winter Park High School and began working when he was 15 years old in a department store warehouse, where he unloaded trucks and stacked pallets. He later began working at the local comedy club, where he cleaned bathrooms, answered the phones, and seated people. He eventually started performing standup at the club, Bonkerz, during open-mic nights.
Career
Over time, Gardell honed his skills at Bonkerz and eventually was opening for comedians like Dennis Miller and George Carlin. He became a serious road comedian, touring the country by car to perform at various comedy clubs and theaters around the United States. He released his first comedy album, "Billy Gardell: Throwback," in 2006.
Billy had also been working on his acting skills, as he was a member of the International Thespian Society Troupe 850. Other alumni of the group include Amanda Bearse and Ben Rock, who also went on to have careers in entertainment. He had roles in several feature films, such as "Bad Santa," "You, Me, and Dupree," and "Avenging Angelo." He also appeared in television series like "Heist," "The Practice, "Yes, Dear," "Desperate Housewives," "Lucky," "Bones," "My Name is Earl," "Monk," and "The King of Queens." His role in "Yes, Dear" was the recurring character of Billy Colavita, who appeared in 26 episodes between 2001 and 2006. He also appeared as himself on the Comedy Central series "Make Me Laugh." He was also a frequent contributor to "Dennis Miller," which was televised on CNBC. Around this time, he also created and staged an "SNL"-style charity performance event called "Winter Park Live" in Florida and donated the proceeds to Comic Relief, a charity foundation.
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Once Gardell was married with children, he started considering slowing down his road comedic work as it was negatively affecting his time with his family. He was considering taking a job in radio in order to have a more stable profession. He had been making weekly appearances on the hometown local radio station WDVE and was often a voice on "The DVE Morning Show."
In 2010, he was cast in the series "Mike & Molly" alongside Melissa McCarthy, Reno Wilson and Katy Mixon. The show became very popular and remained on the air through May 2016.
While on the show, Billy lent his voice to the character of Santa in "Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas" in November 2011. He also released a stand-up special, "Halftime," the same year, which aired on Comedy Central. In 2013, he released "Billy Gardell Presents Road Dogs," which premiered on Showtime. However, at the time, he was mainly devoting his time to his role on "Mike & Molly." Gardell did begin hosting the lottery game show "Monopoly Millionaires' Club" beginning in 2015.
After "Mike & Molly" ended, Gardell continued working steadily. In 2016, he appeared in episodes of shows like "New Girl," "Girl Meets World," and "Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!" He also appeared in the film "Undrafted" as Umpire Haze. The following year, he appeared in "Sun Records," "Angie Tribeca," and "Dice," in addition to the films "Once Upon a Time in Venice" and "Special Unit." He landed a recurring role on "Young Sheldon" as the character of Herschel Sparks in 2018. In 2019, Billy landed the leading role on the series "Bob Hearts Abishola," playing the character of Robert "Bob" Wheeler.
(Photo by Greg Doherty/Getty Images for Allen Media Group / Byron Allen)
Personal Life & Weight Loss
In 2001, Gardell married Patty Knight. In 2003, they welcomed a son, William Gardell III.
Billy is a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and regularly attends games at Heinz Field.
Gardell has discussed his weight publicly over the years. At one point, he weighed 350 pounds before deciding to lose weight. As you can see from the photo above, Billy underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2022 and subsequently lost 150 pounds.
Real Estate
In 2011, Billy paid $1.265 million for a home in Studio City, California. In 2017, he paid $1.66 million for a home in Seal Beach, California. Billy listed this property for sale in February 2024 for $2.6 million.
