Whitney was born in Pawnee City, NE on Feb. 17, 1963 and raised in West Palm Beach, FL. While in his early twenties, he began experimenting with stand-up comedy at clubs in West Palm Beach, enjoying enough success to move into guest shots on radio programs throughout Florida, and later, in various major markets throughout the Southeastern states. Whitney’s stock in trade was the call-in gag, for which he’d assume a persona and joke with the DJs over the phone. Among his repertoire of characters was a cable installer named Larry, who spoke in a thick, exaggerated Southern accent (a combination of the Pawnee City accent and several Florida strains) and voiced decidedly un-P.C. opinions on all manner of social issues (race, sexuality, political parties), as well as his own bizarre “family,” which gave him further opportunities to poke fun at the handicapped, elderly, overweight, and liberal leaners. Larry also spawned numerous catch phrases – the most popular of which – “Git-R-Done!” has become something of a trademark for him (and served as the title of his 2005 book).

Further exposure via the syndicated radio show “The Ron and Ron Show” led to Whitney joining the successful Blue Collar Comedy Tour in 2000. A showcase for white comics with Southern backgrounds like Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, and Ron White, the tour yielded a live CD in 2001, three top-selling concert DVDs in 2003, 2004, and 2006, as well as a short-lived sketch comedy series titled “Blue Collar TV” (The WB, 2004-06) which starred Whitney alongside Foxworthy and Engvall. Whitney’s particular contributions to the show included “Politically Correct Fairy Tales” (in which Larry railed against the P.C. recasting of fables by telling them “the real story”); as part of the “Big Kids” (the three leads dressed as unruly children); and “Martin Bros.” (a trio of miscreant brothers). In 2006, the Blue Collar franchise spread to radio with its own Sirius Satellite Radio station, which frequently showcased Larry’s material.

In addition to his contributions to the Blue Collar Comedy juggernaut, Whitney also released a solo Larry stand-up DVD, “Larry the Cable Guy: GIT-R-DONE” (2003), and four solo comedy CDs – of the latter, 2004’s A Very Larry Christmas reached #8 on the Billboard Country charts and 2005’s The Right to Bare Arms attained the top spot on the Country charts for 2005 and 2006, landing at #7 on the Billboard Top 200 albums. He also released the GIT-R-DONE book in 2005 and appeared as both Larry and a bar patron in drag in the music video for country singer Gretchen Wilson’s “All Jacked Up.”

In 2006, Whitney was tapped to give voice to “Mater,” a chatterbox tow truck who hewed very closely to Larry, for the Pixar animated film “Cars.” He also made his starring debut that year in a live action comedy, “Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector,” which despite being almost universally reviled by critics, debuted in the Top Ten highest grossing films during the week of its release.

But “Health Inspector” was not the only time Whitney as Larry had found himself in the critical crosshairs. Commentators had decried the character as racist, homophobic, and xenophobic, as well as targeted Whitney’s own political and religious leanings (he being a conservative Christian), as well as his promotion of negative Southern stereotypes. Actor/comedian David Cross even singled out Whitney’s act on several occasions, and the pair traded barbs in print. But there was also a faction of his fanbase that did complain about Whitney dampening the explicit content of his stand-up act for the Blue Collar tours. Despite these complaints, it did not appear that Larry the Cable Guy was losing his audience. Slated to appear in another feature, “Delta Farce,” with his Blue Collar buddy Bill Engvall, he will again voice Mater in an animated short that will appear on the “Cars” DVD.