Artist Tom Arnold

For most, Tom Arnold's blip on the mainstream radar goes no further than being Mr. Roseanne Barr—and maybe for popularizing the phrase "courtesy flush" with his cameo in 1997's Austin Powers. The Iowa-born comic actor has never exactly achieved A-list status, but instead has embraced his squareness much like Drew Carey, utilizing a self-deprecating charm that's lacking in most overconfident comedians. Not that performing is his main gig; after Roseanne's end, Arnold has gone on to have a sizable, steady filmography that stretches all the way back to 1991 without any dry patches. When he's not making fun of himself onstage or pointing out how he'll never win an Oscar, his material can take on an ironic political bent.

Updated 06/01/2010