Gerald William Trainor (born January 21, 1977) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as "Crazy" Steve in Drake & Josh and Spencer Shay in the teen sitcom iCarly (both on Nickelodeon) and its Paramount+ revival series of the same name, as well as his competitive horseback riding, winning three Kids' Choice Awards for his performances. He also did voice work in T.U.F.F. Puppy as Dudley Puppy, for which he received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination. Since 2004, Trainor has worked primarily on the Nickelodeon network. Outside of this, he has had recurring and guest roles on young adult–oriented shows on the Disney Channel and Netflix as well as in the more mature shows Crossing Jordan and 2 Broke Girls.
Early life and education Gerald William Trainor was born on January 21, 1977 and raised in San Diego, California, the son of Bill Trainor, a retired Navy fighter pilot and public defender, and Madelyn (née McNenly), a retired high school calculus teacher. He has an older sister named Liz. He is of Croatian, German and Irish descent.
Trainor grew up in the San Diego community of Scripps Ranch and attended the University of San Diego High School. He studied drama at the University of California, Santa Barbara, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He studied improvisation at The Groundlings school in Los Angeles. Before becoming an actor, he worked at San Diego SeaWorld.
Acting career
His first television role was in the MTV series Undressed as Eric. Some of his other television credits include Law & Order True Crime, Angel, and Malcolm in the Middle. His first recurring TV role was as Brian "the A.V. guy" on Crossing Jordan. He has had several small roles in films such as the science fiction drama Donnie Darko and the cheerleader comedy Bring It On Again. He appeared on the web series Hungry Girl.
Trainor had a recurring role on Drake & Josh as "Crazy Steve", a movie theater worker, from 2004 to 2007. He starred in iCarly as Spencer Shay, the older brother and guardian of Miranda Cosgrove's title character from 2007 to 2012 (him and Cosgrove had both previously acted on Drake & Josh, as Cosgrove played the role of the title duo's little sister Megan). For iCarly, he won three Kids' Choice Awards. He completed the 2008 music-themed comedy Wreckless Epic, in which he stars. Trainor starred in the animated series T.U.F.F. Puppy as the voice of Dudley Puppy, for which he was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program.
Trainor was involved in a World of Warcraft video series titled Project Lore, playing the Draenei shaman Goggins. In February 2009, he left the series and was replaced by Jeff Cannata. He also starred alongside iCarly co-star Jennette McCurdy in the Nickelodeon TV movie Best Player, where he played Quincy Johnson, a video-game enthusiast whose main competition in a video-gaming contest is McCurdy's character.
In 2013, Trainor starred in the short-lived series Wendell & Vinnie as Vinnie, the uncle and guardian of Buddy Handleson's character Wendell. He played Commander Michael Sullivan for both seasons of the Halo in-universe podcast Hunt the Truth. In 2017, Trainor voiced the recurring role of Commander Cone on Bunsen Is a Beast.
Since 2018, Trainor and Mike O'Gorman have starred in a comedy Web series called The Porch, which can be found on YouTube. In 2018, Trainor starred in the film Cover Versions written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Todd Berger. The film premiered at the 2018 Palm Springs Film Festival and was acquired for distribution by Sony Pictures. Parts of the film were shot on location during the KAABOO Del Mar music festival (in coastal northern San Diego County). Trainor's performance was heralded as being edgy and thought-provoking.
In March 2021, it was announced that iCarly was being revived. The series premiered on Paramount+ in June of that year, with Trainor reprising his role as Spencer Shay.
Music career In October 2015, Trainor formed the band Nice Enough People with guitarist-vocalist Mike O'Gorman, drummer Andrew Zuber, and guitarist Allison Scagliotti, who also happened to be a co-star of Trainor's in Drake & Josh as the character Mindy Crenshaw. Trainor plays bass for the group. The group released its first EP, Hanover Hideaway, on June 22, 2016.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2001 Donnie Darko Lanky Kid Evolution Tommy Wayside Tommy Direct-to-video 2004 Bring It On Again Smug Guy Direct-to-video 2007 Waking Dreams Andrew Direct-to-video 2009 Factory 9 Roland Waters Direct-to-video Wreckless Epic: The Journey to SXSW Kelly Kirkwood 2012 Holiday Road Doug Segment: "October" 2013 Pororo, The Racing Adventure Walter Featherbottom Voice role 2017 Cover Versions Travis 2018 Alex & Me "Nigel"/Nick Direct-to-video
Television Year Title Role Notes 2000 Undressed Eric 2 episodes 2001 Malcolm in the Middle Private Edwards Episode: "Evacuation" 2002 My Wife and Kids Star Trek fan Episode: "The Bowling Show" Angel Jared Episode: "Supersymmetry" ER Darius Episode: "One Can Only Hope" 2004–2005 Crossing Jordan Brian - A.V. Guy Recurring role 2004–2007 Drake & Josh "Crazy" Steve Recurring role 2007–2012 iCarly Spencer Shay Main cast; also director, 2 episodes2008Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh Crazy SteveTV movie 2010 The Penguins of Madagascar Eddie (Cockroach) Voice role, episode: "Stop Bugging Me" 2010–2015 T.U.F.F. Puppy Dudley Puppy Main cast, voice role2010, 2012Victorious Audience member; Spencer Shay Uncredited, episode "Jade Dumps Beck"; episode: "April Fools Blank"2011 Best Player Quincy "Q" Johnson TV movie iParty with Victorious Spencer Shay TV movie That Movie Show 1 episode 2012 Simian Undercover Detective Squad Kelly the Elastic Man / Heptagan Scientist 2 episodes 2013 Wendell & Vinnie Vinnie Title role 2014 Sam & Cat "Crazy" Steve (voice only) / Himself 2 episodes Living the Dream Cal Logan TV movie 2016 2 Broke Girls Lenin Episode: "And the Partnership Hits The Fan" Still the King Reggie 10 episodes Star vs. the Forces of Evil Roy Voice role; episode: "Goblin Dogs" 2017 Bunsen Is a Beast Commander Cone Voice role; 3 episodes Law & Order True Crime Will Canton Episode: "The Menendez Murders: Episode 3" 2018 The Adventures of Kid Danger The Wahoo Punch Bro Voice role; episode: "The Wahoo Punch Bro" Henry Danger Joey Episode: "Thumb War" 2019 No Good Nick Todd Recurring role 2020 Apocalypse Goals News Janitor 1 episode Bunk'd Dave Episode: "My Fairy Lady"2021–2022 Tooned In Himself Co-host (season 2)2021–2023 iCarly Spencer Shay Main role; also producer 2022 Snow Day Snowplow Man TV movie
Video games Year Title Role Notes 2009 iCarlySpencer ShayVoice role 2010 iCarly: iDream in Toons iCarly 2: iJoin the Click! 2014 Cars: Fast as Lightning Todd Marcus
Discography Hanover Hideaway (2016)
Soundtrack appearances YearTitleSong2022Snow Day"These Kids"
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result Refs 2009 Teen Choice Awards Choice TV Actor: Comedy iCarly 2010Australian Kids' Choice Awards Big Kid Award LOL Award (shared with ensemble) 2011 UK Kids' Choice Awards Nick UK's Funniest Person Meus Prêmios Nick Brazil Funniest Character 2012 Kids' Choice Awards Favorite TV Sidekick 2013 Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program T.U.F.F. Puppy 2022 Kids' Choice Awards Favorite Male TV Star (Family) iCarly
References
External links
Jerry Trainor at Nick.com