Profile Text
Tolan in 2019, photo by kathclick /Bigstock.com
Birth Name: Peter James Tolan III
Place of Birth: Scituate, Massachusetts, U.S.
Date of Birth: July 5, 1958
Ethnicity: Irish, one quarter Portuguese, small amount of English
Peter Tolan is an American television producer, director, and screenwriter. He co-wrote the films My Fellow Americans , Analyze This , What Planet Are You From? , Bedazzled (2000), America’s Sweethearts , Stealing Harvard , Analyze That , Guess Who (2005), and Just Like Heaven , and directed and wrote the film Finding Amanda . He co-created The George Wendt Show , The Job , which he also directed episodes of; and The Jim Gaffigan Show , created the shows Style & Substance and Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central) , and developed the revival of Mad About You (2019). He also wrote for all of the above television shows, as well as for Wish You Were Here , Home Improvement , Murphy Brown , The Larry Sanders Show , Good Advice , Buddies , Rescue Me , and Outsiders , the latter of which he also directed episodes of. He also co-developed the show Rake .
He has three children with his wife, editor Leslie Tolan.
Peter’s paternal grandfather was Peter Joseph Tolan (the son of Peter J. Tolan and Agnes B. Leonard). Peter’s grandfather Peter was born in Massachusetts, of a father who was born in England, to Irish parents; and of an Irish mother.
Peter’s paternal grandmother was Alice Iliffe (the daughter of Daniel Iliffe and Catherine “Catie” Murphy). Alice was born in Massachusetts, to a father who was born in Manchester, England, and to an Irish mother.
Peter’s maternal grandfather was named Joseph Philip/Phillip Sousa/Souza (the son of Joseph Sousa).
Peter’s maternal grandmother was Annie/Ann Frances McKenna (the daughter of William Patrick McKenna and Mary Agnes Doran). Annie was born in Massachusetts. William was born on Prince Edward Island, Canada, the son of John McKenna, whose parents were from Ireland, and of Catherine/Katherine Kehoe/Keho, whose mother was also Irish.
Source: Obituary of Peter’s father – http://obituaries.newburyportnews.com
Peter’s mother on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Death record of Peter’s maternal great-grandmother, Mary Agnes (Doran) McKenna – https://findagrave.com