Jerry Trainor Biography

At 15, Jerry Trainor worked at SeaWorld as a vendor selling churros and cold drinks to visitors. In 2000, he debuted as Eric in season 2 of the MTV anthology series, ‘Undressed’, which was created by British director Roland Joffé. He appeared in three successive episodes (ep 2-4). One year later, he made his big screen debut in 2001 with the Jake Gyllenhaal-starrer ‘Donnie Darko’ in a role credited as ‘The Lanky Kid’. Also in 2001, he made a cameo appearance as Tommy in Ivan Reitman’s science fiction monster comedy film ‘Evolution’. After this, he toiled for years either guest-starring or doing uncredited roles in TV shows like ‘Malcolm in the Middle’ (2001), ‘Boston Republic’ (2001), ‘My Wife and Kids’ (2002), ‘Angel’ (2002), and ‘Crossing Jordan’ (5 episodes, 2004-2005) before he landed his breakthrough role as “Crazy” Steve on Nickelodeon’s ‘Drake & Josh’ in 2004.

His character Steve is employed at the same movie theatre where Josh Peck’s character works, and as the nickname might hint, people around him are constantly worried about his unstable behavior and angry outbursts. One of the running gags in the show deals with him screaming at things he finds frustrating, no matter how ordinary and trivial they may seem to others. This was Trainor’s first collaboration with the series creator Dan Schneider with whom he would go on to work on projects such as ‘iCarly’, and ‘Victorious’. Trainor reprised the role in yet another Schneider creation ‘Sam & Cat’, where it was revealed that Steve was institutionalized sometimes after ‘Drake & Josh’ ended, and now has a restrictive mask over his face.

Trainor’s character in the TV series ‘iCarly’ (2007-12), Spencer Shay, is the older but less mature brother of the eponymous character Carly Shay. After their father, who is a colonel in the US Air Force, is called overseas, she comes to live with her brother. Trainor’s portrayal of Spencer is off-beat and spontaneous, though he can be responsible and serious when he is needed to be so. The character reappeared in the TV movies ‘iGo to Japan’ (2008) and ‘iParty with Victorious’ (a crossover of iCarly and Victorious, 2011). He starred in the 2011 comedy ‘Best Player’ alongside Jennette McCurdy.

Trainor’s first leading role was as Vinnie Bassett in the Nickelodeon show ‘Wendell and Vinnie’. Talking to ‘SheKnows’ he agreed to interviewer Kristyn Burtt’s assessment when she asked if he “felt like going from Nickelodeon's iCarly to his own series was like graduation day”, stating that "it does feel like a graduation.” We're in college now!" The show premiered on Nickelodeon on February 16, 2013, and aired 20 episodes before being canceled after one season.

He is an accomplished voice actor as well. He provided the voice for Dudley Puppy in Butch Hartman’s animated television series ‘T.U.F.F. Puppy’ throughout its three-season run. He also voiced the character of Will in the American-Irish animated children's television series ‘Doc McStuffins’, Roy in ‘Star vs. the Forces of Evil’, Commander Cone in ‘Bunsen Is a Beast!’, and the Purple Guy in ‘Sky Rat’. He did the voice-over for Spencer in the video-game version of ‘iCarly’ and ‘iCarly 2: iJoin the Click’. He was part of a ‘World of Warcraft’ video series titled ‘Project Lore’ and also portrayed Commander Michael Sullivan in the ‘Halo’ in-universe podcast, ‘Hunt the Truth’.

Besides being an actor, this multi-talented guy is involved in other projects as well. Trainor and Allison Scagliotti (guitarist) have known each other since their ‘Drake & Josh’ days. They collaborated with Mike O'Gorman (guitarist/vocalist) and the band ‘Nice Enough People’ was formed. Drummer Andrew Zuber joined in later. In the beginning, the band only did covers of other artists, but after discovering O'Gorman’s talent for songwriting they started to write and perform original songs. On June 22, 2016, they released their first EP, ‘Hanover Hideaway’ exclusively through digital media outlets.

He continued to star in television series such as ‘Still the King,’ ‘Star vs. the Forces of Evil,’ ‘Bunsen Is a Beast,’ ‘Law & Order True Crime,’ ‘The Adventures of Kid Danger,’ ‘Henry Danger,’ ‘No Good Nick,’ ‘Apocalypse Goals,’ and ‘Bunk'd.’ In 2021, he reprised his role as ‘Spencer Shay’ in the revival of the comedy series ‘iCarly.’ The show’s third season premiered in 2023. He also serves as a presenter on the American game show ‘Tooned In.’

Jerry Trainor was born on January 21, 1977, in San Diego, California, USA, to parents Bill and Madelyn Trainor. He has a sister named Liz. He attended the University of San Diego High School, which was a Catholic, co-educational, college preparatory secondary school before it closed in 2005. He graduated from the ‘University of California’ in Santa Barbara, California, receiving a BFA in Drama. He also learned improv at the ‘Groundlings School’ in Los Angeles.

Trainor is dating actress Jessica Makinson, who he met on the sets of ‘iCarly’ in 2008.