David Hornsby

An actor best known for his recurring role as the seemingly cursed ex-priest Rickety Cricket on the dark cult comedy "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia," David Hornsby developed a behind-the-scenes career as a writer and producer. Not only did he become a key part of the writing staff for "Philadelphia" after initially being hired as an actor, Hornsby went on to create a pair of TV shows of his own.

David Hornsby was born in Newport News, Virginia, on December 1, 1975. Though he and his family moved to Houston when he was a toddler, David is related to another famous Hornsby from Virginia: singer/songwriter Bruce Hornsby is his cousin. After attending Carnegie Mellon University, David moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as an actor. Early in his career, he snagged small roles in some high-profile projects, including the would-be summer blockbuster "Pearl Harbor" (2001) and the Tom Cruise/Steven Spielberg science-fiction action thriller "Minority Report" (2002). But Hornsby was still unknown enough to get cast in "The Joe Schmo Show" (Spike 2003-04), a fake reality show parodying the likes of "Big Brother" (CBS 2000- ), in which all but one of the cast members were actors performing scripted scenes. (One of Hornsby's castmates was a pre-stardom Kristen Wiig.) Hornsby went on to an extended arc in the critically acclaimed drama "Six Feet Under" (HBO 2001-05), followed by co-starring roles in a pair of short-lived series. "The Mullets" (UPN 2003-04) was a high-concept sitcom about a pair of blue-collar brothers (Hornsby and Michael Weaver) and their down-to-earth mother (Loni Anderson), while "Jake In Progress" (ABC 2005-06) starred John Stamos as a womanizing publicist, with Hornsby in a minor role. After a more prominent film role as a war photographer in Clint Eastwood's Iwo Jima drama "Flags of Our Fathers" (2006), Hornsby appeared on a second-season episode of the cult-favorite black comedy "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" (FX 2005-2012 / FXX 2013- ). Hornsby played Father Matthew Mara, a high school nemesis of the show's main characters, whose nickname was "Rickety Cricket." The character was originally meant to be a one-off, but Hornsby wrote a spec script for another episode and eventually became part of the show's core writing and production staff. Rickety Cricket reappeared at least once per season, each time in more degraded and pitiable circumstances due to his run-ins with the gang. In September 2010, Hornsby married actress Emily Deschanel, who starred as Dr. Temperance Brennan on "Bones" (Fox 2005- ). Their first child, Henry Lamar Hornsby, was born on September 21, 2011. Hornsby's next TV project was the sitcom "How To Be A Gentleman" (CBS 2011-12), which he created (based on a non-fiction book by John Bridges), executive produced and starred in, playing a snooty men's magazine columnist who reluctantly becomes friends with a brash high school classmate (Kevin Dillon). The poorly reviewed show was quickly canceled, with the remaining produced episodes burned off on Saturday nights during the summer. Hornsby's next project, the animated comedy "Unsupervised" (FX 2012), featured his voice opposite that of Justin Long, playing a pair of awkward high school teenagers with absent parents. The series, which was co-created and co-written by Hornsby, lasted only one season, due in part to the often-unsettling show's awkward tonal fit with its more stylish lead-in, "Archer" (FX 2009- ).