Actors who primarily appear in comedic roles, mostly sitcoms and sketch comedy shows. It should be emphasized that many of these people will not do Stand-Up Comedy, because playing a part for them is easier than coming up with a monologue about girls in Ibiza.
If they're black, they may well have done one of the stereotypical black comedy roles, such as Uncle Tomfoolery.
There is a tendency for any comic actor who enjoys a modicum of success to switch to playing dramatic roles.
Examples of comedic individuals (Saturday Night Live cast members will be marked with a double asterisk):
- Abbott and Costello
- Amy Adams (until the very beginning of The New '10s)
- Mark Addy
- Jason Alexander
- Woody Allen
- Steve Allen
- Tim Allen
- Kirstie Alley
- Jennifer Aniston
- Aziz Ansari
- Noah Antwiler
- Christina Applegate
- Fatty Arbuckle
- Eve Arden
- Alan Arkin
- Will Arnett
- Tom Arnold
- David Arquette
- Bea Arthur
- Jean Arthur
- Alexandre Astier
- Rowan Atkinson
- Dan Aykroyd**
- Richard Ayoade
- Hank Azaria
- Alec Baldwin
- Lucille Ball
- Elizabeth Banks
- Sacha Baron Cohen
- Jay Baruchel
- Jason Bateman
- David Battley, though he mostly did brief supporting roles.
- Samantha Bee
- Beth Behrs
- Kristen Bell
- James Belushi**
- John Belushi**
- H. Jon Benjamin
- Michael Bentine
- Candice Bergen
- Edgar Bergen
- Mayim Bialik
- Julie Bowen
- Frankie Boyle
- Wayne Brady
- Zach Braff
- Wilfrid Brambell
- Russell Brand
- Bernard Bresslaw
- Alison Brie
- Jim Broadbent
- Albert Brooks
- Mel Brooks
- Aidy Bryant**
- Carol Burnett
- George Burns
- Steve Buscemi, though mostly if he's working with Adam Sandler.
- Ty Burrell
- Peter Butterworth
- Rose Byrne
- Sid Caesar
- Anna Camp
- Bruce Campbell
- John Candy
- Peter Capaldi
- Linda Cardellini
- Steve Carell
- Drew Carey
- George Carlin
- Jim Carrey
- Dana Carvey**
- Dan Castellaneta
- Tom Cavanagh
- John Cena
- Michael Cera
- Jackie Chan
- Dave Chappelle
- Charlie Chaplin
- Graham Chapman
- Dave Chappelle
- Chevy Chase**
- Cheech and Chong
- Kristin Chenoweth
- John Cho
- Margaret Cho
- Louis C.K.
- Christian Clavier
- Andrew "Dice" Clay
- John Cleese
- Carol Cleveland
- Stephen Colbert
- Toni Collette
- Olivia Colman
- Billy Connolly
- Kenneth Connor
- Dane Cook
- Peter Cook
- Steve Coogan
- Rob Corddry
- Bill Cosby
- Miranda Cosgrove
- Courteney Cox
- Bryan Cranston (rarely since 2008)
- Michael Crawford
- Terry Crews
- Bernard Cribbins
- Mackenzie Crook
- David Cross
- Jon Cryer
- Billy Crystal**
- Kaley Cuoco
- Jane Curtin**
- Jim Dale
- Rodney Dangerfield
- Ted Danson
- Larry David
- Sammy Davis Jr.
- Peter Davison
- Shane Dawson
- Charlie Day
- Felicia Day
- Micaela Dee
- Eddie Deezen
- Louis de Funès
- Ellen DeGeneres
- Dom DeLuise
- Kat Dennings
- Robert De Niro
- Portia De Rossi
- Zooey Deschanel
- Johnny Depp
- Adam Devine
- Danny DeVito
- Cameron Diaz
- Shirley Eaton
- Zac Efron
- Billy Eichner
- Abby Elliott**
- Chris Evans (until The New '10s)
- Jimmy Fallon**
- Anna Faris
- Chris Farley**
- Marty Feldman
- Fernandel
- Will Ferrell**
- Tina Fey**
- W.C. Fields
- Nathan Fillion
- The Fine Brothers
- Colin Firth
- Isla Fisher
- Jerome Flynn
- June Foray
- Will Forte**
- Michael J. Fox
- Jamie Foxx
- James Franco
- Brendan Fraser
- Stan Freberg
- Nick Frost
- Stephen Fry
- Louis de Funès
- Josh Gad
- Jorge Garcia
- Janeane Garofalo**
- Brad Garrett
- Mark Gatiss
- Ricky Gervais
- Karen Gillan
- Terry Gilliam
- Donald Glover
- Whoopi Goldberg
- John Goodman
- Gilbert Gottfried
- Hugh Grant
- Seth Green
- Judy Greer
- Clark Gregg
- Kathy Griffin
- Scott Grimes
- Buddy Hackett
- Bill Hader**
- Tiffany Haddish
- Tom Hanks (in the 1980s and early 1990s; not so much now). Trope Namer for Tom Hanks Syndrome.
- Alyson Hannigan
- Dan Harmon
- Neil Patrick Harris
- Kevin Hart
- Miranda Hart
- Phil Hartman**
- Charles Hawtrey
- Grace Helbig
- Ed Helms
- Lenny Henry
- Jim Henson
- Bob Hope
- Frankie Howerd
- Glenn Howerton
- Benny Hill
- Jonah Hill
- Sarah Hyland
- Jessica Hynes
- Eric Idle
- Eddie Izzard
- Marc Evan Jackson
- Gillian Jacobs
- Hattie Jacques
- Kevin James
- Sidney James, best known for the Carry On films.
- Allison Janney
- Richard Jeni
- Dwayne Johnson during most of the 2000s.
- Jake Johnson
- Lia Marie Johnson
- Jay Johnston
- Brad Jones
- Leslie Jones**
- Rashida Jones
- Terry Jones
- Paterson Joseph
- Madeline Kahn
- Mindy Kaling
- Andy Kaufman
- Danny Kaye
- Buster Keaton
- Michael Keaton
- Ellie Kemper
- Keegan-Michael Key
- Taran Killam**
- Greg Kinnear
- Kevin Kline
- Wayne Knight
- Don Knotts
- David Koechner
- Harvey Korman
- Ernie Kovacs
- John Krasinski
- Lisa Kudrow
- Mila Kunis
- Ashton Kutcher
- Ryan Kwanten
- Maurice LaMarche
- Phil La Marr
- Lauren Lapkus
- Laurel and Hardy
- Hugh Laurie
- Martin Lawrence
- Denis Leary
- Matt LeBlanc
- John Leguizamo
- Christopher Lloyd
- Harold Lloyd
- Carole Lombard
- Justin Long
- Shelley Long
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus**
- Lewis Lovhaug
- Joanna Lumley
- Jane Lynch
- Paul Lynde
- Natasha Lyonne
- Bernie Mac
- Norm MacDonald**
- Seth MacFarlane
- Patty Maloney
- Leslie Mann
- Jenna Marbles
- James Marsden
- Steve Martin
- The Marx Brothers
- Heather Matarazzo
- Rik Mayall
- Jayma Mays
- Danny McBride
- Jenny McCarthy
- Melissa McCarthy
- Sylvester McCoy
- Rob McElhenney
- Joel McHale
- Kate McKinnon**
- Stephen Merchant
- Seth Meyers**
- Lea Michele
- Kate Micucci
- Dennis Miller**
- T.J. Miller
- Spike Milligan
- David Mitchell
- Dudley Moore
- Bob Monkhouse
- Dylan Moran
- Rick Moranis
- Heather Morris
- Frankie Muniz
- Eddie Murphy**
- Bill Murray**
- Mike Myers**
- Bob Newhart
- Leslie Nielsen. Trope Namer for Leslie Nielsen Syndrome.
- Bill Nighy
- Mabel Normand
- Tig Notaro
- Bob Odenkirk
- Nick Offerman
- Masi Oka is known for being scene-stealing Plucky Comic Relief.
- John Oliver
- Mike O'Malley
- Ed O'Neill
- Kaitlin Olson
- Patton Oswalt
- Frank Oz
- Michael Palin
- Randall Park
- Jim Parsons
- Nasim Pedrad**
- Jordan Peele
- Simon Pegg
- Penn & Teller
- Chelsea Peretti
- Jon Pertwee
- Leslie Phillips
- Aubrey Plaza
- Amy Poehler**
- Brian Posehn
- Chris Pratt
- Laura Prepon
- Richard Pryor
- Josh Radnor
- Mary Lynn Rajskub (a Stand Up comedian best known for playing Chloe in 24).
- Harold Ramis
- John C. Reilly
- Paul Reubens
- Ryan Reynolds
- Rhett & Link
- Emily Bett Rickards
- Don Rickles
- John Ritter
- Krysten Ritter
- Naya Rivera
- Craig Robinson
- Chris Rock**
- Gina Rodriguez
- Seth Rogen
- James Rolfe
- Brandon Routh
- Paul Rudd
- Maya Rudolph**
- Mark Ruffalo
- Willie Rushton
- Meg Ryan
- Terry Scott
- Harry Secombe
- Amy Sedaris
- Jason Segel
- Jerry Seinfeld
- Peter Sellers
- Larry Semon
- Alia Shawkat
- Wallace Shawn
- Harry Shearer
- Sarah Silverman**
- Phil Silvers
- Joan Sims
- Jenny Slate**
- Tony Slattery
- Amy Smart
- Michael Smiley
- Kevin Smith
- Will Smith started this way (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), but has gone increasingly serious recently.
- Cobie Smulders
- Brittany Snow
- David Spade**
- Timothy Spall
- Jordana Spiro
- Jon Stewart
- Ben Stiller
- Emma Stone
- Jason Sudeikis**
- Eric Sykes
- Jeffrey Tambor
- Catherine Tate
- Jacques Tati
- Alan Thicke
- Terry-Thomas
- The Three Stooges
- Analeigh Tipton
- Stephen Tobolowsky
- Lauren Tom
- Marisa Tomei
- Lily Tomlin
- Patrick Troughton
- Dick Van Dyke
- Van Kooten En De Bie
- Janet Varney
- Vince Vaughn
- Milana Vayntrub
- Christopher Walken
- Jessica Walter
- Patrick Warburton
- Robert Webb
- Adam West
- Billy West
- Mae West
- Gemma Whelan
- Betty White
- Kristen Wiig**
- Gene Wilder
- Mary Kate Wiles
- Allison Williams
- Kenneth Williams
- Robin Williams
- Larry Wilmore
- Owen Wilson
- Rebel Wilson
- Thomas F. Wilson
- Barbara Windsor
- Henry Winkler
- Ariel Winter
- Jonathan Winters
- Steve Zahn
- Renée Zellweger
