‘Veep’ star Matt Walsh to be Thanksgiving Parade grand marshal

With Chicago’s annual McDonald’s Thanksgiving Parade coming only a couple of weeks after the presidential election, it seems appropriate the grand marshal will be Matt Walsh, who stars on the Emmy-winning HBO hit “Veep.”

Walsh, a Chicago native who plays the hilariously bumbling press secretary Mike McLintock to Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ President Selina Meyer, is also known for appearing in such popular comedy films as “The Hangover,” “Ted,” “Due Date” and the recently released “Keeping Up With the Joneses,” as well as the TV series “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”

During the years he lived in Chicago, Walsh was trained at iO Theatre and helped form the Upright Citizens Brigade, which now also includes Amy Poehler, Matt Besser and Ian Roberts.

Joining Walsh in the big State Street parade will be comedian Sebastian Maniscalco, Emma Kenney from Showtime’s “Shameless” and Dante Brown from Fox’s new “Lethal Weapon” series.

Returning celebs will include Yuri Sardarov from the Chicago-made NBC drama series “Chicago Fire” and celebrity chef and restaurateur Graham Elliot. During the parade, Laura Bretan and Musicality from “America’s Got Talent” and country artist Craig Campbell will perform.

The parade will be broadcast between 8 and 11 a.m. Thanksgiving Day, on WGN-Channel 9, and also on WGN America.