A comedian (sometimes comedienne, see below) or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audience directly is called a stand-up comic.

A comedian can be distinguished from a clown because clowns most often use slapstick, wear costumes and makeup, and engage in buffoonery, whereas comedians most often focus on a more verbal style of humor, telling jokes.

A popular saying, variously quoted but generally attributed to Ed Wynn, is, "A comic says funny things; a comedian says things funny," which draws a distinction between how much of the comedy can be attributed to verbal content and how much to acting and persona.

Since the 1980s, a new wave of comedy, called alternative comedy, has grown in popularity with its more offbeat and experimental style. This normally involves more experiential, or observational reporting, e.g. Andy Kaufman, Alexei Sayle and Malcolm Hardee. Alternative comedy is now arguably the mainstream.

As far as content is concerned, comedians such as Tommy Tiernan, Des Bishop and Joan Rivers draw on their background to poke fun at themselves, while others such as Jon Stewart, Bill Hicks and George Carlin have very strong political and cultural undertones. Contemporary comedians include Conan O' Brien and David Letterman.

Many comics achieve a cult following while touring famous comedy hubs such as the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal, the Edinburgh Fringe, and Melbourne Comedy Festival in Australia. Often a comic's career advances significantly when they win a notable comedy award, such as the Edinburgh Comedy Award (formerly the Perrier comedy award). Comics sometimes foray into other areas of entertainment, such as film and television, when they have become much better known. e.g. Eddie Izzard.

The spelling comedienne includes the female suffix -enne. In the US, it is considered offensive to some people, and The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage recommends against its usage.

See also

Comedy genres

List of comedians

Humour

Comedy

Satire

List of humorists

List of musical comedians

References

Name	Todd Barry
Birth date	March 26, 1964
Birth place	The Bronx, New York
Medium	stand-up comedian
Nationality	American
Website	http://www.toddbarry.com/

Todd Quintin Barry (born March 26, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and voice actor, known for his "laid-back" stage manner.

Barry was born in The Bronx, New York. He received his bachelor's degree in English from the University of Florida. In 1999, his Comedy Central Presents special aired. He wrote, directed and starred in the short film Borrowing Saffron (2002), which co-starred H. Jon Benjamin. He's made a variety of guest appearances on shows like Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, Home Movies, Wonder Showzen, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. He also voices a recurring character on Squidbillies. In 2008, he played 'Wayne' in Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler." Over the course of six years he made 16 appearances on Dr. Katz, appearing as himself in the first two appearances. He then played recurring character "Todd the video store clerk" and appeared in most episodes in the show's final year. He also played a character in the television pilot Saddle Rash along with Sarah Silverman, H. Jon Benjamin and Mitch Hedberg. In "The Third Conchord", the twelfth and final episode of the first season of Flight of the Conchords, Barry played Todd, a bongo playing megalomaniac, who tries to introduce the highly suggestive song, "Doggy Bounce," to the Conchords' repertoire, and a new band name: The Crazy Dogggz. In September 2010, Barry headlined the comedy stage at All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in upstate New York.

The subject of his show Icky describes the "merciless, unpitying trouncing he suffered" on alt.fan.conan-obrien, the Conan O'Brien newsgroup, following a guest appearance.

Barry is close friends with fellow comedian Louis CK, and toured with him in 2009. He has also appeared in both of CK's television shows, Lucky Louie and Louie.

In 2010, Barry had a recurring role as a fictionalized version of himself in the second season of the live-action Adult Swim series Delocated.

Discography

Medium Energy (2001)

Falling Off the Bone (2004)

From Heaven (March 4, 2008)

Film

The Wrestler (2008) - Wayne

''Road Trip - Campus Security Guard 1

Pootie Tang - Greasy

Tomorrow Night - Man Caught in Rain (Director: Louis CK, 1998 Sundance Selection)

Los Enchiladas! - Duane (Director: Mitch Hedberg, 1999 Sundance Selection)

Borrowing Saffron - George (Director: Todd Barry, Woodstock Film Festival Selection)

Non-standup TV appearances

Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Romulox (three episodes)

Bored to Death - Dale Woodley

Flight of the Conchords - Todd

Wonder Showzen - Barold T. Mosley

Sesame Street - #7

Lucky Louie - Todd

Friar's Club Roast of Chevy Chase - roaster

Talkshow with Spike Feresten - Himself-guest

Chappelle's Show - Paul

The Larry Sanders Show - Keith

Spin City - Doug

Sex and the City - Ordinary Guy

Contest Searchlight - himself

Tough Crowd With Colin Quinn - regular panelist

Sundance Film Festival Live - Co-host - (Sundance Channel, 1999)

Hot Off the Grill with Bobby Flay - (Food Network)

Tom Goes to the Mayor - Saul

Space Ghost Coast to Coast - Himself-guest ("Eat a Peach" episode)

Home Movies - Video Store Clerk

Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil

The Sarah Silverman Program

Louie

Delocated

References

NPR.org Interview

Todd Barry Interview August 2007

Kittenpants.org interview

Scene Missing Magazine Interviews Todd Barry

Review of "From Heaven" CD

Category:1964 births Category:American comedians Category:American film actors Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television actors Category:American television writers Category:American voice actors Category:Living people Category:University of Florida alumni

Name	Eric Gonzalez
Caption	Dangerfield in New York in 1978
Name	Rodney Dangerfield
Birth name	Jacob Cohen
Birth date	November 22, 1921
Birth place	Babylon, New York, U.S.
Death date	October 05, 2004
Death place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Nationality	American
Active	1940–19491962–2004
Genre	One-liners, word play, black comedy
Subject	Self-deprecation, depression, childhood, marriage, human sexuality, aging, drinking, health
Influences	Groucho Marx, W. C. Fields, Laurel and Hardy
Influenced	Jay Leno, Conan O' Brien, Robert Klein, Bob Saget, Chris Rock
Spouse	Joyce Indig (1949-1962; 1963-1970) (2 children)Joan Child (1993-2004)
Notable work	Al Czervik in CaddyshackHBO television specialsThornton Melon in Back to SchoolEd Wilson in Natural Born KillersMonty Capuletti in Easy Money
Signature	Rodney Dangerfield Signature.svg
Website	rodney.com

}} Rodney Dangerfield (November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004), born Jacob Cohen, was an American comedian, and actor, known for the catchphrases "I don't get no respect" or "I get no respect, I tell ya" and his monologues on that theme. He is also famous for his 1980s film roles, notably in Easy Money, Caddyshack and Back To School.

Early life and career

Dangerfield was born on Long Island in the town of Deer Park, the son of Jewish parents. His father was the vaudevillian performer Phil Roy (Philip Cohen). His ancestors came to the United States from Hungary. He would later say that his father "was never home—he was out looking to make other kids," and that his mother "brought him up all wrong". When Rodney was a kid, his parents moved a lot, but he always found them.

As a teenager, he got his start writing jokes for standup comics; he became one himself at 19 under the name Jack Roy. He struggled financially for nine years, at one point performing as a singing waiter (he was fired), and also working as a performing acrobatic diver before giving up show business to take a job selling aluminum siding to support his wife and family. He later said that he was so little known then that "at the time I quit, I was the only one who knew I quit!"

In the early 1960s he started down what would be a long road toward rehabilitating his career, still working as a salesman by day. He came to realize that what he lacked was an "image"—a well-defined on-stage persona that audiences could relate to and that would distinguish him from similar comics.

He took the name Rodney Dangerfield, which had been used as the comical name of a faux cowboy star by Jack Benny on his radio program at least as early as the December 21, 1941, broadcast and later as a pseudonym by Ricky Nelson on the TV program The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. However, Jack Roy remained his legal name, as he mentioned from time to time. During a question-and-answer session with the audience on the album No Respect, Rodney joked that his real name was Percival Sweetwater.

Career surge

Fate intervened one Sunday night when The Ed Sullivan Show needed a last-minute replacement for another act. Dangerfield became the surprise hit of the show.

Dangerfield began headlining shows in Las Vegas and made frequent encore appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. He became a regular on The Dean Martin Show and appeared on The Tonight Show a total of 35 times. In 1969 Rodney Dangerfield teamed up with longtime friend Anthony Bevacqua to build Dangerfield's. Rodney now had a venue in which to perform on a regular basis, without having to constantly travel. The club became a huge success. Dangerfield's has been in continuous operation for over 40 years, and is today the top comedy club in the country. Dangerfield's was the venue for several HBO shows which helped popularize many standup comics, including Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey, Tim Allen, Roseanne Barr, Robert Townsend, Jeff Foxworthy, Sam Kinison, Bill Hicks, Rita Rudner, Andrew Dice Clay, Louie Anderson, and Bob Saget.

His comedy album, No Respect, won a Grammy Award. One of his TV specials featured a musical number, "Rappin' Rodney", which soon became one of the first MTV music videos.

Career peak

Dangerfield's career peaked during the early 1980s, when he began acting in comedy movies. His appearance in Caddyshack led to starring roles in Easy Money and Back To School.

Throughout the 1980s, Dangerfield appeared in a series of commercials for Miller Lite beer, including one where various celebrities who had appeared in the ads were holding a bowling match. After he was told "All we need is one pin, Rodney", Dangerfield's ball was shown going down the alley and bouncing off the pins.

In a change of pace from the comedy persona that made him famous, he played an abusive father in Natural Born Killers in a scene for which he had written his own lines.

Dangerfield was rejected for membership in the Motion Picture Academy in 1995 by the head of the Academy's Actors Section, Roddy McDowall. After fan protests the Academy reconsidered, but Dangerfield then refused to accept membership.

Dangerfield appeared in an episode of The Simpsons titled "Burns, Baby Burns" wherein he played a character who is essentially a parody of his own persona, Mr. Burns' son Larry Burns. He also appeared as himself in an episode of Home Improvement.

Dangerfield also appeared in the 2000 Adam Sandler film Little Nicky, playing Lucifer, the father of Satan (Harvey Keitel) and grandfather of Nicky (Sandler).

He was recognized by the Smithsonian Institution, which put one of his trademark white shirts and red ties on display. When asked about the honor, he joked that the museum was using his shirt to clean Charles Lindbergh's plane.

Dangerfield played an important role in comedian Jim Carrey's rise to stardom. In the 1980s, after watching him at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, he signed Carrey to open his tour performances.

Personal life

He was married to Joyce Indig, with whom he had a son, Brian, and a daughter, Melanie. He asked international platform speaker Dr. Cody Sweet to marry him in 1970, but she turned him down, respectfully. From 1993 to his death, he was married to Joan Child, who was instrumental in setting up his Internet site. He and comic Sam Kinison were also very good friends.

The confusion of Dangerfield's stage persona with his real-life personality was a conception that he long resented. While Child described him as "classy, gentlemanly, sensitive and intelligent," people who met the comedian nonetheless treated him as the belligerent loser whose character he adopted in performance. In 2004 Dangerfield's autobiography, It's Not Easy Bein' Me: A Lifetime of No Respect but Plenty of Sex and Drugs (ISBN 0-06-621107-7) was published. The book's original title was My Love Affair With Marijuana, a reference to his smoking material of choice for 60 years.

Later years and death

On 8 April 2003, Dangerfield underwent brain surgery to improve blood flow in preparation for heart valve-replacement surgery on 24 August 2004. Upon entering the hospital, he uttered another characteristic one-liner when asked how long he would be hospitalized: "If all goes well, about a week. If not, about an hour and a half."

In October 2003, the Orlando Sentinel, and numerous other media outlets as well, reported that Rodney met with the Raelian cult to discuss cloning himself. Joan, rumored to be in that cult, and Rodney also appeared on television to discuss the meeting. Apparently no one asked whether one Rodney was already too many.

In September 2004, it was revealed that Dangerfield had been in a coma for several weeks. Afterward, he began breathing on his own and showing signs of awareness when visited by friends. However, on 5 October 2004, he died at the UCLA Medical Center, from complications of the surgery he had undergone in August. He was a month and a half short of his 83rd birthday. Dangerfield was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. In keeping with his "no respect" persona, his headstone reads simply, "Rodney Dangerfield... There goes the neighborhood.”

Joan held an event in which the word "respect" had been emblazoned in the sky, while each guest was given a live Monarch butterfly for a Native American butterfly-release ceremony led by Farrah Fawcett.

Homages

The George Lopez sitcom's episode "Leave it to Lopez" was dedicated in the memory of Rodney Dangerfield.

UCLA’s Division of Neurosurgery named a suite of operating rooms after him and gave him the “Rodney Respect Award”, which his wife presented to Jay Leno on October 20, 2005. It was presented on behalf of the David Geffen School of Medicine/Division of Neurosurgery at UCLA at their 2005 Visionary Ball.

Saturday Night Live ran a short sketch of Dangerfield (played by Darrell Hammond) at the gates of heaven. Saint Peter mentions that he heard Dangerfield got no respect in life, which prompts Dangerfield to spew an entire string of his famous one-liners. After he's done, he asks why Saint Peter was so interested. Saint Peter replies, “I just wanted to hear those jokes one more time” and waves him into heaven.

On September 10, 2006, Comedy Central aired a special titled Legends: Rodney Dangerfield which commemorated his life and legacy. Featured comedians included Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Jay Leno, Ray Romano, Roseanne Barr, Jerry Seinfeld, Bob Saget, Jerry Stiller, Kevin Kline and Jeff Foxworthy.

The ending credits of The George Lopez Show feature an homage to Rodney Dangerfield.

In 2007, it was reported that a Rodney Dangerfield tattoo is among the most popular celebrity tattoos in the United States.

In the 2009 Family Guy episode "Something, Something, Something, Dark Side", a cartoon version of Rodney Dangerfield makes an appearance.

On Triple M's now defunct radio program 'Get This', co-anchor Ed Kavalee used to champion the digital addition of Rodney Dangerfield to movies in an attempt to make them more interesting. Callers would often make their own suggestions regarding this.

In The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 29 May 2009, Leno credited Dangerfield with the style of joke Leno had been using for the past few years. The format of the joke is that the comedian tells a sidekick how bad something is—in this case, guitar player Kevin Eubanks—and the sidekick sets up the joke by asking just how bad that something is.

Impressed by Dangerfield's role in Caddyshack, Europet's design manager Allen Shuemaker brought forth the idea of creating a line of animal chew toys modeled after the comedian. The line had a short run in 1989 and, in recent years, have become highly desirable by a small group of collectors.

Filmography

The Projectionist (1971)

Caddyshack (1980)

Easy Money (1983) (also writer)

Back to School (1986) (also writer)

Moving (1988) (Cameo)

Rover Dangerfield (1991) (voice) (also writer and producer)

Ladybugs (1992)

Natural Born Killers (1994)

Casper (1995) (cameo)

(1997)

Meet Wally Sparks (1997) (also writer and producer)

(1998) (voice)

The Godson (1998)

(1999) (short subject)

My 5 Wives (2000) (also writer and producer)

Little Nicky (2000)

Back by Midnight (2002) (also writer)

The 4th Tenor (2002) (also writer)

Three 'S' a Crowd (2005)

Angels with Angles (2005)

The Onion Movie (2008)

TV work

The Dean Martin Show (regular performer from 1972–1973)

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (frequent guest)

(1977)

(1982)

(1983)

(1986)

(1988)

Where's Rodney (1990) (unsold pilot)

Rodney Dangerfield's The Really Big Show (1991)

(1992)

In Living Color (1993)

The Simpsons (1996) (voice of Mr. Burns's son, Larry Burns in the episode "Burns, Baby Burns")

Suddenly Susan (1996) (Plays Artie-an appliance repairman who dies while fixing Susans oven)

Home Improvement (1997) Himself

Rodney Dangerfield's 75th Birthday Toast (1997)

Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist (1997) (voice, as himself) in the episode "Day Planner"

The Electric Piper (2003) (voice)

Phil of the Future (2004) (voice of Max the Dog in episode "Doggie Daycare")

Still Standing (2004)

Rodney (2004) Himself (Episode aired shortly after his death)

The George Lopez Show (2004) Leave it to Rhett - Life insurance agent - Episode dedicated to his memory

Discography

What's in a Name? (1966) re-released as The Loser (1977)

I Don't Get No Respect (1980)

No Respect (1981)

Rappin' Rodney (1983)

La Contessa (1995)

Romeo Rodney (2005)

20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Rodney Dangerfield (2005)

Greatest Bits (2008)

References

External links

Official Website

Article about Dangerfield from a Kew Gardens website

Interview with Rolling Stone Magazine

Audio interview with Fresh Air's Terry Gross from 7/6/04

Episode capsule for Simpsons episode #4F05 "Burns, Baby Burns"

Category:1921 births Category:2004 deaths Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:American Jews Category:Jewish comedians Category:American stand-up comedians Category:Bell Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Category:American actors of Hungarian descent Category:People from Suffolk County, New York Category:Deaths from surgical complications Category:Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Category:Comedians

Name	Rob Brydon
Caption	Brydon at the 2008 BAFTA Television Awards
Birth date	May 03, 1965
Birth place	Swansea, Wales
Years active	1992–present
Occupation	Actor, comedian, writer, radio and television presenter
Nationality	Welsh
Ethnicity	White British
Spouse	Claire Holland (2006-present, second wife)
Website	http://www.robbrydon.com/
Parents	Howard and Joy Brydon
Children	2 daughters, 2 sons
Television	Marion and GeoffThe Keith Barret ShowRob Brydon's Annually RetentiveGavin & StaceyWould I Lie To You?The Trip

Rob Brydon (born Robert Brydon Jones; 3 May 1965, in Swansea, Wales) is a BAFTA nominated Welsh actor, comedian, radio and television presenter, singer and impressionist most famous for his role as Uncle Bryn from the comedy drama Gavin and Stacey, as well as the host of panel quiz shows Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive and Would I Lie To You? and playing Keith Barret in the BBC comedy Marion and Geoff and its spin-off The Keith Barret Show. Brydon has worked with a number of comedians and actors, notably Steve Coogan and Julia Davis.

Biography

Brydon's mother, Joy (nee Brydon), was a school teacher, and his father, Howard, was a car dealer. Brydon grew up in Baglan, in Port Talbot, Wales and was educated at the private St. John's School in Porthcawl and Dumbarton House School in Swansea until the age of 14, then at Porthcawl Comprehensive School, where he became a member of the school's youth theatre group. Whilst at Dumbarton, he once stole fellow pupil Catherine Zeta-Jones' dinner money.

Early career

He attended the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff, but left to join Radio Wales at the age of 20 without graduating from the college. Brydon's career began with radio – his early broadcasts included DJing on BBC Radio Wales, when his Saturday morning shows included contributions from Welsh standup comedian Pete Park-Walker. Also on Radio Wales, where he stayed for six years, he was the main presenter of Rave, one of BBC Radio 5's youth magazine and music programmes, between 1992 and 1994, with Alan Thompson which led to the genesis of the Marion and Geoff story. Following this, in 1994 and 1995, he appeared in numerous episodes of the original Radio Wales version of the cult comedy show Satellite City with Boyd Clack.

Though he stayed with radio as a comedy performer on BBC Radio Five Live's The Treatment, Rob also does occasional stints as a stand-in presenter on BBC Radio 2, where he has even stood in for Ken Bruce, one of the people he impersonates.

Voiceover artist

Brydon was initially known nationally as a voice artist. He provided several voices for the Discworld computer games and continuity announcements for BBC 1. Brydon is also known for his voice-over work on numerous television advertising campaigns, including those for Renault, Tango, The Times, Tesco, Abbey National, Sainsburys, McDonald's, Toilet Duck, Cahoot, Mint Card, Pot Noodle, Domino's Pizza, Crunchy Nut Cornflakes, The Observer and Fairy Liquid. Additionally, he voiced the main character, Lewton, in the Discworld computer game Discworld Noir.

Writing breakthrough

In the early 1990s he spent a brief stint presenting for the Home Shopping Network, and began to find small roles in several successful films and television series. He eventually made his mark in television comedy in 2000 with two series which he co-wrote and performed in for the BBC: the Julia Davis co-written Human Remains; and the commercially successful Marion and Geoff.

Since these breakthrough series, Brydon has developed a career path as a character actor, in both comedic as well as serious roles. Brydon portrayed controversial theatre critic Kenneth Tynan in the BBC Four film Kenneth Tynan: In Praise of Hardcore (2005), opposite Julian Sands as Sir Laurence Olivier.

His character Bryn West in the Ruth Jones and James Corden-written Gavin and Stacey allowed him to return to his Welsh roots. In this role, Brydon performed the 2009 Comic Relief charity single, "Islands in the Stream", with Ruth Jones (both actors appearing as their characters from Gavin & Stacey) and singer Tom Jones. It reached number one in the UK singles chart on 15 March 2009.

In 2010 Brydon starred alongside Steve Coogan in Michael Winterbottom's partially-improvised BBC 2 sitcom The Trip in which both actors played exaggerated versions of their own perceived public personas, (Brydon, affable and always ready to slip into an impression, Coogan, grumpy and frustrated not to be the major international star he believes he should be).

Panelist/chairman

In 2006, he first appeared on the BBC Radio 4 comedy panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. His singing voice even earned the unprecedented accolade by the erstwhile host, Humphrey Lyttelton, of being "not bad". When the team went on a tour of non-broadcast stage shows, he filled in as chairman when Lyttelton was in hospital to repair an aortic aneurysm. A message was played to the audience in which Lyttelton commented on his absence. Three days later, Humphrey Lyttelton died in hospital, following his surgery.

In February 2009, it was announced that Brydon would be one of three people to replace Lyttelton as chairman of the 51st series of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (the others being Stephen Fry and Jack Dee). Brydon also appeared as guest panelist in the first two episodes of series 52, chaired by Jack Dee.

Additionally, he took over from Angus Deayton as host of Would I Lie To You? in 2009.

Brydon has also presented an episode of Have I Got News for You, and has appeared on BBC Radio 4's panel game Just a Minute.

Brydon also narrated a two-part programme on BBC Radio 4, The Pain of Laughter: The Last Days of Kenneth Williams. It explored the latter part of Williams's life, featuring many of the performer's friends and contemporaries. In other radio work, Brydon sat in for Ken Bruce on BBC Radio 2 for one day only on 25 August 2008.

He has made a number of appearances on the TV comedy quiz QI. In his first appearance (A series, episode 5), his talent for mimicry was displayed with impressions of Alec Guinness, James Dean and Michael J. Fox. In the 2008 Christmas Special he also provided impressions of Richard Burton and Tom Jones.

Stand-up comedy

In 2009/10 Brydon had his first stand-up tour as Rob Brydon (rather than as a differently-named character) in the UK. The resulting DVD of the 2009/10 show, Rob Brydon: Live, was released on 23 November 2009. Brydon appeared as a host on episode two of series five of the BBC series of 'Live at the Apollo'.

In 2010, Brydon took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March.

Personal life

On 6 October 2006 Brydon married Claire Holland, a former producer on the South Bank Show, at Windsor church. They live in Strawberry Hill in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, and have a son, Tom, born in April 2008. Brydon has two daughters, Katie, born September 1994 and Amy, born August 1999 and a son, Harry, born October 1996 from his first marriage.

A fanatical golfer, he is also a Swansea City fan and is an ambassador to their 1912 foundation.

Brydon has been mistaken for comedian Ben Miller and vice versa, whom he appeared alongside (and kissed) on QI episode 6.9, Future.

Filmography and television/radio appearances

Other appearances

Discworld (video game) (voice actor – 1995)

(voice actor – 1996)

Discworld Noir (voice actor – 1999)

Black Books (2002)

Top Gear (2003, 2008)

QI (2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)

Just a Minute (2004, 2005)

Director's Commentary (2004)

The Big Fat Quiz of the Year (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009)

(2005)

Jack Dee Live at the Apollo (2005)

I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (2006–2009)

Have I Got News for You (2006)

100 Greatest Funny Moments (2006)

Heroes and Villains: Napoleon (November 2007)

Rob Brydon's Identity Crisis (March 2008)

Would I Lie To You? (July 2008)

The One Show (December 2009)

Desert Island Discs (May 2010)

Discography

Singles

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 9pt; text-align: center" !rowspan="2"| Year !rowspan="2"| Single !colspan="4"| Chart positions |- style="font-size:90%;" ! style="width:4em;" | UK ! style="width:4em;" | IE ! style="width:4em;" | World ! style="width:4em;" | EU |- |2009 |align="left"|"Islands in the Stream" |align="center"|1 |align="center"|48 |align="center"|36 |align="center"|7 |- |}

References

External links

Official Rob Brydon site

BAFTA Interview with Rob Brydon - April 2010

Rob's twitter

News items

Times February 2008 article

Independent January 2006 article

Telegraph June 2004 article

Observer December 2002 article

Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:21st-century writers Category:Alumni of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama Category:People from Swansea Category:Welsh comedians Category:Welsh film actors Category:Welsh television actors Category:Welsh television presenters Category:Welsh television producers Category:Welsh television writers Category:Welsh voice actors

Name	Rich Little
Caption	Rich Little performing as George Burns in 2004
Birth date	November 26, 1938
Birth place	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Medium	Stand-up comedy, television
Nationality	Canadian, American
Active	1963—
Genre	Observational comedy
Subject	Impersonations, popular culture
Spouse	Marie Marotta (2003–2010)Jeannette Markey (1994–1997)Jeanne Worden (1971–1989), 1 daughter
Website	richlittle.com

Richard Caruthers "Rich" Little (born November 26, 1938) is a Canadian-American impressionist and voice actor. He has long been known throughout the world as a top impersonator of famous people, resulting in his nickname, "The Man of a Thousand Voices".

Early life

Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Little was the middle of three sons. His father was a doctor. In his early teens, he formed a partnership with Geoff Scott, another budding impressionist, concentrating on reproducing the voices of Canadian politicians such as then-Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and Ottawa mayor Charlotte Whitton (Geoff went on to become a politician.) They were performing professionally in night clubs by age 17.

Career

Rich acted in Ottawa's Little Theatre and became a successful disc jockey, frequently incorporating impersonations into his show. In 1963, he was asked to audition by Mel Tormé, who was producing a new variety show for Judy Garland. The audition won him the job and in 1964, Little made his American television debut on CBS's The Judy Garland Show, where he astounded Garland with his imitations of various male celebrities. His impression of James Mason in A Star Is Born thrilled Garland, and his popularity began to grow.

In 1966 and 1967, Little appeared in ABC-TV's Judy Carne sitcom Love on a Rooftop as the Willises' eccentric neighbor, Stan Parker. Little was a frequent guest on variety and talk shows. He cracked up Johnny Carson by capturing the Tonight Show host's voice and many on-stage mannerisms perfectly (he later played Carson in the HBO TV-movie The Late Shift). One of his best known impressions is of U.S. President Richard Nixon. (In 1991 he reprised the role of Nixon as ideal sperm donors in Gina's fantasies on the soap opera Santa Barbara.) During the 1970s, Little made many television appearances portraying Nixon. He was a regular guest on Dean Martin's Celebrity Roasts in the 1970s and was also a semi-regular on the Emmy-winning ABC-TV variety series The Julie Andrews Hour in 1972-1973. This particular series proved to be a wonderful showcase for Little's talents as an impressionist. In fact, because of his uncanny yet brilliant imitation of Jack Benny, the comedian sent Little an 18-carat gold money clip containing this message: "With Bob Hope doing my walk and you doing my voice, I can be a star and do nothing." He was named "Comedy Star of the Year" by the American Guild of Variety Artists in 1974.

His best-known continuing TV series was The Kopycats, hour-long segments of The ABC Comedy Hour, first broadcast in 1972. Taped in England, these comedy-variety shows consisted entirely of celebrity impersonations, with the actors in full costume and makeup for every sketch. The cast included Rich Little, Frank Gorshin, Marilyn Michaels, George Kirby, Joe Baker, Fred Travalena, Charlie Callas, and Peter Goodwright.

The Rich Little Show (1976) and The New You Asked for It (1981) were attempts to present Little in his own person, away from his gallery of characterizations.

Little has starred in various HBO specials including the 1978 one-man show, Rich Little's Christmas Carol. He has also appeared in several movies and released nine albums. When David Niven proved too ill for his voice to be used in his appearances in Trail of the Pink Panther (1982) and Curse of the Pink Panther (1983), Little provided the overdub; ironically Little at one time provided the voice for the Pink Panther cartoon character, in an experimental 1965 episode. Little rendered similar assistance for the 1991 TV special Christmas at the Movies by providing an uncredited dub for the aging actor/dancer Gene Kelly. As a native Canadian, he also lent his voice to the narration of two specials which were the forerunners for the animated series The Raccoons: The Christmas Raccoons and The Raccoons on Ice.

Little was the host for the 2007 White House Correspondents' Association dinner. Although President George W. Bush was reported to have enjoyed Little's performance, it was panned by some reviewers for "his ancient jokes and impressions of dead people (Johnny Carson, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan)."

Other interests

Little has been active in several charities including the Juvenile Diabetes Fund and the Children's Miracle Network. He has been named to Miami Children's Hospital International Pediatrics Hall of Fame and been honored by the naming of the Rich Little Special Care Nursery at Ottawa Civic Hospital.

Personal life

Little was married to Jeanne Worden from 1971 until their divorce in 1989. The couple have a daughter, Bria. He married Jeannette Markey in 1994; they divorced in 1997. He was married to Marie Marotta from 2003 until her death in 2010. (She died of an apparent deliberate overdose of sleeping pills on July 15, 2010 due to suffering from chronic pain.)

Little resides in Las Vegas, where he often performs. He was sworn in as an American citizen in a Las Vegas courtroom on January 10, 2008.

References

External links

Official website

Category:Canadian comedians Category:Canadian expatriate actors in the United States Category:Canadian film actors Category:Canadian television actors Category:Canadian voice actors Category:Canadian stand-up comedians Category:Canadian impressionists (entertainers) Category:1938 births Category:Living people Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:People from Ottawa Category:American comedians Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American impressionists (entertainers)

Name	Pablo Francisco
Birth name	Pablo Ridson Francisco
Birth date	January 05, 1974
Birth place	Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up
Nationality	American
Active	1994–present
Genre	Impressions
Subject	Latin American culture, everyday life, movies
Influences	Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, Benny Hill
Notable work
Website	Official website

Pablo Ridson Francisco (born January 5, 1974) is an American stand-up comedian of Chilean origin. He started his career doing improv in Tempe, Arizona.

Career

In the 1990s, he appeared on MADtv as a featured player. His stand-up act was introduced to America at large when he landed his own half-hour comedy special on Comedy Central Presents in 2000. In 2001 and 2002, Francisco toured as part of "The Three Amigos" with Carlos Mencia and Freddy Soto. Since then, he has performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, VH1's ILL-ustrated, Mind of Mencia as "The Voiceover Dude" (same as "Movie Voiceover Guy"), and most recently, Frank TV.

Francisco is recognized for vocal impressions of famous people including Jackie Chan, Aaron Neville, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Howard Stern, Casey Kasem, Keanu Reeves, Michael J. Fox, Jerry Springer, Don Lapre, Celine Dion, William Hung, Danny Glover, Gary Busey, and most notably Don LaFontaine (the Movie Voiceover King). As well, he also does sound effects and character voices like Count Dracula (as a Spanish Radio DeeJay), Droopy Dog, Chris Rock, Jimi Hendrix, Tony Montana, R2-D2, Kermit the Frog, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ozzy Osbourne, Ricky Martin, Dennis Hopper, Aladdin, George Clooney, Dennis Haysbert, Anthony Sullivan, Christopher Walken, and Mr. Magoo. He also has a talent for beatboxing.

Francisco tours in Southern California. The Improv at the Irvine Spectrum Center is where his 2004 DVD Bits and Pieces was filmed. On December 31, 2005, he hosted a New Years Eve party at the Irvine Improv.

Television appearances

MADtv

Make Me Laugh

The Tonight Show With Jay Leno

VH1's ILL-ustrated

Mind Of Mencia (as The Voiceover Dude)

Frank TV

Vakna Med The Voice (Swedish TV)

Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal

Last Comic Standing

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992 TV series)

Tonight With Trevor Noah

Specials

Knee To The Groin (Album) - 1998

Sausage (Album) - 2000

Comedy Central Presents - 2000

The Three Amigos (with Carlos Mencia and Freddy Soto) - 2002

Bits and Pieces - 2004

Ouch! - 2006

Who You Foolin? - Summer 2010

References

External links

Official website

Pablo Francisco at MySpace

Profile at Latino Comedy

Category:1974 births Category:Living people Category:American comedians Category:American impressionists (entertainers) Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American people of Chilean descent Category:People from Tucson, Arizona

Name	Mel Brooks
Caption	Brooks in April 2010
Birth name	Melvin Kaminsky
Birth date	June 28, 1926
Birth place	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Medium	FilmTelevisionMusical theatre
Nationality	American
Influences	George M. CohanJack Benny Bob HopeHarry RitzFred AstaireGene Kelly
Influenced	Robin Williams, Jim Carrey
Active	1949–present
Genre	FarceParody
Subject	Comedy
Spouse	Florence Baum (1953-1962) (divorced) 3 children Anne Bancroft (1964-2005) (her death) 1 child.
Notable work	The ProducersBlazing SaddlesYoung Frankenstein,Spaceballs
Emmyawards	Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program1967 The Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner and Howard Morris SpecialOutstanding Guest Actor - Comedy Series 1997, 1998, 1999 Mad About You

}} Melvin "Mel" Kaminsky (born June 28, 1926), better known by his stage name Mel Brooks, is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. Brooks is a member of the short list of entertainers with the distinction of having won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony award. Three of his films ranked in the Top 20 on the American Film Institute's list of the Top 100 comedy films of all-time: Blazing Saddles, The Producers and Young Frankenstein.

Early life

Brooks was born Melvin Kaminsky in Brooklyn, New York, a son of Maximilian Kaminsky and his wife Kate Brookman. His father's family were German Jews from the Baltic seaport of Danzig (modern Gdansk); his mother's family were Russian Jews from Kiev. His father died of kidney disease when he was only 34.

Brooks was a small, sickly boy who was often bullied and picked on by his classmates. Taking on the comically aggressive job of Tummler (master entertainer) in various Catskills resorts, he gradually gained in confidence. Following high school, he attended the Virginia Military Institute and served in the United States Army as a corporal during World War II, taking part in the Battle of the Bulge.

Early career

Brooks started as a stand-up comic performing in summers at the Catskill Mountains, telling jokes and doing movie-star impressions. He found more rewarding work behind the scenes, becoming a comedy writer for television. He joined the hit comedy series Your Show of Shows with Sid Caesar and Carl Reiner. Reiner, as creator of The Dick Van Dyke Show, based Morey Amsterdam's character Buddy Sorell on Brooks.

Starting in 1960, Brooks teamed with Reiner as a comedy duo on the Steve Allen Show. Their performances led to release a series of comedy albums that included a routine that eventually expanded into the 2000 Year Old Man series that became five albums and a 1975 animated TV special.

Brooks later moved into film, working as an actor, director, writer, and producer. Brooks's first film was The Critic (1963), an animated satire of arty, esoteric cinema, conceived by Brooks and directed by Ernest Pintoff. Brooks supplied running commentary as the baffled moviegoer trying to make sense of the obscure visuals. The short film won an Academy Award. With Buck Henry, Brooks created the successful TV series Get Smart, starring Don Adams as a bumbling secret agent. This series added to Brooks's reputation as a clever satirist.

Brooks's first feature film, The Producers, was a dark comedy about two theatrical partners who deliberately contrive the worst possible Broadway show. The film was so brazen in its satire (its big production number was "Springtime for Hitler") that the major studios would not touch it, nor would many exhibitors. Brooks finally found an independent distributor, which released it like an art film, as a specialized attraction. The film received an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. The film became a smash underground hit, first on the nationwide college circuit, then in revivals and on home video. Brooks later turned it into a musical, which became hugely successful on Broadway, receiving an unprecedented twelve Tony awards.

His two most financially successful films were released in 1974: Blazing Saddles (co-written with Richard Pryor, Andrew Bergman, Norman Steinberg and Alan Uger), and Young Frankenstein (co-written with Gene Wilder). He followed these up with an audacious idea: the first feature-length silent comedy in four decades. Silent Movie (co-written with Ron Clark, 1976) featured Brooks in his first leading role, with Dom DeLuise and Marty Feldman as his sidekicks; it also featured, ironically, Marcel Marceau, in a cameo appearance as himself, who uttered the film's single word of audible dialogue. The following year he released his Hitchcock parody High Anxiety (also written with Clark), which was the first movie produced by Brooks himself.

Brooks developed a repertory company of sorts for his film work: performers with three or more of Brooks's films (The Producers, The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, High Anxiety, History of the World: Part I, Spaceballs, Life Stinks, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and Dracula: Dead and Loving It) to their credit include Gene Wilder, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman, Ron Carey, Dick Van Patten and Andréas Voutsinas. Dom DeLuise appeared in six of Brooks's 12 films, the only person with more appearances being Brooks himself.

In 1975, at the height of his movie career, Brooks tried TV again with When Things Were Rotten, a Robin Hood parody that lasted only 13 episodes. Nearly twenty years later, in response to the 1991 hit film , Brooks mounted another Robin Hood parody with . Brooks's film resurrected several pieces of dialog from his TV series, as well as from earlier Brooks films.

Later career

In 1980, Brooks became interested in producing the dramatic film The Elephant Man (directed by David Lynch). Knowing that anyone seeing a poster reading "Mel Brooks presents The Elephant Man" would expect a comedy, he set up the company Brooksfilms. Brooksfilms has since produced a number of non-comedy films, including David Cronenberg's The Fly, Frances, and 84 Charing Cross Road, starring Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft, as well as comedies, including Richard Benjamin's My Favorite Year, which was partially based on his real life. Brooks sought to purchase the rights to 84 Charing Cross Road for his wife, Anne Bancroft, for many years. He successfully obtained the rights to the movie and presented them to her as an anniversary gift.

The 1980s saw Brooks produce and direct only two films, the first being History of the World Part I in 1981, a tongue-in-cheek look at human culture from the Dawn of Man to the French Revolution. As part of the film's soundtrack, Brooks, then aged 55, recorded a rap entitled "It's Good to Be the King", a parody of Louis XVI and the French Revolution; it was released as a single, and became a surprise US dance hit. His second movie release of the decade came in 1987 in the form of Spaceballs, a parody of science fiction, mainly Star Wars. Both films featured him in multiple roles. He also starred in the 1983 remake of To Be or Not to Be, which spawned a highly controversial single that featured as part of the film's soundtrack album (although not in the film itself) - "To Be Or Not To Be (The Hitler Rap)". The song - satirising German society in the 1940s with Brooks playing Hitler - was banned from both radio airplay and television in Germany due to its deliberately ironic portrayal of the Nazi involvement in World War Two, but was an unlikely hit elsewhere, peaking at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1984 and #3 on the Australian Singles Chart (Kent Music Report) that same year.

One of his most recent successes has been a transfer of his film The Producers to the Broadway stage. Brooks also had a vocal role in the 2005 animated film Robots. He then worked on an animated series sequel to Spaceballs called , which premiered on September 21, 2008 on G4 TV.

Brooks is one of the few artists who have received an Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Grammy. He was awarded his first Grammy award for Best Spoken Comedy Album in 1999 for his recording of The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000 with Carl Reiner. His two other Grammys came in 2002 for Best Musical Show Album, for the soundtrack to The Producers, and for Best Long Form Music Video for the DVD "Recording the Producers - A Musical Romp with Mel Brooks". He won his first of four Emmy awards in 1967 for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Variety for a Sid Caesar special. He went on to win three consecutive Emmys in 1997, 1998, and 1999 for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his role of Uncle Phil on Mad About You. He won his three Tony awards in 2001 for his work on the musical, The Producers. He won Tonys for Best Musical, Best Original Musical Score, and Best Book of a Musical. Additionally, he won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award for Young Frankenstein. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted #50 of the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. Three of Brooks's films are on the American Film Institute's list of funniest American films: Blazing Saddles (#6), The Producers (#11), and Young Frankenstein (#13).

Brooks and his wife Anne Bancroft acted together in Silent Movie and To Be or Not to Be, and Bancroft also had a bit part in the 1995 film . Years later, the Brookses appeared as themselves in the fourth season finale of Curb Your Enthusiasm, spoofing the finale of The Producers. It is reported that Bancroft encouraged Brooks (after an idea suggested by David Geffen) to take The Producers to Broadway where it became an enormous success, as the show broke the Tony record with 12 wins, a record that had previously been held for 37 years by Hello, Dolly! at 10 wins. Such success has translated to a big-screen version of the Broadway adaptation/remake with actors Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane reprising their stage roles, in addition to new cast members Uma Thurman and Will Ferrell. As of early April 2006, Brooks had begun composing the score to a Broadway musical adaptation of Young Frankenstein, which he says is "perhaps the best movie [he] ever made." The world premiere was performed at Seattle's most historic theatre (originally built as a movie palace), The Paramount Theatre, between August 7, 2007, and September 1, 2007 after which it opened on Broadway at the former Foxwoods Theatre (then the Hilton Theatre), New York, on October 11, 2007. It has since earned mixed reviews from the critics.

In interviews broadcast on WABC radio, Brooks has discussed with NYC radio personality Mark Simone the possibilities of turning other works from his creative oeuvre (such as the movie Blazing Saddles) into future musical productions. Specifically, in a conversation airing March 1, 2008, he and Simone speculated on what show tunes might be incorporated into a theatrical adaptation of the Get Smart property.

On December 5, 2009 Brooks was one of five recipients of 2009 Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

On April 23, 2010 Brooks was awarded the 2,406th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Personal life

in April 2010]] Brooks was married to Florence Baum from 1953 to 1962. Their marriage ended in divorce. Mel and Florence had three children, Stephanie, Nicky, and Eddie.

Brooks was married to the actress Anne Bancroft from 1964 until her death from uterine cancer on June 6, 2005. They met on rehearsal for the Perry Como Variety Show in 1961 and married three years later, August 5, at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau. Their son, Max Brooks, was born in 1972. In 2010, Brooks credited Bancroft as being the guiding force behind his involvement in developing The Producers and Young Frankenstein for the musical theater, citing an early meeting as "From that day, until her death on June 5, 2005, we were glued together."

Work

Writer/director

The Producers (1968) (Academy Award, best original screenplay)

The Twelve Chairs (1970) (also actor)

Blazing Saddles (1974) (also actor)

Young Frankenstein (1974)

Silent Movie (1976) (also actor)

High Anxiety (1977) (also actor/producer)

History of the World, Part I (1981) (also actor/producer)

Spaceballs (1987) (also actor/producer)

Life Stinks (1991) (also actor/producer)

(1993) (also actor/producer)

(1995) (also actor/producer)

Theatre

Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1952 (1952) (sketches for a revue)

Shinbone Alley (1957) (co-book-writer)

All-American (1962) (book-writer)

The Producers (2001) (composer, lyricist, co-book-writer, producer; Tony Award for Best Musical, Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical, Tony Award for Best Original Score, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical)

Young Frankenstein (2007) (composer, lyricist, co-book-writer, producer)

Other works

Your Show of Shows (TV) (1950–1954) (writer)

New Faces of 1952 (Broadway) (1952) (writer) and "New Faces", the 1954 film version (writer)

The Critic (created and narrated, won Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film) (1963)

Get Smart (TV) (1965–1970) (co-creator, writer)

The Electric Company (TV) (1971–1977) (voice of recurring little cartoon man who asks: "Who's the dummy writing this show?!")

"Hollywood Squares" (1972) (Guest star)

When Things Were Rotten (1975) (co-created, writer)

The Muppet Movie (1979) (Special Guest Star-Mad Scientist Professor Max Krassman)

The Elephant Man (1980) (uncredited executive producer)

To Be or Not to Be (1983) (actor, producer)

The Fly (1986) (uncredited producer)

The Fly II (1989) (uncredited producer)

''The Tracy Ullman Show (1990) (actor-Buzz Schlanger)

Look Who's Talking Too (1990) (voice of Mr. Toilet Man)

Frasier (1993) (voice of Tom)

The Little Rascals (1994) (actor-Mr. Welling)

Silence of the Hams (1994) (actor-Checkout Guest)

The Simpsons (1995, "Homer vs. Patty and Selma") (voice-himself)

Mad About You (TV) (1996–1999) (actor-Uncle Phil)

The Prince of Egypt (1998) (uncredited, additional voices)

Svitati (AKA Screw Loose) (1999) (actor-Jake Gordon)

It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002) (voice of Joe Snow)

(2003) (voice of Santa Claus)

Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks (2003–present) (voice of Wiley the Sheep)

Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 4 (2004) (actor)

Robots (2005) (voice of Bigweld)

The Producers (2005) (writer, producer)

(2008) (writer, producer, voice)

"Get Smart" (2008) (Consultant)

"The 2000 Year Old Man: The Complete History" (2009) DVD

Rotten Tomatoes Ratings

See also

List of persons who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards

References

Further reading

Jeff Rovin. Cat Angels, Harper Paperbacks, ISBN 0-06-100972-5

Parish, James Robert. It's Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks (2007) Wiley ISBN 0-471-75267-3

External links

Mel Brooks - Box Office Data Movie Director at The Numbers

Mel Brooks - Box Office Data Movie Star at The Numbers

Interview with Brooks on NPR's Fresh Air (March 16, 2005)

TonyAwards.com Interview with Mel Brooks at Tony Awards site

Interview with Mel Brooks biographer James Robert Parish

Photographs and literature

Category:1926 births Category:Abraham Lincoln High School (Brooklyn, New York) alumni Category:American comedians Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:American musical theatre composers Category:American satirists Category:American theatre managers and producers Category:American voice actors Category:Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:English-language film directors Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Jewish actors Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:American people of German-Jewish descent Category:Jewish American writers Category:Jewish comedians Category:Jewish American composers and songwriters Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Living people Category:People from Brooklyn Category:People from Fire Island, New York Category:Saturn Award winners Category:Tony Award winners Category:United States Army soldiers Category:American Jews

Name	Josh Blue
Birth date	November 27, 1978
Birth place	Cameroon
Medium	Stand-Up, television, film
Nationality	American
Genre	Observational comedy, blue comedy
Subject	Self-deprecation, physical disabilities, everyday life
Spouse	Yuko Blue (?-present) 1 child
Notable work	Last Comic Standing – Last Comic Standing (winner), fourth season
Website	http://www.joshblue.com

Josh Blue (born November 27, 1978) is an American comedian. He was voted the Last Comic Standing on NBC's reality show Last Comic Standing during its fourth season, which aired May–August 2006. Blue has cerebral palsy, and much of his self-deprecating humor is centered on this.

Background

Blue was born in Cameroon, where his father, Walter Blue, a professor of Romance languages from Hamline University, was teaching in a mission. Blue grew up in Saint Paul, Minnesota and graduated from Como Park Senior High School in 1997. Blue currently resides in Denver, Colorado. Blue appeared on the Last Comic Standing to "make people aware of the fact that people with disabilities can make an impact." Blue also joked that signing an autograph takes 45 minutes, and that to write down his phone number he has to find a "big ol' stack of paper."

He was the first comedian to do stand-up on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. Josh was voted the 13th best comedian by viewers in Comedy Central's Stand-up Comedy Showdown 2010.

Outside of comedy, Blue is also known for his skills in soccer as he played a part in the 2004 U.S. Paralympic team. Blue has also created various sculptures and paintings, which he is currently selling. One particular piece he sells at an extremely high price, because, as he said on his appearance on the The Ellen DeGeneres Show, "I nearly died making it."

References

About.com Josh Blue wins "Last Comic Standing"

USA Paralympic bio (Accessed June 21, 2006)

Hicks, L. Wayne. "Just Joshin'". Denver Business Journal, September 30 – October 5, 2005 issue. (Accessed June 21, 2006)

External links

Official website

Category:American comedians Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American people with disabilities Category:7-a-side footballers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Category:The Evergreen State College alumni Category:Paralympic 7-a-side soccer players of the United States Category:People from Denver, Colorado Category:People from Saint Paul, Minnesota Category:People with cerebral palsy Category:1978 births Category:Living people

Name	Jeff Allen
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth name	Jeffrey Allen
Born	April 23, 1946Matlock, Derbyshire, England
Instrument	Drums
Genre	RockBlues
Occupation	Drummer
Years active	1971-present
Associated acts	East of Eden, Babe Ruth, Snowy White, Bonnie Tyler, Mick Taylor, Van Morrison

Jeff Allen (born Jeffrey Allen, 23 April 1946, Matlock, Derbyshire) is an English rock and blues session drummer. Allen is best known for his work with East of Eden, Babe Ruth, Snowy White, Bonnie Tyler, Mick Taylor and Van Morrison.

He is not to be confused, although in many listings often is, with the similarly named, former drummer with the British glam rock outfit, Hello, whose brother is Ultravox's Chris Cross.

Biography

Allen became the drummer with the Glasgow based band, The Beatstalkers, who played residencies at the Marquee Club in London, and the Frankfurt and Cologne 'Storeyville' clubs.

Allen joined East of Eden in 1971, and drummed on their 1988 album, Change My Life. Allen is married to Marilyn, a lecturer and therapeutic counsellor.

Partial discography

1971: New Leaf - East of Eden

1971: World of East of Eden - East of Eden

1972: First Base - Babe Ruth (played on one track)

1975: Another Eden - East of Eden

1976: It's the Climate - East of Eden

1978: Restless - Rab Noakes

1978: Silver Park - East of Eden

1981: Goodbye to the Island - Bonnie Tyler

1981: Voices - Murray Head

1982: Well Kept Secret - John Martyn

1983: Philentropy - John Martyn

1988: Change My Life - Snowy White's Blues Agency

1994: Life Like Feel - Life Like Feel

1995: Rattlesnake Guitar: The Music of Peter Green - Various Artists

1995: Arthur's Club-Geneve 1995 - Mick Taylor & Snowy White (live album)

2000: Burning Bush - Troy Hardin

2000: A Stone's Throw - Mick Taylor

2002: From Clarksdale to Heaven: Remembering John Lee Hooker - Various Artists

2003: Baghdad - Ilham al-Madfai

2005: Ghost Party - Jeff Arundel

2007: Utopia 2 - Belinda

2009: Twice as Addictive - Snowy White's Blues Agency

Through his drumming duties with various musicians over the years, Allen's work appears on numerous compilation albums.

References

External links

Sensible-music.co.uk

Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:English rock drummers Category:English session musicians Category:People from Matlock

Name	Jamie Foxx
Caption	Foxx promoting Stealth in July 2005
Birth name	Eric Marlon Bishop
Birth date	December 13, 1967
Birth place	Terrell, Texas, United States
Medium	Stand-up, film, television, music
Nationality	American
Active	1992–present
Genre	Black comedy, Musical comedy, Satire/Political satire, Observational comedy, Character comedy, Blue comedy
Subject	Race relations, racism, African-American culture, pop culture, human sexuality, American politics, current events, self-deprecation
Notable work	In Living ColorJamie King on The Jamie Foxx ShowAlvin Sanders in BaitDrew 'Bundini' Brown in AliRay Charles in RayLt. Henry Purcell in StealthStaff Sgt. Sykes in JarheadCurtis Taylor Jr. in Dreamgirls
Website	Official site

Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), professionally known as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, R&B; singer, songwriter, stand-up comedian, and talk radio host. As an actor, his work in the film Ray earned him the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a musical/comedy. He is also a Grammy Award winning musician, producing two albums which have charted highly on the Billboard 200: Unpredictable, which topped the chart, and Intuition.

Early life

Foxx was born as Eric Marlon Bishop on December 13, 1967, in Terrell, Texas. He is the son of Louise Annette Talley Dixon and Darrell Bishop. Foxx was abandoned seven months after birth, and was subsequently adopted and raised in Terrell by his mother's adoptive parents, Estelle and Mark Talley. Terrell was a racially segregated community at the time. Foxx had a strict Baptist upbringing and began piano lessons at the age of five by his grandmother's orders. As a teenager, he was a part-time pianist and choir leader in Terrell's New Hope Baptist Church. He also sang in a band called Leather and Lace. He has often acknowledged his grandmother's influence in his life as one of the greatest reasons for his success.

Early career and In Living Color

After accepting a girlfriend's dare, Foxx told jokes and did impressions at a comedy club's open mic night in 1989. When he found that female comedians were often called first to perform, he changed his name to Jamie Foxx, feeling that it was an ambiguous enough name to disallow any biases. He chose his surname as a tribute to comedian Redd Foxx. From 1996 to 2001, Foxx starred in his own sitcom The Jamie Foxx Show, and in 1992 he made his film debut.

Film career

.]] Foxx made his film debut in the 1992 comedy Toys. His first dramatic role came in Oliver Stone's 1999 film Any Given Sunday, where he portrayed a hard-partying American football player.

Following these successes, Foxx appeared in Jarhead, Miami Vice, and Dreamgirls, which were box-office hits, and lifted his profile even higher as a bankable star in Hollywood. 2007 brought him the lead role in the film The Kingdom opposite Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner and Ashraf Barhom.

In September 2007, Foxx was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He said, upon receiving the honor, "[it was] one of the most amazing days of my life."

In April 2009, Foxx played the lead role in the dramatic film The Soloist.

Music

performing "Gold Digger"]] Foxx began piano lessons at age five. In 1994, Foxx released an album (on the Fox record label) entitled Peep This. His music career shifted into a higher gear when, in 2004, he was featured on rapper Twista's song, "Slow Jamz", which also featured Kanye West. The song reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, as well as number three on the UK singles chart. Foxx's second collaboration with Kanye West, "Gold Digger," in which he sang the "I Got a Woman" Ray Charles-influenced hook, went straight to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and remained there for 10 weeks. In 2005, Foxx was featured on the single "Georgia" by Atlanta rappers Ludacris and Field Mob. The song sampled Ray Charles' hit "Georgia on My Mind."

Foxx released his second studio album, Unpredictable, in December 2005. It debuted at number two, selling 598,000 copies in its first week. The following week, the album rose to number one, selling an additional 200,000 copies. To date, the album has sold 1.98 million copies in the United States, and was certified double Platinum by the RIAA. The album also charted on the UK Albums Chart, where it peaked at number nine. Foxx became the fourth artist to have won an Academy Award for an acting role and to have achieved a number-one record album in the US. (The other three to accomplish this feat were Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Barbra Streisand.) Foxx's first single from the album, the title track "Unpredictable" (featuring Ludacris), samples "Wildflower" by New Birth. The song peaked inside the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and also made the UK top 20 singles chart. The second US single from the album was "DJ Play a Love Song," which reunited Foxx with Twista. In the UK, however, the second single was "Extravaganza," which saw Foxx once again collaborate with Kanye West. He was not, however, featured in the song's music video.

At the 2006 Black Entertainment Television (BET) Awards, Foxx won Best Duet/Collaboration with Kanye West for "Gold Digger" and tied with Mary J. Blige's "Be Without You" for Video of the year. On December 8, 2006, Foxx received four Grammy nominations, which included Best R&B; Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for Love Changes featuring Mary J. Blige, Best R&B; Album for Unpredictable, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for Georgia by Ludacris & Field Mob featuring Jamie Foxx, and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for Unpredictable featuring Ludacris.

On January 22, 2007, Foxx was on Sirius Satellite Radio, announcing his new channel The Foxxhole. The channel features talk-radio programs, stand-up comedy albums, and music primarily by African-American performers, and features much of Foxx's own material as well. The Jamie Foxx Show, Foxx's own talk-radio variety program, airs Friday evenings on The Foxxhole, and features Johnny Mack, Speedy, The Poetess, Lewis Dix, and T.D.P., as his co-hosts. Guests include popular musicians, actors, and fellow comedians.

He recorded a song with country superstars Rascal Flatts entitled "She Goes All the Way" for their album, Still Feels Good. Foxx also performed background vocals for artist/songwriter Tank. He and The-Dream are featured on Plies' "Please Excuse My Hands." He also appeared on the remix of Ne-Yo's "Miss Independent" entitled "She Got Her Own." The track also features Fabolous. Foxx then collaborated with rapper The Game on the track "Around The World."

Foxx released his third album titled Intuition in 2008, featuring such artists as Kanye West, T.I., Lil Wayne, and T-Pain. The album's first single, "Just Like Me" featuring T.I., was promoted by a video directed by Brett Ratner and featuring an appearance by Taraji P. Henson. The second single "Blame It" featured T-Pain and became a top 5 single on the Billboard Hot 100 and a number-one single on the Billboard Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The "Blame It" music video, directed by Hype Williams, features cameo appearances by Forest Whitaker, Samuel L. Jackson, Ron Howard, Quincy Jones, and Jake Gyllenhaal, among others. Foxx was also featured on T.I.'s single "Live in the Sky" from the album King.

On April 6, 2009 Foxx performed the George Strait song "You Look So Good in Love" at the George Strait Artist of the Decade All-Star Concert. Foxx has been a fan of country music for many years.

Jamie Foxx hosted the 2009 BET Awards ceremony on June 28, 2009, which featured several tributes to pop star Michael Jackson, who had died three days prior to the show. Aside from performing "Blame It" with T-Pain and "She Got Her Own" with Ne-Yo and Fabolous, Foxx opened the show with a rendition of Jackson's "Beat It" dance routine and closed the show with a cover of The Jackson 5's "I'll Be There" with Ne-Yo. Foxx stated during the ceremony, "We want to celebrate this black man. He belongs to us and we shared him with everybody else."

Foxx released his fourth album, Best Night of My Life, on December 21, 2010. The first single is "Winner", featuring Justin Timberlake and T.I.. The second single is "Living Better Now" featuring rapper Rick Ross and the third single is "Fall For Your Type" featuring rapper Drake.

Foxx has a daughter, Corinne Bishop, who was born in 1994. Foxx was spotted with the baby in Miami for New Year's Eve 2010, and it was revealed to be a girl.

Foxx performed a public service announcement for Do Something to promote food drives in local communities.

Legal issues

In April 2003, Foxx was involved in an incident with two police officers who were attempting to escort him and his sister out of Harrah's casino in New Orleans. Employees claimed they had failed to show identification upon entry. Originally charged with trespassing, disturbing the peace, battery on police officers and resisting arrest, Foxx pleaded no contest to disturbing the peace in exchange for the other charges being dropped, and was sentenced to a six month suspended jail term with two years probation and a $1500 fine.

Controversy

On the April 17, 2009 episode of The Jamie Foxx Show on Foxxhole Radio, Foxx and his co-hosts made several sexually suggestive and disparaging jokes regarding teenaged singer Miley Cyrus, in response to a caller's comment on a recent altercation between Cyrus and rock band Radiohead. Foxx issued a public apology on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno several days later in response to growing public outcry as well as televised criticism by Cyrus's father, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus.

Discography

Peep This (1994)

Unpredictable (2005)

Intuition (2008)

Best Night of My Life (2010)

Tours

The Unpredictable Tour (2006)

The Blame It Tour (2009)

Filmography

{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin:1em 1em 1em 0; background:#f9f9f9; border:1px #aaa solid; border-collapse:collapse; font-size:90%" |- ! style="background:#B0C4DE" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE" | Notes |- |1992 | Toys | Baker | |- |rowspan=2|1996 | The Truth About Cats & Dogs | Ed | |- | The Great White Hype | Hassan El Ruk'n | |- |rowspan=|1997 | Booty Call | Bunz | |- |rowspan=|1998 | The Players Club | Blue | |- |rowspan=2|1999 | Held Up | Michael | |- | Any Given Sunday | Willie Beamen | Nominated — BET Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Male Performance |- |2000 | Bait | Alvin Sanders | |- |rowspan=2|2001 | Date from Heaven | | |- | Ali | Drew 'Bundini' Brown | BET Award for Best Supporting ActorNAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture |- |2003 | Shade | Larry Jennings | |- |rowspan=4|2004 | Breakin' All the Rules | Quincy Watson | Nominated — BET Award for Best Actor, Musical or Comedy |- | Collateral | Max | BET Award for Best Supporting ActorWashington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting RoleNominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion PictureNominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion PictureNominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated — Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion PictureNominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role |- | Ray | Ray Charles | Academy Award for Best ActorBAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleBET Award for Best ActorBoston Society of Film Critics Award for Best ActorBroadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorFlorida Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActorGolden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyKansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActorLas Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorLondon Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActorNAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion PictureNational Board of Review Award for Best ActorNational Society of Film Critics Award for Best ActorPhoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorSatellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or ComedyScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading RoleSeattle Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorVancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActorWashington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Male PerformanceNominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture |- | |Tookie | BET Award for Best Actor, Network/Cable TelevisionNAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic SpecialSatellite Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television FilmNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television FilmNominated — Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead MaleNominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie |- |rowspan=2|2005 | Stealth | Lt. Henry Purcell | |- | Jarhead | Staff Sgt. Sykes | Nominated — Black Movie Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor |- |rowspan=2|2006 | Miami Vice | Ricardo Tubbs | |- | Dreamgirls | Curtis Taylor, Jr. | Nominated — BET Award for Best ActorNominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion PictureNominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture |- |2007 | The Kingdom | Ronald Fleury | |- |rowspan=2|2009 | The Soloist | Nathaniel Ayers | Nominated- Black Reel Awards- Best Actor |- | Law Abiding Citizen | Nick Rice | Nominated- BET Awards- Best ActorNominated- - Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture |- |rowspan=2|2010 | Valentine's Day | Kelvin Briggs | |- | Due Date | Darryl | |- |rowspan=3|2011 | Rio | Bobby, the yellow canary | Post-production |- | Horrible Bosses | Motherfucker Jonas | Post-production |- | Kane & Lynch | James Seth Lynch | Filming |}

Awards and nominations

Television Awards

*1998, Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series: The Jamie Foxx Show

*1999, Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series: The Jamie Foxx Show (nominated)

*2000, Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series: The Jamie Foxx Show (nominated)

*2001, Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series: The Jamie Foxx Show (nominated)

Music awards

American Music Awards

*2009, Favorite R&B;/Soul Male Artist (nominated)

*2006, Favorite R&B;/Soul Male Artist (winner)

*2006, Favorite R&B;/Soul Album: Unpredictable (nominated)

BET Awards

*2006, Best Male R&B; Artist (nominated)

*2006, Best Collaboration ("Unpredictable") with Ludacris (nominated)

*2009, Best Collaboration ("Blame It") with T-Pain (Winner)

*2009, Video of the Year: ("Blame It") (nominated)

*2009, Best Male R&B; Artist (nominated)

Grammy Awards

*2010, Best R&B; Performance by a Duo or Group ("Blame It") with T-Pain (winner)

*2010, Best Contemporary R&B; Album (Intuition) (nominated)

*2010, Best R&B; Song ("Blame It") (nominated)

*2007, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("Unpredictable") with Ludacris (nominated)

*2007, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group ("Georgia") with Ludacris & Field Mob (nominated)

*2007, Best R&B; Performance by a Duo or Group ("Love Changes") with Mary J. Blige (nominated)

*2007, Best R&B; Album (Unpredictable) (nominated)

*2006, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("Slow Jamz") with Twista & Kanye West (nominated)

*2006, Best Male R&B; Vocal Performance ("Creepin") (nominated)

*2009, Outstanding Male Artist (winner)

*2006, Outstanding Male Artist (winner)

MOBO Awards

*2006, Best R&B; Act (nominated)

MTV Video Music Awards

*2006, Best Hip-Hop Video: "Gold Digger" with Kanye West (nominated)

*2006, Best Ringtone: "Gold Digger" with Kanye West (nominated)

*2006, Best R&B; Video: "Unpredictable" featuring Ludacris (nominated)

*2004, MTV2 Award: "Slow Jamz" with Twista & Kanye West (nominated)

Soul Train Awards

*2009, Record of the Year: "Blame It" (winner)

*2009, Album of the Year: Intuition (nominated)

*2007, Best R&B;/Soul Album, Male: Unpredictable (winner)

*2006, Best Music Video: "Gold Digger" with Kanye West (winner)

*2006, Best R&B;/Soul Dance Cut: "Gold Digger" with Kanye West (nominated)

Vibe Awards

*2005, Best Collabo: "Gold Digger" with Kanye West (nominated)

*2004, Best Collabo: "Slow Jamz" with Twista & Kanye West (nominated)

Movie/TV Awards

Academy Awards

*2004, Nominated Best Supporting Actor - Collateral

* 2004, Won Best Actor - Ray

BAFTA Awards

*2005, Won Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Ray

*2004, Nominated Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - Collateral

BET Awards

*2006, Nominated Best Actor

*2005, Won Best Actor

Black Movie Awards

*2006, Nominated Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - Jarhead

Black Reel Awards

*2007, Nominated - Best Actor - Dreamgirls

*2005, Won Best Actor, Drama - Ray

*2004, Won Best Actor - Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (TV)

*2004, Won Best Supporting Actor - Collateral

*2004, Nominated - Best Actor, Musical or Comedy - Breakin' All the Rules

*2002, Won Theatrical - Best Supporting Actor - Ali

*2000, Nominated - Best Supporting Actor - Any Given Sunday

Blockbuster Entertainment Awards

*2000, Nominated - Favorite Supporting Actor - Drama - Any Given Sunday

Boston Society of Film Critics Awards

*2004, Won Best Actor - Ray

Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards

*2005, Won Critics Choice Award Best Actor - Ray

*2004, Nominated Critics Choice Award Best Supporting Actor - Collateral

Florida Film Critics Circle Awards

*2004, Won FFCC Award Best Actor - Ray

Golden Globes

*2005, Won Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Ray

*2004, Nominated Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television - Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (TV)

*2004, Nominated Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Collateral

Hollywood Film Festival

*2004, Won Hollywood Breakthrough Award Breakthrough Actor

*2007, Nominated Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture - Dreamgirls

*2005, Won Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture - Ray

*2004, Won Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special - Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (TV)

*2004, Nominated Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture - Collateral

*2002, Won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture - Ali

*2001, Nominated Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series - "The Jamie Foxx Show"

*2000, Nominated Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series - "The Jamie Foxx Show"

*1999, Nominated Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series - "The Jamie Foxx Show"

*1998, Nominated Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series - "The Jamie Foxx Show"

Independent Spirit Awards

*2005, Nominated Best Male Lead - Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (TV)

Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards

*2005, Won Best Actor - Ray (2004/I)

Kids' Choice Awards

*2001, Nominated Favorite Television Actor - "The Jamie Foxx Show"

*2000, Nominated Favorite Television Actor - "The Jamie Foxx Show"

Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards

*2005, Won Sierra Award Best Actor - Ray

London Critics Circle Film Awards

*2005, Won ALFS Award Actor of the Year - Ray

MTV Movie Awards

*2005, Nominated Best Male Performance - Ray

*2000, Nominated Breakthrough Male Performance - Any Given Sunday

MovieGuide Awards

*2005, Won Grace Award Most Inspiring Television Acting - Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (TV)

National Board of Review

*2004, Won Best Actor - Ray

National Society of Film Critics Awards

*2005, Won Best Actor - Ray

Online Film Critics Society Awards

*2005, Nominated Best Actor - Ray

*2004, Won Best Supporting Actor - Collateral

People's Choice Awards

*2008, Nominated Favorite Leading Man

*2006, Nominated Favorite Leading Man

Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards

*2004, Won Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Ray

Prism Awards

*2005, Won Performance in a Feature Film - Ray

Satellite Awards

*2005, Won Golden Satellite Award Best Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television - Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (TV)

*2004, Won Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical - Ray

*2004, Nominated Golden Satellite Award Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Drama - Collateral

Screen Actors Guild Awards

*2007, Nominated Actor Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture - Dreamgirls

*2005, Won Actor Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role - Ray

*2004, Nominated Actor Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture - Ray

*2004, Nominated Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role - Collateral

*2004, Nominated Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries - Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (TV)

Seattle Film Critics Awards

*'''2004, Won Best Actor - Ray

Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards

*2004, Won Best Actor - Ray

TV Land Awards

*2007, Nominated Little Screen/Big Screen Star

*2006, Nominated Little Screen/Big Screen Star

Teen Choice Awards

*2007, Nominated Choice Movie: Liplock - Dreamgirls

*2005, Nominated Choice Movie Actor: Drama - Ray

Vancouver Film Critics Circle

*2005, Won Best Actor - Ray

Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards

*2004, Won Best Actor - Ray

*2004, Won Best Supporting Actor - Collateral

References

External links

Official Site

Category:1967 births Category:Actors from Texas Category:African American film actors Category:African American comedians Category:American adoptees Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television actors Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Best Actor BAFTA Award winners Category:Best Actor Academy Award winners Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Living people Category:People from Linden, Texas Category:People from the Dallas – Fort Worth Metroplex Category:African American television actors Category:Grammy Award winners

Glenn Wool is a Canadian stand-up comedian now living in the United Kingdom. His material veers between sagely political and gleefully silly, discussing both the pop group Franz Ferdinand and the Pope's contribution to cryrogenics programmes during his time onstage. Wool starred in a self-titled show produced for Channel 4's "comedy lab" season in 2004. The show saw him attempting to exorcise a ghost from his place of residence. Glenn's 2009 show at the Edinburgh Festival is titled 'Let Your Hands Go'

References

External links

Glenns Website

Glenn Wool's official MySpace page

Live review: Glenn Wool at the Edinburgh fringe

Telegraph review: Glenn Wool's 'Let Your Hands Go' 2009

Category:Canadian comedians Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Name	Danny Bhoy
Birth name	Danni Chaudhry| birth_date = January 17, 1974 (age 36)
Birth place	Scotland
Nationality	British
Active	1998–present
Website	http://www.Dannybhoy.com

Danny Bhoy (born January 17, 1974) is a Scottish comedian who has found success in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. He is half-Indian and half-Scottish.

Biography

Early life

Danny grew up in Moffat, Scotland, as one of four children, and attended Lockerbie Academy and all-boys public school Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh.

His humour is observational, often involving his own personal experiences as an international comedian. While he does mention his Indian heritage during his material, it is often a quick reference and never the focus of the show.

Career

He began stand up in 1998 after going to see his first comedy show at the Edinburgh Festival. A year later, he won The Daily Telegraph Open Mic Award, Britain's biggest competition for comedy newcomers. In 2001, Danny took his first full length solo show to the Edinburgh Festival, where, within a week, he had sold out his entire three-week run, and added extra shows to cope with demand for tickets.

By the spring of 2003, Danny's comedy started to take a different direction. That year he also entered the Australian comedy market, with his first solo show at the invitation-only Melbourne Comedy Festival. The success of his live work led to various TV appearances on high-profile national Australian TV shows such as Rove Live, The Glass House, and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala. In November of that year, Danny was invited to perform on the Royal Variety Show.

In 2005, Danny was invited to take part in the Montreal Just For Laughs Comedy Festival, where the Montreal Gazette described him as 'the stand out hit of the festival.' In November, Danny was invited to take part in the inaugural Las Vegas Comedy Festival alongside some of the biggest names in comedy including Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock.

Since returning from his 2007 tour of Australia, Danny Bhoy is back on the road again. In 2009 Danny Bhoy, returned to Australia, for another tour.

Danny appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on March 5, 2010, and the Comedy Network's "Saturday Night Stand-up," which was broadcast on April 17, 2010.

He appeared on Comedy Central with his new routine, "Subject to Change: Danny Bhoy," which was broadcast on May 22, 2010, and appeared on Live at the Apollo, broadcast in December 2010.

References

External links

Official webpage

burnleycitizen.co.uk

festmag.co.uk

Category:1976 births Category:Living people Category:People from Dumfries and Galloway Category:Scottish people of Indian descent Category:Scottish stand-up comedians

Name	Dan Nainan
Caption	Dan Nainan
Birth name	Daniel Nainan
Birth date	Disputed | birth_place = Bloomington, Indiana, United States
Medium	stand-up, television, Radio
Nationality	American
Genre	Satire, Improvisational comedy, Observational comedy
Active	2002–present
Subject	political, multiculturalism, Indian culture
Notable work	Dan Nainan: Thou Shalt Laugh
Performances	Appolo Theater, Royce Hall
Website	DanielNainan.com

Dan Nainan is an American comedian of Indian and Japanese origin.

Nainan born in Bloomington, Indiana to a nuclear physicist from India and child psychologist from Japan. Before becoming a comedian, he worked as a "demonstration engineer" and then as Strategic Relations Manager with Intel

Nainan graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland in 1979

Break into comedy

As a senior engineer for Intel, Nainan traveled the world with CEO Andy Grove, demonstrating the latest technology on stage at high-profile events. As the audiences grew in size, Nainan experienced tremendous stage fright. To get over the fear of public speaking, he first joined a Toastmasters group, then took a stand up comedy class in San Francisco.

Comedy

Daniel Nainan recently opened the Bethesda Comedy Club, a 300 seat venue in the Washington, D.C. area.

Selected performances

In August 2008, Nainan performed at the Democratic National Convention in Denver Colorado, as a guest of US congressman Mike Honda. In November 2009, Nainan performed at the TED Conference in Mysore, India.

Television

In 2003, Nainan appeared in the first season of NBC's Last Comic Standing, advancing as far as the West Coast Semi finals.

Nainan appeared in a commercial for Apple computers. The commercial, entitled "PC Innovation Lab" was one in the "Get a Mac" series with Justin Long and John Hodgman. The commercial showed Nainan in a suit of bubble wrap.

Feature Film

In 2006 Nainan played a small role as a cello player in Paramount Pictures' film The Hoax starring Richard Gere. In 2009 Nainan played the role as a Fire Nation Warrior in the M. Night Shyamalan movie The Last Airbender.

References

Articles written about Dan Nainan

The New York Times - A Comedian Goes Green but Won't Go Off Color

The New York Times - It's Not Easy Being a Comic in the Security Line

Palo Alto weekly - Humor is Part of The Equation

Palo Alto weekly - Stand Up Stories

Wall Street Journal

Movie Mag - Multiple Cultures + Multiple Talents

Category:Living people Category:American radio actors Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American people of Indian descent Category:Indian comedians Category:American people of Japanese descent