Wayne Brady
in June 2010
Born	Wayne Alphonso Brady (1972-06-02) June 2, 1972 (age 40) Columbus, Georgia, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, television personality, comedian, singer, game show host
Years active	1990–present
Spouse	Diana Lasso (December 31, 1993 – September 21, 1995; divorced) Mandie Taketa (1999–2008; divorced)
Website
waynebrady.com

Wayne Alphonso Brady^[1] (born June 2, 1972) is an American actor, singer, comedian and television personality, known for his work as a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and as the host of the daytime talk show The Wayne Brady Show. He was the original host of Fox's Don't Forget the Lyrics!, and currently hosts the 2009 revival of Let's Make a Deal.

Early life[link]

Brady was born in Columbus, Georgia^[2] to West Indian parents, and moved to Orlando, Florida as a young child to live with his grandmother and aunt. When Brady talks about his "Mom," he is referring to his grandmother, Valerie Petersen, who raised him.^[3][4] At 16, he started performing in community theater and at the Orlando improv troupe SAK Comedy Lab where he first started developing his improv skills. He attended Dr. Phillips High School, in Orlando, Florida, where he graduated in 1989. In 1990, he enrolled at the University of Miami^[5]. In 1996, he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he continued developing his acting skills.^[6]

Career[link]

Brady's career began as one of the improvisational theater performers in the original (British) version of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, along with Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, and host Clive Anderson in 1998 when the last season was filmed in Hollywood, after which he became a regular on the American version, hosted by Drew Carey, which was his first Stateside television exposure. In 2003, Brady won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety, Musical or Comedy Series for his work on the show, the only person to win the award for a television series, as opposed to a special, since Dana Carvey in 1993.^{[citation needed]}

He went on to star in his own ABC variety show in 2001 called The Wayne Brady Show, and a daytime talk show of the same name in 2002, which lasted two seasons and won four Daytime Emmy Awards, two of which went to Brady for Outstanding Talk Show Host. Brady also guest-starred on The Drew Carey Show in 1999 and 2000 to take part in Drew Live and Drew Live II. On the show, Brady played several games taken from Whose Line Is It Anyway? for the two episodes with other characters.

In 2004, Brady joined the long-running Broadway revival of Chicago, playing the role of lawyer Billy Flynn. He also appeared briefly in the final episode of the 2004 season of the comedy Reno 911!. Additionally, Brady guest starred on the Sci Fi Channel's hit series show Stargate SG-1 as the first-prime of the Goa'uld System Lord, Ares. Brady also made a noteworthy appearance on Chappelle's Show, poking fun at his squeaky clean persona.^[7]

Brady wrote and sang the theme song for Disney's popular animated series The Weekenders. In 2005, he sang and recorded Jim Brickman's original Disney song "Beautiful" (a cover of All-4-One's 2002 hit "Beautiful As You") and its Christmas version.^[8]

In 2006, Brady became the host of TV Land's That's What I'm Talking About, a talk show discussing the role of African-Americans in the entertainment industry. From August 29 - September 29, 2006, Brady hosted the Fox show Celebrity Duets.

On November 27, 2006, Brady made a guest appearance on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, playing James, the gay brother of Neil Patrick Harris's character Barney. His character conflicts with Barney due to his choice to marry and adopt a baby. Brady returned to the show in 2007 in the episode The Yips, in which he is shown to be indirectly responsible for Barney's current superconfident personality, as well as in 2010's Cleaning House episode. He had also appeared as a guest star for the MTV show Nick Cannon's Wild 'N Out. Brady also helps with the Adult Swim TV show Robot Chicken.

Brady has also gone "north-of-the-border" and guest starred in Colin Mochrie's CBC comedy, Getting Along Famously. He has also appeared on the episode "You Don't Know Jack" on the television show Dirt and also guest starred on the show 30 Rock, where he played the role of Steven Black, Liz Lemon's date for The Source Awards. Steven and Liz's relationship quickly ended when they discovered they had nothing in common and Liz accidentally shot him in the buttocks.

Brady was the co-host of the short-lived VH1 show "Vinyl Justice" in 1998. In 2007, ABC Family premiered the movie called "The List". The List is about a man who proposes to his girlfriend. When she says no, he begins to make a list of qualities he believes his "Perfect Woman" should have. He starred in Flirt,^[9] a comedy pilot developed for The CW Television Network, which if it had been picked up would have aired in the 2006-07 television season.

Brady guest starred as Julius Rock's gifted younger brother, Louis, in the television series, Everybody Hates Chris, and hosted a singing game show called Don't Forget the Lyrics! on Fox until its cancellation in June 2009. He also performs "Wayne Brady: Making $%!^ up" at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada four nights a week.^[10][11] He was also on two episodes of Kevin Hill. Brady's debut album was released on September 16, 2008. The song "A Change is Gonna Come", a cover of the popular 1964 single by Sam Cooke, earned Brady a Grammy nomination in the Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance category.^[12]

Brady started hosting an updated version of the game show Let's Make a Deal for CBS in October 2009, which taped at the Tropicana Resort & Casino in Las Vegas and currently tapes in Los Angeles. The show replaced the soap opera Guiding Light, which ended its long time run. The original host of Let's Make a Deal was Monty Hall, who serves as consultant for the new show. Drew Carey currently hosts The Price Is Right, and thus, both game shows in the CBS daytime lineup (as of May 2010) hold the distinction of being hosted by an alumnus of Whose Line Is It Anyway?.

Brady was the guest host on the May 3, 2010 episode of WWE Raw, where he was involved in an in-ring segment with Edge and Randy Orton, and eventually getting RKO'd by Orton.^[13] Later that year, in August, Brady played the role of Tom Collins in a staged production of Rent at the Hollywood Bowl. The production was directed by Neil Patrick Harris.^[14]

Brady, together with Jonathan Mangum performed in two episodes of Fast and Loose, a new improvisational series on BBC2 hosted by Hugh Dennis, in January 2011. Then, along with Holly Robinson Peete, he the 42nd annual NAACP Image Awards on March 4, 2011.^[15]

On May 3 he appeared on Dancing With The Stars as the lead performer in a tribute to James Brown celebrating what would have been Brown's 78th birthday in the Macy's Stars of Dance segment. He has also been a special guest of Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza on GSN, appearing each time with Let's Make a Deal announcer Jonathan Mangum.

Brady made a cameo in the 2011 song "Dedication to my Ex (miss that)" by Lloyd ft. Lil Wayne & Andre 3000, narrating Lil Wayne's section of the song, and he will appear as a special guest star in the March 14, 2012 episode of the TV series Psych along with Greg Grunberg and Mike "The Miz" Mizanin.

Personal life[link]

In 2007 Brady became an official supporter of Ronald McDonald House Charities and is a member of their celebrity board, called the Friends of RMHC.^[16]

Brady has been married twice. His first marriage was to Diana Lasso on December 31, 1993. They were divorced on September 21, 1995. His second marriage was to dancer Mandie Taketa on April 3, 1999. They have one child together, a daughter named Maile Masako Brady, born on February 3, 2003. Brady and Taketa separated on April 5, 2006 and Taketa filed for divorce on July 2, 2007.^[17]

Filmography[link]

• The Drew Carey Show (1999-2000) - Multiple episodes, himself
• American Dad (2012) - Ricky Spanish, Tungee

Discography[link]

Albums

Singles

• "Ordinary" (2008) - Wayne Brady
• "Beautiful" (2005) - Wayne Brady, accompanied on piano by songwriter Jim Brickman
• "Don't Stop" (2005) - Jamie Jones featuring Wayne Brady and William Carthright
• "Unsung Heroes" (2004) - Wayne Brady
• "F.W.B." (2009) - Wayne Brady
• "The Weekenders Theme Song" (2000) - Wayne Brady

References[link]

Notes

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wayne Brady

• Wayne Brady at the Internet Movie Database
• Wayne Brady at AllRovi
• Official website
• Training Day Parody sketch from Chappelle's Show
• Las Vegas Review Journal: The Brady Hunch, May 18, 2007
• Questions and Answers with Wayne Brady Las Vegas Sun, April 11, 2007
• Wayne Brady's 'Lyric'-al TV Return Interview - AOL Television
• Wayne Brady on Tom Green Live, 23 May 2007

v t e Whose Line Is It Anyway? UK version Host Clive Anderson Regular contestants Chip Esten Stephen Frost Stephen Fry Josie Lawrence Mike McShane Paul Merton Colin Mochrie Greg Proops John Sessions Brad Sherwood Tony Slattery Steve Steen Ryan Stiles Jim Sweeney Sandi Toksvig Caroline Quentin Musicians Colin Sell Richard Vranch Laura Hall Win Meyerson US version Host Drew Carey Regular contestants Wayne Brady Chip Esten Kathy Greenwood Colin Mochrie Greg Proops Brad Sherwood Denny Siegel Ryan Stiles Jeff Davis Musicians Laura Hall Linda Taylor Cece Worrall-Ruben Related topics List of UK episodes List of US episodes List of games Drew Carey's Green Screen Show (List of episodes) Mock the Week Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza (List of episodes)

Dave Chappelle
Dave Chappelle, 2007
Birth name	David Khari Webber Chappelle
Born	(1973-08-24) August 24, 1973 (age 38) Washington, D.C., U.S.[1]
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Nationality	American
Years active	1987–present
Genres	Satire/political satire, improvisational comedy, observational comedy, surreal humor, sketch comedy, black comedy, blue comedy
Subject(s)	Racism, race relations, American politics, African American culture, pop culture, recreational drug use, human sexuality, morality
Influences	Richard Pryor,[2] Eddie Murphy,[2] Mel Blanc,[2] Chris Rock[3]
Spouse	Elaine Chappelle (2001–present) 3 children
Notable works and roles	Himself and Various in Chappelle's Show Himself in Dave Chappelle's Block Party Achoo in Robin Hood: Men in Tights Thurgood Jenkins in Half Baked
Signature

David Khari Webber "Dave" Chappelle^[4] (/ʃəˈpɛl/; born August 24, 1973)^[1] is an American comedian, screenwriter, television/film producer, actor, and artist. Chappelle began his film career in the film Robin Hood: Men in Tights in 1993 and continued to star in minor roles in the films The Nutty Professor, Con Air, and Blue Streak. His first lead role in a film was in Half Baked in 1998. In 2003, he became widely known for his popular sketch comedy television series, Chappelle's Show, which ran until his abrupt retirement from the show in 2005. Chappelle is ranked forty-third in Comedy Central Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time.^[5]

Early life[link]

Chappelle was born David Khari Webber Chappelle in Washington, D.C. on August 24, 1973.^[1][2] His father, William David Chappelle III, was a professor at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio.^[2] His mother, Yvonne (née Reed), was a professor at Howard University, Prince George's Community College, and the University of Maryland and is also a Unitarian Universalist minister.^[6][7][8] Chappelle grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland and attended Woodlin Elementary School.^[2] During young Chappelle's formative years, his comic inspiration came from various comedians, particularly Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor.^[2]

After his parents separated, Chappelle stayed in Washington with his mother while spending summers with his father in Ohio. In 1991, he graduated from Washington's Duke Ellington School of the Arts where he studied theatre arts.^[2]

Chappelle moved to New York City to pursue a career as a comedian. He gathered the courage to perform at Harlem's famed Apollo Theater in front of the infamous "Amateur Night" audience. The performance resulted in him being booed off the stage. Chappelle has described the experience as the moment that gave him the courage to continue his show business aspirations.^[2] He quickly made a name for himself in the New York comedy circuit, even performing in the city's parks. At the age of 19, Chappelle made his film debut as "Ahchoo" in Mel Brooks' Robin Hood: Men in Tights. In the same year, Chappelle was offered the role of Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue in Forrest Gump. Concerned about what seemed to be a racially demeaning character, he turned down the part; the film would go on to win Academy Award for Best Picture that year. He has since admitted to regretting the decision.^[9] Chappelle played another supporting movie role in 1994's little-seen Getting In.

He attracted the attention of TV network executives and developed numerous pilots but none of them were picked up for series.^[2][10] In 1995, he made a guest appearance in an episode of ABC's highly rated sitcom Home Improvement. The storyline had Chappelle and real-life friend comedian Jim Breuer ask Tim Taylor for advice on their girlfriends. The characters' single outing in the episode proved so popular that ABC decided to give them their own spin-off sitcom titled Buddies. However, after taping a pilot episode, Jim Breuer was fired and replaced with actor Christopher Gartin. Buddies premiered in March 1996 to disappointing ratings. The show was cancelled after only four episodes out of thirteen that were produced. Nine years later, in May 2005, ten of the episodes were released on a single-disc DVD to capitalize on Chappelle's new-found fame.

After the failure of Buddies, Chappelle starred in another pilot. According to Chappelle, the network was uncomfortable with the African-American cast and wanted white actors added. Chappelle resisted and subsequently accused the network of racism. Shortly after this incident, Chappelle's father died. Chappelle returned to Ohio and considered leaving the entertainment business.^[2][10]

He later appeared as a nightclub comedian in the 1996 comedy The Nutty Professor starring Eddie Murphy, one of his major comedic influences. He also had a minor role in 1997's Con Air. He and Neal Brennan co-wrote the 1998 cult stoner film Half Baked, Chappelle's first starring role, about a group of marijuana-smoking friends trying to get their friend out of jail. That same year, he appeared in "Pilots and Pens Lost", a 1998 episode of The Larry Sanders Show's sixth season, in which he and the executives of the show's nameless television network satirized the treatment to which scriptwriters and show creators were subjected, as well as the executives' knee-jerk tendencies toward racial stereotypes. In December of that year Chappelle appeared as Tom Hanks' friend and confidant in You've Got Mail. In 1999, he appeared in the Martin Lawrence film Blue Streak.

In 2000, Chappelle recorded his first HBO special, Dave Chappelle: Killin' Them Softly, in Washington, DC.^[11] He followed this up with an appearance as "Conspiracy Brother" in the 2002 racial satire Undercover Brother.

[edit] 2003–2006: Standup and Chappelle's Show

In 2003, Chappelle debuted his own weekly sketch comedy show on Comedy Central called Chappelle's Show. The show parodied many aspects of American culture including racial stereotypes, politics and pop culture. Along with comedy skits, the show also featured musical performances by mostly hip-hop and soul artists.

Chappelle's pointed social and political commentary quickly helped the show garner critical and commercial success as well as controversy.^[10][12] Richard Pryor, one of Chappelle's comedic influences, was a fan of the show and stated that he had "passed the torch" to Chappelle.^[10] Chappelle received two Emmy nominations for the show.^[13] Additionally, the DVD set became the best-selling DVD of a television show to date, overtaking the previous best-selling, The Simpsons first season DVD. It had sold over 3 million copies.^[14] Due to the show's popularity, Comedy Central's parent company Viacom reportedly offered Chappelle a $55 million contract (giving Chappelle a share of DVD sales) to continue production of Chappelle's Show for two more years while allowing him to do side projects. Chappelle had stated that sketches are not his favorite form of comedy, and that the characteristics of the show's format were somewhat like short films.

In June 2004, based on the popularity of the "Rick James" sketch, it was announced that Chappelle was in talks to portray Rick James in a biopic from Paramount Pictures (also owned by Viacom).^[15] James's estate disagreed with the proposed comical tone of the film and put a halt to the talks.^[16]

In 2004, Chappelle recorded his second comedy special, this time airing on Showtime - Dave Chappelle: For What It's Worth, at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium.^[17]

Season three turbulence[link]

In a June 2004 stand-up performance in Sacramento, California, Chappelle walked off the stage after berating his audience for constantly shouting "I'm Rick James, bitch!," which became a catchphrase from the popular "Rick James" sketch. After a few minutes, Chappelle returned and continued by saying, "The show is ruining my life." He stated that he disliked working "20 hours a day" and that the popularity of the show was making it difficult for him to continue his stand-up career, which was "the most important thing" to him. He also told the audience:

You know why my show is good? Because the network officials say you're not smart enough to get what I'm doing, and every day I fight for you. I tell them how smart you are. Turns out, I was wrong. You people are stupid.^[18]

Season 3 was scheduled to air on May 31, 2005, but in that month, Chappelle stunned fans and the entertainment industry when he abruptly left during production of the third season of Chappelle's Show and took a trip to South Africa. Chappelle has since stated that he was unhappy with the direction the show had taken.

Coming here I don't have the distractions of fame. It quiets the ego down. I'm interested in the kind of person I've got to become. I want to be well rounded and the industry is a place of extremes. I want to be well balanced. I've got to check my intentions, man.^[19]

Return[link]

In June 2005, Chappelle performed impromptu stand-up shows in Los Angeles.^[20][21][22] He then went on a tour that began in Newport, Kentucky, not far from his Ohio home.^[23] He also made a surprise appearance on HBO's Def Poetry where he performed two poems, titled Fuck Ashton Kutcher and How I Got the Lead on "Jeopardy!."^[24] He was interviewed for Inside the Actors Studio on December 18, 2005 at Pace University's Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts. The show premiered on February 12, 2006.^[25] Chappelle stated that the death of his father in 1998 had an impact on his decision to go to South Africa. By throwing himself into his work, he had not taken a chance to mourn his father's death. He also said the rumors that he was in drug or psychiatric treatment only persuaded him to stay in South Africa.^[2]

He continued:

I would go to work on the show and I felt awful every day, that's not the way it was. ... I felt like some kind of prostitute or something. If I feel so bad, why keep on showing up to this place? I'm going to Africa. The hardest thing to do is to be true to yourself, especially when everybody is watching.

Chappelle also said that he felt some of his sketches were "socially irresponsible."^[26][27] He singled out the "pixie sketch" in which pixies appear to people and encourage them to reinforce stereotypes of their races. In the sketch, Chappelle is wearing blackface and is dressed as a character in a minstrel show.^[28] According to Chappelle, during the filming of the sketch, a crew member was laughing in a way that made him feel uncomfortable and made him rethink the show.^[26][27] Chappelle said, "it was the first time I felt that someone was not laughing with me but laughing at me."^[26]

During these interviews, Chappelle did not rule out returning to Chappelle's Show to "finish what we started," but promised that he would not return without changes to the production, such as a better working environment. He also stated he would like to donate half of the DVD sales to charity.^[29] Chappelle expressed disdain at the possibility of his material from the unfinished third season being aired, saying that to do so would be "a bully move," and that he would not return to the show if Comedy Central were to air the unfinished material.^[27] On July 9, 2006, Comedy Central aired the first episode of Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes. An uncensored DVD release of the episodes was made available on July 25.

The show still plays in syndication on several television networks despite the relatively small number of episodes compared to most American syndicated television programs.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Dave Chappelle's Block Party

The site of Dave Chappelle's Block Party in Brooklyn.

Chappelle was the star and producer of the Michel Gondry-directed documentary Dave Chappelle's Block Party, which chronicles a Chappelle-hosted concert in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn on September 18, 2004. Several musical artists, including Kanye West, The Roots, Erykah Badu, Mos Def, Dead Prez and Jill Scott are featured in the movie both performing in the concert and in conversation off-stage. The most surprising highlight of the event was the "last minute" reunion of popular 1990s hip hop group The Fugees. Chappelle toured several cities in February and March 2006 to promote the film under the moniker "Block Party All-Stars featuring Dave Chappelle". Universal Pictures' genre division Rogue Pictures released the film in the United States on March 3, 2006.

2007–present[link]

In April 2007, Chappelle set a stand-up endurance record at the Laugh Factory Sunset Strip comedy club, beating comedian Dane Cook's record of 3 hours and 50 minutes. In December of the same year, Chappelle broke his own record with a time of 6 hours and 12 minutes. Cook reclaimed the record in January 2008, with a time of 7 hours.^[30] On November 19, 2009 Chappelle performed at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, where it was speculated that he would aim to take back the record. However, he was disqualified according to the club owner, after he left the stage, five hours into his routine.^[31]

Chappelle again appeared on Inside the Actors Studio and in celebration of the show's 200th episode, he humorously interviewed the show's usual host, James Lipton. The episode aired on November 11, 2008.

Personal life[link]

Chappelle lives with his wife Elaine, two sons,^[28] Sulayman^[32] and Ibrahim,^[33] and daughter Sonal, on a 65-acre (260,000 m²) farm,^[2][10] just outside Yellow Springs, Ohio.^[23] He also owns several houses in Xenia, Ohio. Regarding his home in Yellow Springs, Ohio, Chappelle says, "Turns out you don't need $50 million to live around these parts, just a nice smile and a kind way about you. You guys are the best neighbors ever," he stated at a blues and jazz festival in the town in mid-September 2006. "That's why I came back and that's why I'm staying."^[34]

Chappelle is a Muslim, having converted to Islam in 1998. He told Time Magazine in a May 2005 interview, "I don’t normally talk about my religion publicly because I don’t want people to associate me and my flaws with this beautiful thing. And I believe it is beautiful if you learn it the right way."^[35]

Filmography[link]

This section requires expansion.

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dave Chappelle

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dave Chappelle

• Dave Chappelle at the Internet Movie Database
• Video of Anderson Cooper 360 Interview
• Fresh Air Interview in 2004

Drew Carey
Carey in November 2008
Birth name	Drew Allison Carey
Born	(1958-05-23) May 23, 1958 (age 54) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Nationality	American
Years active	1985–present
Genres	Improvisational comedy
Notable works and roles	The Drew Carey Show Drew Carey's Green Screen Show Host of: Whose Line Is It Anyway? The Price Is Right Power of 10 Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza
Website	http://www.drewfromtv.blogspot.com

Drew Allison Carey (born May 23, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, sports executive, and game show host. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, Carey eventually gained popularity starring on his own sitcom, The Drew Carey Show, and serving as host of the U.S. version of the improv comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, both of which aired on ABC.

Carey has appeared in several films, television series, music videos, a made-for-television film, and a computer game. As of 2012, he hosts the television game show The Price Is Right. He is interested in a variety of sports, has worked as a photographer at U.S. National Team soccer games, is a minority owner of the Major League Soccer team Seattle Sounders FC and a member of the WWE Hall of Fame. Carey has written an autobiography, Dirty Jokes And Beer: Stories Of The Unrefined, detailing his early life and television career.

Early life[link]

Carey in his U.S. Marine Corps uniform, with rank insignia of a Corporal

Carey was the youngest of Lewis and Beulah Carey's three sons and raised in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio.^[1] When he was eight years old, his father died from a brain tumor.^[2][3] According to his autobiography, he was born with six toes on his right foot and he played the cornet and trumpet in the marching band of James Ford Rhodes High School, from which he graduated in 1975.^[4] Drew is of Scottish heritage from both parents.^{[citation needed]}

He continued on to college at Kent State University (KSU) and was expelled twice for poor academic performance. He left KSU after three years, but not before becoming a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. After leaving the university, Carey enlisted into the United States Marine Corps Reserve in 1980 and served for six years.^[1] He relocated to Las Vegas for a few months in 1982, and for a short time worked as a bank teller and a waiter at Denny's.^[1][3]

Stand-up career[link]

In 1985, he began his comedy career by following up on a suggestion by David Lawrence (a disc jockey friend who had been paying Drew to write jokes for David's radio show in Cleveland) to go to the library and borrow books on how to write jokes.^[5][6] The following year, after winning an open-microphone contest, he became Master of Ceremonies at the Cleveland Comedy Club.^[2] He performed at multiple comedy clubs over the next few years in both Cleveland and Los Angeles. He was first brought to the national eye as a comedian when he competed in the 1988 Star Search.^[7] Carey was working as a stand-up comedian when he appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in November 1991.^[8] His performance that night impressed Carson, who invited Carey to the couch next to his desk; this was considered a rare honor for any comedian.^[5][9] In that same year, Carey joined the 14th Annual Young Comedians Special on HBO and made his first appearance on Late Night with David Letterman.^[10] In 1994, Carey wrote his own stand-up comedy special which aired on Showtime, entitled Drew Carey: Human Cartoon, for which he won a CableACE Award for Best Writing.^[11]

Acting career[link]

Early roles[link]

Following on the success of his early stand-up career, he subsequently appeared in a number of supporting roles on television shows, during which he developed the character of a hapless middle-class bachelor. In 1993, Carey had a small role in the film Coneheads as a taxi passenger. Turning his attention to television, in 1994, Carey co-starred with John Caponera in The Good Life, a short-lived sitcom that aired on NBC.^[12] After the show's cancellation, Carey joined up with writer Bruce Helford (who was also a writer for The Good Life), who gave Carey a job as a consultant for the television show Someone Like Me.^[13]

[edit] The Drew Carey Show

After their stint on Someone Like Me, Carey and Helford developed and produced the storyline for The Drew Carey Show. The sitcom revolved around a fictionalized version of Carey, as he took on the stresses of life and work with his group of childhood friends. The show premiered on September 13, 1995 on ABC. In his autobiography, Carey revealed his frustration with having to deal with censors and being unable to employ the off-color humor common in his stand-up routines.^[4] Carey initially earned $60,000 per episode in the first seasons, then renegotiated for $300,000.^[14] By the final season, he was earning $750,000 per episode.^[15] The show had high ratings for its first few seasons, but declining ratings and increasing production costs (around $3 million per episode) precipitated its cancellation.^[15][16] The program had a total of 233 episodes over its nine-year run and Carey was one of four actors to appear in every episode. The show starred (in order of episode appearances) Carey, Diedrich Bader, Kathy Kinney, Ryan Stiles (all in every episode); Craig Ferguson (starring role in seasons 2-8 and guest appearances in 9); Christa Miller (seasons 1-7); and Ian Gomez (semi-regular from seasons 1-9) and John Carroll Lynch (semi-regular from seasons 3/4-9).

Improv television[link]

While still starring in The Drew Carey Show, in 1998 Carey began hosting the American version of the improvisational comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway?. He would announce the improv guests, direct the games, and then would usually involve himself in the final game of the episode. The show ran for a total of 220 episodes until the show's cancellation in 2006. In 1998, the New York Friars' Club made Carey the newest inductee of the group's Comedy Central Roast. His friend Ryan Stiles (who costarred in The Drew Carey Show and Whose Line Is It Anyway?) served as the roastmaster.^[17] Carey's income from Whose Line Is It Anyway? and The Drew Carey Show led to his inclusion on the Forbes list of highest-paid entertainers of 1998, at 24th with $45.5 million.^[18]

For the WB's 2004-2005 prime time schedule, Carey co-produced and starred in Drew Carey's Green Screen Show, a spin-off of Whose Line Is It Anyway?.^[19] It was canceled by the WB, but picked up shortly afterward by Comedy Central.^[20] The show's premise relied on the use of a green screen for all of the actors' improv interactions. Animation on the screen was inserted during post-production.

On November 18, 2010, the Game Show Network announced that Drew Carey would host a new improv show in primetime, called Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza. The show is filmed at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada and first aired on April 11, 2011.^[21] The show takes on the premise of Whose Line? and Drew Carey's Green Screen Show in that it features many of the same performers from both shows and they do improv based on audience-provided suggestions.

Improv All-Stars[link]

Carey was one of the founders of the Improv All-Stars, a group of eleven actors who perform in unscripted skits.^[22] The group joined Carey in all three of his improv shows, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Drew Carey's Green Screen Show, and Drew Carey's Improv-a-ganza and some members had major roles or guest starred on The Drew Carey Show.^[23] The Improv All-Stars travel on comedy tours, performing at comedy clubs throughout the United States.

Game show host[link]

[edit] Power of 10

Beginning in 2007, Carey began hosting game shows, beginning with his April selection as host of the CBS game show pilot Power of 10. The show ran from August 7, 2007 to April 7, 2008 and aired twice weekly during the late summer and early fall. Each game featured contestants predicting how a cross-section of Americans responded to questions covering a wide variety of topics in polls conducted by CBS.^[24]

[edit] The Price Is Right

After taping the pilot episode for Power of 10, Carey was contacted by CBS about replacing the retiring Bob Barker at The Price Is Right. After initially turning down the offer, Carey announced on Late Show with David Letterman that he would succeed Barker as host of the program beginning in the fall of 2007.^[25] His first episode of The Price Is Right was taped on August 15, and his shows began airing on October 15. In response to replacing Barker as host of the game show, Carey stated "You can't replace Bob Barker. I don't compare myself to anybody... It's only about what you're doing and supposed to do, and I feel like I'm supposed to be doing this."^[26] When Carey began hosting, the set, theme music, and show logo were updated. However, Carey kept the old closing line about spaying and neutering that originated with Barker, although his version uses slightly different wording. During Carey's second year as host, he began to write some of the sketches used during the Showcase, which features guest appearances by stars of other CBS programs.

Other roles and appearances[link]

Carey began appearing in commercials for restaurants in the late 1990s in Canada with The Great Root Bear, but his two-year contract with A&W Food Services of Canada was cut short in November 1998 after an episode of The Drew Carey Show featured McDonald's. As a result of his dismissal, Carey sued A&W for compensation.^[27]

Entrance to Sounds Dangerous! at Disney's Hollywood Studios

Disney's Hollywood Studios (then "Disney-MGM Studios"), part of Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, debuted a 12-minute attraction in 1999 titled Sounds Dangerous!.^[28] In the show, a camera follows Carey through a day as an undercover detective. When his video camera fails, the audience is left in complete darkness wearing earphones, following his adventure through sound cues. The attraction is presently^[when?] running on a limited "seasonal" schedule.

In 2000, Carey was given a cameo appearance in the House Party expansion pack of the computer game The Sims.^[29] To make him appear, the characters in the game must throw a successful party, which causes Carey to arrive in a limo and join the festivities. Carey is a fan of The Sims series and during one April Fool's episode of The Drew Carey Show, a scene takes place completely within The Sims.^[29][30] Carey made several other cameo appearances in music videos, including "Weird Al" Yankovic's "It's All About the Pentiums"^[31] and Fountains of Wayne's 2004 video for "Mexican Wine", giving an introduction to the video as if it were on a stage.^[32]

Although primarily known for his television work, Carey has done limited film work, with his first appearance in 1993's Coneheads. His next film was the 2000 television film, Geppetto that debuted on The Wonderful World of Disney. The film, an adaptation of Pinocchio, included actor Wayne Brady who had joined Carey on his improv shows.^[33] Carey took singing lessons to prepare for the role.^[3] In 2005, Carey appeared in three films: the animated film Robots, where he provided a voice-over for the character Crank; The Aristocrats where he retold a dirty joke along with other celebrities; and the documentary, Fuck, where he was interviewed.

Carey provided the entertainment for the 2002 Annual White House correspondents' dinner.^[10] Once Carey completed his standup routine for the 1,800 guests, President George W. Bush, noting Carey's improv work, made a joke of his own: "Drew? Got any interest in the Middle East?"^[34] In 2003, he joined Jamie Kennedy to host the WB's live special Play for a Billion.^[35] In September 2003, Carey led a group of comedians, including Blake Clark and The Drew Carey Show's Kathy Kinney, on a comedy tour of Iraq.^[36]

On June 8, 2006, Drew Carey's Sporting Adventures debuted on the Travel Channel. In this series, Carey traveled throughout Germany to photograph multiple FIFA World Cup soccer games while he immerses himself in the culture of the towns and states he visits.^[37] In early 2008, Carey appeared in Matt Groening's The Simpsons as part of the episode "All About Lisa" as a guest on the Krusty the Clown Show.

Writing[link]

Carey has routinely written throughout his career, including developing his stand-up comedy routines in his early stand-up career, and then moving on to assist in writing sitcoms. In 1997, Carey published his autobiography, Dirty Jokes and Beer: Stories of the Unrefined wherein he shared memories of his early childhood and of his father's death when he was eight. He also revealed that he was once molested, had suffered bouts of depression, and had made two suicide attempts by swallowing a large amount of sleeping pills.^[4] The book discusses his college fraternity years while attending Kent State University, and his professional career up to that time. The book featured large amounts of profanity and, as the title suggests, includes multiple dirty jokes (there is one at the start of each chapter) and references to beer. The book was featured on The New York Times bestseller list for three months.^[38]

Personal life[link]

He adopted his crew cut hair style while serving in the United States Marine Corps. Carey has had refractive surgery to correct his vision and therefore did not really require glasses (any glasses he wore in public were merely props to help the audience recognize him).^[39] However, while this was true for several years, on the May 17, 2006 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! he revealed that when he turned 40, he actually developed a need for bifocals. Carey currently^[when?] lives in Los Angeles and New York City.^[40]

On October 9, 2007 Carey proposed to Nicole Jaracz.^[41] In January 2012, it was reported that Carey and Jaracz had called off their engagement.^[42] She has appeared on The Price Is Right several times.^{[citation needed]}

After suffering chest pains while filming The Drew Carey Show in August 2001, Carey went to the hospital where he underwent a coronary angioplasty.^[43] Although his weight was a comedic topic throughout his sitcom and improv shows, in 2010 he began a diet and exercise plan, resulting in an extensive weight loss and elimination of his type-2 diabetes.^[44]

Political views[link]

Carey is an outspoken libertarian.^{[45][46][47][48]} He has expressed his political philosophy in the following terms, "I believe the answers to all the problems we face as a society won't come from Washington, it will come from us. So the way we decide to live our lives and our decisions about what we buy or don't buy are much more important than who we vote for."^[49]

Carey has expressed his distaste for the Bush administration's management of the War in Iraq, specifically on the September 15, 2007, episode of Real Time with Bill Maher. He made donations to Ron Paul's presidential campaign for the 2008 election.^[50] On the September 26, 2008 episode of The Late Late Show, Carey defined "libertarian" to host Craig Ferguson as "a conservative who still gets high."^[51]

Carey has spoken about his various political beliefs in several interviews and in 1998, he led a "smoke-in" in defiance of California's newly passed no-smoking ordinance inside bars and restaurants.^[52] Carey has hosted a series of mini-documentaries called The Drew Carey Project on Reason.tv, an online project of Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank.^[53] The first episode, "Gridlock", addresses private highway ownership and was released on October 15, 2007. Other episodes discuss topics such as eminent domain, urban traffic congestion, and medical marijuana.

Sports involvement[link]

Carey is a devoted fan of the U.S. National Soccer Team, Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Cleveland Indians. In 1999, Carey was part of the pregame ceremonies at the first game of the return of the Cleveland Browns, televised on ESPN.^[18] Carey attended the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Carey is a minority owner of the Seattle Sounders FC, who began play in Major League Soccer on March 19, 2009. Carey is a fan of FC Barcelona and of the Scottish team Rangers.^[54] In 2006 he was a season ticket holder for the Los Angeles Galaxy.^[55]

Carey preparing for a TV broadcast at the dedication of Cleveland Browns Stadium, September 1999

Carey has shown his support for the Indians by throwing the first pitch at an August 12, 2006 game against the Kansas City Royals. He was rewarded by the Cleveland Indians for being "the greatest Indians fan alive" with a personal bobblehead doll made in his likeness that was given to fans. Carey responded to his bobblehead likeness by saying "Bobblehead Day, for me, is as big as getting a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame."^[56]

In 2001, Carey was the first television actor to enter World Wrestling Entertainment's 30-man "Royal Rumble" match, which he did to promote an improv comedy pay-per-view at the time. He appeared in a few backstage segments before his brief participation in the match. Upon entering the ring, Carey stood unopposed for more than half a minute, but after the next entrant Kane refused a monetary bribe, Carey eliminated himself from the match by jumping over the top rope and retreated from ringside.^[57] On April 2, 2011 Carey was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Kane.^[58]

Carey competed against five other celebrities in the first celebrity edition of the 2003 World Poker Tour. He placed fifth, only beating out actor Jack Black. Carey won $2,000 for his charity.^[59]

On May 15, 2011, Carey completed the "Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon" in 1:57:02, then on September 4, 2011, he improved to complete the Disneyland Half Marathon in 1:50:46.

On October 30, 2011, Carey finished the Marine Corps Marathon with a chip time of: 4:37:11 and placed 10149th out of 20940.

Philanthropy[link]

Carey at the World Cup Fest in Kaiserslautern, Germany in June 2006 while filming Drew Carey's Sporting Adventures

Carey is a supporter of libraries, crediting them for beginning his successful comedy career. On May 2, 2000, in a celebrity edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, he selected the Ohio Library Foundation to receive his $500,000 winnings.^[60] He later went on to win an additional $32,000 on the second celebrity Millionaire, making him one of the biggest winning contestants on Millionaire who did not win the top prize. Carey also has played on the World Poker Tour in the Hollywood Home games for the Cleveland Public Library charity.^[61] In June 2007, Carey offered to donate up to $100,000 (in $10,000 increments) to the Mooch Myernick Memorial Fund if anybody could beat him at the video game FIFA Soccer 07 for the Xbox 360. He dared five players from both the U.S. Men's and Women's National Teams to compete against him.^[62] Carey ended up donating $100,000 plus $60,000 for losing two games out of the six games he played.^[63]

In October 2009, Carey made a bid of $25,000 in a charity auction for the @drew Twitter account. He later increased his offer to $100,000 if the number of followers of his account @DrewFromTV reached 100,000 by the end of the auction.^[64] In an interview with CBS News, he announced that he would instead donate $1 million to the charity LIVESTRONG Foundation if his follower count reached one million by December 31, 2009.^[65]

Photography[link]

Carey can sometimes be seen on the sidelines of U.S. National Team soccer games as a press photographer.^[66] His images are sold via wire services under the pseudonym Brooks Parkenridge.^[55] He was at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in the summer of 2006, for his television show Drew Carey's Sporting Adventures.

Awards and honors[link]

Carey's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

• Carey won the Cable Ace Award for Best Writing for his work on Drew Carey: Human Cartoon.^[10]
• In 1995, he was named one of the "10 Hottest New Faces of '95" by TV Guide.^[1]
• Carey received an honorary DHL from Cleveland State University in 2000.^[67]
• He won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Television Performer for his work in The Drew Carey Show, in both 2000 and 2001.^[68]
• On February 21, 2003, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.^[69] His star can be found at 6664 Hollywood Blvd.
• In 2004, he was ranked 84th on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest stand-ups of all time.^[70]
• On June 21, 2008 Carey won second place from the Los Angeles Press Club for his feature on medical marijuana in the multimedia package category.^[71]
• On June 26, 2011 Carey shared the award for "Best Advocacy Journalism" with Reason.tv Editor Nick Gillespie and Paul Feine at the 53rd Annual Southern California Journalism Awards.^[72]

Filmography[link]

Carey has starred in only a few television shows and films, but also has numerous guest star appearances in a variety of sitcoms and comedy shows.

Television work[link]

Films[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Drew Carey

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Drew Carey

Wikinews has related news: Drew Carey to replace Bob Barker as host of "The Price is Right"

• Drew Carey on Twitter
• Drew Carey's blog
• Drew Carey at the Internet Movie Database
• Drew Carey and the Improv All-Stars
• Drew Carey's WWE Hall of Fame Profile
• Reason Foundation Official site

v t e Whose Line Is It Anyway? UK version Host Clive Anderson Regular contestants Chip Esten Stephen Frost Stephen Fry Josie Lawrence Mike McShane Paul Merton Colin Mochrie Greg Proops John Sessions Brad Sherwood Tony Slattery Steve Steen Ryan Stiles Jim Sweeney Sandi Toksvig Caroline Quentin Musicians Colin Sell Richard Vranch Laura Hall Win Meyerson US version Host Drew Carey Regular contestants Wayne Brady Chip Esten Kathy Greenwood Colin Mochrie Greg Proops Brad Sherwood Denny Siegel Ryan Stiles Jeff Davis Musicians Laura Hall Linda Taylor Cece Worrall-Ruben Related topics List of UK episodes List of US episodes List of games Drew Carey's Green Screen Show (List of episodes) Mock the Week Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza (List of episodes)