Coordinates	29°57′53″N90°4′14″N
Name	Norm Macdonald
Birth date	October 17, 1963
Birth place	Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Birth name	Norman Gene Macdonald
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Nationality	Canadian
Active	1987–present
Genre	Satire, political satire, current events, observational comedy
Subject	American culture, American politics, current events, pop culture, sports, mass media/news media/media criticism
Influences	Bob Newhart
Spouse	Connie Macdonald (?-?) (divorced) 1 child
Notable work	Weekend Update anchor on ''Saturday Night Live''Norm Henderson on ''The Norm Show''Lucky in ''Dr. Dolittle''Norm the Genie in ''The Fairly Oddparents''Host of ''Sports Show with Norm Macdonald'' }}

Norman Gene "Norm" Macdonald (born October 17, 1963) is a Canadian stand-up comedian, writer and actor. He is best known for his five seasons as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'', which included anchoring ''Weekend Update'' for three years. Early in his career, he wrote for the sitcom ''Roseanne'' and made appearances on shows including ''The Drew Carey Show'' and ''NewsRadio''. He also starred in ''The Norm Show'' from 1999 to 2001. Comedy Central named him #83 on the five-part miniseries ''100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time''. He is noted as one of Conan O'Brien's favorite and most frequent guests on his various talk shows.

Starting February 26, 2011, Macdonald became the new host of ''High Stakes Poker'' on Game Show Network. He also hosted ''Sports Show with Norm Macdonald'' on Comedy Central, which began airing on April 12, 2011. It was announced on June 7, 2011, that the ''Sports Show'' would not be renewed for a second season, reportedly due to low ratings, even though ''Sports Show'' steadily averaged one-million viewers per episode.

Early life

Macdonald was born and raised in Quebec City. In the early 1970s, Macdonald attended grade school where his parents taught at Alexander Wolff School, on Canadian Forces Base Valcartier, outside Quebec City. Macdonald has said that he was a student in his father's class, and that he had to call him "Mr. Macdonald" while in class. His father, often described as a very strict man, was his homeroom teacher for two years (grades 6 and 7). After completing 7th grade, Macdonald attended Quebec High School in Quebec City. Canadian CBC News journalist Neil Macdonald is his brother.

Early career

Macdonald began performing stand-up at clubs in Ottawa. His first big break was at the 1987 Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal.

''Saturday Night Live''

Macdonald joined the cast of NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') television program in 1993, where he performed impressions of Larry King, Burt Reynolds, David Letterman, Charles Kuralt and Bob Dole, among others. Following Kevin Nealon's departure from ''SNL'', Macdonald anchored the segment ''Weekend Update''. Chevy Chase, the first anchor of ''Weekend Update'', has opined that Macdonald was the "best Weekend Update anchor since - well - Chevy Chase".

Macdonald's version of ''Weekend Update'' often included repeated references to prison rape, crack whores and the Germans' love of ''Baywatch'' star David Hasselhoff. Macdonald would occasionally deliver a piece of news, then take out his personal compact tape recorder and leave a "note to self" relevant to what he just discussed. He also commonly and inexplicably used Frank Stallone as a non sequitur punchline. Macdonald repeatedly ridiculed public figures such as Michael Jackson and O. J. Simpson. Throughout Simpson's trial for murder, Macdonald constantly pilloried the former football star, often heavily implying Simpson was guilty of the brutal slaying of his wife Nicole and her friend Ronald Goldman. In the broadcast following Simpson's acquittal, Macdonald opened ''Weekend Update'' by saying: "Well, it's official: murder is legal in the state of California." During the February 24, 1996 episode, Macdonald made a controversial joke about the sentencing of John Lotter, one of the two men who committed the notorious murder of Teena Brandon: "In Nebraska, a man was sentenced to death for killing a female crossdresser, who accused him of rape, and two of her friends. Excuse me if this sounds harsh, but in my mind, they all deserved to die."

After the announcement that Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley planned to divorce, Macdonald joked about their irreconcilable differences on ''Weekend Update'': "She's more of a stay-at-home type, and he's more of a homosexual pedophile." He followed this up a few episodes later with a report about the singer's recent collapse and hospitalization. Referring to a report of how Jackson had decorated his hospital room with giant photographs of Shirley Temple, Macdonald remarked that viewers should not get the wrong idea, adding, "We'd like to remind you that Michael Jackson is, in fact, a ''homosexual'' pedophile." The joke elicited audible gasps from some audience members. He responded to this by saying, "What? He ''is'' a homosexual pedophile."

Macdonald's time with ''Saturday Night Live'' effectively ended in late 1997, when he was fired from the ''Weekend Update'' segment upon the insistence of NBC West Coast Executive Don Ohlmeyer, who pressured the producers to remove him, explaining that Macdonald was "not funny." Some believe that Don Ohlmeyer's friendship with O.J. Simpson — a celebrity whom Macdonald often antagonized on the show — may have fueled Ohlmeyer's decision, but Macdonald has been quoted as saying that he "finds that thesis 'weird' and takes Ohlmeyer's explanation at face value".

On February 28, 1998, one of his last appearances on ''SNL'' occurred as host of a fictitious TV show called ''Who's More Grizzled?'', who asked questions of "mountain men" played by that night's host Garth Brooks and special guest Robert Duvall. In the sketch, Brooks's character said to Macdonald's character, "I don't much care for you," to which Macdonald replied, "A lot of people don't."

In a ''Late Show with David Letterman'' interview, Macdonald said that after being fired, he could not "do anything else on any competing show."

Macdonald went on the ''Celebrity Jeopardy!'' sketch on the 34th season finale of ''SNL'' when Will Ferrell hosted. Macdonald reprised the impression of Burt Reynolds that he did when he was a regular cast member.

Characters on ''SNL''

Stan Hooper, a cynical man who exploits other people. (The short-lived FOX sitcom ''A Minute With Stan Hooper'' featured a version of this character).

Celebrity impersonations

Al Michaels

Andy Rooney

Allen Funt (as his character Todd Deal)

Barry Scheck

Bill Cosby

Bob Dole

Bob Uecker

Burt Reynolds (Turd Ferguson)

Charles Kuralt

Clint Eastwood

Craig Reid from The Proclaimers

David Letterman

Dr. Jack Kevorkian

Flea

George Burns

John Gray

Juan Peron

Slim Pickens

Larry King

Lou Gehrig

Marv Albert

Michael Richards

Quentin Tarantino

Rod Serling

Rowan Atkinson (as his character Mr. Bean)

Burton Gilliam, though erroneously referred to as Slim Pickens

Tommy Lee

Later work

Soon after leaving ''Saturday Night Live'', Macdonald co-wrote and starred in the "revenge comedy" ''Dirty Work'' (1998), with Jack Warden, Don Rickles, Chevy Chase, Chris Farley, Artie Lange and Adam Sandler. Later that year, Macdonald voiced the character of Lucky the dog in the Eddie Murphy remake of ''Dr. Dolittle.'' He reprised the role in both ''Dr. Dolittle 2'' (2001) and ''Dr. Dolittle 3'' (2006). Macdonald voiced the character of Death on an episode of ''Family Guy''. Due to a conflict with his stand-up comedy schedule, he was unavailable to voice the character for his next appearance; Death has since been voiced by Adam Carolla. In 1999, Macdonald starred in the sitcom ''The Norm Show'' (later renamed ''Norm''), co-starring Laurie Metcalf, Artie Lange and Ian Gomez. It ran for three seasons on ABC. Macdonald voiced Hardee's restaurants' (Carl's Jr. on the U.S. west coast) costumed mascot, the Hardee's star in advertisements. Macdonald also appeared on several Miller Lite commercials that year. He appeared on the September 1999 ''Saturday Night Live'' primetime special celebrating the program's 25th year on the air. Macdonald was one of only three former ''Weekend Update'' anchors to introduce a retrospective on the segment (the others being Chevy Chase and Dennis Miller).

Macdonald returned to ''Saturday Night Live'' to host the October 23, 1999 show. In his opening monologue, he expressed resentment at having been fired, then concluded that the only reason he was asked to host was because "the show has gotten really bad" since he left. The next episode, airing November 6, 1999 and hosted by Dylan McDermott, featured a sketch where Chris Kattan, as the androgynous character Mango, is opening letters from celebrity admirers and, after opening the last one, says "[the letter is from] Norm Macdonald, who is that?" Also in 1999, Macdonald made a cameo appearance in the Andy Kaufman biopic ''Man on the Moon''. When Michael Richards refused to portray himself in the scene re-enacting the famous ''Fridays'' incident where Kaufman throws water in his face, Macdonald stepped in to play Richards, although he is never referred to by name.

On Macdonald's first appearance on ''The Daily Show'' after Jon Stewart took over, he caused controversy when he said "I'm really glad to see you're hosting the show, man. I hated that other guy." In a previous interview, Macdonald retorted: "I hate that . . . [expletive] 'Daily Show.' I know you critics love it, but it just seems like the most obvious type of comedy." After Jon Stewart got the job he explained his previous comments. "I was joking," he contended. "I love 'The Daily Show.' And I love Jon Stewart. But in print, you can't italicize irony, know what I mean? It's all just words. A guy could say right now: 'I hate David Letterman. I really hate him.' And you could print that. But don't print it."

In 2000, Macdonald starred in his second motion picture, ''Screwed'', which, like ''Dirty Work'', fared poorly at the box office.

On November 12, 2000, Macdonald appeared on the Celebrity Edition of ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' winning $500,000.00 for Paul Newman's Charity Camp. Macdonald could have won a million dollars, but admitted he was too nervous to go for it. Had he done so, his initial guess at the million dollar question (The Greenbrier) would have been correct. Prior to entering the Hot Seat, he got his own personalized Fastest Finger question, which asked him to "Put the following letters in order to spell a popular man's name", with the four answers being all four letters in his name, spelled out in order as the correct order.

Macdonald continued to make appearances on television shows and in films, including ''Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo'', ''Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo'' and ''The Animal'', all of which starred fellow ''Saturday Night Live'' alumnus Rob Schneider and were produced by Adam Sandler.

In 2005, Macdonald signed a deal with Comedy Central to create a new sketch comedy pilot called ''Back to Norm'', which debuted that May. The pilot was never turned into a series. Its infamous cold opening parodied the suicide of Budd Dwyer, a Pennsylvania politician who, facing decades of incarceration, committed suicide on live television in 1987. Rob Schneider appeared in the pilot. Also in 2005, Macdonald performed as a voice actor, portraying a genie named Norm, on two episodes of the cartoon series ''The Fairly Odd Parents''. But he could not return for the third episode, "Fairy Idol", due to a scheduling conflict. In 2006, Macdonald again performed as a voice actor, this time in a series of commercials for Canadian cellphone services provider Bell Mobility, as the voice of "Frank the Beaver". The campaign had a commercial tie-in with the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and with the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The ads ran heavily on CBC during the Olympics and throughout the National Hockey League's postseason. Due to its success, the campaign was extended throughout 2006, 2007 and into 2008 to promote offerings from other Bell Canada divisions such as Bell Sympatico Internet provider and Bell TV satellite service. In August 2008, the new management at Bell decided that they would go in a different direction with advertising, and would no longer be using the beavers.

In September 2006, Macdonald's sketch comedy album, ''Ridiculous'', was released by Comedy Central Records. It features appearances by Will Ferrell, Jon Lovitz, Tim Meadows, Molly Shannon and Artie Lange. On September 14, 2006, Macdonald appeared on ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' to promote ''Ridiculous''. During the appearance, Macdonald made some jokes about the recent death of Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. Stewart, holding back laughter, asked Norm to change the subject, but he kept going and Stewart kept trying to hold back the laughter. Macdonald was a guest character on ''My Name Is Earl'' in the episode "Two Balls, Two Strikes" as "Lil Chubby", the son of "Chubby" (played by Burt Reynolds), similar to Macdonald's portrayals of Reynolds on ''SNL''.

In the 2007 World Series of Poker, he came in 20th place out of 827 entrants in the $3,000 No Limit Texas Hold 'em event, winning $14,608. He also made it to round two of the $5,000 World Championship of Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em. On the comedy website, Super Deluxe, he has created an animated series entitled "The Fake News". Norm has filled in during Dennis Miller's weekly ''O'Reilly Factor'' "Miller Time" segment on January 2, 2008, and guest-hosted Dennis Miller's radio show on January 3, 2008. Norm had also been a regular contributor on Miller's show every Friday, prior to an unexplained absence that left Miller wondering on-air if the show had somehow miffed Norm. Macdonald returned after many months on May 30, 2008, but not before missing a scheduled appearance the day before. He also hosted Miller's radio show for the second time on July 16, 2008, along with friend Stevie Ray Fromstein.

On June 19, 2008, Macdonald was a celebrity panelist on two episodes of a revived version of the popular game show ''Match Game'', which was taped at CBS Television City in Los Angeles. The new version featured the same set used in the early years of the 1970s version and also starred comedienne Sarah Silverman as a fellow celebrity panelist. On August 17, 2008, Norm was a participant in the ''Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget'', performing intentionally cheesy and G-rated material that contrasted greatly with the raunchy performances of the other roasters. In AT&T; commercials around Christmas 2007 and 2008, Macdonald voiced a gingerbread boy wanting a prepaid mobile phone from his dad (voiced by Steve Buscemi), who repeatedly rebuilds his house because "people won't stop eating it". The ad was for AT&T;'s GoPhone. Norm is working on a program for the FX network called ''The Norm Macdonald Reality Show'', in which he plays a fictional, down-on-his-luck version of himself. On the May 16, 2009, episode of ''Saturday Night Live'', Macdonald reappeared as Burt Reynolds on ''Celebrity Jeopardy!''. He also appeared in another sketch later on playing the guitar. On May 31, 2009, he appeared on ''Million Dollar Password''.

Macdonald became a frequent guest on ''The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien'' during its 2009 and 2010 run. Norm was among the first guests on O'Brien's Tonight Show, and appeared also during the show's final week. Initially, The Tonight Show faced network opposition to bringing Norm on so early in the show's run, and Norm having nothing but local stand-up appearances to promote on-air. Despite this, O'Brien's insistence prevailed and Norm's first and subsequent appearances were highlights of O'Brien's brief Tonight Show run. Norm was a guest on Conan's new TBS show, "Conan" on May 17, 2011. Macdonald has also made frequent appearances on the internet talk show ''Tom Green's House Tonight'', and on May 20, 2010, he guest hosted the show.

In September 2010, it was reported that Macdonald was developing a new series for Comedy Central that he described as a sports version of ''The Daily Show''. As of April 2011, the show was titled ''Sports Show with Norm Macdonald'' and premiered on April 12 on Comedy Central. The ''Sports Show'' was not renewed, reportedly due to low ratings, after all nine ordered episodes were broadcast. Macdonald's first stand-up special, ''Me Doing Stand-Up'', aired on Comedy Central on March 26. On May 23, 2011 Comedy Central announced the release an audio CD and DVD of the special on June 14 on Comedy Central Records, and Home Entertainment. The CD will be made available digitally and physically. Both releases will contain uncensored and unseen material from the special, and the DVD features will include the sitcom pilot ''Back To Norm'', an animated featurette ''The Twelve Days Of Christmas'', and Norm's appearance on ''The Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget''.

Macdonald is currently the commentator and co-host of the 7th season of High Stakes Poker on Game Show Network along with Kara Scott.

Politics

Despite referring to himself as apolitical, Macdonald has made controversial references to politically-charged issues. At the end of the last ''Weekend Update'' segment before the 1996 presidential election, Norm urged viewers to vote for Bob Dole (of whom Macdonald frequently performed a comic impersonation), though hinting that he had solely said it so that he could continue impersonating him.

On the November 16, 2000 episode of ''The View'' Macdonald said that he thought George W. Bush was "a decent man" and he called Bill Clinton a "murderer" (regarding the Vince Foster case). Macdonald later stated in ''Maxim'' magazine that he is completely apolitical, and that he was joking when he said Clinton "killed a guy" (he further explained on ''The Adam Carolla Show'' that the comments were simply designed to anger Barbara Walters). In a phone interview he later clarified his views on George W. Bush and the Iraq war thusly: "I wish there was another president, a different president engaging the war, since we're in the war because I don't think Bush did a very good job with it. The war itself, you know, if it works it was worth it. But I don't know if it's going to work, so I don't know."

In 2003, Macdonald appeared on Barbara Walters's program ''The View'', publicly renouncing his Canadian citizenship as a joke over his home country's decision not to participate in the Iraq War, stated his belief that Ronald Reagan was the greatest president ever and said that he would be becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States. Later he affirmed that he was joking about renouncing his Canadian citizenship, stating in a telephone interview that "I'm not an American citizen. I'm a Canadian citizen. I just keep renewing my green card... I don't want to be American." He further burnished his apolitical stance in regards to both America and Canada saying that he was not eligible to vote in American elections and never voted in Canadian elections either: "I figured since I never did when I was in Canada... I never voted because I don't want to make a mistake. I'm so uninformed that I don't want that on my hands, you know?"

On the January 2, 2008 episode of ''The O'Reilly Factor'', Macdonald stated that he is "very pro-life, but against the death penalty." His friend Artie Lange would soon afterwards confirm these opinions as sincere on ''The Howard Stern Show''.

Views on comedy

Speaking about Canada's homegrown comedy industry, Macdonald reflected that he would have liked there to have been more opportunity for him to stay in the country early in his career, stating: :"Now I know there's more of, like, an industry there. Like, I was happy that Brent Butt got that show. Because he's a really funny guy. But there wasn't that opportunity when I was there. I remember Mike McDonald had one short-lived series, but that was about it. Otherwise there was nothing to do. But it was great with standup. It was way, way better with standup than in the States. Like, I think the standups are generally much better in Canada. Because, like, when I was in Canada, none of us had any ambition to movies or TV because there were no movies or television. So it was all standup and we just assumed we'd be standups for our whole lives and that was what was fun. And then when I came to the States, I realized, whoa, they don't take their standup very seriously here because they're just trying to do something other than standup and using standup as, like, a springboard to something else that they're generally not as good at."

Reflecting on the state of modern comedy, Macdonald bemoans the influx of dramatic actors into comedy and comedians into dramatic acting: :"What young, handsome person is funny? I remember on ''Saturday Night Live'' hosts would come in. You know, like handsome hosts. They'd be dramatic actors generally. And the publicist would always be like, 'This is a big chance for this guy because he's really a funny guy and people don't know it. He's hilarious!' And then he'd just suck, you know?...I always liked Steve Martin when he was crazy. Because dramatic actors know how to be likeable and stuff. To me, if you've got a guy like Steve Martin or Jim Carrey or something, who are unbelievably funny, I don't know why they'd want to be dramatic actors when they have no chance. They're completely outclassed by actual dramatic actors. How many funny comedy actors are there? There's like a million great dramatic actors. I don't know why they'd want to switch. I guess to get respect or something, I don't know."

Filmography

Year !! Title !! Role
1993	''The Jackie Thomas Show'' (TV series)	Jordan
1993–1998	''Saturday Night Live'' (TV series)
1995	''Billy Madison''
1996	''The People vs. Larry Flynt''
1996	''The Drew Carey Show'' (TV series)
1997	''NewsRadio'' (TV series)
1998	Dirty Work (1998 film)>Dirty Work''
1998	Dr. Dolittle (film)>Dr. Dolittle''
1999	''Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo''
1999	Man on the Moon (film)>Man on the Moon''
1999	''The Norm Show'' (TV series)
2000	''Family Guy'' (TV series)
2000	Screwed (2000 film)>Screwed''
2001	''The Animal''
2001	''Dr. Dolittle 2''
2003	''A Minute with Stan Hooper'' (TV series)
2004	''Oliver Beene'' (TV series)
2005	''Back to Norm'' (TV)
2005	''Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo''
2005	''The Fairly OddParents'' (TV series)
2006	''Farce of the Penguins''
2006	''Dr. Dolittle 3''
2007	Senior Skip Day (film)>Senior Skip Day''
2007	''My Name Is Earl'' (TV series)
2008	The Roast of Bob Saget>The Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget''
2008	''Dr. Dolittle: Tail To The Chief''
2009	''Funny People''
2009	''My Name Is Earl'' (TV series)
2009	''The Norm Macdonald Reality Show'' (TV series)
2010	Grown Ups (2010 film)>Grown Ups''
2011	''High Stakes Poker'' (TV series)
2011	''Sports Show with Norm Macdonald'' (TV Series)

Footnotes

External links

Norm Macdonald on Myspace

Norm Macdonald on Twitter

Norm Macdonald on ''Tom Green Live'', 10 February 2007

Norm Macdonald on ''Tom Green Live'', 31 January 2007

Category:1963 births Category:Actors from Quebec Category:Anglophone Quebec people Category:Canadian comedians Category:Canadian expatriate actors in the United States Category:Canadian film actors Category:Canadian people of Scottish descent Category:Canadian stand-up comedians Category:Canadian television actors Category:Carleton University alumni Category:Living people Category:People from Quebec City Category:Poker commentators Category:Quebec comedians

de:Norm MacDonald es:Norm Macdonald fr:Norm Macdonald it:Norm MacDonald no:Norm MacDonald fi:Norm Macdonald sv:Norm MacDonald

Coordinates	29°57′53″N90°4′14″N
name	Blake Griffin
height ft	6
height in	10
weight lb	251
team	Los Angeles Clippers
number	32
position	Power Forward
birth date	March 16, 1989
birth place	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
high school	Oklahoma Christian School (Edmond, Oklahoma)
college	Oklahoma
nationality	American
draft round	1
draft pick	1
draft team	Los Angeles Clippers
draft year	2009
career start	2009
years1	–present | team1 Los Angeles Clippers
highlights	NBA Rookie of the Year () NBA All-Star () NBA All-Rookie First Team () NBA Slam Dunk Contest Champion () Big 12 Player of the Year (2009) John R. Wooden Award (2009) Naismith College Player of the Year (2009) AP National Player of the Year (2009) Oscar Robertson Trophy (2009) Adolph Rupp Trophy (2009) NABC Player of the Year (2009) }}

Blake Austin Griffin (born March 16, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Griffin had a renowned high school career at Oklahoma Christian School, winning state titles each of his four years under his father who was the head coach. He played college basketball for the University of Oklahoma Sooners and was awarded numerous accolades in his second year including the Naismith College Player of the Year, Oscar Robertson Trophy and the John Wooden Award. Griffin left college after two seasons to enter the 2009 NBA Draft where he was selected first overall by the Clippers. He missed the entire 2009–10 season due to surgery on his broken left kneecap, which he injured during the final pre-season game. He made his NBA debut as a rookie the following season and was selected as an All-Star, won the 2011 NBA Slam Dunk Contest and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year.

Early years

Childhood

Griffin was born on March 16, 1989 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Tommy and Gail Griffin. His father was a basketball center and track standout at NAIA Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Griffin and his older brother, Taylor Griffin, were home-schooled by their mother from first grade until Taylor was in the tenth grade and Blake was in eighth. Growing up, he was good friends with Sam Bradford of the St. Louis Rams and played on the same Athletes First AAU basketball team along with Xavier Henry of the Memphis Grizzlies. Griffin’s parents owned a trophy company that Bradford’s father would use and Bradford’s father owned a gym where Griffin and his brother Taylor played basketball. Apart from basketball, he also played first baseman in baseball, and football as a wide receiver, safety and a tight end.

High school

Griffin and his brother Taylor attended Oklahoma Christian School for high school where they played under their father who was the head coach. They played together during the 2003–04 and 2004–05 high school seasons, winning two state high school basketball championships together. In his freshmen year, the Oklahoma Christian Saints posted a perfect 29–0 season and won the Class 3A boys state championship game held at the State Fair Arena against Riverside. In his sophomore year, the Saints repeated as Class 3A state champions and finished the season with a 24–2 record, while averaging 13.6 points per game in what was his final high school season with his brother. He was named to the Little All-City All-State team and his brother was named ''The Oklahoman'' Player of the Year. After the season, his brother went off to play college basketball for the University of Oklahoma. During the summer of 2005, Griffin played against Kevin Durant and Ty Lawson while playing for the Athletes First AAU team.

As a junior, he averaged 21.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 4.9 assists, and led the Saints to the Class 2A championship game, beating Washington High School for a third straight state championship and was named the state tournament MVP. The team finished 27–1 and Griffin was named ''The Oklahoman'' Player of the Year and to the ''Tulsa World'' Boys All-State First Team. His play attracted the attention of the new basketball head coach for the Oklahoma Sooners, Jeff Capel, who first heard of Griffin through his brother Taylor. In the spring of 2006, Capel saw Griffin play for the first time and was impressed with his combination of size, strength and athleticism. Capel recruited Griffin because he felt he was the player he needed to rebuild his tenure with the Oklahoma men's basketball program. Griffin had been considering Duke, Kansas, North Carolina and Texas, but his brother eventually sold him on joining Oklahoma when he raved about the direction of the Sooners and the chance to play together again for his home state.

Griffin committed to Oklahoma before the start of his senior season and averaged 26.8 points, 15.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.9 blocks per game as a senior while leading the team to a 26–3 record. In a game against Oklahoma City Southeast, Griffin had his best game of the season with 41 points, 28 rebounds, and 10 assists. On March 10, 2007, he played his final high school game in the state title game against Pawnee High School. He registered 22 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks, as the Saints defeated Pawnee 81–50, winning their fourth straight state title. He was named the Class 2A state tournament MVP for the second consecutive year after averaging 26.6 points per game in the tournament, winning its three games by an average of 30.3 points. During his four-year run, the Oklahoma Christian Saints posted a 106–6 overall record.

Griffin was named the Player of the Year by both the ''Tulsa World'' and ''The Oklahoman'' and named a Oklahoma Boys All-State First Team, EA Sports All-American Second Team and a ''Parade'' Third Team All-American. He was ranked as the nation's #13 high school senior by HoopScoop, #20 by scout.com and #23 by rivals.com, and as the country's third-best power forward by HoopScoop, sixth by rivals.com and the seventh by scout.com. Additionally, he was the Gatorade Oklahoma Player of the Year and was selected to the McDonald's All-American and Jordan Brand All-America teams. At the McDonald's All-American game in Louisville, Kentucky he won the Powerade Jam Fest slam dunk contest.

College career

Griffin was one of the highest rated and most decorated recruits ever at Oklahoma. As a freshman at Oklahoma, he averaged 14.7 points and 9.1 rebounds in 28.4 minutes per game and led the Sooners to a 23–12 record. He ranked ninth in scoring, fourth in rebounding and third in field goal percentage in Big 12. In a game against the Kansas Jayhawks, he suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his left knee five minutes into the Sooners game. Less than two months after injuring his left knee, he injured his right knee in a home victory against Texas A&M;. The injury this time was torn cartilage, and he had arthroscopic surgery on March 2, 2008. He missed the following game, a victory over in-state rival Oklahoma State Cowboys, but was back on the court a week after the injury with 14 points and 8 rebounds in 28 minutes versus the Missouri Tigers, a win for the Sooners on their home floor. He was a first-team all-district pick by the USBWA and NABC, and was named to the Big 12 All-Rookie Team and to the first-team All-Big 12 selection by league coaches and Associated Press. He became the first Sooner to make the conference All-Rookie team since Wayman Tisdale in 1983 for the Big Eight Conference. He was expected to be a lottery pick in the 2008 NBA Draft but decided to return to college for a second season to give himself time to mature physically and make Oklahoma a contender for the NCAA championship.

In his sophomore season, the Sooners started out the season winning their first 12 games before falling to the Arkansas Razorbacks. In the third game of the season against the Davidson Wildcats, he scored 25 points and grabbed 21 rebounds, after which he scored 35 points and 21 rebounds against Gardner–Webb, becoming the first player in Big 12 history to record back-to-back games of at least 20 points and 20 rebounds. This earned him three consecutive Big 12 player of the week honor and finished the season with a record-tying six player of the week honors. In a home victory against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, he set career bests for both points and rebounds with 40 points and 23 rebounds, becoming the only player in Big 12 history and the third player in the history of the University of Oklahoma men's basketball program to score 40 points and get 20 rebounds in the same game, joining Wayman Tisdale (61 points and 22 rebounds in 1983) and Alvan Adams (43 points and 25 rebounds in 1975).

On February 21, he received a concussion in a loss to the Texas Longhorns, when he caught an inadvertent shot to the face from the open hand of Texas center Dexter Pittman. He sat out the second half during the Sooners loss with a bloody nose. It was the Sooners' first loss of their conference schedule for the season. After sitting out the next game, a loss to Kansas Jayhawks, he was cleared by the medical staff and returned a week later to get 20 points and 19 rebounds in a victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Oklahoma finished second in the conference with a 13–3 record but fell short in the first game of the Big 12 Tournament to the Oklahoma State Cowboys. In the "Big Dance", Oklahoma was seeded No. 2 in the South Region with a 27-5 record. In the second-round win over the Michigan Wolverines, he scored 33 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, just the second player in the 2000s decade with at least 30 points and 15 rebounds in the NCAA tournament. However, the Sooners lost to the North Carolina Tar Heels in the South Regional final.

Griffin averaged 22.7 points, 14.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game during the regular season and earned All-American First Team honors. He led the Big 12 in scoring and rebounds, and recorded at least 20 points and 15 rebounds 15 times, which is a Big 12 record. He also set school and Big 12 single-season records for most rebounds (504), rebounding average (14.4), and double-doubles (30), and his free throw attempts (324) were the most by a Sooner in a single-season. With 30 double-doubles during the season, he was one short of the NCAA record of 31 set by David Robinson in 1986–1987. His total of 504 rebounds were the most in a season by an NCAA Division I player since Indiana State's Larry Bird had 505 in 1978–79 and his rebounding average of 14.4 was the highest since Wake Forest's Tim Duncan averaged 14.7 in 1996–97.

For his sophomore year performance, Griffin swept all six of the national player of the year awards. He was a unanimous choice by voters in all nine geographical districts for the Oscar Robertson Trophy and was named Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year, receiving 66 of the 71 national media panel members' votes. Griffin was announced as the winner of the prestigious Naismith College Player of the Year on April 5 in Detroit. Three days after announcing that he would turn pro, he won the John Wooden Award as college basketball's top player. He became the first Oklahoma player in school history to win the Naismith Award, Oscar Robertson Trophy, Adolph Rupp Trophy, John Wooden Award and the Associated Press player of the year. He was also named Player of the Year by the Big 12, Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News and FoxSports.com. When combined with Sam Bradford's Heisman Trophy, the University of Oklahoma became the first school to have a winner in both top basketball and football individual awards in the same year.

College statistics

33 35 68

College !! Year	! GP !! GS !! MIN !! PPG !! RPG !! APG !! SPG !! BPG !! FG%!! FT%!! 3P%
Oklahoma	2007–08	33	|	28.4	14.7	9.1	1.8	1.0	.85	.568	.589	.0
Oklahoma	2008–09	35	|	33.3	22.7	14.4	2.3	1.1	1.2	.646	.590	.375
Career	68	|	31.4	18.8	11.8	2.1	1.0	1.05	.618	.589	.300

NBA career

2009–10: Injured season

On April 7, 2009, Griffin announced that he would give up his final two years of eligibility and declared for the NBA Draft after his sophomore year. A press conference announcing his decision was aired nationally on ESPNews. He was selected as the first overall pick by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2009 NBA Draft. Griffin played for the Clippers' Summer League Team and was named Summer League MVP. In their final preseason game, he injured his kneecap as he landed after a dunk. The day before the 2009–10 season started it was confirmed that Griffin had a stress fracture in his left knee, delaying his NBA debut for seven weeks. After resting the stress fracture for several weeks, tests revealed that his knee was not recovering properly. In January 2010, Griffin had surgery on his broken left kneecap, missing the entire 2009–10 season. In the off season Griffin spent a great deal of time working out with a San Francisco-based trainer.

2010–11: Rookie of the Year

Since he missed the entire 2009–10 season, Griffin was still considered a rookie during the 2010–11 season. In his debut for the Clippers against the Portland Trail Blazers, Griffin scored 20 points and registered 14 rebounds. He set a franchise record for most consecutive double-doubles with 23 in a home game against the Golden State Warriors. His streak of consecutive double-doubles ended at 27 games on January 19 in a win against the Minnesota Timberwolves where he scored 29 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. On January 17, 2011 against the Indiana Pacers, Griffin scored a career-high and set a Clippers record for most points scored by a rookie with 47 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. He became the first rookie to have two 40+ games in his rookie season since Allen Iverson during the 1996–97 season.

Griffin was voted to the 2011 NBA All-Star Game by coaches as a reserve on the Western Conference squad, becoming the first rookie to play in the All-Star game since Yao Ming in 2003 and the first rookie voted to the game by coaches since Tim Duncan in 1998. He also participated in the 2011 Rookie Challenge and won the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest during the All-Star break. On March 23, 2011, in a double overtime win over the Washington Wizards, Griffin recorded his first career triple-double, 33 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists, and recorded his second triple-double with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, in the final game of the season against the Memphis Grizzlies.

During the season, he captured all six of the Western Conference T-Mobile Rookie of the Month, the first time a rookie has swept an entire season of Rookie of the Month awards since Chris Paul during the 2005–06 season. He played in all 82 regular season games and became the first rookie to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds since Elton Brand did it in the 1999–00 season. He led all rookies in points, rebounds and double-doubles, earning him the Rookie of the Year award, and was the first unanimous winner for the award since David Robinson in 1990. He was also the only unanimous selection to the All-Rookie First Team.

Player profile

Standing at , Griffin plays power forward. In his rookie year, he averaged 22.5 points, 12.1 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. He has established himself as a difficult player to guard, especially when coming off the pick and roll. He is often able to get to the free throw line but like many power forwards and centers has a relatively low free throw percentage. Griffin has also become well known for his dunking ability, winning the 2011 Slam Dunk Contest.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010–11 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Clippers | 82 || 82 || 38.0 || .506 || .292 || .642 || 12.1 || 3.8 || .8 || .5 || 22.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 82 || 82 || 38.0 || .506 || .292 || .642 || 12.1 || 3.8 || .8 || .5 || 22.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| All-Star | style="text-align:left;"| | 1 || 0 || 15.0 || .667 || .000 || .000 || 5.0 || 5.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 8.0

Career Highs

Regular season

! Stat	! High	! Opponent	! Date
Points	47	vs. Indiana
Offensive Rebounds	9	vs. Portland
Defensive Rebounds	16	vs. Detroit
Total Rebounds	18	vs. Detroit
Total Rebounds	18	at Philadelphia
Total Rebounds	18	vs. Houston
Total Rebounds	18	vs. Denver
Total Rebounds	18	at Portland
Total Rebounds	18	vs. Golden State
Assists	10	vs. Washington
Assists	10	vs. Memphis

Awards and honors

NBA

NBA Rookie of the Year: 2011

NBA All-Star: 2011

NBA Slam Dunk Champion: 2011

NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2011

Western Conference Rookie of the Month: November 2010, December 2010, January 2011, February 2011, March 2011, April 2011

College

2009 Naismith College Player of the Year

2009 John Wooden Award

2009 Adolph Rupp Trophy 2009 Oscar Robertson Trophy 2009 AP All-American First Team 2009 ''Sports Illustrated'' Player of the Year

2009 AP National Player of the Year

2009 ''Sporting News'' Player of the Year Phillips 66 All-Big 12 Men's Basketball Awards

2009 Big 12 Player of the Year

2009 All-Big 12 First Team

*2008 All-Big 12 First Team

*2008 Big 12 All-Rookie Team

High school

Class 3A State Championship: 2004, 2005

Class 2A State Championship: 2006, 2007 Class 2A Tournament MVP: 2006, 2007

''The Oklahoman'' Player of the Year: 2006, 2007

2007 McDonald's All-American

2007 McDonald's All-American Slam Dunk Champion

2007 ''Parade'' All-America Third Team

2007 ''Tulsa World'' Player of the Year

2007 Oklahoma Boys All-State First Team

2006 ''Tulsa World'' Boys All-State First Team

2005 Little All-City All-State Team

Off the court

Griffin resides in Manhattan Beach, California.

Endorsements

Griffin appeared on the cover of ''NCAA Basketball 10'' video game by EA Sports, and in an advertising campaign for Subway restaurants. He has appeared in commercials for Kia automobiles and AT&T;, and appeared in ''Sports Show with Norm Macdonald'' with teammate DeAndre Jordan. In April 2011, Panini America signed Griffin to an exclusive long-term deal that will feature his autographs and memorabilia in Panini products. Panini initially signed him to a one year deal, which expired in 2010. He has also signed with Vizio to pitch digital TVs and other products. In April 2011 he appeared in a trailer for the video game ''Rage''.

Philanthropy

He started a fundraiser called Dunking for Dollars, in which he donates $100 to fight childhood obesity for every dunk he makes. The Kia sedan that Griffin jumped over to win the Slam Dunk Contest will be donated for a charity auction on AutoTrader.com with proceeds benefiting Stand Up to Cancer. The auction started May 5, 2011 and runs through May 15. Stand Up to Cancer also has a fund-raising site called Team Blake, in honor of his close friend Wilson Holloway, who died after a three-year fight with Hodgkin's lymphoma.

See also

2009 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

List of first overall NBA draft picks

List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season rebounding leaders

References

External links

Official Site

Statistics

Blake Griffin at ESPN.com

Profiles

Scout.com Profile

Rivals.com Profile

NBADraft.net Profile

DraftExpress Profile

Category:1989 births Category:Living people Category:American basketball players Category:African American basketball players Category:Basketball players from Oklahoma Category:NBA Slam Dunk Contest champions Category:Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball players Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:People from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Category:Power forwards (basketball) Category:Los Angeles Clippers draft picks Category:Los Angeles Clippers players Category:American baseball players

ca:Blake Griffin cs:Blake Griffin de:Blake Griffin es:Blake Griffin fa:بلیک گریفین fr:Blake Griffin hr:Blake Griffin it:Blake Griffin he:בלייק גריפין lv:Bleiks Grifins lt:Blake Griffin ja:ブレイク・グリフィン no:Blake Griffin pl:Blake Griffin pt:Blake Griffin ru:Гриффин, Блэйк simple:Blake Griffin sr:Блејк Грифин sh:Blake Griffin fi:Blake Griffin sv:Blake Griffin tr:Blake Griffin zh:布莱克·格里芬

Coordinates	29°57′53″N90°4′14″N
name	Craig Ferguson
birth date	May 17, 1962
birth place	Glasgow, Scotland
medium	Stand-up, television, film, music, books
nationality	Scottish, American
active	1980–present
genre	Observational comedy, satire/political satire/news satire
subject	Everyday life, popular culture, self-deprecation, politics
website	''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson''
spouse	Anne Hogarth (1983–86) (divorced)Sascha Corwin (1998–2004) (divorced) 1 childMegan Wallace-Cunningham (2008–present) 1 child
notable work	Host of ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson''Nigel Wick on ''The Drew Carey Show''Glaswegian in ''One Foot in the Grave''Gobber in ''How to Train Your Dragon'' }}

Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, and producer. He is the host of ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'', an Emmy Award-nominated, Peabody Award-winning late-night talk show that airs on CBS. In addition to hosting that program and performing stand-up comedy, Ferguson has written two books: ''Between the Bridge and the River'', a novel, and ''American on Purpose'', a memoir. He became a citizen of the United States in 2008.

Before his career as a late-night television host, Ferguson was best known in the United States for his role as the office boss, Nigel Wick, on ''The Drew Carey Show'' from 1996 to 2003. After that, he wrote and starred in three films, directing one of them.

Early life

Ferguson was born in the Stobhill Hospital in the Springburn district of Glasgow, Scotland to Robert and Janet Ferguson, and raised in nearby Cumbernauld, growing up "chubby and bullied". When he was six months old, he and his family moved from their Springburn apartment to a council house in Cumbernauld. They lived there as Glasgow was re-housing many people following damage to the city from World War II. Ferguson attended Muirfield Primary School and Cumbernauld High School. At age sixteen, Ferguson dropped out of Cumbernauld High School and began an apprenticeship to be an electronics technician at a local factory of American company Burroughs Corporation.

His first visit to the United States was as a teenager to visit an uncle who lived on Long Island, near New York City. When he moved to New York City in 1983, he worked in construction in Harlem. Ferguson later became a bouncer at a nightclub, Save the Robots.

Career

British career

Ferguson's experience in entertainment began as a drummer in a rock band called Exposure. He then joined a punk band called The Bastards from Hell. The band, later renamed "Dreamboys", and fronted by vocalist Peter Capaldi, performed regularly in Glasgow from 1980 to 1982. Ferguson credits Capaldi for inspiring him to try comedy.

After a nerve-wrecking, knee-knocking first appearance, he decided to create a character that was a "parody of all the über-patriotic native folk singers who seemed to infect every public performance in Scotland." The character, "Bing Hitler" (actually coined by Capaldi as Ferguson started with the monogram of "Nico Fulton" but admittedly later stole the name for his "own nefarious ends"), premiered in Glasgow, and subsequently became a hit at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. A recording of his stage act as Bing Hitler was made at Glasgow's Tron Theatre and released in the 1980s; a Bing Hitler monologue ("A Lecture for Burns Night") appears on the compilation cassette ''Honey at the Core.''

Ferguson's first television appearance was as Confidence on BBC sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' during the episode "Confidence and Paranoia".

Ferguson made his starring television debut in ''The Craig Ferguson Show'', a one-off comedy pilot for Granada Television, which co-starred Paul Whitehouse and Helen Atkinson-Wood. This was broadcast throughout the UK on 4 March 1990, but was not made into a full series.

He has also found success in musical theatre. Beginning in 1991, he appeared on stage as Brad Majors in the London production of ''The Rocky Horror Show'', alongside Anthony Head, who was playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter at the time. In 1994, Ferguson played Father MacLean in the highly controversial production of ''Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom'' at the Union Chapel in London. The same year, he appeared again at the Edinburgh Fringe, as Oscar Madison in ''The Odd Couple'', opposite Gerard Kelly as Felix and Kate Anthony as Gwendolin Pidgeon, who is now much better known as Aunty Pam in ''Coronation Street''; the play, which was relocated to 1990s Glasgow, later toured Scotland.

After enjoying success at the Edinburgh Festival, Ferguson appeared on ''Red Dwarf'', STV's ''Hogmanay Show'', his own show ''2000 Not Out'', and the 1993 ''One Foot in the Grave'' Christmas special ''One Foot in the Algarve.''

In 1993, Ferguson presented his own series on Scottish archaeology for Scottish Television entitled ''Dirt Detective.'' He travelled throughout the country examining archaeological history, including Skara Brae and Paisley Abbey.

U.S. career

After cancellation of his show ''The Ferguson Theory'', Ferguson moved to Los Angeles in 1994. His first U.S. role was as baker Logan McDonough on the short-lived 1995 ABC comedy ''Maybe This Time'', which starred Betty White and Marie Osmond.

His breakthrough in the U.S. came when he was cast on ''The Drew Carey Show'' as the title character's boss, Mr. Wick, a role that he played from 1996 to 2003. He played the role with an over-the-top posh English accent "to make up for generations of English actors doing crap Scottish accents." In his comedy special "A Wee Bit O' Revolution", he specifically called out James Doohan's portrayal of Montgomery Scott on Star Trek as the foundation of his "revenge". (At the end of one episode, though, Ferguson broke the fourth wall and began talking to the audience at home in his regular Scottish accent.) His character was memorable for his unique methods of laying employees off, almost always "firing Johnson", the most common last name of the to-be-fired workers. Even after leaving the show in 2003, he remained a recurring character on the series for the last two seasons, and was part of the 2-part series finale in 2004.

During production of ''The Drew Carey Show'', Ferguson devoted his off-time as a cast member to writing, working in his trailer on set in-between shooting his scenes. He wrote and starred in three films: ''The Big Tease'', ''Saving Grace'', and ''I'll Be There'', which he also directed and for which he won the Audience Award for Best Film at the Aspen, Dallas and Valencia film festivals. He was named Best New Director at the Napa Valley Film Festival. These were among other scripts that, "... in the great tradition of the movie business, about half a dozen that I got paid a fortune for but never got made." His other acting credits in films include ''Niagara Motel'', ''Lenny the Wonder Dog'', ''Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events'', ''Chain of Fools'', ''Born Romantic'', ''The Ugly Truth'', ''How to Train Your Dragon'', ''Kick-Ass'' and ''Winnie the Pooh''.

Ferguson has been touring the United States and Canada with a stand-up comedy show, and performed at Carnegie Hall on 23 October 2010.

''The Late Late Show''

In December 2004, it was announced that Ferguson would be the successor to Craig Kilborn on CBS's ''The Late Late Show''. His first show as the regular host aired on 3 January 2005. By May 2008, Ben Alba, an American television historian and an authority on U.S. talk shows, said Ferguson "has already made his mark, taking the TV monologue to new levels with an underlying story. But he is only just starting ... He is making up his own rules: It's the immigrant experience."

''The Late Late Show'' averaged 2.0 million viewers in its 2007 season, compared with 2.5 million for ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''. In April 2008, ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' beat ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' for weekly ratings (1.88 million to 1.77 million) for the first time since the two shows went head-to-head with their respective hosts.

By the end of 2009, Craig Ferguson topped Jimmy Fallon in the ratings with Ferguson getting a 1.8 rating/6 share and Fallon receiving a 1.6 rating/6 share.

Ferguson's success on the show has led at least one "television insider" to say he is the heir apparent to take over David Letterman's role as host of ''The Late Show''.

Television and appearances

Craig Ferguson has made guest appearances on ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'', ''Late Show with David Letterman'', ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', ''Rachael Ray'', ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'', ''The Howard Stern Show'', ''The Daily Show'', ''The View'', ''Loveline'', ''Real Time with Bill Maher'', ''The Soup'', ''The Talk'' and ''The Dennis Miller Show''. He also co-hosted ''Live with Regis & Kelly'' with Kelly Ripa.

On 4 January 2009 Ferguson was a celebrity player on ''Million Dollar Password''.

thumb|272px|Ferguson in April 2008

In 2009, Ferguson made a cameo live-action appearance in the episode "We Love You, Conrad" on ''Family Guy''. Ferguson hosted the 32nd annual People's Choice Awards on 10 January 2006. ''TV Guide'' magazine printed a "Cheers" (Cheers and Jeers section) for appearing on his own show that same evening. From 2007 to 2010, Ferguson hosted the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on 4 July, broadcast nationally by CBS. Ferguson was the featured entertainer at the 26 April 2008 White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, DC.

Ferguson co-presented the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama with Brooke Shields in 2008. He has done voice work in cartoons, including being the voice of Barry's evil alter-ego in the "With Friends Like Steve's" episode of ''American Dad''; in ''Freakazoid!'' as Roddy MacStew, Freakazoid's mentor; and on ''Buzz Lightyear of Star Command'' as the robot vampire NOS-4-A2. Most recently, he was the voice of Susan the boil on ''Futurama'', which was a parody of Scottish singer Susan Boyle. He makes stand-up appearances in Las Vegas and New York City. He headlined in the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal and in October 2008 Ferguson taped his stand up show in Boston for a Comedy Central special entitled ''A Wee Bit o' Revolution'', which aired on 22 March 2009.

British television comedy drama ''Doc Martin'' was based on a character from Ferguson's film ''Saving Grace'' – with Ferguson getting writing credits for 12 episodes. On 6 November 2009 Ferguson appeared as himself in a ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' special titled ''SpongeBob's Truth or Square''. He hosted Discovery Channel's 23rd season of ''Shark Week'' in 2010. Ferguson briefly appeared in Toby Keith's ''"Red Solo Cup"'' music video released on 10 October 2011.

Literature

Ferguson's novel ''Between the Bridge and the River'' (ISBN 9780811853750) was published on 10 April 2006. Ferguson appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", Ferguson said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it." ''Publishers Weekly'' called it "a ''tour de force'' of cynical humor and poignant reverie, a caustic yet ebullient picaresque that approaches the sacred by way of the profane." His novel ''Between the Bridge and the River'' is dedicated to his son and to his grandfather, Adam. Ferguson revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled "The Sphynx of the Mississippi". He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends for the book to be the first in a trilogy.

Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs. The book, entitled ''American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot'', focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States. On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy.

In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on ''The Late Late Show'' to promote her new book ''Married Lovers''. Collins said that a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show.

Personal life

As mentioned on ''The Late Late Show'' on 3 August 2009, Ferguson holds an FAA Private Pilot's License issued 31 July 2009. Ferguson announced on the 8 April 2011 broadcast that he is pursuing an instrument rating.

Ferguson is also a fan of Scottish football team Partick Thistle F.C. as well as the British television show Doctor Who.

Ferguson has three tattoos: his latest, the Join, or Die political cartoon on his right forearm; a Ferguson family crest with the Latin motto ''Dulcius ex asperis'' ("Sweeter out of [or from] difficulty") on his upper right arm in honour of his father; and the Ingram family crest on his upper left arm in honour of his mother. He has often stated that his ''Join, or Die'' tattoo is to signal his patriotism.

Family

In an episode of ''The Late Late Show'' that aired 8 December 2008, a sombre Ferguson talked about his mother, Janet (3 August 1933 – 1 December 2008). He ended the program by playing her favourite song, "Rivers of Babylon" by Boney M.

Ferguson has two sisters (one older and one younger) and one older brother. His elder sister's name is Janice and his brother's name is Scott. His younger sister, Lynn Ferguson Tweddle, is also a successful comedienne, presenter, and actress, perhaps most widely known as the voice of Mac in the 2000 stop-motion animation film ''Chicken Run''. She is currently a writer on ''The Late Late Show''.

Ferguson has married three times and divorced twice as a result of what he describes as "relationship issues". His first marriage was to Anne Hogarth from 1983 to 1986, during which time they lived in New York. From his second marriage (to Sascha Corwin, founder and proprietor of Los Angeles' SpySchool), he has one son, Milo Hamish Ferguson, born in 2001. He and Corwin share custody of Milo, and live near each other in Los Angeles. On 21 December 2008, Ferguson married art dealer Megan Wallace-Cunningham in a private ceremony on her family's farm in Chester, Vermont. Ferguson announced 14 July 2010 on Twitter that they were expecting a child. He wrote: "Holy crackers! Mrs F is pregnant. How did that happen? ... oh yeah I know how. Another Ferguson arrives in 2011. The world trembles." The child, a boy named Liam James, was born 31 January 2011.

Alcohol problems

A recovering alcoholic, Ferguson has been sober since 18 February 1992. Because of this, he declared he wouldn't mock Britney Spears' much-publicized alcohol problems in 2007. He said he had considered committing suicide on Christmas Day 1991, but when offered a drink by a friend for celebrating the holiday, he was distracted from jumping off Tower Bridge in London as he had planned.

Citizenship

Holding dual citizenship, Ferguson is both a naturalized citizen of the United States and a British citizen.

During 2007, Ferguson, who at the time held only British citizenship, used ''The Late Late Show'' as a forum for seeking honorary citizenship from every state in the U.S. He has received honorary citizenship from Nebraska, Arkansas, Virginia, Montana, North Dakota, New Jersey, Tennessee, South Carolina, South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska, Texas, Wyoming, Pennsylvania and Indiana, and was "commissioned" as an admiral in the tongue-in-cheek Nebraska Navy. Governors Jon Corzine (New Jersey), John Hoeven (North Dakota), Mark Sanford (South Carolina), Mike Rounds (South Dakota), Rick Perry (Texas), Sarah Palin (Alaska) and Jim Gibbons (Nevada) sent letters to him that made him an honorary citizen of their respective states. He received similar honors from various towns and cities, including Ozark, Arkansas; Hazard, Kentucky; and Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

Ferguson became an American citizen on 1 February 2008 and broadcast the taking of his citizenship test as well as his swearing in on ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson''.

Filmography

+ Film
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1992	''The Bogie Man''
1998	''Modern Vampires''	Richard
1999	''The Big Tease''	Crawford Mackenzie	Writer
2000		Melander Stevens
2000	''Born Romantic''	Frankie
2000		Matthew Stewart	Writer
2002	''Life Without Dick''	Jared O'Reilly
2002	''Prendimi l'anima'' (''The Soul Keeper'')	Richard Fraser
2003		Paul Kerr	Director, Writer
2004	''Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events''	Person of Indeterminate Gender
2004	''Lenny the Wonder Dog''	Dr. Wagner
2005		Fisherman
2006	''Niagara Motel''	Phillie
2007		Ted Truman
2008	''Craig Ferguson: A Wee Bit O' Revolution''
2009		Himself
2010	''The Hero of Color City''
2010		Gobber	Voice only
2010		Himself
2011			Voice only
2011	''Totally Framed''	Jeffrey Stewart
2012		Lord Macintosh	Voice only
2012		David	Post-production
2014	''How to Train Your Dragon 2''	Gobber	Voice only

+Television
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1988	''Red Dwarf''	Confidence
1989	''The Big Gig''	Himself	Regular Comic
1993	''One Foot in the Grave''	Glaswegian beach bully	Christmas Special "One foot in the Algarve"
1994	''The Dirt Detective: A History of Scotland''	Travel documentary series	Host
1994	''The Ferguson Theory''	Himself	Host
1995–1996	''Maybe This Time''	Logan McDonough	18 episodes
1995–1997	''Freakazoid!''	Roddy MacStew	7 episodes
1996–2004	''The Drew Carey Show''	Nigel Wick	170 episodes
2000	''Buzz Lightyear of Star Command''	NOS 4 A2	Voice only, 5 episodes
2005		Oliver Davies	1 episode
2005–present	''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson''	Himself	Host
2006	''American Dad!''	Evil Barry	Voice only, Episode: ''With Friends Like Steve's''
2009	''Family Guy''	Himself	Episode: ''We Love You, Conrad''
2009	''SpongeBob's Truth or Square''	Himself	TV movie
2010	''Futurama''	Susan Boil	Episode: ''Attack of the Killer App''
2010	''Shark Week''	Himself	Host
2010	''Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon''	Gobber	Voice only, TV short film

Bibliography

''Between the Bridge and the River''. Chronicle Books, 2006. ISBN 0811853756, ISBN 0811858197.

''American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot''. HarperCollins, 2009. ISBN 0061719544.

Comedy specials

''A Wee Bit o' Revolution'' (Comedy Central) 2009

''Does This Need to Be Said?'' (EPIX, Comedy Central) 2011

Discography

''Live At The Tron'' (as Bing Hitler). Jammy Records, 1986. Catalogue number JRLP 861.

References

External links

Craig Ferguson on Twitter

Craig Ferguson Interview on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos

Craig Ferguson and Megan Wallace Cunningham

''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson''

Category:1962 births Category:American aviators Category:American comedians Category:American film actors Category:American memoirists Category:American novelists Category:American people of Scottish descent Category:American screenwriters Category:American television actors Category:American television talk show hosts Category:American voice actors Category:Living people Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:People from Glasgow Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:People with nocturnal enuresis Category:Scottish comedians Category:Scottish emigrants to the United States Category:Scottish memoirists Category:Scottish novelists Category:Scottish screenwriters Category:Scottish television actors Category:People from Cumbernauld Category:Actors from New York City Category:Actors from Los Angeles, California

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