Andrew Dice Clay (born Andrew Clay Silverstein; September 29, 1957) is an American comedian and actor. He played the lead role in the 1990 film The Adventures of Ford Fairlane.
In 1990 he became the first comedian to sell out Madison Square Garden.
Clay has been in several movies and has released a number of stand-up comedy albums. He is currently focused on acting and putting aside his stand-up.
Clay was born to a Jewish family and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in the neighborhood of Sheepshead Bay. His parents are Jacqueline and Fred Silverstein; he has one sister. Clay's father worked in real estate sales and also as a boxer. Clay was doing impressions and entertaining his family in his living room by age 5. He played the drums at James Madison High School, attended Kingsborough Community College and later worked as a drummer in the Catskills in the late 1970s.
In 1978, he auditioned at Pips, a local comedy club in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, doing comedic impressions, then headlined there the following week as "Andrew Clay." His act at the time included an impression of John Travolta in Grease and Jerry Lewis as The Nutty Professor. He did a character called "the dice man" that was wildly popular that was based on Buddy Love. Clay eventually became this character full-time in his act. Clay graduated to the major Manhattan comedy clubs, including Budd Friedman's The Improv, Catch a Rising Star and Dangerfield's. His move to Los Angeles came in 1980. He was "adopted" there by Mitzi Shore, owner of the famed Comedy Store. His work at the Store led to sitcom appearances on M*A*S*H and Diff'rent Strokes. He later landed roles in movies such as Making the Grade (1984), Pretty in Pink (1986) and Casual Sex? (1988).