Craig Ferguson - Actors
Summary
"Craig Ferguson" (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish comedian, actor, writer and talk show host. He is the current host of CBS's "The Late Late Show", a role which earned him an Emmy nomination in 2006.
Early career
Ferguson's experience in entertainment began as a drummer in a little-known punk band called The Bastards from Hell. The band, later known as Dreamboys, performed regularly in Glasgow in 1980-1982.
Ferguson got his start as a comedian in the United Kingdom, appearing on the alternative comedy circuit under the stage-name 'Bing Hitler'. A recording of his stage act as Bing Hitler was made at Glasgow's Tron Theatre and released in the 1980s. In addition, a Bing Hitler monologue ('A Lecture for Burns Night') appears on the compilation cassette Honey at the Core.
Ferguson toured the UK during the late 80's under his own name as a support act to Harry Enfield.
After enjoying success at the Edinburgh Festival and breaking into television with appearances on "Red Dwarf" and his own show "2000 Not Out", 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 and was the first screen credit for Dane Cook.
His breakthrough in the U.S. came when he was cast as Nigel Wick, Drew Carey's boss on "The Drew Carey Show", from 1996 to 2003. Of his over-the-top English accent on the series, Ferguson noted that plenty of English actors had used bad Scottish accents in the past, so it was time for a Scottish actor to use a bad English accent.
"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 January 4, 2005. "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".
Initially, Ferguson opened the shows with a scripted monologue, as done on most late night talk shows. Later, Ferguson (who introduces himself to his audiences as 'TV's Craig Ferguson') began improvising his monologues. The monologues often include self-deprecating jokes about his past experience with alcoholism, his two divorces, and his late night time slot. He starts his monologues with the sentence 'It's a great day for America, everybody...'. He also calls his audience various nicknames such as 'frisky little badgers', 'naughty monkeys', or 'cheeky monkeys' (accompanied by various sounds from a sound effects machine). The monologue is usually followed by various comedy routines done from his desk, such as checking his voice mail, writing a letter, and reading viewer e-mail.
His catch phrase is 'remind you of anyone?' Typically this is used in a context such as 'Sean Connery is just an handsome, old, gassy Scotsman... Handsome, old, gassy... "remind you of anyone"?' He will generally move close to the camera lens to fill the entire TV screen and turn his head slightly to one side when using his catch phrase as well. Ferguson also likes to refer to himself as 'European' in order to justify any odd behavior or after making a sexual comment on a person or topic..
"The Late Late Show" often includes a celebrity impersonation sketch, where Ferguson lampoons Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Larry King, Mick Jagger, Dr. Phil, Simon Cowell, J.K. Rowling, and Prince Charles. Other sketches involve various other characters played by Ferguson, including celebrity gossip host 'Barney Slash,' former British sports star 'Dirk Weems,' and second-tier superhero Aquaman.
Unusual episodes
On May 3, 2005, "The Late Late Show" guest Bill Maher (whose "Real Time with Bill Maher" is also produced at CBS Television City), in a riff on the Michael Jackson trial, made a controversial remark about child molestation, causing Ferguson to cut off the interview early.
In October 2005, Ferguson greatly played up his small role as 'Fisherman #1' in the CBS made-for-TV movie "Vampire Bats". Ferguson, and his single line of dialogue, became a running joke on the show. CBS even ran advertisements for his appearance in the upcoming movie, also greatly emphasising Ferguson's largely unimportant role. He even went as far as to have 'Fisherman #2', Mitch Braswell, as a guest on the show (who mentioned how Ferguson had taken the '#1' role from him).
On January 30, 2006, Ferguson dedicated an entire episode as a 'eulogy' to his father, who had died the day before. He discussed his childhood memories and talked about his loss with his two guests, both of whom were friends: Drew Pinsky, a doctor; and actress Amy Yasbeck, whose husband, actor John Ritter, had died suddenly. The monologue of this episode, during which Ferguson remembers his father and shares some anecdotes about their relationship, is considered by some to have contributed greatly to his 2006 Emmy nomination.
In February, 2007, He refused to attack Britney Spears for her odd behavior (shaving her head, etc.). A former alcoholic, who had recently celebrated fifteen years of sobriety, Ferguson did not see the humor in her situation. He spent twelve minutes on-air describing his own substance abuse problems, and how he was able to recover from them. This stance actually gained him some notoriety, and he was interviewed about it on the "CBS Evening News".
Bob Barker
Ferguson's show is taped in the same building as "The Price Is Right", formerly hosted by Bob Barker. For several weeks in 2006, Craig expressed an obsession with vampires and joked that Barker was a vampire who would 'kick his ass' one day.
On July 14, 2006, Barker, announcer Rich Fields, and some of Barker's Beauties appeared on "The Late Late Show". During the show, Barker claimed he'd heard that Craig said very nice things about him, and went on to make fun of the value of Craig's desk, pricing it at $9 before breaking it with a karate chop. "The Price Is Right" beauties then proceeded to 'finish it off' with claw hammers. Barker later made a guest appearance on "The Late Late Show" and presented Ferguson with a portrait of himself, complete with vampire fangs for the new set. Barker appeared on Ferguson's show to talk about his retirement this year after 35 years as host of "The Price Is Right".
Ferguson continues to make vampire references to Bob Barker, especially near Halloween. An October, 2007 comedy bit used photos of various celebrities to illustrate typical Halloween creatures (skeletons, zombies, etc.) as seen in Hollywood. Barker's photo was displayed when Ferguson mentioned vampires.
Other projects
Ferguson is the writer/co-writer and actor of movies including "The Big Tease", "Saving Grace", and "I'll Be There", which he also directed. He played the person who looks like neither a man or a woman in "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events"
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.
Ferguson's novel "Between the Bridge and the River" (ISBN 0-8118-5375-6) 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'.
Ferguson played Ted Truman in indie film "Trust Me" and 'Confidence' in the "Red Dwarf" episode "Confidence and Paranoia".
Ferguson hosted the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on 4 July 2007. The telecast of the event was broadcast nationally by CBS.
He continues to make standup appearances in Las Vegas and New York City even while his show continues. He headlined in the Just for Laughs Festival in Toronto, along with Howie Mandel and others.
Personal life
Ferguson was born in Glasgow, Scotland, to Robert and Janet Ferguson, and raised in nearby Cumbernauld.
His first visit to the United States was as a teen; later, he lived in New York City, where he worked in construction in Harlem, and according to Ferguson 'used to be a bouncer at a cool club in New York called Save the Robots. That was the name of the club. I was the bouncer the first couple of weeks. I got fired. I was power crazed. I was acting like a gatekeeper from the "Lord of the Rings".
Ferguson has two sisters (one older and one younger) and one older brother. His sister, Lynn Ferguson is a successful comedian, presenter and actress, perhaps most widely known as the voice of Mac in "Chicken Run". His brother, Scott, worked for STV, and is married to actress Teri Lally. His elder sister, Janice, is a successful businesswoman and fellowship member of IOSH.
His first book, "Between the Bridge and the River" is dedicated to his son.
A recovering alcoholic, Ferguson has been sober since 1992. He said he had considered committing suicide on Christmas Day, but when offered a drink for celebrating the holiday, he forgot to jump off a bridge like he had planned to.
Citizenship
Ferguson is in the process of becoming a US citizen, and has commented in various venues, including the "David Letterman" show and his own show, on his intentions. Sometimes, after making a joke about President Bush, he will make a comment along the lines of 'They will never let me be a citizen now.'
He has recently started to try to get an Honorary Citizenship from every State in America. So far, he has received honorary citizen status from; Arkansas, North Dakota, Tennessee, South Carolina, South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska, Texas, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and honorary Indiana Hoosier, and various towns in the US. He has as well been named 'The Honorary Celebrity of South Dakota'!
Ferguson is an honorary citizen of Ozark, Arkansas, and the entire state of Arkansas, as mentioned several times on his show. He is now an Honorary Citizen of Greensburg, Pennsylvania as well.
Ferguson is also an Honorary Citizen of the entire states of North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Alaska, Virginia, and Nevada. Respective governors John Hoeven, Mark Sanford, Mike Rounds, Rick Perry, Sarah Palin, and Jim Gibbons sent letters to him that made him an Honorary Citizen of each state.
An 11 year old girl who watches the show emailed the governor of Pennsylvania asking for Ferguson to get citizenship in her state and it succeeded.
Gov. Mike Rounds also appointed Craig as the official 'state celebrity' of South Dakota.
As is noted by the segment intro graphic on the show, 'Honorary citizenship is legally meaningless.'
Ferguson was also named a 'Duke of Hazard, KY' along with receiving a key to the city.
On September 17, 2007, Oscar the Grouch appeared on "The Late Late Show" and appointed Craig an Honorary Citizen of Sesame Street.
One locality in the US that has refused such an honor to Craig Ferguson is Portland, Oregon. A viewer had sent a request to Portland mayor Tom Potter. She received a response saying: Craig then used multiple profanities when referring to Mayor Tom Potter which had to be bleeped. Later in the show, when adjusting his map showing where he has been made an honorary citizen, he placed a photo of Michael Moore's head on top of Portland.
Guest appearances
Craig Ferguson has made guest appearances on the "The Tonight Show", "The Late Show with David Letterman", "Rachael Ray Show", and the radio shows "Loveline" and the "Dennis Miller Show".
External links
(Craig Ferguson Interview) on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Craig Ferguson.
