'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.
[1]
Early career
Ferguson's experience in entertainment began as a
drummer in a little-known
punk band
[2] called
The Bastards from Hell. The band, later known as
Dreamboys, performed regularly in Glasgow in 1980-1982.
[3]
Ferguson got his start as a comedian in the
United Kingdom, appearing on the
alternative comedy circuit under the stage-name "Bing Hitler"
[4]. 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.
''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
4 January 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''.
[5]
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 also calls his audience various nicknames such as "frisky little badgers" 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.
''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" and former British sports star "Dirk Weems."
Unusual episodes
On
3 May 2005, "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.
[6]
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" as a guest on the show (who mentioned how Ferguson had taken the "#1" role from him).
On
30 January 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
[7], 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.
[8]
Bob Barker
Ferguson's show is taped in the same building as ''
The Price Is Right'', formerly hosted by
Bob Barker.
[9] 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
14 July 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.
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 will headline soon in Toronto comedy festival, along with Howie Mandel and others.
Personal life
Ferguson was born in
Glasgow 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"
[10].
Ferguson has two sisters (one older and one younger) and one older brother.
[11][12] His
sister Lynn 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.
He is twice-divorced with a son, Milo (born 2001) from his second marriage, and shares custody with his ex-wife, who lives nearby in
Los Angeles. His first book, ''Between the Bridge and the River'' is dedicated to Milo.
A recovering
alcoholic, Ferguson has been sober since 1992.
[13]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.
As of August 2007- Craig is now engaged to his much younger fiance, Megan Cunningham. They have not set a date for the ceremony. She has been residing in LA with him for the last year.
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
[14][15]. 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 and get an Honorary Citizenship from every State in America. So far, he has received honorary citizen status from;
Arkansas,
North Dakota,
Tennessee,
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 Dakota,
Texas,
Alaska,
Virginia, and
Nevada. Respective governors
John Hoeven,
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.
★ 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.
[16]
Guest Appearances
Craig Ferguson has made a guest appearance on the
Rachael Ray show. Aired on Wednesday August 22,
2007.
Trivia
★ Ferguson had a
chalazion surgically removed from his eyelid.
★ Ferguson is a fan of the
NCAA Texas Longhorns and Scottish
football club
Partick Thistle.
★ Ferguson played
rugby union at
secondary school.
★ Ferguson often jokes about his self-proclaimed fame for predicting the winners of such big sporting games as the
Rose Bowl,
World Series,
Super Bowl,
NBA Finals, etc., just by looking at the team's logos.
★ 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.
★ According to him, he can't donate blood as he had eaten British Beef products sold out of the back of a truck back in the 80's and could possibly have ingested the mad cow prion.
★ Ferguson claims to have a pathological fear of crabs, which was revealed when Wolfgang Puck came as a guest.
References and footnotes
1. ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS AND SCIENCES: 58TH PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS
2. Craig's Bio
3. Other members of Ferguson's band included vocalist Peter Capaldi (later a successful screen actor and an Oscar winner for an animated short), Temple Clark on bass guitar and Roddy Murray on guitar.
4. Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
5. Jay and Conan Rule The Late-Night Week, Stretching Their Year-Ago Leads
6. Wednesday, May 04, 2005 Jonah Goldberg
7.
8. 2006 Primetime Emmy Nominations
9. Host With the Most: The Cult of Bob Barker
10. Craig Ferguson on "The Late Late Show", October 10, 2006
11.
Craig Ferguson Biography
12.
Craig Ferguson
13. Craig Ferguson interview
14. YouTube: Money money money 6.21
15. Scotsman.com interview
16. http://www.cbs.com/latenight/latelate/comedy/video/20070702.shtml
External links
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