Craig Ferguson

Craig Ferguson
File:Craig ferguson.jpg Ferguson as the host of The Late Late Show
Born	(1962-05-17) May 17, 1962 Glasgow, Scotland
Occupation(s)	Late night talk show host (The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson), comedian, television producer, television writer
Website	Official website

Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish actor, film director, screenwriter, comedian, composer, and novelist. He is the current, Emmy-nominated host of CBS's The Late Late Show.

Personal

Ferguson was born to Robert and Janet Ferguson, one of four siblings that also include actor Lynn Ferguson, in Glasgow and raised in nearby Cumbernauld. He lived in London for eight years, where he was a drummer in a little-known punk band called Bastards from Hell. The band changed its name to Dreamboys, performing regularly in Glasgow in 1980-1982. Other members of the 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. The band released one 45 rpm single, entitled Bela Lugosi's Birthday. He returned to Scotland, where he was a bartender and bouncer.

His first visit to the United States was as a teen, when he traveled with his family to spend time with his uncle James, who lived on Long Island. At one point he lived in New York City, where he worked in construction in Harlem and as a bouncer at the Coyote Ugly Saloon in the East Village.

Ferguson has two sisters (one older and one younger) and one older brother. His sister Lynn is a successful comedian, presenter and actress who provided the voice of Mac in Chicken Run, has done programmes about Millport and presented The Fringe Show with Rich Hall. His brother Scott worked for STV and is married to actress Terri Lalley (Restless Natives, Take the High Road). 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. On February 19, 2007, he brought up the subject of Britney Spears' recent bizarre behavior and expressed dismay at the trend of late night comedians taking shots at troubled celebrities. In place of such jokes he discussed his own experiences with alcoholism and recovery, suggesting that, in his experience, help could be found "very near the front of the telephone book", an allusion to Alcoholics Anonymous.

Career

Early career

Ferguson became a highly regarded comic in the United Kingdom, appearing on the alternative comedy circuit under the stage-name Bing Hitler ("Bing for familiarity and Hitler for shock"). 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 Ou, 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 also the first screen credit of a then-unknown Dane Cook.

His US breakthrough 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. Ferguson's first show aired on 4 January 2005, with consistently successful results since then (Ferguson himself claimed in an interview that the show "breaks records every week" ratings-wise). Initially, Ferguson opened each show with a scripted monologue and prepared jokes, as done on most late night talk shows.

However, as the show progressed, Ferguson (who introduces himself to his audiences as "TV's Craig Ferguson") began improvising. One year later, he was using only an outline. (According to Ferguson, he went to the CBS boss and told him he would improvise the opening monologue, to which the boss smiled and replied, "I was waiting for you to bring that up...").

Unlike other late night talk show hosts, Ferguson picks one topic in the news for his 10 to 15 minute opening monologue, usually opening it with "It's a great day for America everybody..." Rather than talk briefly about several news topics, his routine of providing information, comments, and humor about one topic is reminiscent of a stand-up comedian, peppered with many double entendres (such as him repeatedly stating that he sometimes sits at home "Googling himself"). This change was noticed by critics and lauded as innovative and daring. Also, unlike his peers in other talk shows, he has several buttons at his desk that play different sound effects (e.g., whip cracking, thunder, screaming, and animal sounds). This was also the case when Kilborn was the host of the show. More recently he has taken to the practice of greeting his audience by inviting them to "take off your pants and (insert verb)," usually adding "You too ladies".

Unlike other late night talk shows that have their own band, Ferguson starts his show by singing his own lyrics. During the 2005 Christmas season, he sang duos with various musical guests, including Regis Philbin and Dwight Yoakam. Wearing a red sweater and smoking a pipe, he sang similarly to Bing Crosby.

Ferguson's monologues often include self-deprecating remarks about his past experience with alcoholism, smoking, and his two divorces, in a light-hearted manner. Some material he has for his monologues also involves poking fun at CBS and his late night time slot. He also calls his audience, in studio and at home, various odd nicknames such as his "frisky little badgers" or Ferguson's favourite "cheeky wee monkeys" (accompanied by a whip-crack from his sound machine). Once it's over, and the show starts to get going, Ferguson goes about doing odd-job tasks at his desk, such as checking his voice mail or writing a letter. He also reads viewer e-mail on the air, usually answering them out-loud with his usual dry, facetious humour.

The Late Late Show often includes a segment in which he impersonates various celebrities. Ferguson performs several different voices, while wearing amusing wigs, characterising figures such as Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Larry King, Mick Jagger, Dr. Phil, and Prince Charles. As of late, some of his "Michael Caine in Space" sketches involved guest stars playing Caine, such as Laurence Fishburne and Chris Isaak. Some of the other sketches involve various other characters played by Ferguson, including celebrity news hawk "Barney Slash" and former British sports star "Dirk Weems."

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.

In October of 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, Robert Ferguson, who had died in Scotland the day before, just days after Ferguson had left his side to return to America. He discussed his childhood memories and the issue of death with his two guests (who are personal friends): Drew Pinsky, a celebrity medical doctor; and American actress Amy Yasbeck, whose husband, actor John Ritter, died suddenly at the age of 54. The show ended with the music of folk band Wicked Tinkers playing traditional Scottish music. 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 nomination for an Emmy Award in 2006 for "Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program". On the following night's show, Ferguson indicated that he appreciated all the sympathetic and supportive mail; however, his grief would now be private, shared only with his family. Ferguson's fondest memory of his father is how he enjoyed the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoons, and how it seemed to be the only thing that would make his dad laugh out loud.

For several weeks in 2006, Craig expressed an obsession with vampires and repeatedly contended that Bob Barker, host of the CBS game show The Price Is Right, which is filmed "right next door" to Craig's set, was a vampire. Craig claimed that Barker would "kick his ass" one day. Then, on 14 July 2006, Barker, announcer Rich Fields, and some of Barker's Beauties came to the Late Late Show for a visit. During the visit, 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 "solid mahogany" desk, pricing it at low prices $9 before breaking it in two with a single karate chop from his left hand. The Price Is Right beauties then proceeded to "finish it off" with claw hammers. For the rest of the show, Craig used a small card table covered with a tablecloth until his musical guest Family Force Five proceeded to help him tear up the rest of the set at the end. After a week off, Craig came back with a brand new set.

Other

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.

Ferguson hosted the 32nd annual People's Choice Awards which aired on CBS on 10 January 2006. TV Guide magazine printed a "Cheers" (Cheers and Jeers section) for his filming The Late Late Show that same evening.

Craig Ferguson's novel Between the Bridge and the River 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.

He continues to do standup routines in Las Vegas and New York even while his show continues.

He is in the process of becoming a US citizen, according to comments he made on the David Letterman show, as well as on his own show. He will sometimes state after making a joke about President Bush, comments along the lines of "They will never let me be a citizen now."

Trivia

• In response to viewer email asking if he had ever had surgery, he indicated that he had a chalazion surgically removed from his eyelid.
• Ferguson is a fan of the NCAA Texas Longhorns, and often mentions them when mentioning Texas along with it.
• Ferguson is a fan of Scottish football club Partick Thistle.
• Ferguson played rugby union at secondary school.
• Ferguson often jokes about his self-proclaimed famousness 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.
• Ferguson received his first Emmy nomination in 2006 for the eulogy to his father (aired 30 January 2006).
• 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.

Bibliography

• Between the Bridge and the River, ISBN 0-8118-5375-6

External links

• Craig Ferguson at IMDb
• Template:Voice actor
• Craig Ferguson Bio at CBS – Late Late Show

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