Craig Ferguson

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Craig Ferguson
Ferguson on the set of CBS's The Late Late Show
Background information
Date(s) of birth:	May 17, 1962
Birth location(s):	Glasgow, Scotland
Genre(s):	Comedy

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

1 Personal
2 Career
3 Trivia
4 Bibliography
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Personal

Ferguson was born in Glasgow, and raised in nearby Cumbernauld. He lived in London for eight years, where he was a drummer in a little-known punk rock band called Bastards From Hell.^{[citation needed]} He returned to Scotland, where he was a bartender and bouncer. He also lived in New York City, where he worked in construction in Harlem and as a bouncer at the infamous "Coyote Ugly" bar in the East Village. His first visit to the U.S. was as a teen, when he traveled with his family to spend time with his uncle James, who lived on Long Island.

Ferguson has two sisters (one older and one younger) and one older brother. His sister Lynn is a successful comedian/presenter/actress who has done programs 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, married to Eddie, is a successful businesswoman and fellowship member of IOSH.

He has been married and divorced twice. He has a son, Milo (born 2001) from his second marriage, and shares custody with his ex-wife, who lives nearby in Los Angeles, California. His first book, Between the Bridge and the River is dedicated to Milo.

[edit] Career

[edit] Early career

Ferguson became a highly regarded comic in the UK, appearing on the alternative comedy circuit under the stage-name Bing Hitler ("Bing for familiarity and Hitler for shock"^[1]). After enjoying success at the Edinburgh Festival and breaking into TV 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 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.

[edit] 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 January 4, 2005, with consistantly successful results since then (Fergurson 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, to the point of using only an outline one year later (according to Ferguson, he went to the CBS boss and told him he'd 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...". 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, and animal sounds). This was also the case when Kilborn was the host of the show and is owed to the Late Late Show's relatively low budget.^{[citation needed]}

The opening song for The Late Late Show was written, and is sung by, Craig Ferguson. The lyrics (as taken from the Late Late Show website) are:

It's Hard to Stay Up

It's Been a Long, Long Day and You Got the Sandman at the Door

But Hang On, Leave the TV On and Let's Do It Anyway

It's OK, You Can Always Sleep Through Work Tomorrow, OK?

Hey Hey

Tomorrow's Just a Future Yesterday

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 similar 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 favorite "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 skit in which he impersonates various celebrities. Ferguson performs several different voices, while wearing amusing wigs, characterizing 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" skits involved guest stars playing Caine, such as Laurence Fishburne and Chris Isaak. Some of the other skits involve various other characters played by Ferguson, including celebrity news hawk "Barney Slash" and former British sports star "Dirk Weems."

On May 3, 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 light of child molestation, causing Ferguson to cut off the interview early. ^[2]

On January 30, 2006, he dedicated an entire episode as an "eulogy" to his father, Robert Ferguson, who died in Scotland the day before, and just days after Ferguson 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): Dr. Drew Pinsky, a celebrity medical doctor; and American actress Amy Yasbeck, whose husband, actor John Ritter, died suddenly at fifty-four years. The show ended with the music of Scottish traditional band Wicked Tinkers. The monologue of this episode[2], during which Ferguson remembers his father and shares some anecdotes about their relationship, is considered by some to have contributed greatly to his nomination[3] for an Emmy Award in 2006 for "Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program" (Ferguson often jokes to have had this Emmy stolen by Barry Manilow who won[4] on this category that same year). 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.

On July 14, 2006, after several weeks during which Craig seemed to express 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, is a vampire and claimed that Barker would "kick his ass" one day, 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 like $9, before breaking it in two with a single karate chop from his left hand. For the rest of the show, Craig used a small card table covered with a tablecloth until his musical guest 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.

[edit] 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 January 10, 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 released on April 10, 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 said "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 British indie film "Trust Me" [5] and "Confidence" in Red Dwarf Season 1, Episode 5.

[edit] Response on replacing Letterman

Ferguson once said, when asked by one of his guests, that he wouldn't really care to succeed David Letterman. He said he would prefer that Jon Stewart replace Letterman.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Trivia

Ferguson is the only major late-night talk show host who does not wear a tie on a regular basis. This also evolved over time, as he initially did wear a tie on the air; critics noticed the absence of Ferguson's tie about the same time as his innovative monologues. Ferguson has only worn a tie on the air twice in the past year: on the aforementioned January 30, 2006 broadcast dedicated to his just deceased father; and on the September 11, 2006 broadcast, which aired on the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
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 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.
Although a household name in America, he is little known in Europe.
Ferguson received his first Emmy nomination in 2006 for the eulogy to his father (aired January 30th 2006).
List of mock shows on The Late Late Show (and the people Craig plays):

ESPN UK (Dirk Weems, co-host)

Michael Caine in Space (Michael Caine)

Sean Connery's "This Day in History" (Sean Connery)

Prince Charles' Diary (Prince Charles)

Elevator Confessions (the elevator operator, and at least once, a guest)

Access Extra tainment Tonight (Barney Slash, host)

Mick Jagger: Time Traveling Jerk (Mick Jagger)

Celebrity Grab Bag (a number of celebrities in quick succession)

Rather Late Programme with Prince Charles (Prince Charles)

Pick-a-Pic (himself; more of a game he plays, to the audience's delight)

Tea and a Chat (himself; he would answer audience questions and present a skit to answer it; discontinued)

[edit] Bibliography

Between the Bridge and the River, Craig Ferguson's debut novel ISBN 0-8118-5375-6

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Preceded by: Craig Kilborn	Host of The Late Late Show (CBS) 2004 –	Succeeded by: –

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