Craig Ferguson

Craig Ferguson at Comic-Con 2013

Craig Ferguson (born May 17, 1962 in Glasgow , Scotland ) is a British - American television presenter , comedian , actor , film director and writer . He hosted the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson , a late night show produced by Worldwide Pants Incorporated, David Letterman's television and film production company , from 2005 to December 2014 . It was broadcast on the American television station CBS right after the Late Show with David Letterman .

Career

Born in Scotland, Ferguson started his career in the UK, moved to the US in 1994 and became a US citizen in 2008 . His sister is the actress and presenter Lynn Ferguson .

Ferguson's career began in the early 1980s as a drummer in the British punk rock band "The Bastards from Hell" (later: "The Dreamboys") together with Peter Capaldi . From 1985 he had his first successes as a stand-up comedian under the pseudonym "Bing Hitler". The final breakthrough for the character he created as a parody of Scottish patriotism took place in 1986 at the prestigious Edinburgh Festival Fringe . Shortly afterwards the first television and theater offers followed. Among other things, he played on the BBC sitcom Chelmsford 123 and in London's West End in the musical version of the Rocky Horror Show as Brad Majors. In the early 1990s, his career and health began to suffer from the effects of excessive drug use and alcoholism , which prompted him to undergo successful rehab in 1992 and then to emigrate to the United States.

After a longer, less successful phase Ferguson got into the hit sitcom Drew Carey Show in 1996 and played in 185 episodes up to 2004 the role of the English boss of Carey, Nigel Wick, for which he adopted a deliberately exaggerated English accent. In the last two seasons of the series, he only appeared as a guest.

In 2005 he took over the moderation of the Late Late Show as the successor to Craig Kilborn . He was selected by CBS as one of four potential candidates. His competitors were DL Hughley , Damien Fahey and Michael Ian Black . In April 2014, after 10 years of hosting, he announced that he was leaving the Late Late Show . On December 19, the last Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson took place , his guest was Jay Leno .

Ferguson's style of moderation differs fundamentally from other classic late night formats such as Late Night (NBC) , in that it moves away from ready-made jokes to a more personal approach, which often makes self-deprecating references to the quality of the program and, for example, to one's own health problems in the present such as also included the past. For example, he dedicated an introductory monologue to his father, who died shortly before, and his mother, who died three years later, and took Britney Spears' crisis in 2008 as an occasion, on the show very seriously about his own alcoholism, the associated suicidal thoughts and his withdrawal in the early 1990s Years to speak. In 2009, Ferguson hosted a special of 2 unseen programs that featured Stephen Fry and Desmond Tutu . The episode with tutu won the Peabody Award . He described his appearance on the show as radical, as Tutu confirmed that he was also able to implement crazy ideas.

In April 2008, Ferguson, who had recently been granted US citizenship , appeared at the traditional White House Correspondents' Association dinner . From September 2014 to February 2017, Ferguson hosted the game show Celebrity Name Game .

In 2016 Ferguson hosted the show Join or Die with Craig Ferguson on History , in which historical events and people were discussed. The name of the program goes back to a graphic by Benjamin Franklin from 1754, which shows a snake that was cut into pieces, which was supposed to call for unity. On the occasion of his naturalization in the USA, Ferguson had this tattooed on his forearm. In the show, which consists of 22 episodes and was not renewed, comedians and scientists discussed a shortlist of six candidates. Topics of individual programs included who were the greatest frenemies in history or who was the most influential band of all time.

In addition to his TV and film career, Craig Ferguson is also a writer. In 2006 he published the novel Between the Bridge and the River and in 2009 his autobiography American on Purpose . The audiobook version was nominated for the Grammy in 2011 as a spoken Best Album nomination. Memoirs entitled Riding the Elephant followed in 2019 . As a voice actor, he has voiced characters in films by DreamWorks , Disney and Pixar . He also published comedy programs on sound carriers and was active as a singer several times.

From February 2017 to May 2018 he hosted the daily two-hour The Craig Ferguson Show on Sirius XM . He is married for the third time and has been living in Scotland again since 2019 .

Filmography

• 1999: The Big Tease ( The Big Tease )
• 2000: Grasgeflüster ( Saving Grace ) (screenplay and actor)
• 2000: Chain of Fools
• 2001: Life without Dick - In love with a killer
• 2003: I'll Be There
• 2004: Lenny the Wonder Dog
• 2005: Vampire Bats
• 2006: Niagara Motel
• 2008: Craig Ferguson A Wee Bit o'Revolution ( Stand Up )
• 2009: The Ugly Truth ( The Ugly Truth )
• 2010: The Hero of Color City
• : 2010 to Train Your Dragon ( How to Train Your Dragon ) (as voice of the ruffian belch in the original English version)
• 2010: Kick-Ass
• 2011: Winnie the Pooh ( as the voice of the owl in the original English version)
• 2012: Merida - Legend of the Highlands (Brave) (voice of Lord Macintosh in the original English version)
• 2014: How to Train Your Dragon 2 ( How to Train Your Dragon 2 ) (as the voice of Grobian the Burp in the original English version)

Literary works

• 2006: Between the Bridge and the River (novel). Chronicle Books , 2006. ISBN 0-8118-5375-6 , ISBN 0-8118-5819-7 .
• 2009: American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot (autobiography). HarperCollins , 2009. ISBN 0-06-171954-4 .
• 2019: Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations (Memoirs). Penguin Group , 2019. ISBN 978-0525533917 .

Discography

as a drummer

• 1980: Exposure - Video Eyes / Style + Fashion (single; as Adam Eternal)
• 1981: Ana Hausen - Professionals (Single)

as a singer

• 1986: Bing Hitler A Lecture For Burns Night (Compilation Honey At The Core )
• 1987: Bing Hitler With The Chain Gang - Creepy Crawlies (on: Makin 'Tracks )
• 1988: Scotland Hooch Och Aye (Single)
• 2001: LOVE (Soundtrack Born Romantic - Music From The Motion Picture )
• 2014: (with Gerard Butler, Mary Jane Wells, John Powell) For The Dancing And The Dreaming (Soundtrack How To Train Your Dragon 2 (Music From The Motion Picture) )

as a stand-up comedian

• 1986: (as Bing Hitler) Live At The Tron
• 1988: Mental Bing Hitler Is Dead?
• 1990: A Big Stoatir
• 2009: A Wee Bit O 'Revolution
• 2011: Does This Need To Be Said?
• 2013: I'm Here To Help ( Grammy Awards 2014 : Nomination for Best Comedy Album )
• 2015: Just Being Honest ( Grammy Awards 2016 : Nomination for Best Comedy Album )

Awards

• 2003: US Comedy Arts Festival Audience Award (for I'll Be There )
• 2009: Peabody Award (for The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: An Evening with Archbishop Desmond Tutu )
• 2015: Daytime Emmy Award as Outstanding Game Show Host (for Celebrity Name Game )
• 2016: Daytime Emmy Award as Outstanding Game Show Host (for Celebrity Name Game )

Web links

Commons : Craig Ferguson  - Collection of Images

• Craig Ferguson at the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Craig Ferguson at Discogs (English)
• Article about the Scot Craig Ferguson appeared in the NZZ Folio
• Jacques Steinberg: From Craig Ferguson, a Novel Born of Literary Rambles. New York Times , April 4, 2006, accessed July 9, 2020 (book review of “Between The Bridge And The River”). 
• Andy Borowitz: The Scotsman. New York Times, April 10, 2009, accessed July 9, 2020 (Book Review of "American On Purpose"). 
• Carol O'Sullivan: 'Riding the Elephant' is a fitting follow-up to Craig Ferguson's previous memoir. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 21, 2019, accessed July 9, 2020 (Book Review of “Riding the Elephant”). 
• Craig Ferguson Discusses His Memoir, "Riding the Elephant". In: BUILD series. YouTube, April 20, 2020, accessed on July 9, 2020 (English, half-hour interview on "Riding the Elephant", recorded on May 7, 2019). 

Individual evidence

1. ^ IMDb: Biography for Craig Ferguson
2. ↑ youtube.com: Craig Ferguson as Bing Hitler
3. ↑ The Drew Carey Show. IMDb, accessed on July 9, 2020 . 
4. ^ CBS Names New Host for 'The Late Late Show' , latimes.com
5. ^ Craig Ferguson: Craig Ferguson on the Guest Who Changed His Life. In: FORA.tv. YouTube , October 2, 2009, accessed July 9, 2020 . 
6. ↑ Erik Pedersen: 'Join Or Die With Craig Ferguson' Gets Premiere Date On History - TCA. Deadline, January 6, 2016, accessed on July 9, 2020 . 
7. ↑ Comedian Craig Ferguson Launches Daily Show Exclusively on SiriusXM. Sirius XM Holdings Inc., January 26, 2017, accessed July 9, 2020 . 
8. ^ US Comedy Arts Festival. Aspen, Colorado, USA. IMDb, accessed on July 9, 2020 . 
9. ^ The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: An Evening with Archbishop Desmond Tutu (CBS). Peabody Award, 2009, accessed July 9, 2020 . 
10. ^ The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announces winners for the 43rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards. (pdf) emmyonline.org, April 26, 2015, accessed on July 9, 2020 (English). 
11. ^ The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announces winners for the 43rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards. (pdf) emmyonline.org, May 1, 2016, accessed on July 9, 2020 (English).