Comic who successfully made the transition from a zany stand-up act to ridiculous film comedies to dramatic film roles to leading man status.


Cheaper by the Dozen (2003): $10,500,000
Sgt. Bilko (1996): $7,000,000
The Jerk (1979): $600,000 and 50% of the profits

Is an accomplished banjo player and appears playing the instrument in Earl Scruggs and Friends video for "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," for which he won a Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance. This makes him rare in that he has won Grammies for both comedy and music. Dated Anne Heche. Born at 5:54am-CST or CDT. Studied philosophy at California State University at Long Beach, and for a while, considered becoming a philosophy professor instead of an actor-comedian. He periodically spoofed his philosophy studies in his 1970s stand-up act, such as comparing Philosophy with studying Geology - "If you're studying Geology, which is all facts, as soon as you get out of school you forget it all, but Philosophy you remember just enough to screw you up for the rest of your life.". Graduated from Garden Grove High School in 1963. He attended Rancho Alamitos High School in the beginning of his high school career, but then Garden Grove opened. At that point he lived in the attendance area that went to Grove and had to start going there. He was also a cheerleader at Rancho and often did his King Tut dance. Hosted the 75th Annual Academy Awards. As a vegetarian, he made fun of hot dogs in his 1970s stand-up act; a joke about hot dogs appears on his 1979 album "Comedy Is Not Pretty". 2003: Was listed as #50 in People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" List. Was voted Most Talented by his classmates at Garden Grove high school. Is skilled with a rope or lasso and did his own rope work in ¡Three Amigos! (1986). He also plays the harmonica. Was listed as a potential nominee on both the 2004 and 2007 Razzie Award nominating ballots. He was listed as a suggestion in the Worst Actor category for the films Bringing Down the House (2003) and Cheaper by the Dozen (2003), and in the Worst Supporting Actor category for his role in Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) on the 2004 ballot. He was suggested again three years later in the Worst Actor category on the 2007 ballot for his performance in The Pink Panther (2006), but he failed to receive any one of these nominations. He is still yet to be nominated for a Razzie Award. 2005: Recipient of the 8th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, awarded by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. His performance as "Navin Johnson" in The Jerk (1979) was ranked #99 among Premiere Magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Film Performances of All Time (2006). Is a fan of "Doctor Who" (1963). Says his favorite movie of his own is Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987). Is a member of Mensa, as are James Woods, Ben Rollins. Was on an episode of "The Dating Game" (1965) before he was famous in 1966. He won a date with an old friend named Marscha Walker, whom he had not seen in three years. Fell into depression for a couple of months when his good friend John Candy died. Is a fan of the animated series "Dave the Barbarian" (2004). After inviting friends including Tom Hanks, Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy to a dinner party, he married his longtime girlfriend Anne Stringfield in a surprise ceremony at their Los Angeles home. 2007: Best man during his wedding to Anne Stringfield was Lorne Michaels, creator of "Saturday Night Live" (1975). The first interview he did after his second wedding, he stated that during the ceremony he felt that the spirits of two of his closest friends who are now deceased, Jon Pertwee and John Candy, were there. Claims to have met all 10 actors who have played Doctor Who. Out of all of them he states Jon Pertwee was the kindest and William Hartnell was the quietest. He won't state who was the meanest. Even though during his stand up days he said he was a "wild and crazy guy", in real life he is actually quite shy and quiet. Attended Jon Pertwee's funeral. Was Warner Bros. second choice for the role of The Riddler in Batman Forever (1995) (after Robin Williams ). However he turned it down as with the death of his good friend John Candy and his divorce from Victoria Tennant he was too sad to make any movies. Co-wrote two songs with Martin Mull: "Men" appearing on the album "I'm Everyone That I Have Ever Loved" and "Westward Ho!" appearing on the album "Sex & Violins". Attended Rancho Alamitos his freshman and sophomore years. He was the freshman class president, and a member of the cheer leading squad at Rancho where some of his zany comical routines were first tested out. When the school boundaries were shifted, they put him in Garden Grove high school attendance area. He graduated from Garden Grove High School in 1963. GGHS opened in 1921 and RAHS opened in 1957. Fan of Carl Ballantine. Presented him the Lifetime Achievement Fellowship from the Magic Castle in Hollywood in 2007. Learned to play the banjo by playing LPs at 16rpm speed. This approach enabled him to more accurately pick the individual notes due to the halved playback LP speed.