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Drew Allison Carey (born May 23, 1958) is an American actor and comedian recognizable by his crew cut and black-rimmed glasses. After making a name for himself in stand up comedy he eventually gained popularity starring on his own self-titled sitcom.

Career

Carey was born and raised in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. After playing the cornet and trumpet in the marching band of Rhodes High School, he continued on to college at Kent State University. He joined the Delta Tau Delta fraternity and was later expelled, twice.

After dropping out of the university, Carey joined the United States Marine Corps in 1980. He served there for several years, and in 1985, he began his comedy career by following up on a suggestion by a friend to borrow books on how to write jokes from the library. In 1986, after winning an open-mic contest, he became emcee at the Cleveland Comedy Club. For the next few years, he performed at multiple comedy clubs in Cleveland and Los Angeles.

Carey was working as a stand-up comedian in 1991 when he appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. His performance that night was considered a success and impressed Johnny Carson personally. Carey claims he reached the limit on his credit card the next day returning calls from interested casting directors and he credited Carson with making his career. He subsequently appeared in a number of supporting roles on television shows, some of them alongside Kathy Kinney, in which he developed the character of a hapless middle-class bachelor.

In 1993, Carey had a small role in the movie Coneheads as a taxi passenger. Turning his attention to television, in 1994, Carey co-starred in The Good Life, a short-lived sitcom that aired on NBC. Finally, in 1995 ABC began showing The Drew Carey Show, a sitcom that featured Carey and Kathy Kinney in their previous characters. Carey played the assistant director of personnel at a department store in Cleveland, Ohio while Kinney played the obnoxious secretary of Carey's boss. The program lasted for nine seasons.

In 1998, Carey hosted the United States version of the improvisational comedy show, Whose Line Is It Anyway?. Also in 1998, Carey began appearing in commercials for A&W Restaurants in Canada with The Great Root Bear, but his two-year contract with A&W Food Services of Canada was cut short in November that year after promoting McDonald's on The Drew Carey Show. [1] Also in 1998, the New York Friar's Club hosted the Comedy Central Roast of Drew Carey. Drew's fellow actor, Ryan Stiles (The Drew Carey Show & Whose Line is it Anyway?) served as the roastmaster.

In April 22, 1999 at Disney-MGM Studios, one of the parks that make up Walt Disney World Resort, Carey debuted a twelve-minute attraction entitled Sounds Dangerous. In the show, a camera follows Carey through a day as an undercover detective when his video camera fails and the audience is left in complete darkness wearing earphones, following his adventure through sound cues. The attraction is presently running.

In 2000, Carey starred in the TV film, Geppetto for an ABC presentation of the Wonderful World of Disney.

In 2003, he, along with Jamie Kennedy, hosted the WB's live special Play for a Billion, which was sponsored by Pepsi and aired on September 12, 2003.

For The WB's 2004-2005 prime time schedule, Carey co-produced and starred in Drew Carey's Green Screen Show, a spin-off of Whose Line Is It Anyway?. It was cancelled by the WB, but picked up shortly afterward by Comedy Central. He also guest starred in 2000 on The Geena Davis Show

In 2005, Drew Carey provided a voice-over for the character Crank in the animated film Robots.

Drew Carey appeared in the 2005 film The Aristocrats.

On June 8, 2006, Drew Carey's Sporting Adventures debuted on the Travel Channel. Carey travels throughout Europe to photograph multiple soccer games while he immerses himself in the culture of each country he visits.

Political affiliation

Carey is also known for his Republican leanings and has expressed support for the Libertarian Party. The Drew Carey Show often presented a libertarian critique of political correctness, government regulations, racism, sexism, and homophobia, with storylines involving Carey's cross-dressing brother, dating a bisexual woman (played by Illeana Douglas) for two episodes, ongoing criticism of the Boy Scouts of America's exclusionary policy against gay men, and support for same-sex marriage.

In a guest appearance on Blue Collar TV, he said (presumably tongue-in-cheek) "That's why I'm a Republican" during one of the skits.

Since the show ended its nine-year run on ABC in 2004, however, Carey has clarified that he is more of a conservative with libertarian leanings, and that he presented himself as a libertarian to avoid what some critics of the entertainment industry have characterized as a general Hollywood bias against conservatives. On the August 18, 2006 Penn Radio show with Penn Jillette, Carey did however say he was indeed libertarian.

Sports involvement

Carey is known for being a devoted Cleveland Browns, Indians and U.S. Soccer fan. When he promoted The Drew Carey Show in 1995, at the same time the Indians were making a miraculous run at the World Series, he poked fun at the rest of baseball by saying, "Finally, it's your team that sucks!" He also showed his support for the team by throwing the first pitch at an August 12, 2006 Indians game against the Royals. He was rewarded by the Cleveland Indians for being "the greatest Indians fan alive" with a personal bobblehead doll made in his likeness given to fans.[2] [3]

He is also a season ticket holder with the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Carey was the first TV star (as opposed to wrestler or athlete) to ever enter World Wrestling Entertainment's 30-man "Royal Rumble" match in 2001; he was promoting an improv comedy pay-per-view at the time. He appeared in a few backstage segments before his brief participation in the match; he eliminated himself by offering money to Kane and then fleeing the ring.

Carey can sometimes be seen on the sidelines of U.S. National Team soccer games as a press photographer. [4]. His images are sold via wire services under a pseudonym. He was at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in the summer of 2006, for Drew Carey's Sporting Adventures.

His favorite soccer team is Scottish team Glasgow Rangers F.C.

Personal life

A former United States Marine reservist, he adopted his hair style during his time in the service. Carey has had refractive surgery to correct his vision and therefore did not really require glasses (any glasses he wore in public were merely props to help the audience recognize him), however, whilst this was true for several years, recently he revealed on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show that when he turned 40, he actually developed a need for bifocals.

In 1997, Carey published his autobiography, Dirty Jokes and Beer: Stories of the Unrefined. In it, he shared memories of his early childhood and of his father's death when he was eight, and revealed that he was once molested, had suffered bouts of depression, and had made attempts at suicide. He also wrote of his college fraternity years while attending Kent State University, and of his professional career up to that time. The book was featured on the New York Times bestseller list for three months.

Carey has also made a cameo appearance in the computer game The Sims, but only in the House Party expansion pack. To make him appear, the Sims must throw a successful party, which will cause a limo to show up and he will join the festivities. Drew is a fan of The Sims series, and has been said to play it often. During one April Fool's episode of The Drew Carey Show, a scene takes place completely within The Sims.

Philanthropically, Carey is known for his support of libraries, crediting them for beginning his successful comedy career. On May 2, 2000, in a celebrity edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, he selected the Ohio Library Foundation to receive his $500,000 winnings. Carey also has played on the World Poker Tour in the Hollywood Home games for the Cleveland Public Library charity.

Awards

• Carey received an honorary Ph.D. from Cleveland State University in 2000.
• In both 2000 and 2001, Drew won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Television Performer for his work in The Drew Carey Show.
• On February 21, 2003, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• In 2004, Comedy Central ranked him #84 on its list of the 100 greatest standups of all time.
• Councilman Sean Brennan of Carey's hometown (Parma, Ohio) has commended Carey for placing Parma (a Cleveland suburb) on the world stage.

External links

• CNN: Drew Carey leads 'smoke-in' to protest ban
• World Poker Tour Profile
• "Stand-Up Guy", interview with Carey in Reason by Nick Gillespie and Steve Kurtz

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