Drew Carey

Although Carey made his spectacles his trademark, he had corrective surgery at an early age and did not really need glasses, till later on in life when he needed reading glasses. He adopted a crew cut from his days with the United States Marine Corps and practiced Buddhism.

Although he proposed to Nicole Jaracz in 2007, he never got married and their engagement got called off in 2012. He, however, remains a father figure to her son, Connor, from a previous marriage and has no children of his own.

His weight has been a topic for a lot of his jokes and he had to undergo coronary angioplasty after suffering from chest pain in August 2001. In 2010 he began a crash diet and started exercise, which he claims cured him of Type 2 Diabetes.

He was born on May 23, 1958 to Lewis and Beulah Carey who had three sons, of whom Drew was the youngest. His father died of brain tumour when he was eight years old and the three boys were brought up by their mother in Old Brooklyn neighbourhood of Cleveland, Ohio. The loss of his father at an early age left him depressed because his mother could not fill the void as she struggled to support the family.

He graduated from James Ford Rhodes High School in 1975, where he played the trumpet and cornet in the marching band. He went on to Kent State University to complete his studies but had to leave after three years due to poor academic performance. He remained depressed through his early years and even attempted suicide on two occasions. However, he pulled himself out by reading humour books and taking interest in board games.

In 1979 he enlisted in the US Marine Corps Reserve and served for four years from where he moved on to Las Vegas in 1983 and worked as a bank teller and waiter. During his days with the Marine Corps, he developed physically as well as gained self-confidence to put himself back on track.

He started a career in comedy by writing jokes for his friend, David Lawrence and went on to win the ‘Open Microphone Contest’ after which he became the Master of Ceremonies at the Cleveland Comedy Club.

He performed in comedy clubs in Cleveland and Loss Angeles over the next few years and got recognised when he competed in the 1988 ‘Star Search’. He joined the 14th Annual Comedian Special on HBO and made his first appearance on the ‘Late Night with David Letterman’ show.

In 1994, Carey wrote his own stand-up comedy, ‘Drew Carey : Human Cartoon’, which was aired on Showtime and won a ‘Cable AEC Award’ for Best Writing.

Gradually he developed the character of a middle-class bachelor and took part in supporting roles on television. In 1994 he co-starred with John Caponera in ‘The Good Life’, a sitcom on NBC. The show got cancelled and thereafter he got hired as a consultant for the television show, ‘Someone Like Me’.

In 1995 ‘The Drew Carey Show’ premiered. It revolved around a fictionalised version of himself as he took on the stresses of life and work with a group of childhood friends. The programme had 233 episodes and ran for over nine years.

In 1998 he started the American version of the comedy show, ‘Whose Line is it Anyway’. The show ran for 220 episodes till it ended in 2006. His income by now led to his inclusion in the Forbes list of highest paid entertainers of 1998 at 24th with $45.5 million.

He co-produced and starred in ‘Drew Carey’s Green Screen Show’ for Warner Brother’s during 2004-05 prime time. The show was dropped by Warner Brothers and picked up by Comedy Central subsequently.

He has written his autobiography, ‘Dirty Jokes and Beer: Stories of the Unrefined’, which is about his early life and television career. It featured in the New York Times list of bestsellers for three months.

He has made guest appearances and hosted various shows. His TV shows include ‘Drew Carey : Human Cartoon’, ‘The Good Life’, ‘The Drew Carey Show’, ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’, ‘Whose Line is it Anyway’, ‘Power of 10’ and ‘The Price is Right’.

He also appeared in a number of films including ‘Coneheads’, ‘The Big Tease’, ‘Robots’, ‘The Aristocrats’ and ‘Jack and Jill’.