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Howie Mandel IICanadian stand-up comedian, television presenter and actor
Date of Birth: 29.11.1955
Country:  Canada |
Content:
Biography of Howie Mandel II
Howie Michael Mandel II, born on November 29, 1955, is a Canadian stand-up comedian, television host, and actor. He is best known as one of the hosts of NBC's game show "Deal or No Deal," and he later hosted the daytime and Canadian English versions of the program. Prior to his hosting career, he gained recognition for his role in the NBC medical drama "St. Elsewhere." Many also know Mandel as the creator and lead actor of the children's animated series "Bobby's World."
Early Life and Career
Mandel was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He comes from a Jewish family, and his father was involved in the production and sale of lighting fixtures. After pretending to be a member of the school council and signing an agreement with a construction company to rebuild the school, Mandel was expelled. He then became a carpet salesman and later started his own carpet sales business.
Mandel began performing stand-up comedy at the Yuk Yuk's club in Toronto, and by September 1978, tickets to his shows were selling out a week in advance. He was known as "wild and crazy, almost clinically insane." One of his most popular jokes involved putting a latex glove on his head and inflating it with his nose to make it resemble a rooster's comb. When the audience reacted with laughter, he would raise his palms and skeptically ask, "What? What?"
During a trip to Los Angeles, Mandel performed at the Comedy Store and soon became a regular performer there. He caught the attention of the producer of the comedy game show "Make Me Laugh," and Mandel secured a contract for several appearances on the show. He was also invited to open for David Letterman's show in the summer of 1979. In October of the same year, the head of programming at CBC-TV saw Mandel's performance, and he was soon given his own television program.
In 1980, Mandel landed the lead role in the Canadian film "Gas" alongside Susan Anspach and Donald Sutherland. He also appeared as one of the first VJs in the Nickelodeon music series "Pop Clips," which later led to the creation of MTV. Mandel gained nationwide fame after starring in the six-season series "St. Elsewhere" starting in 1982, where he played the role of Dr. Wayne Fiscus. Alongside his television career, Mandel continued to work in films, famously voicing Gizmo in the hit film series "Gremlins" and its sequel "Gremlins 2: The New Batch."
Later Career
In 1990, Mandel joined the short-lived comedy series "Good Grief" on Fox. He also created and served as the executive producer of the Emmy-nominated children's animated series "Bobby's World," where he provided the voice for the main character and his father. The show aired on Fox for eight seasons. Mandel often appeared in his comedy shows as his alter ego, Phil Skorjanc, which was immensely popular among his fans.
In one episode of "Deal or No Deal" in February 2007, Mandel introduced another famous character, Bobby. On a special two-hour episode that aired on December 25, 2007, Mandel delivered a line as Bobby's voice, at the request of one of the contestants.
Mandel's career faced controversy in 1993 when he performed at the United States Naval Academy, and some of his risqué jokes did not sit well with the administration. This incident occurred shortly after the Tailhook scandal, and the U.S. Navy leadership was sensitive to any non-politically correct and indecent remarks.
Mandel also had a long-running show on Showtime called "Howie Mandel's Sunny Skies" and appeared in country singer Clint Black's music video for the song "Summer's Comin" in 1995. He played the lead role in the short-lived television series "The Amazing Live Sea Monkeys" and appeared as the famous DC Comics supervillain Mr. Mxyzptlk in an episode of the ABC series "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman."
In 1998, Mandel hosted his own talk show, "The Howie Mandel Show," which was canceled after its first season.
