John O'Hurley

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John O'Hurley

John O'Hurley, July 2008
Born John George O'Hurley
October 9, 1954 (1954-10-09) (age 57)
Kittery, Maine
Nationality American
Education Kingswood-Oxford School
Alma mater Providence College
Occupation Actor, television personality, game show host, voice actor
Years active 1983–present
Spouse Eva LaRue (1992–1994)
Lisa Mesloh (2004–present)

John George O'Hurley (born October 9, 1954) is an American actor, voice actor, and television personality. He is known for the role of J. Peterman on the NBC sitcom Seinfeld and was the host of the game show Family Feud from 2006 to 2010.

Contents

[edit] Early life

O'Hurley was born in Kittery, Maine, the son of Jean, a homemaker, and John O'Hurley, an ear, nose, and throat surgeon.[1] O'Hurley attended Kingswood-Oxford School in West Hartford, Connecticut and graduated from Providence College in 1976 with a BA in Theatre. His older sister Carol died in 1970 at the age of 17 due to epileptic seizures, and so John works on behalf of the Epilepsy Foundation to find a cure.

[edit] Career

[edit] Seinfeld

On Seinfeld, O'Hurley played a fictionalized version of the catalog-company entrepreneur John Peterman from 1995 to 1998. O'Hurley in 2001 financed the relaunch of The J. Peterman Company and thus became a part owner.[2]

[edit] Dancing With the Stars

He was a contestant on the first season of the television show Dancing with the Stars which aired during the summer of 2005. O'Hurley and his dance partner Charlotte Jørgensen made it to the final competition, which he lost to ABC soap opera star Kelly Monaco.

After fans alleged that Monaco's victory was a set-up, the network announced that O'Hurley, Monaco and their professional dancing partners would face off in a special "grudge match" episode broadcast September 20, 2005. Unlike the first episode, viewer vote determined the winner instead of the three professional ballroom-dance judges.

O'Hurley and Jørgensen emerged as the winners. The rematch earned $126,000 for Golfers Against Cancer charity. Afterward the duo produced a dance instruction video called, "Learn to Dance with John and Charlotte".

[edit] Other roles

From 2000-2002, he hosted a revival To Tell the Truth.

In October of 2005 he guest stared in an episode of Drake and Josh.

On September 11, 2006, O'Hurley replaced Richard Karn as the fifth host of Family Feud.

In March 2007, he took the lead role in the Wynn Las Vegas's production of Spamalot, in which he plays King Arthur. He starred on Broadway and on National Tour as Billy Flynn in Chicago. In July 2008 he reprised his role as King Arthur in the Los Angeles production of "Spamalot" at the Ahmanson Theatre.

O'Hurley has also been the host of Purina's annual National Dog Show every Thanksgiving since 2002.

He is one of the guest speakers in the Candlelight Processional at Epcot Center in Walt Disney World. O'Hurley is the voice of the owner of the Cow and Corset bar in the Fable II videogame for the Xbox 360. He also replaced Frank Welker as the "Phantom Blot" for Mickey Mouse Works and Disney's House of Mouse.[3] He has also provided the voice of King Neptune on SpongeBob SquarePants and done voice-over work for radio stations, including WBEN-FM in Philadelphia, KPKX in Phoenix, Arizona, and WARH in St. Louis. He is also the voice of Coors Light commercials for more than 10 years.

O'Hurley guest-starred in an episode of The Emperor's New School called "Malina's Big Break", and in 2010, guest-starred on Wizards of Waverly Place as Captain Jim-Bob Sherwood.

He also played in the award-winning 2000x dramatic series produced by the Hollywood Theater of the Ear for National Public Radio.

[edit] Personal life

He was also director of public relations for the American Red Cross.

O'Hurley is a self-taught pianist and classically trained vocalist. O'Hurley has been composing since his teen years. In 2004 he released a two-album project entitled "Peace of Our Minds" a compilation of his original piano compositions in tandem with famed cellist Marston Smith. The piece "For Lisa" was written for John's wife especially for their wedding day in 2004. He was featured on the March/April 2009 cover of Making Music Magazine. [4]

He was married to Eva LaRue from 1992 to 1994. Since August 14, 2004 he has been married to Lisa Mesloh. She had their son in December 2006. O'Hurley is noted for his strong Mid-Atlantic accent most likely due to his relationship with theater arts and also from spending a good portion of his life in New England.

In May of 2011, O'Hurley received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for his commitment to many humanitarian causes.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Books

  • It's Okay to Miss the Bed on the First Jump (2006) New York Times Best Seller
  • Before Your Dog Can Eat Your Homework, First You Have to Do It (2007)

[edit] Music

  • A medley (with Sarah Rice) of three songs ("You Found Me and I Found You," "Not Yet" and "Before I Met You") from the musical Oh, Lady! Lady!! on Ben Bagley's Jerome Kern Revisited, Vol. II, released 1990
  • Peace of Our Minds (double-CD), released 2005
  • Secrets from the Lake, released 2008

John is featured on the cover of the March/April 2009 issue of Making Music Magazine where there is an article about his experiences with recreational music.

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/45/John-O-Hurley.html
  2. ^ Greenwald, John (August 12, 2001). "Peterman Reboots". Time Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,170816-1,00.html. Retrieved March 9, 2009. "In fact, O'Hurley has since become a partner in Peterman's reborn company." 
  3. ^ . http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/voice-compare/Disney/Phantom-Blot/. 
  4. ^ http://www.makingmusicmag.com/features/09march03.html

[edit] External links

Media offices
Preceded by
Richard Karn		 Host of Family Feud
2006-2010		 Succeeded by
Steve Harvey
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
new show		 Dancing with the Stars (US) runner up
Season 1 (Summer 2005 with Charlotte Jørgensen)		 Succeeded by
Jerry Rice & Anna Trebunskaya
v · d · eSeinfeld
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Related articles
v · d · eFamily Feud
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Johnny Olson (pilot episode only) • Gene Wood • Burton Richardson • Joey Fatone
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v · d · eDancing with the Stars (U.S. season 1)
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