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John William "Will" Ferrell (born July 16, 1967According to the State of California. California Birth Index, 1905-1995. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. At Ancestry.com) is an Emmy and Golden Globe nominated American comedian, impressionist, and actor who first established himself as a cast member of Saturday Night Live.

Biography

Ferrell was born in Irvine, California to Lee Ferrell (a keyboardist for The Righteous Brothers) and Kay Overman. He attended Rancho San Joaquin Middle School and University High School in Irvine, where he was a kicker for the varsity football team, and still holds the school record for most field goals made [1]. He became interested in performing while making his school's daily morning announcements over the public address system in disguised voices . He then enrolled at the University of Southern California, where he studied Sports Broadcasting and graduated with a degree in Sports Information. He is also a member of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. After graduating in 1989, Ferrell developed his improvisation skills as a member of the comedy group The Groundlings.

Saturday Night Live

Ferrell joined Saturday Night Live in 1995 (he was chosen over future co-star Steve Carell). He had planned to perform a comedy bit to win a spot on the show from producer Lorne Michaels who traditionally sits down for a final interview with prospective cast members. It was Will's idea to arrive with a suitcase full of Monopoly money and say, "I'm prepared to do anything to be on this show, Mr. Michaels." After bringing the suitcase to the audition and subsequent meetings, it became apparent that there would be no need for the suitcase bit and Will aborted the idea.

During his time on SNL, Ferrell made a name for himself with his impersonations, which included:

• U.S. President George W. Bush ("strategery" was one of several fake Bushisms created by Ferrell during skits about the 2000 campaign),
• announcer Harry Caray (even after Caray's death),
• singer Robert Goulet (crooning a cappella pieces of music by Sisqó, Baha Men, and Notorious B.I.G.)
• singer Neil Diamond
• Inside the Actors Studio personality James Lipton
• Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy,
• U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno
• convicted Unabomber Ted Kaczynski
• game show host Alex Trebek, and
• professional wrestler-turned-Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura.

His original characters included "Morning Latte" co-host Tom Wilkins, Ed the Horse's twin brother Ned, music teacher Marty Culp, Spartan cheerleader Craig Buchanan, Dale Sturtevant "Dissing Your Dog", and night clubber Steve Butabi in a sketch that went to the big screen in 1998's A Night at the Roxbury.

Ferrell returned to Saturday Night Live as a guest host on May 14, 2005. In one sketch, he reprised his role as Robert Goulet, advertising a series of crooned ringtones. Also on the same episode, during the performance of the song "Little Sister" by musical guests Queens of the Stone Age, Ferrell came onstage playing the cowbell: this was in reference to a famous 2000 sketch in which he portrayed Gene Frenkle, a fictional member of Blue Öyster Cult, as the band recorded "(Don't Fear) The Reaper". He also reprised his famous role as Alex Trebek in a parody of Celebrity Jeopardy! with Darrell Hammond also reprising his role as Sean Connery, Kenan Thompson as Bill Cosby, and Amy Poehler as Sharon Osbourne.

In 2004, Ferrell hosted the USC School of Cinematic Arts’s 75th Anniversary Gala "Will Ferrell to Anchor Cinema-TV Gala", Chang, Emmy; University of Southern California PR Newsroom, where his alma mater was recognized as the first educational institution of its kind in the country.

On July 17, 2006, Ferrell threw the second pitch of the night at Fenway Park for the Boston Red Sox game against the Kansas City Royals, performing an impersonation of former Sox pitcher Luis Tiant.

On October 21, 2006, Ferrell again returned to SNL to reprise his role as James Lipton, interviewing host John C. Reilly during the monologue portion of the show.

The Frat Pack

Ferrell is part of the unofficial Frat Pack group that also includes Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Steve Carell, Jack Black, and Vince Vaughn."Frat Pack persona: Archetype casting"; Wloszczyna, Susan and Kevin Crossman; July 13, 2006; USAToday.comBOYS' LIFE; Frat Pack back on track this summer"; Stewart, Sara; April 30, 2006; New York Post Online Edition This group of actors have worked with one another numerous times in several collaborations from movies to show appearances to award shows. Ferrell's first official connection to the frat pack could be considered his role as Mugatu in 2001's Zoolander, in which Ben Stiller starred and directed alongside Owen Wilson with a Vaughn cameo.

Ferrell's frat pack filmography includes Old School, Zoolander, Starsky & Hutch (uncredited), Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (as well as its DVD-only alternate version, Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie) and Wedding Crashers.

Death hoax

An announcement on I-Newswire.com reported that Ferrell had died in a paragliding accident. The site accepts press releases from users for publication on its website. A user submitted the aforementioned hoax, which was published before its factual inaccuracy was noticed. The story was further propagated when it appeared on Google News. This may perhaps be related to his role in the movie Wedding Crashers where he crashes the funeral of a man who died in a paragliding accident, and then remarks on the stupidity of someone dying in a paragliding accident "Will Ferrell Isn't Dead and Google Hasn't Hired A 15 Year-Old"; Ryan, Jack; March 15, 2006; The Post Chronicle.

Awards and nominations

63rd Golden Globe Awards

Nomination:

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (for The Producers)

53rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards

Nomination:

• Outstanding Individual Performance In A Variety Or Music Program (for Saturday Night Live)

2005 Golden Raspberry Awards

One win:

• Worst Screen Couple (with Nicole Kidman, for Bewitched)

American Comedy Awards

One win:

• Funniest Male Performer in a TV Special (Leading or Supporting) Network, Cable or Syndication(for Saturday Night Live Presidential Bash 2000)

Nominated

• Funniest Supporting Male Performer in a TV Series (for Saturday Night Live)

MTV Movie Awards

Nominated:

• Best Comedic Performance (for Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy)
• Best On-Screen Team (with Paul Rudd, Steve Carell and David Koechner for Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy)
• Best Musical Performance (with Paul Rudd, David Koechner and Steve Carell for Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy)

Nominated:

• Best Comedic Performance (for Elf)

Nominated:

• Best Comedic Performance (for Old School)
• Best On-Screen Team (with Luke Wilson and Vince Vaughn for Old School)

Filmography

Television Work

• Saturday Night Live (cast member from 1995-2002)
• Cow and Chicken (1997-2001) (voice in various episodes)
• Saturday Night Live: Presidential Bash 2000 (2000)
• Undeclared (Guest star)
• The Oblongs (2001-2002) (voice)
• Family Guy (2000-2001) (voice in various episodes)
• MTV Movie Awards Matrix Reloaded parody as the Architect
• Strangers with Candy (Guest star)]]
• King of the Hill (voice)

Salary

• Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) $20,000,000
• Bewitched (2005) $20,000,000

• Kicking & Screaming (2005) $20,000,000

• Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) $7,000,000

Trivia

• He was, according to Forbes, the best-paid actor of 2005, with a salary of $40 million http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/invest/forbes/P147872.asp.

See also

• Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches

Footnotes

External links

• The Frat Pack Tribute

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