Joel Edward McHale
(born November 20, 1971) is an American comedian, television personality and actor. He is the host of The Soup
, a weekly comedy series that airs on E!.
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Biography
McHale was born in
Rome,
Italy, the middle of three brothers, and is of
Irish and
Nordic descent.
[1] His mother, who is Canadian, grew up in
Vancouver,
British Columbia. He grew up in the
Seattle area of Washington State, graduating from
Mercer Island High School in suburban Seattle in 1991.
He received a
Bachelor's degree in History from the
University of Washington in 1995. While at the University of Washington, McHale belonged to the
Theta Chi Fraternity "for three horrible months of [his] life. [He] couldn't stand it".
[2] He was recruited to be on the
rowing team, but later walked onto the
football team, playing
tight end for two years.
[3]
He received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Professional Actors Training Program at the University of Washington.
He was part of the
Almost Live!
cast, a local sketch-comedy TV show produced by Seattle's
KING-TV (Channel 5).
From 1993 until 1997, McHale was a member of the improv comedy group at
Unexpected Productions, participating in Theatersports! at the Market Theater located in
Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle.
[4]
McHale married Sarah Williams in 1996.
[5] They have two sons: Edward Roy (2005) and Isaac Hayden (2008). They own homes in
Sammamish, Washington [6] and the
Hollywood Hills area of
Los Angeles.
[7]
Career
After earning his master's degree in acting, he moved to
Los Angeles and landed small roles on
Oliver Beene
,
CSI: Miami
,
Will & Grace
, and was a TV reporter in the biopic
Lords of Dogtown
. He guest-starred as a cast member on the
NBC improv comedy show
Thank God You're Here
during the pilot episode and also had a guest part in episode 1.6 of the
ABC show
Pushing Daisies
. He also appeared in
Spider-Man 2
as the bank manager.
In 2004, McHale began hosting
The Soup
, a satirical weekly television show on the E! television network. Throughout the show, he takes the audience through the oddities and ridiculous happenings of the week in television.
The Soup
often makes jokes/light of other shows on
E!.
He frequently appears as a co-host on
Loveline
. He has a long association with
Circle X Theatre, where he has done several plays. He has also done commercials for
Burger King,
Dockers, and
Sealy.
McHale was also a weekly guest on the
The Adam Carolla Show
and
Mickey and Amelia Show
, and is an occasional guest on the
Opie and Anthony Show.
[8] He has been a judge on
Iron Chef America
. He was involved in the American version of the British TV show
The IT Crowd
. He made a guest appearance on the finale of
Last Comic Standing season 6, when he gave a recap of the show's events in his typical format of jokes made popular on
The Soup
. He also occasionally appears on
MSNBC's
Countdown with Keith Olbermann
in a humor sequence closing the show.
On June 1, 2009, Joel hosted
Ubisoft's media event at E3, showing off new and unannounced titles and introducing other guests.
[9]
He filmed
The Informant!
in Decatur, Illinois in which he plays FBI Agent Robert Herndon alongside
Matt Damon.
Starting in the fall of 2009, McHale will be starring in an NBC show called
Community
.
[10] He will continue to host
The Soup
.
[11]
References
- Joel McHale E! Bio
- BS Report with Bill Simmons, ESPN Radio, 2/25/2009, 25minute mark
- Dan Steinberg (February 14, 2005). THECHAT. ''Washington Post''. Accessed 2009-03-01.
- International Festival of Improv
- http://www.psarts.org/Press2007/ExpressYourselfEOnline.html Sarah, Edward, Joel McHale
- http://seattle.blockshopper.com/news/story/700021231-
- http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-brown15-2009aug15,0,1880997.story,
- Joel McHale on Opie and Anthony
- Ubisoft Planning Star-Studded E3 Press Conference
- NBC unveils new programs for fall
- E! Expects Joel McHale To Stay On ‘Soup’