Jared Drake Bell
(born June 27, 1986), better known as Drake Bell
, is an American actor, comedian, guitarist, singer/songwriter, and occasional television director. Bell is commonly associated with his real-life best friend Josh Peck, who co-starred with him in both The Amanda Show
, with Amanda Bynes, and Drake & Josh
. After beginning his career as a child star in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he appeared on The Amanda Show
and became well-known among young audiences for his role on the series Drake & Josh
.
In addition to his acting, Bell has a growing career as a musician, and co-wrote and performed the theme song to Drake & Josh
, entitled "Found a Way". In 2005 he independently released his debut album, Telegraph
. His second album, It's Only Time
, was released in 2006 after signing with Universal/Motown.
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DRAKE BELL TICKETS
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Personal life
Bell was born in
Orange County, California. He is the son of women's
pool champion Robin Dodson.
[1]
Car accident
On December 22, 2005, Bell was involved in a
car accident on
Los Angeles'
Pacific Coast Highway. He was driving with a friend when a truck ran a red light and caused a head-on collision. This resulted in a fractured scull, fractured neck, a broken jaw, six missing teeth and several facial lacerations. His best friend and co-star on Nickelodeon's Drake and Josh,
Josh Peck, was there with him in the hospital to give him moral support, the doctor said it was not life threatening according to an interview in 2006. After recovering, Bell underwent plastic surgery to reverse the cosmetic effects of the crash. He said that the crash was somewhat of a positive influence on his career and to his own life saying "you have to just smell the flowers because it (life) can all be taken away like that *snaps fingers*.'.
[2]
Career
Acting
Bell first appeared in a 1994 episode of
Home Improvement
entitled "Swing Time". He then appeared in the film
Jerry Maguire
as Jesse Remo in 1996, and had a small role in the
Seinfeld
episode "
The Frogger" in 1998. In 1999, he acted in a commercial for
Pokémon Red and Blue. In 2000, he was nominated for the Young Artist Award for "Best Performance in a TV Movie or Pilot" in the "Supporting Young Actor" category for his role as Cage Redding in the
made-for-television film
The Jack Bull
. During the early 2000s, Drake was a featured performer on
The Amanda Show
and made a guest appearance on the series
The Nightmare Room
, before being cast as Drake Parker on the
Nickelodeon series
Drake & Josh
, which began airing in 2004. During this time period, he made a guest appearance as himself on Nickelodeon's
Zoey 101
and won the first of three consecutive "Blimp Awards" at the
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in the "Favorite Male TV Actor" category. In 2006, Bell co-starred alongside fellow
Drake & Josh
actress
Miranda Cosgrove with
Dennis Quaid in
Yours, Mine and Ours
. In the spring of 2008, Bell had a starring role in the comedy spoof film
Superhero Movie
. In August 2008, he appeared in his first R-rated comedy
College
, which was shot
on location in
New Orleans. Drake has signed a producing deal with Virtus Entertainment and will star in
The Miracle of Santa Rosa
. Bell will also be in another Virtus Entertainment production, this one a mini-series titled
Flying Tigers
. Bell recently starred in
Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh
alongside Josh Peck, which began production in July 2008, and premiered on December 5, 2008.
Music
Bell was first professionally associated with music when he was in the 2001 movie
Chasing Destiny
. In the film, he co-starred with
The Who lead singer
Roger Daltrey, who gave him his first guitar lessons. Bell performed on television for the first time in 2002 when he performed his first original song, "Lost A Lover", on
The Amanda Show
. Another one of his songs, "
Found a Way", is featured as the theme song for
Drake & Josh
. The song is included on
Drake & Josh: Songs from and inspired by the hit TV show
, along with two other compositions he has written and performed, as well as appearing on on his debut album,
Telegraph
, which was released independently on September 27, 2005.
In 2005, Bell collaborated with
Hawk Nelson on a song called "Bring 'Em Out," which was featured in the movie
Yours, Mine and Ours
. Bell and fellow band-mate Michael Corcoran do all the score music for
Drake & Josh
,
Zoey 101
, and
iCarly
. In 2006, Bell signed with
Universal Records and met
Gustavus Adolphus College graduate
Tom van Dell, who would later become his manager. He released his first single, "
I Know", on October 17, 2006. The video for "I Know" was filmed in October 2006. Bell's second album, entitled
It's Only Time
, was released on December 5, 2006. Bell performed live on MTV's
TRL the day after it was released. In the summer of 2007, he went on a Nextfest tour in support of
It's Only Time
, opening up alongside
Corbin Bleu for
Aly & AJ.
On October 16, 2007,
iTunes released a
Radio Disney single edit version of his song "
Makes Me Happy", the second single for Drake's album
It's Only Time
. He also wrote with band-mate Michael Corcoran, and sang the theme song for the show
iCarly
, "Leave It All to Me," with
Miranda Cosgrove. The music video for the song premiered on May 24, 2008. Bell has recorded a theme song featuring
Sara Paxton for his movie
Superhero Movie
called "
Superhero! Song". He performed some Christmas songs in the
Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh
movie.
Critics have described his music as heavily influenced by
The Beatles and
The Beach Boys, with the Beatles being his main influence.
[3] Two of his other influences are
Elvis Presley and
Buddy Holly.
[4]
A DVD entitled "Drake Bell In Concert" was released on December 16, 2008. The DVD contains footage of him and his band live on stage while they toured in Mexico, in October 2008. It also features 2 new songs and 5 covers, all of which are exclusive to the DVD.
[5]
Third album
In late 2007, Bell was working on his third studio album, originally intended for a spring 2008 release.
[6]
A few new songs have been heard, one called "Sea Song", and another called "All Alone at the Disco" can be seen on his "
Live In Concert" DVD. In some other concerts he has played "Our Love" and "Yesterday's Fool", which can also be heard on a SayNow message. He announced "Here am I" on another SayNow message. He released a minute of a Spanglish edit of "All Alone at the Disco" and one minute thirty seconds of "Unbelievable" on his official
MySpace.
[4]
Filmography