Andrew Dice Clay

Andrew Dice Clay
Pseudonym	"Dice," "Diceman"
Birth name	Andrew Clay Silverstein
Born	September 29, 1957 (1957-09-29) (age 54) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Nationality	United States
Years active	1978 – present
Genres	Character comedy, black comedy, satire, insult comedy
Spouse	Kathleen Swanson (1984–1986) (divorced) Kathleen Monica (1992–2002) (divorced) 2 children Valerie Vasquez (2010–present)
Notable works and roles	The Day the Laughter Died Ford Fairlane in The Adventures of Ford Fairlane
Website	andrewdiceclay.com

Andrew Dice Clay (born Andrew Clay Silverstein; September 29, 1957) is an American comedian and actor^[1] who played the lead role in the film The Adventures of Ford Fairlane.^[2]

Clay has been in several movies and has released a number of stand-up albums. He is the only comedian in history to sell out Madison Square Garden two nights in a row, a feat he accomplished in 1990.^[3][4][5]

Early life

Clay was born in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, the son of Doris and Fred Silverstein, who worked in real estate sales.^[6] Clay is of Jewish herritage.^[7][8][9] Clay was doing impressions and entertaining his family in the living room by the time he was 5. He was a fairly proficient drummer at James Madison High School, and played bar mitzvahs and casual dates as "Clay Silvers."

Career

In 1978, he auditioned at Pips, a local comedy club in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, doing comedic impressions, then headlined there the following week as "Andrew Clay." His act at the time included an impression of John Travolta in Grease and Jerry Lewis as The Nutty Professor. Clay graduated to the major Manhattan comedy clubs, including Budd Friedman's The Improv, Catch a Rising Star and Dangerfield's. His move to Los Angeles came in 1980. He was "adopted" there by Mitzi Shore, owner of the famed Comedy Store. His work at the Store led to sitcom appearances on M*A*S*H and Diff'rent Strokes. He later landed roles in movies such as Making the Grade (1984) and Pretty in Pink (1986).^[10]

He had a regular role on Crime Story from 1986 – 1988.^[11] He eventually turned from acting to pursue a career in stand-up comedy, focusing on the character "Dice" from Making the Grade. His big break came in 1988 when he did a seven-minute set at Dangerfield's during the Rodney Dangerfield special "Nothing Goes Right." It was there that he met his agent Dennis Arfa and later got his first HBO special.^[12]

Later works

Clay retreated from the media spotlight for several years. 1995 saw him try to reclaim his fame with the broadcast of the HBO special Assume the Position. Although a great success for Clay and the network^{[citation needed]}, the special failed to reignite Clay's career.

He started running a gym in 1997, which he owns and operates to this day.

In 1998, Clay released the triple-live album "Filth" via the Internet. Soon afterward, Clay aligned himself with New York City-based talk program The Opie and Anthony Show.

To coincide with the release of 2000's "Face Down, Ass Up," Opie and Anthony teamed up with Clay to allow him to perform at Madison Square Garden.

In 2005, Clay signed a deal with Sirius to produce and broadcast his own show, Out of the Cage.

In 2007, he attempted a comeback with the reality TV series Dice: Undisputed on VH1, which lasted seven episodes.^[13]

He appeared as a part of NBC's The Celebrity Apprentice 2 and was the first celebrity to be fired, after he openly entertained the idea of quitting while in Donald Trump's presence. On The Howard Stern Show, Clay stated that the show was edited to exclude situations where Trump treated Clay poorly based on his comic treatment of women rather than his accomplishments.^[14] Throughout the season, each celebrity was raising money for a charity of their choice; Clay had selected StandUp For Kids.^[15]

In July 2011, Clay was featured in the eighth and final season of Entourage as Johnny Drama's co-star in the fictional program Johnny's Bananas.^[16]

Controversy

Clay is known for a style of comedy that has sparked controversy and much media coverage. He is loved by some and reviled by others, who feel that his act is crude, misogynistic, racist, homophobic and degrading. Clay has been widely opposed by women's rights groups and he has been banned from many radio and television shows for his explicit language and socially and politically charged humor. MTV banned him for life in 1989 for reciting what he called "adult nursery rhymes" during the annual Video Music Awards ceremony (September 6, 1989).^[17] In 2011, he was unbanned by MTV, but the Biography Channel refuses to produce a biography of him.^[18]

In 1990, Clay was invited to guest host the weekly comedy TV show, Saturday Night Live. Cast member Nora Dunn declared her refusal to ever appear on the same broadcast as Clay and did not participate in the episode of his guest appearance (May 12). Invited musical guest Sinéad O'Connor also boycotted Clay's appearance.^[19]

Personal life

In 2002, he divorced his wife and focused in part on raising his two sons.^[20] One of his sons, Max, has since followed his father into stand-up comedy^[21], and occasionally opens for him on the road^[22].

Discography

• ADC: The Mixtape That Hates You, 1988
• Dice, 1990
• The Day the Laughter Died, 1990
• Dice Rules, 1991
• 40 Too Long, 1992
• The Day the Laughter Died, Part II, 1993
• No Apologies (Video), 1993 ^[23]
• Filth, 1999
• Face Down, Ass Up, 2000

Filmography

• M*A*S*H, Cpl. Hrabosky in "Trick or Treatment" Episode (1982)
• Diff'rent Strokes, recurring character, named Larry, in Willis and Kimberly's high school (1982–83)
• Wacko (1982)
• Night Patrol (1984)
• Making the Grade (1984)
• Private Resort (1985) Starring Johnny Depp
• Pretty in Pink (1986)
• Amazon Women on the Moon (1987)
• Casual Sex? (1988)
• Crime Story (1986–1988)
• The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990)
• Dice Rules (1991)
• Brainsmasher... A Love Story (1993)
• No Contest (1994)
• Bless This House (1995)
• National Lampoon's Favorite Deadly Sins (1995)
• Hitz (1997)
• Foolish (1999)
• My 5 Wives (2000)
• One Night at McCool's (2001)
• Dice Undisputed (2007)
• Entourage (2011)

References

1. ^ Andrew Dice Clay – About This Person – Movies & TV – NYTimes.com. Movies.nytimes.com. Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
2. ^ Review/Film; Showcase of One-Liners For a Rock Detective – New York Times. Nytimes.com (1990-07-11). Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
3. ^ Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Andrew Dice Clay. Post-gazette.com (2009-04-20). Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
4. ^ Show Business: X Rated. TIME (1990-05-07). Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
5. ^ Review/Film; Andrew Dice Clay Essence: Misogyny, Insult and Sex – New York Times. Nytimes.com (1991-05-18). Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
6. ^ Andrew Dice Clay Biography (1957–). Filmreference.com. Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
7. ^ [brooklynpaper.com/stories/30/12/30_12diceclay.html]
8. ^ [letmypeoplegrow.org/2011/07/jews-news-mina-kunis-emanuelle-chriqui-ed-miliband/]
9. ^ www.americascomedy.com/andrew-dice-clay-on-charlie-sheen-no-description-needed
10. ^ Andrew Dice Clay – Filmography – Movies & TV – NYTimes.com. Movies.nytimes.com. Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
11. ^ Crime Story | TV. EW.com (2001-07-20). Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
12. ^ TELEVISION REVIEW;The 'Dice' Is Back, And So Is the Act – New York Times. Nytimes.com (1996-05-15). Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
13. ^ Heffernan, Virginia (March 3, 2007). "Once Notorious, Now Just Trying Not to Be Invisible". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/03/arts/television/03dice.html. 
14. ^ http://siriushowardstern.blogspot.com/2009/03/andrew-dice-clay-talk-celebrity.html
15. ^ Breaking News – NBC Announces the 16 All-Star Celebrities Ready to Take on Donald Trump in the Boardroom When 'The Celebrity Apprentice' Premieres Sunday, March 1 (9 P.M. Et). TheFutonCritic.com (2009-01-08). Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
16. ^ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/entourage-books-andrew-dice-clay-171935
17. ^ MTV.com, "1989 Video Music Awards"
18. ^ http://www.adamcarolla.com/ACPBlog/2011/09/05/andrew-dice-clay/
19. ^ Review/Television; 'Saturday Night Live,' With Andrew Dice Clay – New York Times. Nytimes.com (1990-05-14). Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
20. ^ Cruz, Aceli (2009). "Interview: Andrew "Dice" Clay". The Village Voice. http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/archives/2009/01/interview_andre.php. 
21. ^ "Interview: Andrew Dice Clay/ Max Silverstein". WTF with Marc Maron Podcast. 2011. http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/episode_197_-_andrew_dice_clay_max_silverstein. 
22. ^ "Interview: Andrew Dice Clay". Awkward Silence 2.1, Vegas Video Network. 2011. http://www.vegasvideonetwork.com/awkward-silence-2-1-009-comedian-andrew-dice-clay/. 
23. ^ www.discogs.com/artist/Andrew+"Dice"+Clay

External links

• Official website
• Andrew Dice Clay at the Internet Movie Database
• Andrew Dice Clay at AllRovi
• Andrew Dice Clay on Myspace
• Rotten.com: Andrew Dice Clay biography
• Vegas Video Network: Awkward Silence 2.1 Interview with Andrew Dice Clay

Persondata
Name	Clay, Andrew Dice
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 29, 1957
Place of birth	Brownsville, New York, U.S.
Date of death
Place of death