Fred Norris

Infobox Celebrity


image_size = 150px
name = Fred Norris
|caption =
birth_date = birth date and age|1955|7|9
birth_place = Willimantic, Connecticut
death_date =
death_place =
occupation = Radio personality, Disc jockey
salary =
networth =
website= [http://www.howardstern.com www.howardstern.com]
[http://www.kingnorris.com kingnorris.com]
footnotes =

Eric Fred Norris (born Fred Leo Nukis; July 9 1955) is an American radio personality, comedy writer, musician, and impressionist. He is the longest-tenured staff member on "The Howard Stern Show", aside from Stern himself.

Biography

Early life

Norris was born in Willimantic, Connecticut, the son of Valija and Henry Nukis, Latvian immigrants. [http://www.thesmokinggun.com/stern/stern_friday.html The Smoking Gun: Stern ] ] He was raised in Manchester, Connecticut.

Career

Norris began working with Stern on the radio station WCCC-FM in Hartford in the late 1970s. [cite book |last= Stern|first=Howard |authorlink=Howard Stern |coauthors= Larry "Ratso" Sloman|editor= Judith Regan|others= |title=Private Parts |origdate=1993-10-15 |edition= 1st edition|publisher= Simon & Schuster|location= |isbn=978-0671880163 |oclc= 28968496|doi= |id= |pages=127|chapter= Mein Kampf "My Struggle"|quote= But there was one good thing about Hartford. I met Fred "Earth Dog" Norris there. Fred was going to college and he was the overnight guy. He was a funny guy and a good writer and he had a knack for doing impressions.] Fred began playing guitar as a student at [http://www.dubaldomusic.com DuBaldo Music] . In 1995, Norris married Allison Ferman, a woman he originally met on the "Dial-A-Date" segment of Stern's radio show. The couple has one daughter, Tess. [ [http://www.howardstern.com/bio.hs?b=fred Howard Stern.com ] ] Norris owns a Triumph motorcycle, which he rides on a regular basis, and likes to box.

A regular bit on the show is "Win Fred's Money" where Fred and another contestant answer rapid-fire trivia questions. Fred usually wins these contests handily. However, his primary role on the show is playing sound clips that comically coincide with the current discussion, writing song parodies and skits and contributing jokes during the course of the show. Otherwise, he's mostly silent, painting the show with soundbites and timing commercial breaks. Stern occasionally teases Norris for "sleepwalking" through the show (as he had had a more prominent role when the show had a smaller cast).

Memorable Stern Show events

In January 2006, Norris revealed on Stern's Sirius Satellite Radio show that he has a half-sister during a bit where cast members revealed secrets about themselves (his father had an illegitimate child with Norris's godmother). He has stated that he doesn't want to meet this person due to his strong grudge against his father as well as his godmother. Fred also revealed that his godmother gave him the middle name "Leo", which is why he changed his name. Many Stern fans were expecting a more startling revelation from Fred, and felt that this revelation was a cop-out, especially considering the shameful admissions by other members of the show. Norris has served as a writer on the Stern Show for many years and has helped write most of the show's bits. Particularly memorable events specifically involving Norris include:

*Stern goofing on him for buying a Cookie Puss cake for his mother on Mother's Day
*Norris drunkenly cuddling with show intern Gay Rich at Scores for his bachelor party, then falling down stairs and landing on his head - requiring a trip to the emergency room.
*The on-air discussion of a fight between Norris and his wife at NBC's Rainbow Room and Fred eventually threatened to quit
*Norris frequently denies model Carol Alt a "supermodel" status, vigorously asserting that she has never attained that rare professional level. He also questions her status as a legitimate actress as she has not had a starring role in any Hollywood productions.

Norris, to his chagrin, is often mocked by Stern during the show for what he perceives as Norris' oddness, for example saying he is 'from Mars'.

Norris was also regularly mocked on the Stern show roasts for his oddness and on-air silence. Jackie Martling referred to him as an alien and Colin Quinn told Gary Dell'Abate that he was "uglier than Fred's thoughts".

When Norris announced on the show that Allison had become pregnant by means other than sexual intercourse, Robin stated that she knew if Fred was going to have a child it would "have to be a science project." After a pause, Norris called Robin a "malevolent cow." A few months after this incident, possibly as a fence-mending gesture, Robin financed Fred's birthday celebration (in fact, she went to great lengths to detail on-air how much she had shelled out for the party).

Name change

In 1993 Norris legally changed his name from Fred Leo Nukis to Eric Fred Norris, a change which was not widely known until several years later when the cast of the Stern Show saw Norris' new name signed in a log kept to comply with the FCC. Regardless, the cast has still referred to him mostly as Fred.

Most recently, Fred was confronted about his name on November 13 2006. Fred revealed that the last name Norris is that of his kindly stepfather. Nukis was his biological father's name and Fred wished to remove that father from his life with the name change. Fred claimed that his mother wanted to name him Eric at birth, but that his natural father had not allowed it because "Eric" was the name of his mother's former boyfriend. The name Leo was selected by his maternal aunt - the same woman who eventually eloped with his natural father. Fred says he hates both the names Fred and Leo - though Norris's wife, Alison, calls him Fred.

Impressions

Fred often does voice impressions of celebrities or friends of the show. Voices in his repertoire include:

*Andrew Dice Clay, Comedian and occasional guest of the show
*Artie Lange, a fellow Stern Show staff member
*Ben Stern, Howard Stern's father
*Benjy Bronk, a fellow Stern Show writer
*Bertrand Delanoë, Mayor of Paris
*Big Foot, a member of the Wack Pack
*Bill Clinton, former President of the United States
*Crackhead Bob, longtime member of the Wack Pack
*David Spade, Actor
*Dikembe Mutombo, NBA Houston Rockets Center
*Dominic Barbara, lawyer, friend of The Howard Stern Show
*Don Adams, actor, famous for his roll as Maxwell Smart on the T.V. show Get Smart
*Don Imus, elder radio personality and longtime personal enemy of Norris and Stern dating back to when both of them and Imus worked at the same radio station, WNBC
*Double A, a member of the Wack Pack and host of the occasional Wack Pack Roundtable show on Howard 101
*Dr. Phil, Psychologist and TV personality
*Ed McMahon, TV personality and former announcer on The Tonight Show
*Eric the Midget, a member of Stern's Wack Pack
*Foghorn Leghorn, Looney Tunes character
*Gary Dell'Abate, the Howard Stern Radio Show's producer
*George Takei, Actor and official announcer of The Howard Stern Show
*Ham Hands Bill, writer/singer of a famous song using the introduction music for Robin Quivers.
*Herman Munster, a voice which Fred will use to impersonate numerous other people of varying degrees of closeness to the actual Herman Munster voice, most commonly with women Fred or others deem to be manly, such as Nicole Bass and Kathleen Turner
*High Pitch Eric, Wack Packer
*Isaias Afewerki, President of Eritrea, Africa
*Jack Nicholson, Actor
*Jackie Martling, former Stern Show head writer
*Jason Kaplan, Stern Show producer
*Jay Leno, host of the Tonight Show
*JD Harmeyer, Stern Show media producer
*Jesse Ventura, Former Governor of Minnesota, former professional wrestler, vet, actor, and author
*Jeff the Drunk, a member of Stern's Wack Pack (more regularly done by Artie Lange)
*Jim Florentine, Comedian and friend of the show
*John the Stutterer, a member of Stern's Wack Pack and host of Straight Talk on Howard 101
*Mike Gange, Howard TV producer
*Nedley Mandingo, member of the Bubba the Love Sponge radio program
*Nick Manning, Adult film star and occasional guest of the show
*Ralph Cirella, Howard Stern's "stylist"
*Richard Christy, a fellow Stern Show staff member and
** Richards father, Tom Christy, a farmer in Kansas whose phone messages to his son are often played on the show
*Richard Nixon, Former President of the United States
*Riley Martin, radio personality
*Ringo Starr, Beatles drummer whom Norris seems to imply a lack of talent in
*Robin Quivers, a fellow Stern Show staff member
*Rodney Dangerfield, Actor and Comedian
*Ronnie the Limo Driver, Howard's driver and bodyguard
*Sal the Stockbroker, a fellow Stern Show staff member
*Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer, Sirius XM Radio
*Scott Salem Stern show engineer
*Siobhan the Transsexual, a member of Stern's Wack Pack
*Steve Grillo, Former intern
*Steve Langford, Member of the Howard 100 News Team
*Stuttering John, a former Stern Show staff member
*Sour Shoes, a frequent caller
*Ted Kennedy, Senator from Massachusetts
*Tom Chiusano, General Manager of WXRK (K-Rock) in New York
*William F. Buckley Jr., Conservative author
*Woody Allen, Writer, Director, Actor, Comedian

King Norris

King Norris is a band founded by Norris. Norris plugs upcoming shows at the end of each Stern show on Sirius Satellite Radio. The band is made up of:
*Fred Norris: Guitar
*Rob Boyd: Bass Guitar
*Frank Fallon: Drums

ee also

*Howard 100

References

External links

*dmoz|/Arts/People/N/Norris,_Fred/|Fred Norris
* [http://www.kingnorris.com/ King Norris Official website]
*
* [http://www.howardstern.com/bio.hs?b=fred Fred Norris' biography on howardstern.com]