Eric Sharp

Infobox actor
name = Eric Sharp


caption = Entertainer Eric Sharp
birthname = nowrap|Eric Swirsky
birthdate = birth date and age|1966|06|05
location = Bayside, Queens, New York, USA
spouse = Nora Enriquez-Sharp (2007-present) Eric Sharp (aka Detective Sharpo, aka Sharpo the Clown), is a Southern California-based entertainer and actor, owner of Sharpo.com.

Biography

Life & Career

Sharp was born Eric Swirsky, on June 5, 1966 in Bayside, Queens, New York. The intermediate of three sons of Walter and Bonnie, Sharp was raised in Manalapan, New Jersey. During summers at Camp Winamac, Bennington, New Hampshire, Sharp "hammed it up" on Talent Nights, where Sharp and older brother Stuart would entertain by recreating episodes of the classic sitcom "The Honeymooners" verbatim.

During his teenage years, Sharp formed the rock band "Eric & The Enterprise", performing in Monmouth County, New Jersey as vocalist and keyboardist in the Rolling Stones-influenced group. Sharp and younger brother Douglas joined another local band, "BATASB", who took their show to legendary underground rock nightclub CBGB's in New York City's Lower East Side.

Attending Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, New Jersey, Sharp performed in musicals and plays, including "Play It Again, Sam" at Kobe Dinner Theatre in Lakewood, New Jersey, a lead role for which an Asbury Park Press review raved "Woody Allen couldn't have done better." Encouraged by college drama professor J. Lawrence Lowenstein, Sharp moved to New York, where he studied with the Neighborhood Playhouse Alumnus and accomplished TV director Norman Hall. Sharp wrote and acted the lead role in his play, "Invasion of the OOOOGS" at the Courtyard Playhouse (now the Grove Street Playhouse), Greenwich Village, New York.

After doing "atmosphere" work on the Brian de Palma film "The Bonfire of the Vanities" and daytime soap operas "One Life To Live" and "All My Children", Sharp landed a day player gig on the Spike Lee film "Malcolm X". Lee selected Sharp for speaking part, a recitation of his prison serial number "A two-nine-one-nine-four-five", audible in the final film.

SAG card in hand, Sharp headed for Los Angeles in 1993, where he wrote and starred in a low-budget TV pilot, "Lenny Frick", directed by Emmy Award-Winning actor Scott Jacoby. Director Dan Helfgott gave Sharp a major break, casting him with E. E. Bell for a one-liner on the NBC TV special "Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld". Sharp's subsequent co-starring appearances on primetime network television shows include "", in which he had a memorable appearance as an alien map vendor, "Wings" and more. Sharp played Benny, the disgruntled nebbish on two episodes of UPN's "In The House" with LL Cool J and Kim Wayans.

Sharp had a cameo as his comic creation "Sharpo the Clown" in the 1997 film "Liar Liar", with Jim Carrey, and is featured prominently as a threatening police detective in the Good Charlotte music video "Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous". Sharp also hosted and produced the Los Angeles-based cable interview show "My Half Hour" from 1997 through 2002.

harpo.com

As Detective Sharpo, Sharp performs hundreds of dinner theater murder mysteries annually around the U.S. with a cast of Hollywood and Broadway actors. Sharp's detective persona is a unique comic crimesolver, sometimes compared to the TV sleuth Columbo.

Sharp honed his live comedy act over more than 15 years, traveling throughout the U.S. playing audiences including air force generals, Fortune 500 CEOs, award-winning physicists, network chiefs, and others. Sharp's comedy is a blend of pop culture references, topical humor, impressions, blues harmonica, and comic songs.

Sharp resides with his family in Southern California's San Fernando Valley.

References

External links

[http://www.sharpo.com/ Sharpo.com]

Work

Filmography

*"The Bonfire of the Vanities" (1990)
*"Malcolm X" (1992)
*"Liar Liar" (1997)
*"Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" (2002) (Good Charlotte music video)

Television

*"Lenny Frick" (1993) (pilot)
*"Abbot and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfield" (1994)
*"In the House" (1996)
*"Wings" (1997)
*"The Aqua Girls" (1998)