- Michael Winslow
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Michael Winslow Birth name Michael Leslie Winslow Born September 6, 1958
Spokane, WashingtonMedium Stand-up, Film, Television, Personality Nationality American Years active 1980-Present Genres Character comedy, physical comedy, improvisational comedy Subject(s) Pop culture, American culture Spouse Belinda Church (1985 - 1993) (her death) 3 children
Angela Baytops (1997 - 2001) (divorced)
Sharon Winslow (2003 - present)Notable works and roles Comedy Sound Smackdown
Larvelle Jones in Police Academy
Radar Technician in Spaceballs
Stripe in GremlinsWebsite http://www.michaelwinslow.net/ Michael Winslow (born September 6, 1958) is an American actor and a comedian billed as the "Man of 10,000 Sound Effects"[1] for his ability to make realistic sound effects using only his voice.
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Early life
Winslow was born in Spokane, Washington, the son of Robert and Verdie Winslow.[2] He attended the Lisa Maile School of Acting, Modeling and Imaging. He also studied architecture.[citation needed]
Career
His first television appearance was on The Gong Show in which he squeezed in spot-on sound-alikes of Benji the movie dog, Jimi Hendrix, and Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song". He is best known for his role as Sgt. Larvelle "Motor Mouth" Jones in the Police Academy series of movies and TV shows. In 1985, Island released a 12" of Michael Winslow titled "I Am My Own Walkman". Winslow is also a motivational speaker. Since the fall of 2008, Winslow has hosted the motion picture television series called "Way Back Wednesday with Winslow" on the cable superstation WGN America, which features movies mostly released in the 1980s. Michael continues to perform stand-up comedy around the globe.
Michael Winslow debuted his own iPhone and iPod Touch apps in 2010, bringing his sound effects and comedy to a mobile platform. ThatsKungFu generates Winslow's kung fu fighting sounds when the device is swung in a fighting motion.[3] NoizeyMan, regarded as the "World's Noiziest App", contains video, ringtones, sound effects, and mini games, all created by Michael Winslow.[4]
Michael Winslow has had a varied and interesting career and among the people he has been associated with are Ronnie Lee Cunningham the former keyboardist and lead vocalist for seventies funk rock outfit LAW[5] and actor David DeLuise.[6]
References in other media
- In The Simpsons episode "Marge Be Not Proud", Bart Simpson is caught stealing and is lectured by Homer, who concludes with the lines: "We live in a society of laws. Why do you think I took you to all those Police Academy movies? For fun? Well I didn't hear anybody laughing, did you? Except at that guy who made sound effects." Homer then laughs at himself while trying to impersonate Winslow and forgets what he was yelling at Bart about.
- Michael Winslow was parodied by Phil LaMarr in a MADtv skit mocking Hollywood Squares.
- The episode "Sausage Fest" of Robot Chicken featured Winslow's Larvell Jones from Police Academy as well as the other police officers when they join the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning to become X-Men. Michael Winslow voiced his character as well as the accompanying sound effects. Throughout the sketch, Jones' character seems to be making screeching sound effects whenever Professor Xavier rolls around on his wheelchair. Xavier realizes this and uses his powers to make Jones brain dead so that he cannot do this anymore, only to find out that his wheelchair was, in fact, screeching on its own. Winslow also performed an alternate ending theme for the credits of that episode.
- Winslow was spoofed on In Living Color, with David Alan Grier making sound effects. Although the biggest punchline was a narrator saying "You remember Michael Winslow from Spaceballs, as well as Police Academy 1, Police Academy 2..." and continues naming the Police Academy films up to a non-existent Police Academy 8 and 9.
- In the episode of The Office entitled Dwight's Speech, Michael Scott imitates Winslow while vamping for Dwight Schrute at a sales convention.
Filmography
- Cheech & Chong's Next Movie (1980)
- Underground Aces (1981)
- Nice Dreams (1981)
- Space Stars (1981) (voice)
- Tag: The Assassination Game (1982)
- Lovelines (1982)
- Police Academy (1984)
- Alphabet City (1984)
- Gremlins (1984) (voice)
- Grandview, U.S.A. (1984)
- Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)
- Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)
- Zärtliche Chaoten (Germany) (1987)
- Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987)
- Spaceballs (1987)
- Buy & Cell (1987)
- Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988)
- Zärtliche Chaoten II (Germany) (1988)
- Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989)
- Far Out Man (1990)
- Extralarge (1993)
- Police Academy: Mission to Moscow (1994)
- Police Academy: The Series TV Series (1997-1998)
- The Trumpet of the Swan (2001) (voice)
- The Biggest Fan (2002)
- Lenny the Wonder Dog (2004)
- RoboDoc (2008)
- The History of the Typewriter recited by Michael Winslow (2010)
- Tosh.0 (2010)
References
- ^ "Michael Winslow - The Man Of 10,000 Sound Effects". BroadwayWorld.com. 2008-07-12. http://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=29876. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ Vindy.Com What They Did, Sunday, June 23, 2002.
- ^ Imdb RoboDoc (2009) Overview.
External links
Categories:- 1958 births
- African American film actors
- African American comedians
- American comedians
- African American television actors
- American voice actors
- Living people
- People from Spokane, Washington
- People from Orlando, Florida
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