Will Ferrell

Irvine, California, USA

Biography

A graduate of the University of Southern California, Will Ferrell became interested in performing while a student at University High School in Irvine, California, where he made his school's daily morning announcements over the public address system in disguised voices. He started as a member of the Los Angeles comedy/improvisation group The Groundlings, where fellow cast members Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph and former Saturday Night Live repertory players such as Laraine Newman, Jon Lovitz and Phil Hartman began their careers. It was there he met Chris Kattan and the two became good friends and both went on to Saturday Night Live later. He has also appeared on several television programs, including Strangers with Candy, Grace Under Fire and Living Single during his time at The Groundlings. Will also lent his voice to the armless and legless dad of cartoon family The Oblongs. In 1995 he became a feature cast member at Saturday Night Live during the show's rapid re-casting. He was declared quite possibly the worst cast member ever during his first season. However, his talents of impersonations and range of characters shot him forward to making him arguably the greatest Saturday Night Live cast member ever. During his seven year run he is one of the few cast members to ever be nominated for an Emmy for a performance and played George W. Bush during the 2000 elections. He's appeared in every Saturday Night Live movie since his premiere on the show in 1995. In 2002 he left  Saturday Night Live and was the only cast member to ever receive a farewell from all the current cast members at the end of the season finale show. Since leaving the show Will has pursued a career in films. In 2000 he married and now lives in L.A.

Movies

The Early Show is an American morning television show which was broadcast by CBS from New York City from 1999 to 2012. The program aired live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday in the Eastern time zone; most affiliates in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones aired the show on tape-delay from 7 to 9 a.m. local time. The Saturday edition aired live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time as well, but a number of affiliates did not carry it or aired it later on tape-delay. It premiered on November 1, 1999, and was the newest of the major networks' morning shows, although CBS has made several attempts to program in the morning slot since 1954. The show aired as a division of CBS News. The Early Show, like many of its predecessors, traditionally ran last in the ratings to its rivals, NBC's Today and ABC's Good Morning America. Much like NBC's The Today Show and The Tonight Show, the title The Early Show was analogous to that of CBS's late-night talk show, The Late Show. On November 15, 2011, CBS announced that a new morning show would replace The Early Show on January 9, 2012. CBS News chairman Jeff Fager and CBS News president David Rhodes stated that the new show would "redefine the morning television landscape." On December 1, it was announced that the new show would be titled CBS This Morning. The Early Show ended its twelve-year run on January 6, 2012, to make way for the program. Charlie Rose, Gayle King, and Erica Hill were named anchors of the new program.

More info
The Early Show
1999