Grant may refer to:

Places

Grant County (disambiguation)

United Kingdom

Castle Grant, 1.5 miles north of Grantown-on-Spey, Scotland

United States

Grant, Alabama

Grant, Inyo County, California

Grant, Sonoma County, California

Grant, Colorado

Grant-Valkaria, Florida

Grant, Iowa

Grant, Michigan

Grant, Minnesota

Grant, Nebraska

Grant, Wisconsin (disambiguation) (six towns)

Grant City, Indiana

Grant City, Missouri

Grant City, Staten Island

Grant Park, Illinois

Grant Park (Chicago)

Grant Town, West Virginia

Grant Township (disambiguation) (100 townships in 12 states)

Grants, New Mexico

U.S. Grant Bridge over Ohio River and Scioto River

India

Jolly Grant, Dehradun, Uttarakhand Airport

Businesses

Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc., a fantasy and science fiction small press publisher in New Hampshire

W. T. Grant variety store, a chain of mass-merchandise stores

William Grant & Sons, a Scotch whisky distilling company

Military history

USS ''Albert W. Grant'' (DD-649), a US Navy destroyer

M3 Lee, an American tank, a modified version was called the ''Grant''

Law and philanthropy

Grant, in United States law, a term in conveyancing

Grant (money), an award usually funded by a government, business, or foundation, often with not-for-profit preconditions

Other

Colloquial term for a United States fifty-dollar bill which bears a portrait of President Ulysses S. Grant

Grant of Arms in nobility

"Grant", a poem by Patti Smith from her 1978 book ''Babel'' (book)

Grant (automobile), a defunct Findlay, Ohio auto manufacturer

''In Search of the Castaways'' (originally titled ''The Children of Captain Grant''), a novel by Jules Verne

People

Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United States and general of the Union during the American Civil War

Frederick Dent Grant, son of the 18th President

See also

Grant County (disambiguation)

Grantor (disambiguation)

bg:Грант cs:Grant de:Grant es:Grant eo:Grant fr:Grant ko:그랜트 it:Grant he:גרנט nl:Grant ja:グラント pl:Grant (ujednoznacznienie) pt:Grant ro:Grant ru:Грант (значения) sl:Grant fi:Grant uk:Грант (значення) vo:Grant zh:格兰特

Wendy Liebman (born February 27, 1961 in Manhasset, New York) is an American stand-up comedian known for her distinctive style which includes quick, clever follow-ups after her jokes. She starts the joke leading it to one direction then changes it. As in "This Thanksgiving I made a 28 pound turkey ... pot pie," or "I really like to shop....lift."

Background

Liebman grew up in Roslyn, New York.

In 1983, Wellesley College granted Liebman a bachelor's degree in psychology. Shortly after graduating from college, Liebman performed psychology research at Harvard Medical School.

In 1984, after taking a class at a local college, Liebman began performing stand-up comedy in the Boston area.

In 1997, Liebman won the American Comedy Award for Female Stand-up Comedian of the Year.

Liebman has appeared on HBO, The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Late Show with David Letterman, and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Personal

On April 12, 2003, Wendy married TV producer and writer Jeffrey Sherman, whose father and uncle (the Sherman Brothers) wrote film music for Walt Disney in the 1960s. Sherman has two sons from a previous marriage.

Liebman lives in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Quotes

"I recently went to my kindergarten reunion. I didn't want to go, because since kindergarten I've put on like a hundred pounds."

"My last boyfriend gave me a piece of coal, and he told me that he would marry me when it turned into a diamond from all the pressure."

References

External links

Category:1961 births Category:American comedians Category:American stand-up comedians Category:Living people Category:People from Long Island Category:Wellesley College alumni Category:Women comedians

name	Judy Gold
birth date
birth place	Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
occupation	Actor, stand up comic
years active	1991–present
height
children	HenryBen
website	judygold.com
footnotes	}}

Judy Gold (born November 15, 1962) is an American stand-up comic and actor. She won two Daytime Emmy Awards for her work as a writer and producer on ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show''. She has also been involved in many projects in various roles, including the television series ''All American Girl'' and ''HBO At the Multiplex'' segments where she asks humorous questions of unexpecting moviegoers.

She first did stand-up on a dare while in college at Rutgers University. She is a lesbian, shared a relationship with her former partner, Sharon, for almost 20 years, and has two children (Henry, 1996, and Ben, 2001), facts she frequently referenced in her comments on the show ''Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn''. Gold is very active in both LGBT and Jewish communities. She was active in support of the 2004 and 2008 Democratic presidential campaign.

Her one-woman show ''25 Questions for a Jewish Mother'', co-written with Kate Moira Ryan, is based on a series of interviews with more than 50 Jewish mothers in the United States. Their stories are interspersed with anecdotes about her own mother and her life as a lesbian mother of two sons. It ran at the Ars Nova Theater in New York City in early 2006 and reopened on October 12, 2006, at St. Luke's Theater.

Judy Gold also appears as a commentator on truTV's ''TruTV Presents: World's Dumbest...''.

She has also started her own (as the show's producer, Meetinghouse Productions Inc., (which also produces ''World's Dumbest'') calls it) docu-comedy series (the first episode of which can be viewed on YouTube) about herself, family, and friends.

References

External links

25 Questions for a Jewish Mother

''Voices on Antisemitism'' Interview with Judy Gold from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

Category:1962 births Category:Living people Category:People from Newark, New Jersey Category:Actors from New Jersey Category:American comedians Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American Jews Category:Jewish comedians Category:Jewish activists Category:Women comedians Category:Lesbian actors Category:LGBT comedians Category:LGBT Jews Category:LGBT people from the United States Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:LGBT parents Category:New Jersey Democrats

fr:Judy Gold

name	Craig Ferguson
birth date	May 17, 1962
birth place	Glasgow, Scotland
medium	Stand-up, television, film, music, books
nationality	Scottish-American
active	1980–present
genre	Observational comedy, satire/political satire/news satire
subject	Everyday life, popular culture, self-deprecation, politics
website	''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson''
spouse	Anne Hogarth (1983–86) (divorced)Sascha Corwin (1998–2004) (divorced) 1 childMegan Wallace-Cunningham (2008–present) 1 child
notable work	Host of ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson''Nigel Wick on ''The Drew Carey Show''Glaswegian in ''One Foot in the Grave''Gobber in ''How to Train Your Dragon'' }}

Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish–American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, and producer. He is the host of ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'', an Emmy Award-nominated, Peabody Award-winning late-night talk show that airs on CBS. In addition to hosting that program and performing stand-up comedy, Ferguson has written two books: ''Between the Bridge and the River'', a novel, and ''American on Purpose'', an autobiography. He became a citizen of the United States in 2008.

Before his career as a late-night television host, Ferguson was best known in the United States for his role as the office boss, Nigel Wick, on ''The Drew Carey Show'' from 1996 to 2003. After that, he wrote and starred in three films, directing one of them.

Early life

Ferguson was born in the Stobhill Hospital in the Springburn district of Glasgow, Scotland, to Robert and Janet Ferguson, and raised in nearby Cumbernauld, growing up "chubby and bullied." When he was six months old, he and his family moved from their Springburn apartment to a council house in Cumbernauld. They lived there as Glasgow was re-housing many people following damage to the city from World War II. Ferguson attended Muirfield Primary School and Cumbernauld High School.

His first visit to the United States was as a teenager to visit an uncle who lived on Long Island, near New York City. When he moved in New York City in 1983, he worked in construction in Harlem. Ferguson later became a bouncer at a nightclub, Save the Robots.

At age sixteen, Ferguson dropped out of Cumbernauld High School and began an apprenticeship to be an electronics technician at a local factory of American company Burroughs Corporation.

Career

British career

Ferguson's experience in entertainment began as a drummer in a rock band called Exposure. He then joined a punk band called The Bastards from Hell. The band, later renamed "Dreamboys," and fronted by vocalist Peter Capaldi, performed regularly in Glasgow from 1980 to 1982. Ferguson credits Capaldi for inspiring him to try comedy.

After a nerve-wracking, knee-knocking first appearance, he decided to create a character that was a "parody of all the über-patriotic native folk singers who seemed to infect every public performance in Scotland." The character, "Bing Hitler" (actually coined by Capaldi as Ferguson started with the monogram of "Nico Fulton" but admittedly later stole the name for his "own nefarious ends"), premiered in Glasgow, and subsequently became a hit at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. A recording of his stage act as Bing Hitler was made at Glasgow's Tron Theatre and released in the 1980s; a Bing Hitler monologue ("A Lecture for Burns Night") appears on the compilation cassette ''Honey at the Core.''

Ferguson's first television appearance was as Confidence on BBC sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' during the episode "Confidence and Paranoia".

Ferguson made his starring television debut in ''The Craig Ferguson Show'', a one-off comedy pilot for Granada Television, which co-starred Paul Whitehouse and Helen Atkinson-Wood. This was broadcast throughout the UK on 4 March 1990, but was not made into a full series.

He has also found success in musical theatre. Beginning in 1991, he appeared on stage as Brad Majors in the London production of ''The Rocky Horror Show'', alongside Anthony Head, who was playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter at the time. The same year, he appeared again at the Edinburgh Fringe, as Oscar Madison in ''The Odd Couple'', opposite Gerard Kelly as Felix and Kate Anthony as Gwendolin Pidgeon, who is now much better known as Aunty Pam in ''Coronation Street''; the play, which was relocated to 1990s Glasgow, later toured Scotland. In 1994, Ferguson played Father MacLean in the highly controversial production of ''Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom'' at the Union Chapel in London.

After enjoying success at the Edinburgh Festival, Ferguson appeared on ''Red Dwarf'', STV's ''Hogmanay Show'', his own show ''2000 Not Out'', and the 1993 ''One Foot in the Grave'' Christmas special ''One Foot in the Algarve.''

In 1993, Ferguson presented his own series on Scottish archaeology for Scottish Television entitled ''Dirt Detective.'' He traveled throughout the country examining archaeological history, including Skara Brae and Paisley Abbey.

U.S. career

After cancellation of his show ''The Ferguson Theory'', Ferguson moved to Los Angeles in 1994. His first U.S. role was as baker Logan McDonough on the short-lived 1995 ABC comedy ''Maybe This Time,'' which starred Betty White and Marie Osmond.

His breakthrough in the U.S. came when he was cast on ''The Drew Carey Show'' as the title character's boss, Mr. Wick, a role that he played from 1996 to 2003. He played the role with an over-the-top posh English accent "to make up for generations of English actors doing crap Scottish accents." In his comedy special "A Wee Bit O' Revolution", he specifically called out James Doohan's portrayal of Montgomery Scott on Star Trek as the foundation of his 'revenge'. (At the end of one episode, though, Ferguson broke the fourth wall and began talking to the audience at home in his regular Scottish accent.) His character was memorable for his unique methods of laying employees off, almost always 'firing Johnson', the most common last name of the to-be-fired workers. Even after leaving the show in 2003, he remained a recurring character on the series for the last two seasons, and was part of the 2-part series finale in 2004.

During production of ''The Drew Carey Show'', Ferguson devoted his off-time as a cast member to writing, working in his trailer on set in-between shooting his scenes. He wrote and starred in three films: ''The Big Tease'', ''Saving Grace'', and ''I'll Be There'', which he also directed and for which he won the Audience Award for Best Film at the Aspen, Dallas and Valencia film festivals. He was named Best New Director at the Napa Valley Film Festival. These were among other scripts that, "...in the great tradition of the movie business, about half a dozen that I got paid a fortune for but never got made." His other acting credits in films include ''Niagara Motel'', ''Lenny the Wonder Dog'', ''Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events'', ''Chain of Fools'', ''Born Romantic'', ''The Ugly Truth'', ''How to Train Your Dragon'', ''Kick-Ass'' and ''Winnie the Pooh''.

Ferguson has been touring the United States and Canada with a stand-up comedy show, and performed at Carnegie Hall on 23 October 2010.

''The Late Late Show''

In December 2004, it was announced that Ferguson would be the successor to Craig Kilborn on CBS's ''The Late Late Show.'' His first show as the regular host aired on 3 January 2005. By May 2008, Ben Alba, an American television historian and an authority on U.S. talk shows, said Ferguson "has already made his mark, taking the TV monologue to new levels with an underlying story. But he is only just starting ...He is making up his own rules: It's the immigrant experience."

''The Late Late Show'' averaged 2.0 million viewers in its 2007 season, compared with 2.5 million for ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien.'' In April 2008, ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' beat ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' for weekly ratings (1.88 million to 1.77 million) for the first time since the two shows went head-to-head with their respective hosts.

By the end of 2009, Craig Ferguson topped Jimmy Fallon in the ratings with Ferguson getting a 1.8 rating/6 share and Fallon receiving a 1.6 rating/6 share.

Ferguson's success on the show has led at least one "television insider" to say he is the heir apparent to take over David Letterman's role as host of ''The Late Show.''

Television and appearances

Craig Ferguson has made guest appearances on ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'', ''Late Show with David Letterman'', ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', ''Rachael Ray'', ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'', ''The Howard Stern Show'', ''The Daily Show'', ''The View'', ''Loveline'', ''Real Time with Bill Maher'', ''The Soup'', and ''The Dennis Miller Show''. He also co-hosted ''Live with Regis & Kelly'' with Kelly Ripa.

On 4 January 2009 Ferguson was a celebrity player on ''Million Dollar Password''.

thumb|272px|Ferguson in April 2008

In 2009, Ferguson made a cameo live-action appearance in the episode "We Love You, Conrad" on ''Family Guy''.

Ferguson hosted the 32nd annual People's Choice Awards on 10 January 2006. ''TV Guide'' magazine printed a "Cheers" (Cheers and Jeers section) for appearing on his own show that same evening.

From 2007 to 2010, Ferguson hosted the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on 4 July, broadcast nationally by CBS.

Ferguson was the featured entertainer at the 26 April 2008 White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, DC.

Ferguson co-presented the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama with Brooke Shields in 2008.

He has done voice work in cartoons, including being the voice of Barry's evil alter-ego in the "With Friends Like Steve's" episode of ''American Dad''; in ''Freakazoid!'' as Roddy MacStew, Freakazoid's mentor; and on ''Buzz Lightyear of Star Command'' as the robot vampire NOS-4-A2. Most recently, he was the voice of Susan the boil on ''Futurama'', which was a parody of Scottish singer Susan Boyle.

He makes standup appearances in Las Vegas and New York City. He headlined in the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal and in October 2008 Ferguson taped his stand up show in Boston for a Comedy Central special entitled ''A Wee Bit o' Revolution,'' which aired on 22 March 2009.

British television comedy drama Doc Martin was based on a character from Ferguson's film ''Saving Grace'' – with Ferguson getting writing credits for 12 episodes.

On 6 November 2009 Ferguson appeared as himself in a ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' special titled ''SpongeBob's Truth or Square''.

He hosted Discovery Channel's 23rd season of Shark Week in 2010.

Literature

Ferguson's novel ''Between the Bridge and the River'' (ISBN 9780811853750) was published on 10 April 2006. Ferguson appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", Ferguson said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it." ''Publishers Weekly'' called it "a ''tour de force'' of cynical humor and poignant reverie, a caustic yet ebullient picaresque that approaches the sacred by way of the profane." His novel ''Between the Bridge and the River'' is dedicated to his son and to his grandfather, Adam. Ferguson revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled "The Sphynx of the Mississippi". He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends for the book to be the first in a trilogy.

Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs. The book, entitled ''American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot'', focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States. On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy.

In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on ''The Late Late Show'' to promote her new book ''Married Lovers''. Collins said that a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show.

Personal life

As mentioned on ''The Late Late Show'' on 3 August 2009, Ferguson holds an FAA Private Pilot's License issued 31 July 2009. Ferguson announced on the 8 April 2011 broadcast that he is pursuing an instrument rating.

Ferguson is also a fan of Scottish football team Partick Thistle F.C. and also of the British television show Doctor Who.

Ferguson has three tattoos: his latest, the Join, or Die political cartoon on his right forearm; a Ferguson family crest with the Latin motto ''Dulcius ex asperis'' ("Sweeter out of [or from] difficulty") on his upper right arm in honor of his father; and the Ingram family crest on his upper left arm in honor of his mother. He has often stated that his Join, or Die tattoo is to signal his patriotism.

Family

In an episode of ''The Late Late Show'' that aired 8 December 2008, a somber Ferguson talked about his mother, Janet (3 August 1933 – 1 December 2008). He ended the program by playing her favorite song, "Rivers of Babylon" by Boney M.

Ferguson has two sisters (one older and one younger) and one older brother. His elder sister's name is Janice and his brother's name is Scott. His younger sister, Lynn Ferguson Tweddle, is also a successful comedienne, presenter, and actress, perhaps most widely known as the voice of Mac in the 2000 stop-motion animation film ''Chicken Run''. She is currently a writer on ''The Late Late Show''.

Ferguson has married three times and divorced twice as a result of what he describes as "relationship issues." His first marriage was to Anne Hogarth from 1983 to 1986, during which time they lived in Manhattan. From his second marriage (to Sascha Corwin, founder and proprietor of Los Angeles' SpySchool), he has one son, Milo Hamish Ferguson, born in 2001. He and Corwin share custody of Milo, and live near each other in Los Angeles. On 21 December 2008, Ferguson married art dealer Megan Wallace-Cunningham in a private ceremony on her family's farm in Chester, Vermont. Ferguson announced 14 July 2010 on Twitter that they were expecting a child. He wrote: "Holy crackers! Mrs F is pregnant. How did that happen? ...oh yeah I know how. Another Ferguson arrives in 2011. The world trembles." The child, a boy named Liam James, was born 31 January 2011.

Alcohol problems

A recovered alcoholic, Ferguson has been sober since 18 February 1992. Because of this, he declared he wouldn't mock Britney Spears when she had alcoholism problems in 2007. He said he had considered committing suicide on Christmas Day 1991, but when offered a drink by a friend for celebrating the holiday, he was distracted from jumping off Tower Bridge in London as he had planned.

Citizenship

Holding dual citizenship, he is both a naturalized citizen of the United States and a British citizen.

During 2007, Ferguson, who at the time held only British citizenship, used ''The Late Late Show'' as a forum for seeking honorary citizenship from every state in the U.S. He has received honorary citizenship from Nebraska, Arkansas, Virginia, Montana, North Dakota, New Jersey, Tennessee, South Carolina, South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska, Texas, Wyoming, Pennsylvania and Indiana, and was "commissioned" as an admiral in the tongue-in-cheek Nebraska Navy. Governors Jon Corzine (New Jersey), John Hoeven (North Dakota), Mark Sanford (South Carolina), Mike Rounds (South Dakota), Rick Perry (Texas), Sarah Palin (Alaska) and Jim Gibbons (Nevada) sent letters to him that made him an honorary citizen of their respective states. He received similar honors from various towns and cities, including Ozark, Arkansas; Hazard, Kentucky; and Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

Ferguson became an American citizen on 1 February 2008 and broadcast the taking of his citizenship test as well as his swearing in on ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson''.

Filmography

+ Film
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1992	''The Bogie Man''
1998	''Modern Vampires''	Richard
1999	''The Big Tease''	Crawford Mackenzie	Writer
2000		Melander Stevens
2000	''Born Romantic''	Frankie
2000		Matthew Stewart	Writer
2002	''Life Without Dick''	Jared O'Reilly
2003		Paul Kerr	Director, Writer
2004	''Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events''	Person of Indeterminate Gender
2004	''Lenny the Wonder Dog''	Dr. Wagner
2005		Fisherman
2006	''Niagara Motel''	Phillie
2007		Ted Truman
2008	''Craig Ferguson: A Wee Bit O' Revolution''
2009		Himself
2010	''The Hero of Color City''
2010		Gobber	Voice only
2010		Himself
2011			Voice only
2011	''Totally Framed''	Jeffrey Stewart
2012		Lord Macintosh	Voice only
2012		David	Post-production

+Television
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1988	''Red Dwarf''	Confidence
1993	One Foot in the Grave	Glaswegian beach bully	Christmas Special "One foot in the Algarve"
1995–1996	''Maybe This Time''	Logan McDonough	18 episodes
1995–1997	''Freakazoid!''	Roddy MacStew	7 episodes
1996–2004	''The Drew Carey Show''	Nigel Wick	170 episodes
2000	''Buzz Lightyear of Star Command''	NOS 4 A2	Voice only, 5 episodes
2005		Oliver Davies	1 episode
2005–present	''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson''	Himself	Host
2006	''American Dad!''	Evil Barry	Voice only, Episode: ''With Friends Like Steve's''
2009	''Family Guy''	Himself	Episode: ''We Love You, Conrad''
2009	''SpongeBob's Truth or Square''	Himself	TV movie
2010	''Futurama''	Susan Boil	Episode: ''Attack of the Killer App''
2010	''Shark Week''	Himself	Host
2010	''Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon''	Gobber	Voice only, TV short film

Bibliography

''Between the Bridge and the River''. Chronicle Books, 2006. ISBN 0811853756, ISBN 0811858197.

''American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot''. HarperCollins, 2009. ISBN 0061719544.

Comedy specials

''A Wee Bit o' Revolution'' (Comedy Central) 2009

''Does This Need to Be Said?'' (EPIX, Comedy Central) 2011

Discography

''Live At The Tron'' (as Bing Hitler). Jammy Records, 1986. Catalogue number JRLP 861.

References

External links

Craig Ferguson on Twitter

Craig Ferguson Interview on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos

Craig Ferguson and Megan Wallace Cunningham

''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson''

Category:1962 births Category:American aviators Category:American comedians Category:American film actors Category:American memoirists Category:American novelists Category:American people of Scottish descent Category:American screenwriters Category:American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:Living people Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:People from Glasgow Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:People with nocturnal enuresis Category:Scottish comedians Category:Scottish emigrants to the United States Category:Scottish memoirists Category:Scottish novelists Category:Scottish screenwriters Category:Scottish television actors Category:People from Cumbernauld Category:Actors from New York City Category:Actors from Los Angeles, California

de:Craig Ferguson es:Craig Ferguson fr:Craig Ferguson it:Craig Ferguson ja:クレイグ・ファーガソン no:Craig Ferguson pl:Craig Ferguson ru:Фергюсон, Крейг simple:Craig Ferguson fi:Craig Ferguson sv:Craig Ferguson zh:克雷格·费格斯

name	Grant Imahara
other names	(birth name)
birth date	October 23, 1970
birth place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
occupation	MythBusters (build team), Electronics and radio control expert
website	MYTHBUSTERS BiosImahara's MyspaceImahara's FacebookImahara's Twitter }}

Grant Masaru Imahara (born October 23, 1970) is a Japanese American electronics and radio control expert, best known for his work on the American television show ''MythBusters''.

Education and early work

Imahara is a graduate of the University of Southern California, with a B.S. degree in electrical engineering. For a time, he seriously considered switching majors, with the intention of becoming a screenwriter; he decided to stay on the engineering track after assisting Tomlinson Holman, a professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and creator of the Lucasfilm THX sound system.

After graduation, Imahara was hired as an engineer for Lucasfilm's Home THX division; he then moved to the visual effects company Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), where he worked for nine years. While at ILM, he was involved in films such as ''The Lost World: Jurassic Park'', ''Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace'', ''Galaxy Quest'', ''AI: Artificial Intelligence'', ''Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones'', ''Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines'', ''The Matrix Reloaded'', ''The Matrix Revolutions'', ''Van Helsing'', and ''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith''.

Imahara is credited in many feature films as a model maker. In particular, he is credited for his work in updating the aging R2-D2 robots for the ''Star Wars'' prequel trilogy. As an official Artoo Technician, he makes a cameo appearance in the mockumentary ''R2-D2: Beneath the Dome''.

''MythBusters''

Imahara eventually joined ''MythBusters'', on the invitation of friend and occasional employer Jamie Hyneman and former ILM colleague Linda Wolkovitch, who is now an Associate Producer of ''MythBusters''. He joined as the third member of the Build Team, replacing former ''MythBusters'' welder Scottie Chapman. His colleagues often, jokingly, refer to him as the geek of the Build Team. He often makes the robots that are needed for the show and otherwise specializes in operating the computers and electronics for the myths.

Other work

In addition to his role on ''MythBusters'', he is known for his appearances on ''BattleBots'', where he designed and competed with his robot ''Deadblow''. Other well-known works include: designing the circuit that creates the rhythmic oscillation of the arms of the modern Energizer Bunny; leading Team ILM to victory in an appearance on ''Junkyard Mega-Wars''; as well as authoring ''Kickin' Bot: An Illustrated Guide to Building Combat Robots'' (ISBN 0-7645-4113-7), considered to be a definitive reference in robot construction.

Imahara was a cast member, and story writer, for the short film ''Architects of Evil'', created for the 2004 Industrial Light and Magic Backyard Film Contest. He mentors the Richmond High robotics team Biomechs #841 (Richmond Ca.) for the FIRST Robotics Competition, lending his expert guidance on how to create the right robot for the right job. Imahara was profiled in the magazine ''IEEE Spectrum'', in an issue focusing on engineering dream jobs. The article was titled "Grant Imahara: Debunker in The Box."; he is shown in a fire resistant suit on the cover.

One of Imahara's independent projects, during early 2010, was constructing a robotic sidekick for Craig Ferguson, host of ''The Late Late Show''. The robot, named Geoff Peterson, was unveiled on the April 5, 2010 ''Late Late Show'' episode.

References

External links

Architects of Evil Trailer on TheForce.Net Fan Films

Grant Imahara's autobiography on MBFC

Grant Imahara's biography from the Discovery Channel

Grant Imahara: Debunker in The Box

AArisings A-Profiler Interview Published March 17, 2007

Category:1970 births Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:Living people Category:University of Southern California alumni Category:American television personalities Category:Special effects people Category:American people of Japanese descent

bg:Грант Имахара da:Grant Imahara de:Grant Imahara es:Grant Imahara fr:Grant Imahara it:Grant Imahara hu:Grant Imahara nl:Grant Imahara ja:グラント・イマハラ no:Grant Imahara pl:Grant Imahara pt:Grant Imahara ro:Grant Imahara ru:Имахара, Грант fi:Grant Imahara sv:Grant Imahara zh:格蘭·今原