Jeff Foxworthy

Jeff Foxworthy
Foxworthy at the red carpet of the 2007 American Idol Season Finale
Birth name	Jeffrey M. Foxworthy
Born	September 6, 1958 (1958-09-06) (age 51) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Medium	Stand-Up Television Film Radio
Nationality	American
Years active	1984–present
Genres	Country Comedy
Subject(s)	Rednecks Culture of the Southern United States Everyday life Family
Spouse	Pamela Gregg (1985 – Present)
Notable works and roles	The Jeff Foxworthy Show (1995 – 1997) Blue Collar Comedy Tour (2003 – 2006) Blue Collar TV (2004 – 2006) Host of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (2007 – present)
Signature
Website	JeffFoxworthy.com

Jeff Foxworthy (born September 6, 1958) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. As the best-selling comedy recording artist of all time, he is a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, a comedy troupe which also comprises Larry the Cable Guy, Bill Engvall and Ron White. Known for his "you might be a redneck if…" one-liners, Foxworthy has released six major-label comedy albums. His first two albums were each certified 3×multi-Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Foxworthy has also written several books based on his redneck jokes, as well as an autobiography entitled, No Shirt, No Shoes… No Problem!

Foxworthy has also made several ventures into television, first in the mid-1990s as the star of a sitcom called, The Jeff Foxworthy Show. He has also appeared alongside Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy in several Blue Collar television specials, most notably Blue Collar TV. Since 2007, he has been the host of the quiz show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? on Fox. Foxworthy also hosts a nationally syndicated radio show called The Foxworthy Countdown.

Biography

Foxworthy was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the first child of James Abstance, a computer executive, and Carole Linda (Camp) Foxworthy.^[1][2] His grandfather, James Marvin Camp, was a Hapeville, Georgia, fireman for more than 30 years.^[1]

Foxworthy graduated from Hapeville High School. He attended Georgia Tech in Atlanta, but did not graduate. He worked for five years in mainframe computer maintenance at IBM (where his father also worked). At the urging of co-workers, he entered and won the Great Southeastern Laugh-off, at Atlanta's Punchline comedy club, in 1984.^[3]

Personal life

Foxworthy has been married to Pamela Gregg since 1985 and has two daughters, Jordan (born in 1992) and Julianne (born in 1994).^[4]

A noted hunting enthusiast, Foxworthy has appeared as host and featured guest on several programs on the Outdoor Channel and Versus.[1][2]

Foxworthy, a born-again Christian, has supported missionary work in Africa, specifically Kenya. He has close connections with the 410 Bridge and has put on a benefit event for them entitled, "A Night For Africa," two years in a row. He has been to Kenya to provide aid on a firsthand basis.^{[citation needed]}

As a supporter of the Duke University Children's Hospital and Health Center, Foxworthy is the honorary chairman of its golf tournament. Each year he and his wife host a reception during the tournament weekend, and he serves as headliner and host for an evening of entertainment.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Comedy albums

Foxworthy captured the award for "Best Stand-Up Comic" at the 1990 American Comedy Awards.^{[citation needed]}

In 1993, he released You Might Be a Redneck If..., which started the "You Might Be a Redneck" fad, topped the comedy album charts and sold more than three million copies.^{[citation needed]}

His July 1995 release, "Games Rednecks Play," received a 1996 Grammy nomination for "Best Spoken Comedy Album."^[5]

Totally Committed was released in May 1999. In conjunction with the CD was a one-hour HBO stand-up special by the same name. The CD reached "gold" status and received a 1999 Grammy Award nomination.^[6]

In 2001, he received a nomination for "Best Spoken Comedy Album" at the 43rd Annual Grammys.^{[citation needed]}

Foxworthy hosted Country Weekly's ""TNN Music City News Country Awards" show for 1998, 1999 and 2000.^[7]

Television

In 1995, he starred in The Jeff Foxworthy Show, a sitcom created out of his stand-up comedy persona. It aired on ABC, but was canceled after one season. NBC subsequently picked up the show, but it was again canceled after one season. Foxworthy later remarked that the network did not understand how to properly market his humor; thinking his routine was "too Southern" for a national network ("Has anyone heard me talk?", he commented in one of his stand-up routines), they based the first season of his sitcom in Bloomington, Indiana. The show later aired on Nick at Nite and CMT in 2005 and 2006. He also appeared in Alan Jackson's video for I Don't Even Know Your Name in 1995.

Foxworthy hosted the game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? which aired on Fox in prime time. He is currently hosting the syndicated version of the show which started on September 21, 2009. ^[8] In addition, he is a host on The Bucks of Tecomate which airs on Versus with Alabama native David Morris.

Blue collar comedy

In the early 2000s, Foxworthy had a career resurgence as a result of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, in which he and three other comedians (Larry the Cable Guy, Ron White, and Bill Engvall), specializing in common-man comedy, toured the country and performed for record crowds. The tour lasted three full years, constantly being extended after an initial run of 20 shows.

In 2004, he launched a new television show called Blue Collar TV on The WB Television Network, Comedy Central, and Comedy Network (2007). He serves as executive producer, and stars alongside Blue Collar Comedy Tour-mates Larry the Cable Guy and Bill Engvall. (Ron White turned the show down but made occasional guest appearances). The show was relatively successful compared to the anemic performance of the WB's other sitcoms^{[citation needed]}. On Larry the Cable Guy's website, he posted that the show was canceled on October 17, 2005 by WB. Reruns of Blue Collar TV continued until the network merged with UPN to form The CW.

Jeff resurrected the Blue Collar TV format (albeit with only himself participating along with some of the Blue Collar TV co-hosts) on Country Music Television (CMT) with Foxworthy's Big Night Out. The show began airing in summer 2006 and was cancelled after one season.

Books

Foxworthy has authored several books, including You Might Be a Redneck If... (1989), as well as his autobiography, No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem! (1996). Artist Layron DeJarnette provided illustrations for the Redneck Dictionary books. R. David Boyd has been the exclusive illustrator for most of Foxworthy's books and album covers.

He also has released a cookbook entitled The Redneck Grill, co-authored with Newnan, Georgia artist R. David Boyd, and "Redneck Extreme Mobile Home Makeover" (2005), a book with some of his redneck jokes.

His books are:

• "Jeff Foxworthy's Redneck Dictionary: Words You Thought You Knew the Meaning Of" (2005);
• "Jeff Foxworthy's Redneck Dictionary II: More Words You Thought You Knew the Meaning Of" (2006);
• "Jeff Foxworthy's Redneck Dictionary III: Learning to Talk More Gooder Fastly" (30 Oct 7); and
• "Rednecks In College".

In February 2008, Jeff released his first children's book entitled "Dirt On My Shirt".

In May 2008, Jeff released a book entitled "How to Really Stink at Golf", with co-author Brian Hartt and illustrations by Layron DeJarnette.

In May 2009, Jeff released a book entitled "How to Really Stink at Work, A Guide to Making Yourself Fire-Proof While Having the Most Fun Possible". This book was co-authored with Brian Hartt.

Recent work

Since April 1999, Foxworthy also hosts, The Foxworthy Countdown, a nationally syndicated, weekly radio show, which features the "Top 30" country hits of the week, as reported by Mediabase. He received a CMA nomination, in 2001, for "Broadcast Personality of the Year."^[9]

Blue Collar Comedy Radio airs on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 103 and is associated with Raw Dog Comedy on Sirius 104.

In the 2006 movie, The Fox and the Hound 2, Foxworthy voiced the character, "Lyle."

On Comedy Central, there was a Comedy Central Roast of Jeff Foxworthy, with the three others from the, "Blue Collar group," along with several surprise guests. Foxworthy appeared at another roast in 2009 when he roasted his Blue Collar Comedy friend, Larry the Cable Guy.

Foxworthy is also has the title of, "Kentucky Colonel". This is an appointment-only position for fund raising and a sign of prestige on Kentucky.^{[clarification needed]} He is considered at the same level of Colonel Sanders of KFC.[3]

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Box sets

Singles

Foxworthy has also released several singles which have consisted of his comedy sketches set to music, often with a chorus sung by another country music act or studio musician. Most of these are from his 1996 compilation Crank It Up: The Music Album, although several of his comedy albums have included one musical track as well. Several of these songs have charted on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) and Hot 100 charts.

See also

• List of stand-up comedians
• List of game show hosts

References

• Gilbert, Calvin (1998). "Jeff Foxworthy". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 180–1.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jeff Foxworthy

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jeff Foxworthy

• Jeff Foxworthy at MySpace
• Official website
• Jeff Foxworthy Interview on The Big Idea w/Donny Deutsch
• Jeff Foxworthy at the Internet Movie Database
• Official Jeff Foxworthy Merchandise
• The Jeff Foxworthy Show on The WB