Howard Michael "Howie" Mandel is a Canadian
comedian, actor, television host, and voice
actor.
He is well known as host of the NBC game show
Deal or No Deal, as well as the show's daytime
and Canadian-English counterparts.
Before his career as a game show host, Mandel
was best known for his role as rowdy ER intern
Dr. Wayne Fiscus on the NBC medical drama
St. Elsewhere.
He is also well known for being the creator
and star of the children's cartoon Bobby's
World.
On June 6, 2009, he hosted the 2009 Game Show
Awards on GSN.
Mandel became a judge on NBC's America's Got
Talent, replacing David Hasselhoff, in the
fifth season of the reality talent contest.
Mandel has mysophobia to the point that he
does not shake hands with anyone, including
contestants on Deal or No Deal, unless he
is wearing latex gloves.
Early life
Mandel was born and lived in the Willowdale
area of Toronto, Ontario.
Mandel is Jewish and he is a distant cousin
to Itzhak Perlman.
His father was a lighting manufacturer and
a real estate agent.
After getting expelled from his high school
for impersonating a member of the school board
and signing a construction contract to make
an addition to his school, Mandel became a
carpet salesman who would later open a carpet
sales business of his own.
He was a stand-up comedian at Yuk Yuk's in
Toronto and by September 1978 had a week-long
booking as featured act, billed as "a wild
and crazy borderline psychotic."
His repertoire included placing a latex glove
over his head and inflating it by blowing
through his nose, the fingers of the glove
extending above his head like a cockscomb.
When the audience reacted uproariously to
that and similar antics, his trademark response
was to extend his arms palms up, look incredulous,
and ask "What?
What?"
On a trip to Los Angeles, Mandel performed
a set at The Comedy Store, which resulted
in his becoming a regular performer there.
A producer for the comedic game show Make
Me Laugh saw him and booked Mandel for several
appearances during the show's run in 1979.
He was booked to open for David Letterman
at shows in the summer of 1979.
CBC-TV's head of variety programming saw his
performance in October 1979 and immediately
signed him for a TV special.
In 1980, he won the lead role in the Canadian
movie Gas, co-starring Susan Anspach and Donald
Sutherland.
Mandel was one of the first "VeeJays" to appear
on Nickelodeon's music video series, Pop Clips.
TV and film career
Mandel came to national attention in the U.S.
during a six-year run on St. Elsewhere, starting
in 1982 and playing the role of Dr. Wayne
Fiscus, opposite the late Ed Flanders and
Norman Lloyd, with whom he remains good friends
as of 2013.
While working as Dr. Fiscus, and continuing
to work as a comedian, he also did movies,
including his role as the voice of Gizmo in
the 1984 hit Gremlins and its 1990 sequel
Gremlins 2: The New Batch.
In 1985 Mandel made a cameo in the Michael
J. Fox directed short "The Iceman Hummeth"
which was subsequently broadcast on Late Night
with David Letterman in November 1985.
In 1986, he starred in A Fine Mess alongside
Ted Danson.
For the first two seasons of Muppet Babies,
he voiced Bunsen Honeydew, Animal and Skeeter.
He starred on the 1987 comedy film Walk Like
a Man.
He was also "Maurice" in the 1989 movie Little
Monsters.
In 1990, he starred in the short-lived sitcom
Good Grief on Fox.
Mandel also hosted the first season, 2012,
of the game show Take It All.
He was also the creator and executive producer
of the Emmy-nominated children's animated
series Bobby's World, to which he supplied
the voices of the title character and his
father.
Bobby's World ran for eight seasons on Fox
and was later syndicated.
Mandel also plays his alter-ego, Phil Skorjanc,
in most of his comedy shows and these are
a fan favorite.
Bobby also made a cameo appearance in a February
2007 episode of Deal or No Deal.
On a special 2-hour Christmas episode, first
aired on December 25, 2007, Mandel delivered
one line with Bobby's voice, as per request
of the contestant.
In 1994 Mandel voiced the lead character,
Little Howie, of the video game Tuneland.
He starred in the sketch comedy series, Howie
Mandel's Sunny Skies, in 1995 on Showtime.
Mandel appeared in the 1995 Clint Black country
music video "Summer's Comin'".
He played the lead role of the professor in
the short-lived TV series The Amazing Live
Sea Monkeys, and guest-starred on a 1996 episode
of the ABC TV series Lois & Clark: The New
Adventures of Superman as DC Comics supervillain
Mister Mxyzptlk.
In 1998 he hosted his own syndicated talk
show, The Howie Mandel Show, which was canceled
after one season.
In 1999/2000, Mandel played "Jason" in the
film Apocalypse III: Tribulation, and in 2002
played the Sand Man in the movie Hansel and
Gretel.
In 2006, he appeared as himself as a guest
host in a parody of Deal or No Deal in the
show-within-a-show of the TV series Studio
60 on the Sunset Strip.
In 2007, he guest-starred as himself in an
episode of NBC's Medium, making a dream cameo
of himself on Deal or No Deal.
In that episode, he booted off the nighttime
drama's protagonist for "cheating", since
in the show he is a psychic medium and appeared
to "know" the contents of the cases.
Mandel's signature stunt as a stand-up comedian
was stretching a latex glove over his head
and inflating it with his nostrils, filling
it until it suddenly propelled itself off
his head.
This trick also lent itself to the title and
cover photo of his comedy album, Fits Like
a Glove.
He eventually gave up the routine under doctor's
orders after being diagnosed with a perforated
sinus.
However, in a cameo role as himself on My
Name is Earl, he did the routine.
He guest starred in two episodes of Monk.
Later work
Mandel is known for his frequent appearances
as a comedian and for his hidden camera segments
on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
He has appeared in many television commercials
for Boston Pizza as their hired spokesperson.
In April 2004, he was selected as number 82
on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest
stand up comedians of all time.
In October 2005, he was named to be the host
of the U.S. version of Deal or No Deal, which
debuted on December 19, 2005, on NBC and became
a popular program in early 2006.
Mandel also hosts Deal or No Deal Canada;
originating from Toronto, Deal or No Deal
Canada debuted in January 2007 on Global,
which made him one of the few game show hosts
to host both a domestic and an international
version of the same game show.
Mandel joins Alex Trebek, Jim Perry and Geoff
Edwards on the list of game show hosts who
emceed one game show simultaneously on both
sides of the U.S./Canadian border.
In 2007, Mandel made an appearance in an episode
of Sesame Street’s 38th season.
That same year, he was parodied on the show
as Howie Eatswell, the Muppet host of Sesame's
game show segment "Meal or No Meal".
Mandel has hosted the DVD game version of
Deal or No Deal, "Fact or Crap Beat Da Bomb"
and "Would You Rather" for Imagination Games.
Mandel had a cameo appearance as himself on
the NBC show My Name is Earl, in the episode
Earl's roommates robbed an Indian casino at
which Howie Mandel was performing.
While stealing money, they also kidnapped
Howie Mandel.
In the episode, Mandel performed his old routine
of inflating a rubber glove over his head
with his nostrils.
Mandel is a notable alumnus of Beth David
B'nai Israel Beth Am's Hebrew School located
in Toronto, as well as three other Toronto
high schools.
Mandel is currently performing a variety/comedy
act at the MGM Grand Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas,
Nevada.
Starting in 2007, Howie Mandel became a spokesperson
for Internet retailer buy.com.
He is sometimes featured in a section called
"What's Shakin'?" with Howie Mandel.
On May 13, 2008, he was the guest host for
the Tradition May Fund Raiser for the Owen
Hart Foundation.
On September 8, 2008, Mandel began hosting
a five-day-a-week syndicated daytime version
of Deal or No Deal, with a top prize of $500,000.
On January 8, 2009, Mandel appeared on Howard
Stern's satellite radio show on Sirius XM's
Howard 100.
On January 9, 2009, Mandel's reality show
Howie Do It premiered on NBC.
In January 2010, it was announced that Mandel
would replace David Hasselhoff as one of the
judges on NBC's America's Got Talent, after
Hasselhoff announced that he was leaving to
work on a new television series.
On May 13, 2010, Mandel appeared on an episode
of The Marriage Ref.
On March 31, 2011, Mandel premiered a flash-mob
show on Fox called Mobbed.
Originally a presentation pilot, the ratings
after American Idol prompted Fox to pick up
the show for eight to ten episodes.
He participated in a live action/animated
interview on Take Two with Phineas and Ferb.
On October 18, 2012, Mandel had a cameo appearance
as himself in CBS's The Big Bang Theory.
On November 30, 2012, he hosted the NASCAR
Sprint Cup Awards Ceremony.
On December 10, 2012, his six-night special
game show, Take It All, premiered.
Since 2013 Mandel has executive-produced the
TBS hidden-camera show Deal with It.
Deal or No Deal
In 2003, while Mandel was deciding whether
or not to quit show business, the executive
producers at NBC asked him to host the show,
but he declined many times.
They then mailed him a tape of the overseas
version and he finally accepted.
In 2007, he hosted a five-episode run of the
Canadian-English version.
The show then went to daytime with Mandel
remaining as host, although Arsenio Hall was
originally intended to host the show.
In a January 2009 interview on Anytime with
Bob Kushell, Mandel expressed mild, jovial
frustration over how some of his contestants
hold out during the game show, despite the
fact that the grand prize is many times what
they would make in a year.
Personal life
He met his wife Terry in high school, and
married her in 1980.
They have three children: daughters Jackie
and Riley and son Alex.
He also has two adopted nephews, Austin and
Zack Mandel.
He is also a distant cousin of Itzhak Perlman,
an Israeli-American violinist and composer.
On September 4, 2008, Mandel received a star
on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Mandel received a star on Canada's Walk of
Fame in Toronto.
The induction ceremony was held on September
12, 2009.
He is the third game show host to be inducted.
In October 2008, Mandel revealed that he has
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder on
the morning talk show Live with Regis and
Kelly, adding that he is currently working
to raise adult ADHD awareness among the general
public.
On January 12, 2009, Mandel was reportedly
sent to St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto
suffering from chest pains and what was reported
as a minor heart attack.
According to various news reports, he was
experiencing an irregular heartbeat, but the
reports were later revealed as inaccurate.
He was later released.
Mandel has written and published an in-depth
autobiography which details his life with
OCD, ADHD, and comedy, called Here's the Deal:
Don't Touch Me.
Mandel is a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs
hockey team.
Mysophobia
Mandel has mysophobia to the point that he
does not shake hands with anyone, including
enthusiastic contestants on Deal or No Deal,
unless he is wearing latex gloves.
Instead of shaking contestants' hands when
they offer them, Mandel often opts to exchange
fist pounds, put his hands on contestants'
shoulders, or give an occasional hug.
He once kissed a female contestant on the
show for good luck despite his mysophobia.
He now takes medicine to control his condition
and even pokes fun at himself for it.
He revealed on The Howard Stern Show on March
24, 2006, that his shaved head is not related
to natural hair loss, but to his mysophobia.
He stated that the lack of hair makes him
feel cleaner.
During his appearance on Mad TV, Mandel and
cast member Bobby Lee made fun of the former's
condition.
In September 2007, Mandel interviewed former
NFL running back Marshall Faulk on NFL Network.
Faulk asked him to shake hands, but Mandel
declined, noting he'd rather have the fist
tap, as he does with Deal or No Deal contestants.
Seconds later, Faulk subjected him to a "sneak
attack", and shook his right hand.
Mandel screamed and walked away from Faulk.
He then washed his hands several times.
On a guest appearance on Free Radio, Mandel
explained that not only is he afraid of public
bathrooms, but is unable to use any bathroom
other than his own.
In 2008, Mandel guest-starred on Monk in the
episode "Mr. Monk Joins a Cult," a television
series centering on a severe mysophobe.
Here, Mandel played a charismatic cult leader
who manages to brainwash Adrian Monk.
During the season 5 episode of America's Got
Talent in Chicago, Zach Carty attempted an
act involving sneezing.
Mandel ran off to the far end of the theater
until the act was over.
Mandel kept yelling at the other judges, Piers
Morgan and Sharon Osbourne to press the X
buttons and for the audience to turn in his
direction.
Morgan eventually pressed the X button but
Osbourne refused so Mandel promptly ran over
and pressed her button ending the act.
In a backstage interview, he expressed to
the television audience that he receives therapy
to help him cope.
In another America's Got Talent season 5 incident,
Dan Sperry, a contestant on the YouTube quarterfinal
episode, dropped some dental floss that he
had run through his neck as part of a magic
act.
He dropped the floss in Mandel's vicinity,
prompting him to get up and run to the other
side of the judges' table.
Just before Sperry's next performance in the
semifinals, Mandel admitted that it was "the
most horrified" he'd been on the show and
that his therapist "loves [Dan Sperry]," because
there had been two extra sessions that week.
Mandel commented in 2011 that he has struggled
with the condition since childhood, but did
not seek help until he was an adult:
"I don’t remember a time when I didn’t
feel there was an issue.
But I wasn’t diagnosed until adulthood.
I’ve always felt a little bit different,
and I always knew I wasn’t as comfortable
with life as everybody else seemed to be.
But I didn’t know what I could do about
it.
When I was a kid, I didn’t know anybody
who went to a psychiatrist.
There was always a stigma attached to mental
health issues.
I think there still is.
But now I’m taking care of myself."
References
External links
Mandel's official website
Howie Mandel at the Internet Movie Database
Biography NBC.com
Quintessential business 'Deal' USA Today,
September 17, 2006
