Craig Ferguson Biography Quotes 5 Report mistakes

Early Life
Craig Ferguson was born on May 17, 1962, in the Springburn district of Glasgow, Scotland, and grew up largely in Cumbernauld after his family moved there during his childhood. He was raised by his parents, Robert and Janet Ferguson, in a working-class household that instilled a plainspoken humor and resilience that later became hallmarks of his public persona. He left school in his mid-teens and worked a series of jobs before gravitating toward performance, first through music and then through comedy. Among his siblings, his younger sister Lynn Ferguson, an actress and writer, would later collaborate with him, particularly in television writing.

Music and Stand-Up Beginnings
Ferguson first entered show business as a drummer in a Glasgow-based punk band that performed under the name The Dreamboys. The group's lead singer, Peter Capaldi, would go on to international recognition as an actor, and the two remained lifelong friends and creative allies. By the mid-1980s Ferguson had shifted to stand-up, developing a satirical stage character named Bing Hitler that earned notice at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The act's sharp, absurdist wit and theatricality brought him onto British television and radio, and eventually to his first solo TV vehicle.

Early Television Work
In the early 1990s, Ferguson wrote and starred in sketches and fronted his own BBC series, The Ferguson Theory. He continued to hone a style that mixed improvisation, personal confession, and a playful relationship with the audience. Seeking broader opportunities, he relocated to the United States, where he quickly found a foothold in American television.

Breakthrough in the United States
Ferguson's American breakthrough came with The Drew Carey Show, where he played Nigel Wick, the officious and oddly endearing boss of Drew Carey's character, from 1996 to 2003. The series, led by Drew Carey and co-created by Bruce Helford, gave Ferguson a durable platform to showcase his timing and character work. The popularity of the role introduced him to a wide U.S. audience and led to stand-up tours and film projects that highlighted his transatlantic comedic voice.

The Late Late Show
In 2005, Ferguson became the host of The Late Late Show on CBS, produced by David Letterman's company, Worldwide Pants. He succeeded Craig Kilborn in the post-midnight slot and turned the program into an unusually intimate, inventive talk show. Ferguson favored extemporaneous monologues over scripted jokes, drawing on his life, sobriety, and immigrant experience. His unscripted tribute to his father after Robert Ferguson's death and a thoughtful monologue urging compassion during a tabloid frenzy were emblematic of his approach: candid, humane, and wry.

The Late Late Show's idiosyncratic tone was amplified by sidekicks and running bits. Geoff Peterson, a wisecracking robot skeleton built by Grant Imahara and voiced by Josh Robert Thompson, became central to the show's improvised rhythm. Another signature bit featured Secretariat, a two-person horse costume that added surreal physical comedy. Ferguson's freewheeling interviews with guests, notably an award-winning conversation with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, earned the program critical praise and a Peabody Award in 2009. He concluded his tenure in 2014, leaving behind a cult favorite that influenced later, more conversational approaches to late-night television.

Writing and Filmmaking
Parallel to his television career, Ferguson built a portfolio as a writer and filmmaker. He co-wrote and starred in The Big Tease (1999), a mockumentary about a flamboyant Scottish hairdresser, and co-wrote Saving Grace (2000), a comedy about an English widow who turns to unorthodox gardening, in which he also acted. He wrote, directed, and starred in I'll Be There (2003), a father-daughter dramedy featuring Charlotte Church. On the literary side, Ferguson published the novel Between the Bridge and the River (2006), a darkly comic odyssey, and the memoir American on Purpose (2009), which charted his journey from Scotland to U.S. citizenship and chronicled his struggles with alcohol and eventual sobriety. He later released an essay collection, Riding the Elephant (2019), reflecting on family, fame, and the craft of comedy.

Voice Work and Later Television
Ferguson's distinctively warm, rolling Scottish voice led to a steady stream of animation roles. He voiced Gobber the Belch in DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon films and series, contributing both humor and heart to a beloved franchise. He also voiced Owl in Disney's Winnie the Pooh (2011) and played the blustery Lord Macintosh in Pixar's Brave (2012), further cementing his presence in family entertainment.

After stepping away from late-night, he hosted the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game from 2014 to 2017, earning two Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show Host. In 2016 he launched the History Channel series Join or Die with Craig Ferguson, a panel show that combined comedy with historical debate, reflecting his curiosity about ideas and his fondness for lively conversation.

Personal Life
Ferguson has been candid about his battles with alcoholism, recounting a near-breaking point in the early 1990s and his decision to become sober in 1992. His sobriety became a foundation of both his personal life and his comedic voice, imbuing his work with empathy for people in crisis and a refusal to rely on cruelty for laughs. He became a United States citizen in 2008, an event he celebrated publicly, speaking about his affection for his adopted country while retaining his Scottish roots.

His family life has been a steady through line. He was first married to Anne Hogarth. His second marriage, to Sascha Corwin, brought the birth of his elder son, Milo. In 2008 he married Megan Wallace Cunningham, an art dealer; their son, Liam, was born in 2011. Ferguson often credited the grounding influence of family, including his sister Lynn, and the encouragement of longtime friends such as Peter Capaldi, for sustaining him through career transitions.

Style, Influences, and Impact
Ferguson's style blends vaudevillian silliness with confessional storytelling. He privileges spontaneity over polish, an approach that encouraged guests to drop standard promotional patter and engage in genuine conversation. His late-night set pieces with Geoff Peterson and his recurring, unscripted monologues created a space where comedy could coexist with vulnerability. Colleagues such as Drew Carey and David Letterman played pivotal roles in his American career, while collaborators like Grant Imahara and Josh Robert Thompson helped define the texture of his late-night world.

From punk clubs in Glasgow to Hollywood soundstages, Ferguson's trajectory reflects a restless creativity and an ethic of reinvention. He built bridges across mediums, stand-up, sitcoms, films, books, game shows, and voice acting, without relinquishing the offbeat, humane voice that first distinguished him. His influence can be felt in the more conversational, personal tone that later hosts brought to late-night television and in the respect he routinely showed to both audience and guests.

Continuing Work
Ferguson continues to tour as a stand-up comedian and to publish and perform across formats. Whether reflecting on sobriety, family, or the immigrant experience, his work remains rooted in the combination of mischief and compassion that made him a singular presence in modern comedy. His enduring relationships, with family members like Lynn Ferguson, with creative partners from Peter Capaldi to Drew Carey, and with viewers who found in his candor a rare form of late-night companionship, are central to understanding his career and the legacy he continues to build.

Our collection contains 5 quotes who is written by Craig, under the main topics: Friendship - New Beginnings - Contentment - Father.

Other people realated to Craig: Ryan Stiles (Actor), Kathie Lee Gifford (Entertainer), Brenda Blethyn (Actress)