Bill Engvall

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Biography

William Ray "Bill" Engvall, Jr. (born July 27, 1957) is an United States of America|American comedian and actor best known for his work as a stand-up comedy|stand-up comic and as a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour|Blue Collar Comedy group.

Early life

Bill Engvall was born in Galveston, Texas . Following graduation from Richardson High School in Richardson, Texas , Engvall attended Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas , intending to earn a Bachelors degree and become a teacher. While at Southwestern he was a member of Xi Chapter of the Kappa Alpha Order . Engvall left college prior to earning his degree and worked a series of jobs, including tour guide at Inner Space Caverns , and disc jockey in a Dallas, Texas nightclub. It was while working as club DJ he first ventured into standup comedy at amateur and open mic nights around Dallas.

Career

In 1990 Bill Engvall moved to southern California to dedicate full time to his comedy. Early notoriety came from hosting the cable show A Pair of Jokers with Rosie O'Donnell and an appearance on the The Golden Palace where he played Blanche's son Matthew, a stockbroker turned aspiring comic. Other early appearances included hosting A& E Network s The Improv|An Evening at The Improv as well as stand-up routines on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson|The Tonight Show and The Late Show with David Letterman .

A career breakthrough happened in 1992 when Engvall was named Best Male Standup at the American Comedy Awards . His first role as a series regular came soon after when he was cast in the ABC series Delta (TV series)|Delta , starring Delta Burke . The show only lasted one season however, and Engvall returned to making the rounds of comedy clubs and the occasional television appearance until 1996 when he was cast with fellow comic and best friend Jeff Foxworthy in the NBC version of The Jeff Foxworthy Show . Signed by Warner Bros. Records in 1996, Engvall release the first of a series of highly successful comedy albums, '' Here's Your Sign , based on his signature stage bit. The album was Music recording sales certification|certified Platinum and peaked at #5 on the Billboard Country album chart, thanks in part to the single and video of the same title on which he collaborated with Country star Travis Tritt . Eight more comedy albums followed including Dorkfish '' in 1998, and the most recent, 2009's Aged and Confused .

Blue Collar Comedy Tour

A comedy revolution of sorts began in 2000 when Jeff Foxworthy and Engvall launched the first of six Blue Collar Comedy Tour s. The tours also featured comedians Ron White and Larry the Cable Guy and was largely responsible to the breakout success of the latter two. Rather than ridicule the simple rural life and traditional values, the four comedians reveled in its virtues. Each of the six years of the tour were huge hits and spawned three movies, a satellite radio show, and a television show, Blue Collar TV on The WB Television Network|The WB Network .

Game show host

In June 2011, Bill Engvall began a new chapter in his career as he took over as host of the re-launched Lingo (U.S. game show)|Lingo on Game Show Network|GSN . According to an interview in American Profile magazine, Engvall said he jumped at the chance to host the show, citing the fun his friend Foxworthy had hosting Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? . Engvall had been a fan of Lingo when it aired a few years previously before ending in 2007, admitting that his wife always beat him to the answers. When asked if there were any plans to have buddies Foxworthy or Larry The Cable Guy appear on Lingo, he replied "You never know& #33; I would love to have them on the show because it would be a blast. I would really dig that." American Profile newsmagazine. Article title: "Q& A with Bill Engvall". June 5, 2011

Personal life

Bill and Gail Engvall (born August 1960) have been married since December 18, 1982. They have a daughter named Emily (born 1986), a recent graduate from the University of Puget Sound , as well as a son, Travis (born 1991), a junior at Northern Arizona University ; both of whom are often mentioned during his routines. Engvall resides in southern California when not on tour and maintains a blog for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim , of which he holds season tickets. SoMdNews.com. Retrieved 2011-06-11

Discography

Albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
Title	Album details	US Country	US	US Comedy
A Release date: May 28, 1996 Label: Warner Bros. Records Recording Industry Association of America\|US : Platinum
Dorkfish Release date: October 13, 1998 Label: Warner Bros. Records US: Gold
B Release date: September 28, 1999 Label: Warner Bros. Records
'' Now That's Awesome Release date: August 22, 2000 Label: BNA Records
Cheap Drunk: An Autobiography Release date: September 24, 2002 Label: Warner Bros. Records
'' Here's Your Sign Reloaded Release date: November 11, 2003 Label: Warner Bros. Records
A Decade of Laughs Release date: October 26, 2004 Label: Warner Bros. Records
15° Off Cool Release date: February 27, 2007 Label: Warner Bros. Records
Aged and Confused Release date: October 6, 2009 Label: Warner Bros. Records
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

;Notes

A #ref A| ^ ''Here's Your Sign also peaked at number 3 on Top Heatseekers .

B #ref B| ^ ''Here's Your Christmas Album also peaked at number 33 on Top Holiday Albums . It was re-released in 2005.

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions			Album
Year	Single	US Country	US	CAN Country	Album
1997	29	43	72	Non-album songs
1997	"Warning Signs" (with John Michael Montgomery )
1998	72	—	—
	"I'm a Cowboy"
	"Here's Your Sign Christmas"
1999	72	—	—	Non-album song
2000	63	—	—	Blue Collar Comedy Tour
	Tracy Byrd and T. Graham Brown )
	"Shoulda Shut Up"
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Other charted songs

Year	Single	Peak positions	Album
Year	Single	US Country	Album
1999	39	''Here's Your Christmas Album
2000	46	''Here's Your Christmas Album

Music videos

Year	Video	Director
1997	Jim Yukich
1997	"Warning Signs" (with John Michael Montgomery )
1998
1998	"Here's Your Sign Christmas"
1999
2000	Thomas Smugala
2000	"Now That's Awesome"

List of works

Bibliography

Just a Guy: Notes from a Blue Collar Comedy Tour|Blue Collar Life St. Martin's Press ISBN 0312362676 (2007)

Filmography

Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie (2003)

Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again (2004)

Blue Collar TV (2004)

Mobile Home Disaster (2005)

Country Fried Home Videos (Host) (2006–present)

Blue Collar Comedy Tour: One For the Road (2006)

The Bill Engvall Show (2007–2009)

Delta Farce (2007)

Bait Shop (2008)

Country Fried Planet (2008)

Celebrity Family Feud (2008)

Strawberry Wine (2009)

Leverage (TV series)|Leverage (2010) (guest star) as Duke Penzer

Lingo (U.S. game show)|Lingo (2011)

Hawthorne (TV series)|Hawthorne (2011) (guest star) as Detective Jimmy Dupree (3 Episodes)

Copyright Citations

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1. John Michael Montgomery 2. Minnie Pearl 3. Billy Joe Shaver 4. Gheorghe Zamfir 5. Jeff Dunham 6. Jeff Foxworthy 7. Julie Reeves 8. Lisa Lampanelli 9. Ron White

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