Frank Caliendo

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Frank Caliendo
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Frank Caliendo

Frank Caliendo (born January 19, 1974 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American comedian best known for his impersonations on the FOX Network television series MADtv, and has been the in-house prognosticator for FOX NFL Sunday.

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[edit] Biography

Frank Caliendo was born in Chicago and raised in Waukesha, a Milwaukee suburb. He attended Waukesha South High School and after that, he majored in broadcast journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. After college, Caliendo began performing stand-up comedy, taking a job as a M.C at a local comedy club. Within a year he was headlining. He made his network series debut on the sketch comedy series Hype.

Caliendo's hobbies include watching football with friends, playing with his wife and kids.

Caliendo found his niche performing on the college comedy circuit. Over the past few years, he has performed at over 300 universities and was nominated for College Comedian and Entertainer of the Year by the National Association of Campus Activities. Caliendo has performed stand-up on such series as cable's Premium Blend, The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Show with Craig Kilborn, The View, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. His signature 'John Madden' impression is frequently seen on FOX NFL Sunday, The Best Damn Sports Show Period and Mohr Sports. Caliendo has also appeared on Comedy Central (Comedy Central Presents), as well as the Opie and Anthony, The John Boy and Billy Big Show, Elliot In the Morning and his favorite, The Drew and Mike Show in Detroit.

In the summer of 2005, Caliendo completed yet another successful national stand-up comedy tour, performing to sell-out crowds in cities across the country. Off the small screen, he has crafted a significant national radio presence on shows across the country where his special brand of humor reaches millions of listeners. Frank loves Chicago Style Pizza. Frank has also just released news that he is developing (co-writing and co-executive producing) a television show for TBS, which if it gets picked up, will air in the summer of 2007.

[edit] MADtv

Caliendo officially joined the cast of MADtv in 2001 as a repertory performer, for the seventh season. During his tenure, he has become well regarded as one of the most talented impersonators in comedy today, and as MADtv's equivalent to Saturday Night Live's Darrell Hammond. He also did almost the whole cast of Seinfeld in an anti-drug episode. In 2002, Caliendo replaced Will Sasso as the impersonator of George W. Bush, but he would win audience members over with an offbeat impersonation of former FOX sports announcer John Madden. Both became some of the cast member's most popular impressions on MADtv, and would be featured quite prominently during his tenure.

Caliendo's other famous impersonations included Al Pacino, Andy Rooney, Donald Trump, Jack Nicholson, Jay Leno, Kelsey Grammer, Robin Williams, Rod Roddy, Ted Koppel, and Terry Bradshaw.

He is also known to breakdance occasionally. He learned to break dance as a kid and was a member of the Night Hawks break dance group.

In August 2006, Caliendo announced he would not return to MADtv for its 2006-2007 season.

[edit] Impersonations

Below is a list of impersonations that Frank Caliendo has done while on MADtv.

[edit] Television appearances

[edit] Touring Dates

[edit] External links