Fred Norris
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| Born: | July 9, 1955 (age 51) Willimantic, Connecticut |
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| Occupation: | Radio personality, Disc jockey |
| Website: | www.howardstern.com |
Eric Fred Norris (born Fred Leo Nukis on July 9, 1955) is an American radio personality on the Howard Stern Show. Norris is a comedic writer, musician and mimic, and has worked for Stern longer than any other staff member.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Norris was born in Willimantic, Connecticut to Valija and Henry Nukis, Latvian immigrants.[1] He was raised in Manchester, Connecticut.
[edit] Career
Norris began working with Stern on the radio station WCCC-FM in Hartford in the late 1970s. Besides working for the Howard Stern Show, Fred is involved with the band he formed, King Norris. Fred's first public guitar playing was as a student at Dubaldo Music. The talent show was held at Waddell School in Manchester CT. In 1995, Norris married Allison Ferman, a woman he originally met on the "Dial-A-Date" segment of Stern's radio show. The couple has one daughter, Tess.[2] Norris owns a Triumph motorcycle, which he rides on a regular basis, and likes to box.
Norris is generally regarded by others on the show as very intelligent. A regular bit on the show is "Win Fred's Money" wherein Fred and another contestant answer rapid-fire trivia questions. Fred usually wins these contests handily. However, his primary role on the show is playing sound clips that comically coincide with the current discussion, writing song parodies and skits and contributing jokes during the course of the show. Otherwise, he's mostly silent, painting the show with soundbites and timing commercial breaks. Stern occasionally teases Norris for "sleepwalking" through the show (as he had had a more prominent role when the show had a smaller cast). Norris occasionally cites Wikipedia as a reference during discussions.
[edit] Memorable Stern Show events
In January 2006, Norris revealed on Stern's Sirius Radio show that he has a half-sister during a bit where cast members revealed secrets about themselves (his father had an illegitimate child with Norris' godmother). He has stated that he doesn't want to meet this person due to his strong grudge against his father as well as his godmother. Fred also revealed that his godmother gave him the middle name "Leo", which is why he changed his name. Norris has served as a writer on the Stern Show for many years and has helped write most of the show's bits. Particularly memorable events specifically involving Norris include:
- Stern goofing on him for buying a Cookie Puss cake for his mother on Mother's Day
- Norris drunkenly cuddling with show intern Gay Rich at Scores for his bachelor party, then falling down stairs and landing on his head - requiring a trip to the emergency room.
- The on-air discussion of a fight between Norris and his wife at NBC's Rainbow Room
- Norris' frequent face-to-face denials to model Carol Alt that she enjoys "supermodel" status, vigorously asserting that she has never attained that rarefied professional level.
Norris, to his chagrin, is often mocked by Stern during the show for what he perceives as Norris' oddness, for example saying he is 'from Mars'.
[edit] Name change
In 1993 Norris legally changed his name from Fred Leo Nukis to Eric Fred Norris,[1] a change which was not widely known until several years later when the cast of the Stern Show saw Norris' new name signed in a log kept to comply with the FCC. Regardless, the cast has still referred to him mostly as Fred.
Most recently, Fred was confronted about his name on November 13, 2006. Fred revealed that the last name Norris is that of his kindly stepfather. Nukis was his biological father's name and Fred wished to remove that father from his life with the name change. Fred claimed that his mother wanted to name him Eric at birth, but that his natural father had not allowed it because "Eric" was the name of his mother's former boyfriend. The name Leo was selected by his maternal aunt - the same woman who eventually eloped with his natural father. Fred says he hates both the names Fred and Leo - though Norris' wife, Alison, calls him Fred.
[edit] Impressions
Fred is a talented impressionist. Voices in his repertoire include:
- Artie Lange, a fellow Stern Show staff member, who shares the most talent at impressions among show regulars with Fred
- Benjy Bronk, a fellow Stern Show writer
- Dominic Barbara, lawyer, friend of the Howard Stern Show
- Chyna, former WWE wrestler
- Don Imus, elder radio personality and longtime personal enemy of Norris and Stern dating back to when both of them and Imus worked at the same radio station, WNBC
- Eric the Midget, a member of Stern's Wack Pack
- Gary Dell'Abate, the Howard Stern Radio Show's producer
- Herman Munster, a voice which Fred will use to impersonate numerous other people of varying degrees of closeness to the actual Herman Munster voice, most commonly with women Fred or others deem to be manly, such as Nicole Bass
- Jackie Martling, former Stern Show writer
- JD Harmeyer, Stern Show media producer
- John the Stutterer, a member of Stern's Wack Pack
- Richard Christy, a fellow Stern Show staff member
- Tom Christy, Richard Christy's father, a farmer in Kansas whose mundane phone messages to his son are often played on the show.
- Robin Quivers, a fellow Stern Show staff member
- Sal the Stockbroker, a fellow Stern Show staff member
- Siobhan the Transsexual, a member of Stern's Wack Pack
- Stuttering John, a former Stern Show staff member
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] External links
- King Norris Official website
- Fred Norris at the Internet Movie Database
- Fred Norris' biography on howardstern.com
| The Howard Stern Show | |
|---|---|
| Cast | Howard Stern • Robin Quivers • Artie Lange • Fred Norris • Gary Dell'Abate • Benjy Bronk • Richard Christy • Sal the Stockbroker • J. D. Harmeyer • Scott Salem • Jon Hein • Will Murray • Jason Kaplan • George Takei • Ronnie Mund • Ralph Cirella |
| Former Cast | Billy West • Jackie Martling • Stuttering John • K. C. Armstrong • Tom Chiusano • A. J. Benza |
| The Wack Pack | Beetlejuice • Eric the Midget • Miss Howard Stern • High Pitch Eric • Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf • Riley Martin • Siobhan Meow • Jeff the Drunk • More... |
| Howard Channels | Bubba the Love Sponge Show • Scott Ferrall • The Wrap-Up Show • Howard 100 News • Superfan Roundtable • More... |
| See Also | Show Celebrity Guests • Show Games and Bits • Sirius Satellite Radio • Sirius Canada |
