Greg Proops
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Gregory Everett Proops (born October 3, 1959) is an American actor and stand-up comedian, and works largely in Europe as a comic and improviser.
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[edit] Early life
Born in Phoenix, Arizona and raised in San Carlos, California, a quiet suburb south of San Francisco, Proops studied improvisation and acting at San Francisco State University.
[edit] Improv comedy
After graduation, he joined an improv group with Mike McShane, which proved to be his ticket to stardom. Both Proops and McShane impressed producers Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson, who put them on their show, Whose Line Is It Anyway?.
[edit] Television
Proops has performed his stand-up act across Europe and in New Zealand. However, he remains best-known for appearances on Whose Line?, including both the US and UK versions. He reprises this role in 2004’s Drew Carey’s Green Screen Show, a show similar to Whose Line. His other credits include hosting Space Cadets, a mid-1990s science-fiction comedy game show on Channel 4 in the UK, which also featured Craig Charles (Dave Lister from Red Dwarf) and Bill Bailey, and appearances on BBC2’s Mock the Week. He appeared as a panelist on the 2000 revival of To Tell the Truth. Proops also hosted two game shows: VS. in 1999 and Rendez-View in 2001. Currently he helps Joan and Melissa critique people's fashion on the red carpet for the Oscars on the TV Guide channel.
In addition to his stand-up and improv acts, Proops has done voice work in various films and TV shows, including Star Wars: Episode I, the miniseries Stripperella with Pamela Anderson and The Nightmare Before Christmas He also hosts a bi-weekly radio program, and a nightclub-atmosphere talk show at the Largo in Hollywood. He lists McShane and Colin Mochrie as among his best friends.
[edit] Personal life
Proops and his wife of 16 years, Jennifer, currently live in Los Angeles.
[edit] Trivia
- In various improvisational comedy circles, he is renowned (and infamous) for his ability to bring an improvised scene to a screeching and almost unrecoverable halt (referred to in improv as killing a scene) with a single statement, usually laced heavily with innuendo. Usually, only seasoned improv comedians the caliber of Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie were able to recover, and then maintain the scene, although sometimes even they would be caught off-guard.[verification needed]
- On the British version of Whose Line is it Anyway?, he was usually the instigator of jokes and running gags concerning various idiosyncrasies and differences between British English and American English (eg. "lift" vs. "elevator"), and would frequently banter with the host, Clive Anderson, on these matters (among others).
- In his performances and writings, Proops frequently makes non sequitur references to ocelots.
- His politics are left-wing, while Drew Carey's are more conservative, something they often teased each other about on Whose Line, with Carey once going so far as to call Proops a "commie" on the air.[verification needed]
- Provided the voice for the Fode side of the two-headed announcer Fode and Beed in Star Wars Episode I, with Scott Capurro providing the voice for Beed. Curiously, their names are reversed in the ending credits; Proops is credited as playing Beed, and Capurro is credited as playing Fode.
- Played the title role in BBC Radio 4's sci-fi comedy series Seymour the Fractal Cat.
- While hosting his Senior Show at San Carlos High, which has since been replaced with condos, Proops was constantly chided by his peers to tell more jokes. His performance was solid but his Buddy Holly impersonation fell short.[verification needed]
- He provided the voice of Bob in the TV series Bob the Builder for the four seasons of "Project Build-It".
- Was the voice of the Harlequin Demon and saxophone player in "The Nightmare Before Christmas"
