J. D. Roth

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J. D. Roth

Born April 20, 1968 (age 40)
Cherry Hill Township, New Jersey, USA
Occupation television personality, actor, game show host, voice-over performer, television producer, narrator

J. D. Roth, born April 20, 1968 (1968-04-20) (age 40), is a two-time Emmy Award-nominated American television personality, actor, a former popular children's game show host, a voice-over performer on many television programs and a television producer of reality shows.

Roth currently hosts the reality show Endurance on the Discovery Kids channel, and is announcer and co-creator of the adult reality show The Biggest Loser, on NBC.

He previously hosted the Fox adult reality game show Unan1mous and the children's game show Fun House on the FOX TV network.

Roth is also the CEO of 3Ball Productions, a television production company based in Manhattan Beach, California.[1]

Roth and his wife Christine are the parents of two children, Cooper and Duncan.

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[edit] Early life

Born and raised in Cherry Hill Township, New Jersey, Roth first acquired an interest in acting when he was ten, and has been working on commercials and being in-front and behind the camera since then. In a 1996 interview, he said that he worked 22 commercials in his first year of acting. At age 11, he booked himself an audition for a children's show at a New York nightclub, winning a spot along with others including future stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Rick Schroeder and Ricki Lake.[2]

After being a finalist on Star Search, he made numerous guest appearances on Charles in Charge, As the World Turns, The Equalizer and Tales from the Darkside. After graduating from Cherry Hill High School East in 1986, and before producing reality television, Roth's first television exposure was for hosting the kids' game show Fun House, which was the most popular children's show in the U.S. at the time.[1] During its three-year-run, he traveled across the country hosting a live version for children.

[edit] Television productions

In 1991, after his Fun House stint, he went on to host the magazine video game series, GamePro TV. The following year, he started his own production company, Slam Dunk Productions. He initially produced and hosted the short-lived children's game show Double Up on NBC. He emceed several other game shows, including the first season of Masters Of The Maze for the Family Channel, and two of the six seasons of Zooventure, a children's game show taped at the San Diego Zoo and aired on Animal Planet. Zooventure aired in seven countries. Roth also produced a game show version of the word game Mad Libs for the Disney Channel with veteran television personality Dick Clark, who worked with Roth behind-the-scenes. He remarked that children would sometimes write in asking what grade he was in because of his youthful voice.[2] In 1996, he took on the titular role of The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, having been a childhood fan of the classic series. He found the show educational, a quality he admired whose absence he criticized in other shows billed as such.[2] While hosting Zooventure, he hosted his first adult game show, Sex Wars, in syndication.

[edit] Moolah Beach

In 2001, he formed 3Ball Productions, along with John Foy and Todd A. Nelson. Described in a company news release as "the primary creative arm", Roth produced and hosted his first children's reality show, Moolah Beach, as a 30-minute weekly show for Fox as part of its Fox Kids lineup. It was later shown on ABC Family as an extended 60-minute show in the summer/fall of 2001 for 13 episodes. After ABC chose not to continue the series, Roth took the show concept to NBC and Discovery Kids as Endurance.

[edit] Endurance

A spinoff entitled Endurance began on NBC and the Discovery Channel in 2002. Renewed in 2007 for a sixth season, Endurance has been much more successful. Roth, who serves as creator, host and executive producer for this show, was nominated in 2006 for two Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series. In 2007, Endurance was nominated for a Daytime Emmy as Outstanding Children's Series.

[edit] Opportunity Knocks

In fall 2008, ABC will premiere Opportunity Knocks, a new show hosted by Roth.

[edit] Other productions

While not working on Endurance, Roth serves as narrator on NBC's weight loss reality show, The Biggest Loser, (with Caroline Rhea and, later, Alison Sweeney), which he also co-created and produces. He also produces reality shows Breaking Bonaduce, with former child star, Danny Bonaduce on VH1 and "Beauty and the Geek" on the CW Network, alongside Ashton Kutcher (of That '70s Show fame).

He also hosted and co-created Unan1mous, which premiered March 22, 2006. Unlike Endurance, this show was not a ratings winner and was canceled.

Other credits include:

In September, 2006, the Dutch company Eyeworks Group announced that it had acquired a 50-percent ownership of 3Ball Productions.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b J. D. Roth Biography. 3B Productions website. Retrieved on October 10, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c Ellen Gray (1996-08-21). The new `Jonny Quest' is full of ideas for children's programming. Knight-Ridder Media. Archived from the original on 1997-04-30. Retrieved on 15 June 2007.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
N/A		 Host of Masters of the Maze
1994–1995		 Succeeded by
Mario López