| Jay Thomas | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jon Thomas Terrell July 12, 1948 Kermit, Texas, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, radio talk show host |
| Years active | 1980–present |
Jay Thomas (born July 12, 1948) is an American actor, comedian and radio talk show host.
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Thomas was born in Kermit, Texas. He was raised in his Italian American mother's Roman Catholic faith, although his father was Protestant.[1]
He attended Jesuit High School in New Orleans, where he grew up. He holds a masters degree in sociology from Jacksonville University. He also attended and played college football at Central Piedmont Community College. He lives in Southern California and is the father of three sons, Samuel, Jacob and J.T.
Thomas fathered J.T. in an out-of-wedlock relationship and the child was adopted by another family. Jay Thomas and his son, known as John Harding, are reunited and have spoken about their reunion on the Dr. Phil Show. John Harding is the lead singer of the band JTX.[2]
Thomas is perhaps best known for his recurring roles. The first on the sitcom Mork and Mindy, on which he played Remo DaVinci, the Italian deli-owner, from 1980 until 1983. He then played the hockey-player-turned-travelling-ice show-skater second husband, Eddie LeBec, of Carla on Cheers (1987-1989). He appeared on Murphy Brown as a tabloid talk show host, Jerry Gold, who was also one of Murphy's love interests (1989-1998). Thomas won 2 Emmy Awards in 1990 and 1991 for "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series" for his portrayal of Jerry Gold on Murphy Brown.
He provided the voice of Ares in several episodes of Hercules: The Animated Series.
Thomas starred in the short-lived 1990 show Married People, in the role of Russell Myers, a work-at-home writer married to a high powered lawyer (played by Bess Armstrong).
He has appeared in several TV movies, including Husband, Wife, Lover, with Judith Light, and Stranger in the House with Lindsey Crouse.
He starred in the 1992-1995 sitcom, Love & War and on the short-lived (1996) Ted Danson-Mary Steenburgen sitcom, Ink. In 1994, he co-hosted (alongside Lisa Hartman Black), a television special celebrating the 30th anniversary of Universal Studios called Universal Studios Summer Blast.[3]
In 2008, Thomas was featured on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? as the "expert" available via Skype for the "Ask the Expert" lifeline. That week he reportedly answered every single question he was asked correctly.
Thomas guest-starred on Celebrity Ghost Stories, Law and Order: SVU, and Cold Case. He is the voice of Travel Channel's Ghost Stories and Mystery of the Museums. He appears often on the late night talk show circuit as well as an opinioned guest of Bill Maher, Jimmy Kimmel, Sean Hannity, Dennis Miller, Fox and Friends, The View, Larry King and "C" and MSNBC.
Thomas has appeared in such films as Mr. Holland's Opus, Straight Talk, The Adventures of Ragtime, Dragonfly (2002), The Santa Clause 2 and The Santa Clause 3. He starred (opposite Greg Kinnear) in A Smile Like Yours, in Labor Pains (with Lindsay Lohan), and in Monday Night Mayhem (with John Turturro).
On stage, Thomas co-starred with Bebe Neuwirth and Paul Reiser in the Woody Allen written and directed play, Writer's Block, at the Atlantic Theatre in NYC. He and Paul Shaffer of The Late Show with David Letterman are the national fundraisers for PBS television.
Thomas began his career as a sports announcer for high school football and college basketball (UNC-Charlotte) in the 1970s while attending Gulf Coast Junior College in Panama City, Florida and Jacksonville University. His expressed goal at that time was to be a stand-up comic. He later worked the 7pm-midnight shift at WBSR in Pensacola. He hit the big time at WAPE ("The Big Ape") in Jacksonville and then moved on to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he was the morning drive DJ at BIG WAYS-AM and WROQ-FM in the 1970s. Thomas then worked as a radio DJ in New York City at 99X FM. While at 99X, his newsman/sidekick was sportscaster Charley Steiner. He may be best-known on radio for being the morning host on 92.3 WKTU. He was replaced by Howard Stern when the format of WKTU was changed to classic rock and the station took on call letters WXRK and station name K-ROCK.
After WKTU flipped formats, Thomas was hired by then new Rhythmic Top 40 KPWR/Los Angeles in 1986 as their new morning host, where he enjoyed a successful run. While with KPWR, he got to sub-host an episode of American Top 40 during the late 1980s. In 1992 Thomas left KPWR due to the changes in station management and a musical shift to hip-hop, which would have been out of place for him. He would return to New York in 2000 to host the morning show on WTJM, which had just changed its format to "Jammin' Oldies" after many years as an adult contemporary station. He would leave the station just before it, like KPWR in Los Angeles, changed formats to hip-hop.
Thomas currently hosts The Jay Thomas Show on Sirius XM Stars Too (Sirius XM Channel 104,), a channel on the SIRIUS XM Satellite Radio service. He has had numerous co-hosts on his show including comics Kevin Meaney, Madison, Rodney Lee Conover, Shuli, and Ira the Weatherman. On March 5, 2008 Howard Stern announced that Jay would be doing a live morning show on Howard 101 from 7 AM to 10 AM on Friday mornings. Thomas appeared on the final episode of the HBO series "Hung", receiving a guest star credit, and won best actor and best comedy as co-writer and star at the 2011 LA iTV fest for "Talker"
He currently resides in Southern California, but owns homes in New Orleans, one of which was destroyed by looting in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and another in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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