Bill Bellamy
Stand-up comedian and actor Bill Bellamy has joined “Last Comic Standing” this year as the show’s host, replacing last year’s host, Anthony Clark. Bill is a natural fit – after all, it takes a funny man to host a funny show.
Bill was born in Newark, New Jersey on April 7, 1965. He draws his comedic talent in part from his childhood experiences in Newark, growing up the eldest of three children. After graduating from Seton Hall Preparatory School, he attended Rutgers University where he stumbled upon comedy accidentally. He entered a male beauty pageant and his sense of humor helped him win. He won several amateur competitions before taking his act to the top comedy clubs around the country.
He made his television debut on the long running “Showtime at the Apollo,” known for its tough audience. But Bill won them over and more importantly, caught the eye of producers Bernie Brillstein and Russell Simmons. They signed him to appear on an episode of HBO’s “Def Comedy Jam” in 1992 and the rest is history.
Soon Hollywood came calling and in 1997, Bill made his film debut in Love Jones. He has also starred in How to Be a Player, Love Stinks, Any Given Sunday, and The Brothers. He co-hosted the Malibu MOBO (Music of Black Origin) Awards as well as the Diversity Awards along side fellow comedian Kathy Griffin.
Bill is credited with creating the term “booty call”, which he used first on “Def Comedy Jam” and was the title of his Showtime comedy special. He spent many years as a VJ on MTV and hosted the shows “MTV Jamz” and “MTV Beach House.” He appeared in two episodes of Cousin Skeeter as the voice of Skeeter. For this performance, he was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Performance. In 2001, he starred in the WB series “Men, Women, & Dogs” and in 2002, he starred as a cop in the Fox series “Fastlane.”
Bill is a staple of the late night talk show circuit, having appeared on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” five times, “Last Call with Carson Daly” three times, and “The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn” twice.
Bill has at least one fan in “Last Comic Standing” judge ANT, who said “The greatest thing about having Bill [Bellamy] as a host is he’s at the audition cities watching on a monitor what happens in the room. And he comes running in at the break, ‘You’re dead. That comic is going to kill you.’ I personally can’t go back to Minneapolis, or San Antonio. I’m moving to Cleveland.”
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