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Drake Bell
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Drake Bell (born Jared Drake Bell on June 27, 1986 in California, United States), is an award-winning American actor, comedian, guitarist, singer/songwriter, and television director. Bell is commonly associated with his real-life best friend Josh Peck, who co-starred with him in both The Amanda Show, with Amanda Bynes, and Drake & Josh. After beginning his career as a child star in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he appeared on The Amanda Show and became well-known among young audiences for his role on the series Drake & Josh.
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Encyclopedia
Drake Bell (born Jared Drake Bell on June 27, 1986 in California, United States), is an award-winning American actor, comedian, guitarist, singer/songwriter, and television director. Bell is commonly associated with his real-life best friend Josh Peck, who co-starred with him in both The Amanda Show, with Amanda Bynes, and Drake & Josh. After beginning his career as a child star in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he appeared on The Amanda Show and became well-known among young audiences for his role on the series Drake & Josh. In addition to his acting, Bell has a growing career as a musician, and wrote and performed the theme song to Drake & Josh, entitled "Found a Way". In 2005 he independently released his debut album, Telegraph. His second album, It's Only Time, was released in 2006 after signing with Universal/Motown. His third album is likely to be released in the Spring of 2009.
Acting career
Bell first appeared in a 1999 episode of Home Improvement entitled "Swing Time". He then appeared in the film Jerry Maguire as Jesse Remo in 1996, and had a small role in the Seinfeld episode "The Frogger" in 1998. In 1999, he acted in a commercial for Pokémon Red and Blue. In 2000, he was nominated for the Young Artist Award for "Best Performance in a TV Movie or Pilot" in the "Supporting Young Actor" category for his role as Cage Redding in the made-for-television film The Jack Bull. During the early 2000s, Bell was a featured performer on The Amanda Show and made a guest appearance on the series The Nightmare Room, before being cast as Drake Parker on the Nickelodeon series Drake & Josh, which began airing in 2004. During this time period, he made a guest appearance as himself on Nickelodeon's Zoey 101 and won the first of three consecutive "Blimp Awards" at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in the "Favorite Male TV Actor" category. In 2006, Bell co-starred alongside fellow Drake & Josh actress Miranda Cosgrove with Dennis Quaid in Yours, Mine and Ours. In the spring of 2008, Bell had a starring role in the comedy spoof film Superhero Movie. In August 2008, he appeared in his first R-rated comedy College, which was shot on location in New Orleans. Bell has signed a producing deal with Virtus Entertainment and will star in The Miracle of Santa Rosa. Bell will also be in another Virtus Entertainment production, this one a mini-series titled Flying Tigers. Bell recently starred in Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh alongside Josh Peck, which began production in July 2008, and premiered on December 5, 2008.
Music career
Bell was first professionally associated with music when he was in the 2001 movie Chasing Destiny. In the film, he co-starred with The Who lead singer Roger Daltrey, who gave him his first guitar lessons. Bell performed on television for the first time in 2002 when he performed his first original song, "Lost A Lover", on The Amanda Show. Another one of his songs, "Found a Way", is featured as the theme song for Drake & Josh. The song is included on Drake & Josh: Songs from and inspired by the hit TV show, along with two other compositions he has written and performed, as well as appearing on on his debut album, Telegraph, which was released independently on September 27, 2005.
In 2005, Bell collaborated with Hawk Nelson on a song called "Bring 'Em Out," which was featured in the movie Yours, Mine and Ours. He and fellow band-mate Michael Corcoran do all the score music for Drake & Josh, Zoey 101, and iCarly. In 2006, Bell signed with Universal Records and met Gustavus Adolphus College graduate Tom van Dell, who would later become his manager. He released his first single, "I Know", on October 17, 2006. The video for "I Know" was filmed in October 2006. Bell's second album, entitled It's Only Time, was released on December 5, 2006. Bell performed live on MTV's TRL the day after it was released. In the summer of 2007, he went on a Nextfest tour in support of It's Only Time, opening up alongside Corbin Bleu for Aly & AJ.
On October 16, 2007, iTunes released a Radio Disney single edit version of his song "Makes Me Happy", the second single for Bell's album It's Only Time. He also wrote with band-mate Michael Corcoran, and sang the theme song for the show iCarly, "Leave It All to Me," with Miranda Cosgrove. The music video for the song premiered on May 24, 2008. Bell has recorded a theme song featuring Sara Paxton for his movie Superhero Movie called "Superhero! Song". He performed some Christmas songs in the Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh movie.
Critics have described his music as heavily influenced by The Beatles and The Beach Boys, with the Beatles being his main influence. Bell has also covered at least 3 Beatles songs live: "I've Got A Feeling," "I'm So Tired," and "Blackbird," as well as playing "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)" by John Lennon, whom Bell has cited as his role model, live on New Year's Eve 2006.
Third album
Bell's third album will likely be released on April 2009, and in interviews he has explained, "It's kind of a conceptual double album. The first record is kind of like Magical Mystery Tour in the air, like a 1960's Pan Am flight with all this cool orchestral music and if there is turbulence on the flight, there will be a cool rock and roll song or if there's a special thing we're going through then you'll hear like Mr. Kite type music. And the other side is all about the sea. It's a story, kind of like The Princess Bride where a guy leaves his girl in a town and goes off to sea and crashes on an island and all these legends come back about him becoming this great pirate and ruling the seas. She thinks 'oh, man. He left me!' and really he's just on this island trying to get back to her so it's this back and forth love story about love lost and all that. Hopefully, we're gonna try and do a movie alongside it." He has recently stated it is very "heady" and will take up most of his time.
He has performed two of the songs from this album, one called "Sea Song", and another called "All Alone at the Disco". He also released a Spanglish edit of "All Alone at the Disco" on his official MySpace. These two songs can be seen on his "Live In Concert" DVD.
On November 11, 2008 while on TRL, Bell stated that the sound of the album will be a lot like his old, which sounds very Beatles, Beach Boys, and Jellyfish, but will also have a Michael Jackson and Bee Gees feel to it.
A DVD entitled "Drake Bell In Concert" was released on December 16, 2008. The DVD contains footage of him and his band live on stage while they toured in Mexico, in October 2008. It also features 2 new songs and 5 covers, all of which are exclusive to the DVD. The DVD includes the following songs:
1. Up Periscope
2. Do What You Want
3. Saturday Night
4. Sea Song
5. I Know
6. Makes Me Happy
7. Fool the World
8. Joining a Fan Club
9. Found A Way
10. Somehow
11. Too Hip Gotta Go
12. Fallen For You
13. Rusted Silhouette
14. Break Me Down
15. End It Good
16. C.C. Rider
17. All Alone At The Disco
18. Little Miss Prissy
Tour Dates
Drake has 3 tour dates coming up in the first week of May, 2009. These are taking place in Illinois. More tour dates may follow.
1st May 2009: Genesee Theatre - Waukegan, IL
2nd May 2009: Rialto Square Theatre - Joliet, IL
3rd May 2009: Cellular Coliseum - Bloomington, IL
Tickets are available from from a low cost $37.50.
Car accident
On December 31, 2005, Bell was involved in a car accident on Los Angeles' Pacific Coast Highway. He was in the car with a friend when a truck ran a red light and caused a head-on collision. His car was a 1966 Ford Mustang, the steering wheel was made of wood and metal, the seatbelts were only around the waist, and there were no airbags. Because of this, his face smashed into the steering wheel, resulting in a broken neck, six dislodged teeth, a jaw broken in three places,a cracked skull, and a deep cut across his chin which he said he could stick his tongue through leaving a two-and-a-half inch scar. Bell underwent plastic surgery to fix his face. In an interview, Bell said that it was scary being hooked up to tubes, fed only liquids, and not knowing whether he would be okay, and if he could ever sing, act, or even tie his shoes again.
Awards
Filmography
Home Improvement, 1994 (Little Pete)
Drifting School, 1995 (Kenny Smith)
The neon bible, 1995 (David)
Minor adjustments, 1995 (Jordan)
Superhero Movie, 2008 (Rick)
Discography
Telegraph, 2005
It's Only Time 2006
Third Album Early 2009
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