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Steve Guttenberg
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Steven Robert "Steve" Guttenberg (born August 24, 1958) is an American actor and comedian. He became known during the 1980s, after a series of starring roles in major Hollywood films, including Cocoon, Three Men and a Baby, Police Academy, and Short Circuit. In 2008 Guttenberg was one of 12 contestants on the 6th season of Dancing with the Stars. On April 1st, he was eliminated from the show.
enberg was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Ann Iris (née Newman), a surgical assistant, and Jerome Stanley Guttenberg, an electrical engineer.
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Encyclopedia
Steven Robert "Steve" Guttenberg (born August 24, 1958) is an American actor and comedian. He became known during the 1980s, after a series of starring roles in major Hollywood films, including Cocoon, Three Men and a Baby, Police Academy, and Short Circuit. In 2008 Guttenberg was one of 12 contestants on the 6th season of Dancing with the Stars. On April 1st, he was eliminated from the show.
Early life
Guttenberg was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Ann Iris (née Newman), a surgical assistant, and Jerome Stanley Guttenberg, an electrical engineer. He was in a family of five which included two sisters He had a Jewish upbringing and grew up in North Massapequa, New York, where he graduated from Plainedge High School in 1976. He attended The Juilliard School, State University of New York at Albany, and the University of California at Los Angeles.
Career
Acting career
His studies, which include years with teacher Herbert Berghof and with the improvisational comedy school, The Groundlings, took him to such theaters as the Helen Hayes on Broadway, where he created the lead role in Prelude to a Kiss and The Comedy in London's West End, where he starred in The Boys Next Door. He won kudos in the world stage premiere production of Furthest From the Sun, which Woody Harrelson directed and co-authored. Guttenberg has also appeared widely on TV. His television films include the critically acclaimed Miracle on Ice (1981), To Race the Wind (1980), Something for Joey (1977) and the controversial nuclear holocaust picture, The Day After (1983), which more than 20 years after its original airing remains the highest-rated made-for-television movie in history. Prior to his becoming well known, Guttenberg played the title role in the short-lived 1979 sitcom Billy as a teenage boy with a Walter Mitty complex. In 1980, he starred in a Coca-Cola commercial that featured him trying to help a non-English-speaking woman whose car had stalled. They share a common bond in their love of Coke.
Guttenberg has starred in three film franchises: Police Academy (1984), Cocoon (1985), and Three Men and a Baby (1987). As well as these he has also appeared in such films as Diner (1982), The Bedroom Window (1987), The Boys from Brazil (1978), and Short Circuit (1986). He also starred in "It Takes Two" with Kirstie Alley and the Olsen Twins.
Although Guttenberg is known as a film actor, his roots are in the theater. His first film as director/producer/co-screenwriter/star was the adaptation of a Broadway hit, the stage comedy/drama P.S. Your Cat Is Dead (2002) by James Kirkwood Jr., co-author of A Chorus Line. steve Guttenberg also starred in the Cinderella pantomime at Churchill Theatre in Bromley, playing the Baron (father of Cinderella) in 2008.
Guttenberg had a recurring role on the second season of the television series Veronica Mars as Woody Goodman, a wealthy businessman and community leader. He also appeared as a lead in the NBC made-for-TV remake of The Poseidon Adventure, which aired on November 20, 2005, playing Richard Clarke, a failing writer having an affair with a massage therapist.
More recently he has starred in Mojave Phone Booth as Barry, and Making Change as Trafton. In Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus and its sequel Meet the Santas, he played the starring role of Nick. Guttenberg is working on a film with Jessica Simpson entitled Major Movie Star.
The sixth-annual Golden Wagon Film Festival honored Steve Guttenberg, with the 2008 Tony Randall Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in the entertainment industry, as well as his numerous and generous community service efforts. The Tony Randall Lifetime Achievement Award was created in tribute to the first Golden Wagon honoree, Tony Randall. The award is given to a member of the entertainment industry who embodies the same love of Fire Island, independent spirit, and community service that Tony Randall shared.
On August 25, 2008, Guttenberg released a video titled "" on funnyordie.com.
Other work
Guttenberg is involved with charity work aimed at improving opportunities for the homeless and for young people. He has created Guttenhouse, an apartment complex he funded to accommodate young people after their graduation from foster child status, with on-site social worker direction to assist their assuming adult responsibilities. The Entertainment Industry Foundation, Hollywood's charity arm, selected him to be Ambassador for Children's Issues because of his work on behalf of children and the homeless. In this capacity, he spearheads Sight for Students, a $7-million program in which, together with VSP and Altair Eyeglasses, he helps provide glasses for 50,000 underprivileged and visually challenged children throughout their school years. He also supports Plainedge school district, where he went to high school and runs charity events there often.
His interest in the welfare of youngsters is reflected in his work as a producer and director. He executive-produced Gangs, a CBS School Break Special which earned an Emmy nomination, and debuted as a director with a CBS School Break Special, Love Off Limits (1993). Guttenberg's spare time is taken up by his charitable activities for such kids-oriented agencies as Friends of the Children/Bridges, The Starlight Foundation and the Entertainment Industry Foundation. He is also a surfer, golfer and devoted dog owner.
His production company, "Mr. Kirby Productions", is named after Gerald J. Kirby, his high school drama teacher.
In early November 2008, allegedly Guttenberg was filmed jogging semi-naked through Central Park, New York. On November 12, Guttenberg appeared as a guest on Channel 4's The Paul O'Grady Show, he said he made the video for Will Ferrell's Funny or Die website, but then decided to release it virally "as if it was real". As part of challenge set on the show, he then went on to become the Guinness World Record Holder for preparing the most hot-dogs in one minute.
From Friday 5th December 2008, he will be appearing in the Pantomime "Cinderella", at The Churchill Theatre in Bromley, England. To celebrate the star being in Bromley this year there was a special screening of Police Academy at the local Empire Cinema on the 19th November, which Mr Guttenberg introduced and had a Question and Answer session, where he came across as a very pleasant man.
Guttenberg starred in the 2008 spring season of Dancing with the Stars, although he was eliminated on April 1.
As part of his casting in Dancing with the Stars, Guttenberg was scheduled to perform a stand-up comedy show, followed by a small dance number to help promote himself for the show. This was a "mini" tour, and as such, he chose many towns of a smaller venue to perform in. Some of these smaller towns included Evansville, Indiana, Edwardsville, Illinois, Springfield, Missouri, Marshalltown, Iowa, Jacksonville, Illinois, Salina, Kansas, Blytheville, Arkansas, and Middletown, Ohio.
Performances
Filmography
External links
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