Quick Facts
Biography
John George O'Hurley (born October 9, 1954) is an American actor, voice actor, author and television personality. He is known for the role of J. Peterman on the NBC sitcom Seinfeld, King Neptune XIV on SpongeBob SquarePants and was host of the game show Family Feud from 2006 to 2010.
Early life
O'Hurley was born in Kittery, Maine, the son of Jean, a housewife, and John O'Hurley, an ear, nose, and throat surgeon. O'Hurley attended Kingswood-Oxford School in West Hartford, Connecticut and graduated from Providence College in 1976 with a BA in Theatre. His older sister Carol died in 1970 at the age of 17 due to epileptic seizures, and so O'Hurley performs charitable work for the Epilepsy Foundation. He has younger twin brothers, Bruce and Neal.
Career
Seinfeld
On Seinfeld O'Hurley played J. Peterman, a fictionalized version of catalog-company entrepreneur John Peterman, from 1995 to 1998. In 2001 O'Hurley financed the relaunch of The J. Peterman Company, and thus became a part-owner.
Dancing with the Stars
He was a contestant on the first season of the television show Dancing with the Stars which aired during the summer of 2005. O'Hurley and his dance partner Charlotte Jørgensen made it to the final competition, which he lost to ABC soap opera star Kelly Monaco.
After fans alleged that Monaco's victory was a set-up, the network announced that O'Hurley, Monaco and their professional dancing partners would face off in a special "grudge match" episode broadcast September 20, 2005. Unlike the first episode, viewer vote solely determined the outcome as opposed to a combination between the three professional judges and the viewer votes.
O'Hurley and Jørgensen emerged as the winners. The rematch earned $126,000 for Golfers Against Cancer charity. Afterward the duo produced a dance instruction video called, "Learn to Dance with John and Charlotte".
| Week # | Dance/Song | Judges' score | Result | ||
| Inaba | Goodman | Tonioli | |||
| 1 | Cha-Cha-Cha/"September" | 7 | 7 | 6 | No Elimination |
| 2 | Quickstep/"Let's Face the Music and Dance" | 8 | 9 | 9 | Safe |
| 3 | Tango/"Dance with Me" | 9 | 8 | 7 | Safe |
| 4 | Samba/"Just the Two of Us" Viennese Waltz/"I Got You Babe" | 7 No | 8 Scores | 6 Given | Bottom Two |
| 5 Semi-finals | Foxtrot/"Let There Be Love" Paso Doble/ "Bamboleo" | 9 9 | 9 9 | 9 9 | Safe |
| 6 Finals | Quickstep/ "Let's Face the Music and Dance" Freestyle/"I'm So Excited" | 9 9 | 9 9 | 9 9 | Runner Up |
| 7 Dance-Off | Rumba/"The Look of Love" Waltz/"You Light Up My Life" Freestyle/"I Am What I Am" | 7 10 8 | 8 10 8 | 7 10 9 | WON |
Other roles
In 1995, he had a role as Ralph Stafford on the Murder She Wrote episode "Nailed".
In 1995, O'Hurley co-starred on the short-lived sitcom A Whole New Ballgame.
From 2000–2014 he announced for Cartoon Network sister channel, Boomerang.
From 2000–2001, he hosted a revival To Tell the Truth.
O'Hurley has been the host of Purina's annual National Dog Show every Thanksgiving since 2002.
In 2003, he played the role of Roger Heidecker on the UPN television series The Mullets.
In 2004, he hosted the limited-run game show The Great American Celebrity Spelling Bee.
In October 2005, he guest-starred in an episode of Drake & Josh.
On September 11, 2006, O'Hurley replaced Richard Karn as the fifth host of Family Feud. He left Family Feud in 2010 and was replaced by Steve Harvey.
In March 2007, he took the lead role in the Wynn Las Vegas's production of Spamalot, in which he plays King Arthur. He starred on Broadway and on National Tour as Billy Flynn in Chicago. In July 2008 he reprised his role as King Arthur in the Los Angeles production of Spamalot at the Ahmanson Theatre. In June 2013 he once again reprised the role of King Arthur in Spamalot at The Muny Theater in St. Louis, Missouri, He hosted the Mrs. America and Mrs. World Pageants
He is one of the guest speakers in the Candlelight Processional at Epcot in Walt Disney World. O'Hurley is the voice of the owner of the Cow and Corset bar in the Fable II videogame for the Xbox 360. He also replaced Frank Welker as the "Phantom Blot" for Mickey Mouse Works and Disney's House of Mouse. He has also provided the voice of King Neptune XIV on SpongeBob SquarePants and done voice-over work for radio stations, including WBEN-FM in Philadelphia, KPKX in Phoenix, Arizona, KMAX in San Francisco, and WARH in St. Louis. He is also the voice of Coors Light commercials for more than 10 years.
O'Hurley guest-starred in an episode of The Emperor's New School called "Malina's Big Break", and in 2010, guest-starred on Wizards of Waverly Place as Captain Jim-Bob Sherwood.
Since 2008 he acts as Roger Doofenshmirtz, Heinz Doofenshmirtz's brother, in Phineas and Ferb. He also played in the award-winning 2000x dramatic series produced by the Hollywood Theater of the Ear for National Public Radio.
O'Hurley was a guest star on multiple episodes of the soap opera All My Children during its last month on ABC, in September 2011, playing Kit Sterling, a producer who approaches Erica Kane to make a movie based on the new book she has just written. He also acted in the soap opera Loving as Keith Lane-Jonathan Matalaine.
In 2015, he has a recurring role as Dr. Christopher Neff on Devious Maids.
Personal life
O'Hurley is a self-taught pianist and classically trained vocalist. O'Hurley has been composing since his teen years. In 2004 he released a two-album project entitled "Peace of Our Minds", a compilation of his original piano compositions, in tandem with cellist Marston Smith. The piece "For Lisa" was written for O'Hurley's wife especially for their wedding day in 2004. He was featured on the March/April 2009 cover of Making Music Magazine.
He was married to Eva LaRue from 1992 to 1994. Since August 14, 2004 he has been married to Lisa Mesloh. They have a son, William Dylan O'Hurley.
In May 2011, O'Hurley received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
Filmography
- K.C. Undercover - Buck Marshall
- National Dog Show - Host (2002— )
- Game Show Countdown: Top 10 Hosts - Narrator
- Game Show America - Host
- Hell's Kitchen - Himself
- Spamalot
- (Wynn Casino, Las Vegas) - King Arthur (31 March 2007 – 23 July 2008)
- (Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles) - King Arthur (July 7, 2009 - September 6, 2009)
- (The Muny, St. Louis) - King Arthur (June 17–23, 2013)
- Family Feud - Host (TV series and DVD game) (2006—2010)
- Dancing with the Stars - Contestant (Runner-up, but voted the winner in a rematch)
- The Great American Celebrity Spelling Bee - Host
- The Mullets - Roger Heidecker
- 2 Shocking 4 TV - Host (Made-for-TV movie told in mocumentary style - 2003)
- To Tell the Truth - Host (2000–2002)
- House of Mouse - The Phantom Blot
- Smart Guy - Hugh Sterling, host of "Knowledge College" (Episode: "A Little Knowledge")
- Seinfeld - J. Peterman
- What's New, Scooby-Doo? - Mayor
- Valley of the Dolls - Allen Cooper
- General Hospital - Greg Bennett
- Frasier - Thomas Jay Fallow (Episode: "Slow Tango in South Seattle")
- Santa Barbara - Steven Slade #2
- The Young and the Restless - Jim Grainger #2
- The Legend of Tarzan - Johannes Niels
- Loving - Keith Lane/Jonathan Matalaine
- The Edge of Night - Greg Shaeffer
- Duck Dodgers - Captain Star Johnson
- Lies and Liars - Host (TV Talkshow)
- Buzz Lightyear of Star Command - King Nova
- SpongeBob SquarePants - King Neptune XIV
- The X-Files - Dr. Pollidori
- Family Guy - Cult Leader/Man In White
- Hey Arnold! - Councilman Gladhand
- Glenn Martin DDS - Host of "Are You Smarter Than a Chicken?"
- Drake & Josh - Doctor Carlson (the doctor who does Josh's surgery)
- Sabrina, The Teenage Witch - Professor Beltran
- The Emperor's New School - Editor of Incan Teen Magazine
- Boy Meets World - 2 roles: Cal Kilbride and Grant, host of "We're Not Making This Up!", both 1996
- Phineas and Ferb - Roger Doofenshmirtz (Heinz Doofenshmirtz's Brother)
- Father of the Pride - Blake the Tiger
- Narrator of Coors Light commercials
- Voiceover imaging for several variety hits radio stations, including WBEN-FM/Philadelphia, WARH/St. Louis, WGTZ/Dayton, and WWLB/Richmond
- Host of National Geographic DVD Show Me the Wild
- An American Carol - Himself as a maitre d'
- Secret Talents of the Stars - Himself (host)
- Buying the Cow - Tim 'Timbo' Chadway
- Wizards of Waverly Place - Captain Jim Bob Sherwood
- The Super Hero Squad Show - Grandmaster
- Night Eyes 2 - Detective Turner
- The Looney Tunes Show - Walter Bunny (Lola Bunny's father)
- Pair of Kings - Narrator
- Beethoven's Christmas Adventure - Mr. Rexford (2011)
- Krogzilla - Executive
- Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright - The Great Pauldini
- Wallykazam! - Victor the Villain
- Gravity Falls - Knight Lilliputtian
- The Angry Beavers - Snooty Narrator
- America's Cutest - Himself
- Archer (TV series) - Ellis Crane
Books
- It's Okay to Miss the Bed on the First Jump (2006) New York Times Best Seller
- Before Your Dog Can Eat Your Homework, First You Have to Do It (2007)
- The Perfect Dog (2013)
Music
- A medley (with Sarah Rice) of three songs ("You Found Me and I Found You," "Not Yet" and "Before I Met You") from the musical Oh, Lady! Lady!! on Ben Bagley's Jerome Kern Revisited, Vol. II, released 1990
- Peace of Our Minds (double-CD), released 2005
- Secrets from the Lake, released 2008