News and updates on the work of Scottish actors around the world.
Craig also did an interview for the September 28 issue of People magazine. Someone was cool enough to post scans of the article, which you can see here.1. You've been sober for nearly 18 years. Why did you write this memoir now?
When I spoke at the White House Correspondents Dinner (January 2008), it felt like a punctuation mark. I took an inventory of my life, and it seemed like the right time to take a crack at it.
2. How did your fellow Scotsmen react when you became an American citizen?
The ones I talked to had no problem. Being an American doesn't make me any less Scottish.
3. After you dropped out of school at 16, you were a drummer in a punk rock band. What was that like?
It was a wild time. It involved a lot of drinking and fighting, but I'm not sure if I was being a punk rocker or just Scottish.
4. You've had a lot of different jobs — milkman, construction worker, stand-up comic. If the hosting gig didn't work out, what would you be?
I was happiest as a construction worker. The hours are long, the work is hard, but at the end of the day, you feel like you've done something.
5. Favorite TV guests?
I have to say Betty White. It's always a pleasure to have her. And Drew Carey. We've been friends a long time, and it's so easy when you know someone.
Craig Ferguson, who earned his pilot's license last week, says he loves aviation because it's the complete opposite of show business.
The host of CBS' ``Late Late Show'' says that getting ahead in entertainment means claiming to be able to do anything that's asked. In aviation, Ferguson says, a person has to tell the truth or risk death.
He likes to keep much of his life involved in more ``rational areas'' than entertainment, Ferguson told reporters Monday at a meeting of the Television Critics Association.
Asked to assess guests he's had on his show, Ferguson says his favorite was Betty White. His least favorite? An actor he declined to name. [Lynn Elber]
You can also read a summary/review of Craig's new autobiography American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot which will be released on September 22. The entire review is here, but I've posted an excerpt below:
Craig Ferguson, by his own account, is a Scotsman with a brogue and excellent teeth. A former punk-rock drummer. A recovering alcoholic. A sitcom star (well, supporting star) on Drew Carey's show. A film director-writer-leading man. A standup comic and overall "vulgar lounge entertainer."
Ferguson is also, of course, host of CBS' "Late Late Show," where he displays a gift for sly, often silly humour, a range of loony impersonations and a curious mind that, when he's interviewing, puts him in the rare league of Dick Cavett or even Bill Moyers.
Ferguson is also a proud American citizen (as of January 2008).
Any of this would serve as selling points for Ferguson's new memoir, "American on Purpose." [The Canadian Press]
