Greg Proops

Gregory Everett Proops (born October 3, 1959)[1] is an American actor, stand-up comedian, voice artist and television host. He is widely known for his work as an improvisational comedian on the U.K. and U.S. versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway? He also performed on Drew Carey's Green Screen Show and voiced the title character on the animated children's show Bob the Builder from 2005 to 2009.[2]

Greg Proops
Greg Proops in 2007
Birth nameGregory Everett Proops
Born (1959-10-03) October 3, 1959[1]
Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Years active1982–present
GenresImprovisational comedy, Observational comedy
Spouse
Jennifer Canaga
(
m. 1990)
Notable works and roles
  • Whose Line Is It Anyway? (UK)
  • Whose Line Is It Anyway? (US)
  • Bob the Builder
Websitegregproops.com

Early life

Proops was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and raised in San Carlos, California, a suburb south of San Francisco, attending San Carlos High School.[3][4] He attended the College of San Mateo and spearheaded the comedy duo "Proops & Brakeman". Later, he took courses in improvisation and acting at San Francisco State University, though he never finished college.[5]

Career

Improv comedy

After college, he joined an improv group with Mike McShane. Both Proops and McShane impressed producers Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson, who put them on their show, Whose Line Is It Anyway?. He frequently instigated jokes concerning various idiosyncrasies and differences between British English and American English, and would frequently banter with Clive Anderson on these matters (among others). He lived in London for four years when he was doing the show and lists McShane, Richard Vranch[6] and Colin Mochrie among his best friends. After the show ended, he was recalled for the American version and was a frequent "fourth contestant". Through 2019, he had appeared in 71 U.S. Whose Line episodes, more than any other non-regular cast member.

Proops performing in a nightclub in November 2008

Proops also appeared in every episode of the short-lived Drew Carey's Green Screen Show, where the performers would play improv games (some of which were taken from the show's main influence Whose Line Is It Anyway?) in front of a massive green screen.[7] Later, animators would draw on the background and other props. In April 2011, Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza premiered on GSN featuring Proops along with other frequent guests from Whose Line is it Anyway? In July 2012, Proops appeared in ABC's improvisation show, Trust Us with Your Life.[8]

In November 2011, Proops did a week on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas with the Lewis Black Comedy Cruise Tour. He performed the entire week of stand-up with other artists, which included a live, one-hour podcast in front of his entire audience.[9]

Film and television

Proops has performed his stand-up act across Britain, mainland Europe, Australia and New Zealand. His other credits include hosting Space Cadets, a mid-1990s science-fiction comedy game show on Channel 4 in the UK, which also featured Craig Charles (Dave Lister from Red Dwarf) and Bill Bailey, and appearances on BBC2's Mock the Week. He appeared as a panelist on the 2000 revival of To Tell the Truth. Proops has also hosted game shows, including VS. in 1999,[10] Rendez-View in 2001,[11][12] and Head Games, a Science Channel game show which ran for one season in 2009.[13]

In addition to his stand-up and improv acts, Proops has done voice work in various films and TV shows, including Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, and the miniseries Stripperella with Pamela Anderson. He provided the voice for the Fode, the Galactic Basic speaking half of the two-headed Pod-Race announcer in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, with Scott Capurro providing the voice for the other, Huttese-speaking half, Beed. Proops provided the voice of Bob in the US version of the TV series Bob the Builder for the five seasons of Project Build It. He has also featured in 2003 film Brother Bear as the voice of one of the Love Bears and provided the voice as Cryptograf in 2006 film Asterix and the Vikings.

Proops has been involved with Turner Classic Movies since 2013, appearing on several of the network's podcasts and in person at public events. In 2016, he appeared as a television presenter for TCM, introducing comedy films by the Marx Brothers and Wheeler & Woolsey.[14]

Proops has been involved with the Star Wars franchise as well. He played the role of Fode in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. He would later work with the Expanded Universe, reprising his role as Fode in the video game Star Wars Episode I: Racer and the video game adaptation of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and he guest-starred on two episodes of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars ("The Mandalore Plot" and "Voyage of Temptation") as Tal Merrick. In 2018, Proops voiced Jak Sivrak in Star Wars Resistance.

Radio and podcast
Proops in January 2007

Proops hosts a podcast called The Smartest Man In The World,[15] in which he talks about current events, celebrity culture, and his personal life, usually in front of a live audience. Before Smartest Man, Proops hosted a podcast called The Greg Proops Experiment.[16]

From 1995–1996, Proops presented Bits from Last Week's Radio on BBC Radio 1. He did voice work for the BBC Radio 2 series Flight of the Conchords, first broadcast in September 2005. Proops also played the title role in BBC Radio 4's sci-fi comedy series Seymour the Fractal Cat.

Proops was in the cast of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack and movie, providing the voice for the Harlequin Demon, the Devil, and the Sax Player.

Video games

Proops provides voice-over work as Howard "Buckshot" Holmes, a game show announcer along with John DiMaggio for the Nintendo Wii game MadWorld. DiMaggio and Proops play as comical announcers on a brutal game show set in the future. Proops also provided the voice of Fargus, a pyromantic court jester for the PlayStation Pandemonium game series.

He later worked as a voice actor in Skylanders: Imaginators, where he voiced a Brain that was freed by Kaos in order to help perfect his Doomlanders project.

Comedy albums
  • Live (1994)
  • Back in the UK (1997)
  • Houston, We Have a Problem (2007)
  • Joke Book (2007)
  • Elsewhere (2009)
  • Greg Proops Digs In! (2010)
  • In the Ball Park (2015)
  • The Resistance (2018)

Comedy specials
  • Greg Proops: Live At Musso & Frank (2013)

The Smartest Book in the World

On May 5, 2015, Proops released nonfiction book The Smartest Book in the World through publisher Touchstone. The book is based in part on Proops's weekly podcast The Smartest Man in the World, detailing the author's movie and poetry recommendations, baseball facts, powerful women, and misconstrued history. The paperback version of the book was released from Touchstone on February 21, 2017.[17]

Filmography

Television
Year Title Role Notes
1989–1998 Whose Line Is It Anyway? Himself 50 episodes
1990 Midnight Caller Cab Driver
1990 Thanksgiving Day Chauffeur TV movie
1994 Anna Lee Martin Mahew Episode: "Requiem"
1996 Family Matters Cafe Manager Episode: "Tips for a Better Life"
1996 Dennis the Menace Quentin Hitchberg (voice) Episode: "The Secret Diary"
1997 Men Behaving Badly Billy Episode: "The Party Favor"
1997 3rd Rock from the Sun Yasmine Episode: "Sensitive Dick"
1997 Space Cadets Himself – High Commander 10 episodes
1998 Mike Hammer, Private Eye Deke Gerard Episode: "The Life You Save"
1998–2007 Whose Line Is It Anyway? Himself 57 episodes
1999 The Jamie Foxx Show Jon Marc Episode: "Bro-Jack"
1999–2009 Bob the Builder Bob (voice) 53 episodes
2000 Rat Bastard Roscoe Roden (voice) TV movie
2000 Veronica's Closet Richard Small Episode: "Veronica's Tattooed Man"
2001 Rendez-View Host
2001 The Hollywood Squares Himself 12 episodes
2002 Just Shoot Me! Turtleneck Guy Episode: "Educating Finch"
2002 Bagboy! Sirol (voice) TV short
2000–2003 The Drew Carey Show (Multiple roles) 3 episodes
2003 10-8: Officers on Duty Jewelry Store Owner Episode: "Late for School"
2003–2004 Stripperella Bernard 7 episodes
2005 Bob the Builder: Bob's Mini Projects Bob (voice)
2005 Bob the Builder: Bob's Big Plan Bob (voice) TV movie
2005 Illeanarama Ben
2005–2014 The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson Himself 9 episodes
2006 Ugly Betty TV Fashion Reporter Episode: "Queens for a Day"
2007–2013 Chelsea Lately Himself 20 episodes
2007–2016 Red Eye Himself 9 episodes
2008–2011 True Jackson, VP Max Madigan 48 episodes
2009 Flight of the Conchords Martin Clark Episode: "A Good Opportunity"
2009 Head Games Himself 8 episodes
2010 Star Wars: The Clone Wars Tal Merrik (voice) 2 episodes
2010 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Himself 5 episodes
2011 Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza Himself 20 episodes
2012 The Gamblers: The Ledge Gambler 1
2008–2012 Easy to Assemble Ben 8 episodes
2012 Decline of the American Empire Himself TV movie
2012–2015 QI Himself 2 episodes
2014–2019 Whose Line Is It Anyway? Himself 14 episodes
2014–2017 @midnight Himself 9 episodes
2016 Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures Fode (voice) Episode: "Race on Tatooine"
2016 Uncle Grandpa Cupid (voice) Episode: "Uncle Cupid"
2017 The Powerpuff Girls Isosceles / Additional Voices (voice) Episode: "Buttercup vs. Math"
2018–2019 Star Wars Resistance Multiple roles (voice) 6 episodes
2019 Schooled Mr. Granger 4 episodes

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1993 The Nightmare Before Christmas Harlequin Demon / Devil / Sax Player (voices)
1999 Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace Fode (voice)
2003 Kaena: The Prophecy Gommy (voice) English version only
2003 Brother Bear Male Lover Bear (voice)
2006 Cyxork 7 Rob Berdash
2006 Asterix and the Vikings Cryptograf (voice) English version only
2007 Super High Me Himself Documentary
2011 Bad Actress Barry
2014 Hey Monster, Hands Off My City Mr. Paranoid
2015 Hell and Back Asmoday the Demon (voice)
gollark: This sort of attitude seems problematic.
gollark: ...
gollark: They'll probably be fine as long as you don't do anything large.
gollark: ™
gollark: Palaiologos

References
  1. "Greg Proops Biography (1959-)". Filmreference.com. October 3, 1959. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
  2. Bob the Builder (TV Series 1998– ), retrieved December 21, 2017
  3. The Adam Carolla Show (podcast), 2011-08-03 show with Greg Proops, 59 minute mark Archived October 9, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Proops, Greg. "Guest Column By Greg Proops: The Quest to Underachieve". Saturday Night Magazine (U.S.). Archived from the original on August 9, 2011. Retrieved August 5, 2011.
  5. "Greg Proops". Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  6. iTunes - podcasts - The Smartest Man in the World - "Legends", itunes.apple.com, March 23, 2012, retrieved December 10, 2012
  7. "Drew Carey's Green Screen Show". Whose-line.com. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
  8. Lowry, Brian (July 9, 2012). "Trust Us With Your Life". Variety. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  9. "Pollstar | Royal Caribbean Cruise Line - Freedom Of The Seas". www.pollstar.com. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  10. "Time for the (mis)match game". SFGate. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  11. "Rendez-View | Broadcasting & Cable". www.broadcastingcable.com. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  12. "Rendez-View - Greg Proops Net". Greg Proops Net. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  13. Silver, Curtis. "Play Head Games, Rule Your Social Media Circle". WIRED. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  14. "Guest Programmer: Greg Proops". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  15. "The Smartest Man in the World podcast".
  16. "Interview: Greg Proops, comedian". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  17. "The Smartest Book in the World". Simon & Schuster.
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