John George O'Hurley Jr. (born October 9, 1954) is an American actor, comedian, singer, author, game show host, and television personality. He is known for his portrayal of J. Peterman on the NBC sitcom Seinfeld, his voice acting as the original King Neptune on SpongeBob SquarePants, and for hosting the game show Family Feud from 2006 to 2010. O'Hurley also hosted To Tell the Truth from 2000 to 2002 in syndication.
On Seinfeld, O'Hurley played J. Peterman, a fictionalized version of catalog-company entrepreneur John Peterman, from 1995 until the show's end in 1998. O'Hurley invested in the relaunch of The J. Peterman Company, and since 1999 has been a part-owner and member of the board of directors.[6][7]
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".
O'Hurley made two guest appearances on Baywatch in 1992 and 1994, in two different roles. The first was as villainous yacht club president Fred Adler in "Masquerade," and again as a grieving father named Bill in "Red Wind." In 2003, he played the role of Roger Heidecker on the UPN television series The Mullets.[8]
O'Hurley returned to the Baywatch universe in a 1995 Baywatch Nights episode "Bad Blades," playing the villainous Kemp, in a roller hockey themed episode. He also co-starred on the short-lived sitcom A Whole New Ballgame, had a role as Ralph Stafford on the Murder She Wrote episode "Nailed", and guest-starred in an episode of Drake & Josh.[9]
In March 2007, O'Hurley took the lead role in the Wynn Las Vegas's production of Spamalot, in which he plays King Arthur.[citation needed] In July 2008, O'Hurley 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. O'Hurley starred on Broadway and on National Tour as Billy Flynn in Chicago. He has hosted the Mrs. America and Mrs. World Pageants.
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.[12][13] O'Hurley previously appeared as Dr. James R. Grainger on The Young and the Restless from 1989-90, and acted in the soap opera Loving as Keith Lane / Jonathan Matalaine.
In 2015, O'Hurley had a recurring role as Dr. Christopher Neff on Devious Maids. He also provided the voice for Victor the Villain on the children's animated TV series Wallykazam!.
Game show host
From 2000 to 2002, O'Hurley hosted a revival of To Tell the Truth. In 2004, he hosted the limited-run game show The Great American Celebrity Spelling Bee. On September 11, 2006, he replaced Richard Karn as the fifth individual to host Family Feud. O'Hurley hosted the show for four seasons, before leaving the show at the beginning of 2010. He was replaced by fellow comedian and film star Steve Harvey. In a 2017 interview with Fox News, O'Hurley agreed that it became less family-friendly and admitted that was one of the reasons why he left the show. O'Hurley also said:
I got tired of people writing to me saying: 'I can't watch your show. It's a misnomer calling it that because, it's not family. It feels like everything became a penis joke' and I got a little tired of that. I just felt that there are other ways to be more interesting on television and always trying to push that style of family entertainment. I had a great time doing it, but it was time to move on.[14]
Personal life
O'Hurley is a self-taught pianist and classically trained vocalist, and has been composing since his teen years. In 2004, in tandem with cellist Marston Smith, he released a two-album project entitled Peace of Our Minds, a compilation of his original piano compositions. The piece "For Lisa" was written for O'Hurley's wife for their wedding day in 2004. O'Hurley was featured on the March/April 2009 cover of Making Music magazine.[15]
O'Hurley was married to Eva LaRue from 1992 to 1994.[16] Since August 14, 2004, he has been married to Lisa Mesloh.[17] Together they have a son.[17]
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)
Discography
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
^Greenwald, John (August 12, 2001). "Peterman Reboots". Time. Archived from the original on 2011-11-20. Retrieved 2009-03-09. In fact, O'Hurley has since become a partner in Peterman's reborn company.
