Jeff Dunham Biography

The brilliant Jeff Dunham is an American ventriloquist and comedian famous for his five specials on comedy central; Jeff Dunham: Arguing with Myself, Spark of Insanity, Jeff Dunham’s Very Special Christmas Special, Controlled Chaos and also Watching Out for Monsters. Not only that, Dunham has been credited with stoking ventriloquism. Jeff has been named ‘ America’s Favorite Comedian ‘ by Slate.com and Jeff has earned the title of ‘Ventriloquist of the Year’ twice. Jeff’s unparalleled comedic skills led him to be the third highest paid comedian in the United States, earning approximately $30 million between June 2008 and June 2009.

Early life and education of Jeff Dunham

Jeff Dunham was born on April 18, 1962 in Dallas, Texas and was adopted by real estate appraiser Howard Dunham and homemaker Joyce when he was 3 months old. At the tender age of eight, Jeff began ventriloquism after receiving a Mortimer Snerd from his parents as a Christmas present.

While in the fourth grade, Jeff made a resolution that he wanted to be a professional ventriloquist and the greatest of all time. Jeff was so determined that he began to practice for hours and studied the routines of his idol Edgar Bergen. When he was in sixth grade, Jeff began attending the Vent Haven Convention in Fort Mitchell Kentucky, an annual international gathering of ventriloquists.

Jeff Dunham’s career

Jeff then began performing for audiences at school, church, and also during his job at Six Flags. Dunham made his television debut in 1976 when he caught the attention of Dallas reporters like Bill O’Reilly, who interviewed him for a local news story. Jeff then began doing commercials for the Dallas-based Datsun dealership while he was still in high school. Jeff was also voted Most Likely to Succeed in High School.

Jeff graduated in 1980 and determined his goal to appear on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson within 10 years. The same year, Jeff began attending Baylor University and meanwhile was frying across the country on the weekends doing around 100 private shows a year.

Jeff was earning $70,000 a year by his junior year in college. Jeff was later asked to join the Broadway show Sugar Babies in 1985. Jeff also performed at the Westbury Music Fair on Long Island. Jeff graduated from Baylor University in 1986, after which he began performing at comedy clubs in the Southwest with new characters like Peanut and José Jalapeño.

Jeff experienced bitter failure at Catch a Rising Star in New York City when the club’s emcee gave Dunham little respect. In late 1988, Jeff moved to Los Angeles, California, where James McCawley told him that he would get him a spot on the desirable “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.” But later McCawley removed Jeff’s appearance. In April 1990, McCawley told Jeff that he would appear on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Dunham was seen on The Tonight Show four times, then returned to performing in clubs. In 1998, Jeff was voted Funniest Male Standup at the American Comedy Awards. Jeff had a successful appearance on The Best Damn Sports Show Period, after which on July 18, 2003 he appeared on Comedy Central Presents, which was his first solo performance on Comedy Central.

Later in 2005, Jeff released his own comedy DVD; Jeff Dunham: Arguing with Myself, which later aired on Comedy Central, drew around 2 million viewers and sold 2 million DVDs. Later in 2007, Jeff appeared as The Amazing Ken in the Larry the cable guy movie, Delta Farce. Jeff’s second special was Spark of Insanity.

A year later, his characters crossed language barriers and were dubbed for countries like France, China, and Norway .etc. Jeff later recorded Jeff Dunham’s Very Special Christmas Special at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Later, in September 2008, Jeff began performing at huge arenas, after which he released his first music album; Don’t come home for Christmas on November 4, 2008.

Jeff Dunham’s Very Special Christmas was where Jeff made his first on-screen appearance. A year later, in March 2009, Jeff signed a deal with Comedy Central which stated that Jeff would get a fourth stand-up special in 2010, would also receive a partnership for a consumer product, tour in 60 cities, and would also do a television series called The Jeff Dunham Show.

Country Music Television premiered Achmed Saves America on March 28, 2014. Jeff has appeared in many episodes of television series and has voiced just as many characters. Jeff has also played the mole in the 2014 3D computer animated heist comedy film called The Nut Job.

Jeff Dunham net worth

As of 2018, he has a clap-worthy net worth of $45 million.

Jeff Dunham’s personal life

Jeff met his first wife, Paige Brown in West Palm Beach. Paige was born and raised on Amelia Island, Florida. In 1991, Paige’s first daughter, Bree, was born, so she moved to West Palm Beach, where she met Jeff. A year after that, the couple started dating and after three months of dating, they got engaged. After a year of the engagement, the couple finally got married.

The couple gave birth to two daughters, Ashlyn (1995) and Makenna (1997). Unfortunately, various rumors of Jeff’s infidelity began to accumulate and finally, in 2008, they decided to separate. Jeff and Paige filed for divorce in June 2009, which was finalized in May 2010.

The cause of the couple’s divorce was rumored to be Jeff’s current wife, Audrey Murdick, a well-known certified nutritionist, personal trainer, and competitive bodybuilder.

Audrey Murdick met Jeff Dunham while working with him on Jeff Dunham: Minding the monsters and Birth of a Dummy. The two have been together since 2009. The couple got engaged on December 25, 2011, and on October 13, 2012, they decided to get married.