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John Gerald O'Hurley (born October 9, 1956, in Kittery, Maine) is an American actor who is known for his career in soap operas as well as his role as J. Peterman on the hit television series Seinfeld. (The actor currently sits on the real company's board of directors.) He has done a variety of TV commercials (GCI). In 2000, O'Hurley hosted the revival of To Tell the Truth in syndication, which lasted 2 years. In the fall of 2006, O'Hurley succeeded Richard Karn as the fifth host of Family Feud. O'Hurley is one of many people under consideration to replace Bob Barker as host of The Price is Right [1]

Contents 1 General Info 2 Dancing with the Stars 3 Notable roles 4 Footnote 5 External links

He attended Kingswood-Oxford School in West Hartford, Connecticut.^[1]

He graduated from Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island in 1976. He was the sole theatre major of that class. O'Hurley was the commencement speaker for the college thirty years later in 2006.

The 6'4"/1.93 m O'Hurley's characters often project a somewhat pompous and self-important attitude that comes across as comical rather than offensive. He was one of several members of the Dancing with the Stars show who appeared on a Larry King Live interview in July 2005. Regarding the many ups and downs of his career, he said it helps that he does not take himself too seriously.

An unabashed member of Red Sox Nation, O'Hurley had a chocolate-frosted Red Sox cake at his 2005 wedding reception. In addition to his acting skills, he is an accomplished singer/songwriter, and on August 26, 2005 he sang "God Bless America" at Fenway. He is also a Republican and attended the California College Republicans convention in 2005. He is a supporter of Rudy Giuliani's 2008 presidential campaign.

O'Hurley was once married to actress Eva LaRue.

O'Hurley is well known in Alaska for a series of radio and television commercials he's done for General Communication, Inc. (GCI), a local telephone company. He also does national commercials for Progressive Insurance. O'Hurley's persona in his Progressive commercials seems to make fun of his GCI commercials. In the Progressive spot, O'Hurley complains that his agent doesn't always get him the best gigs. He's shown hosting a "Miss Antarctica" pageant in the middle of the frozen wastes. This is an apparent reference to his GCI spots in Alaska, which frequently show him in the midst of barren faux-Alaskan landscapes waxing poetic in J. Peterman fashion. There is nothing to suggest O'Hurley actually dislikes doing spots for GCI in real life, and he's continued to do them for many years.

O' Hurley also does the voice for "J.J. Maxwell", fictional owner of 95.7 BEN FM and the now-defunct KMAX, and can be heard on radio sports as J.J. Maxwell.

O' Hurley also supposedly does spots on Phoenix's FM Radio Station 98.7 The Peak, speaking as 'J. Peakerman', a character not unlike J. Peterman on Seinfeld.

In addition, O' Hurley provides the voice of "Simon Archer", the fictional owner of 106.5 WARH in St. Louis, MO.

He once appeared in an ad for Drive Insurance from Progressive which included his boast that his insurance agent treats him "like the Sultan of Oom Papa Mau Mau!" ¹

In July 2006, he appeared on television commercials and billboards, as part of an advertising campaign for Spa Resort Casino in Palm Springs and Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage. O'Hurley is also featured on their website.

O'Hurley is now married to Lisa Mesloh and they have one child together, William Dylan O'Hurley, born December 6, 2006.

He was announced to be cast in the role of King Arthur in Monty Python's Spamalot, and is currently in rehearsals as of March 2007 and will premiere on March 25, 2007.

He was the runner-up celebrity dancer in the first season of Dancing with the Stars, which aired during the summer of 2005. After fans of the show complained that the final competition between O'Hurley and ABC soap opera star Kelly Monaco was set up so that Monaco would win despite O'Hurley's superior showing (a controversy that O'Hurley did nothing to dispel in interviews afterward), the network announced that O'Hurley, Monaco and their professional dancing partners would face off in a special episode of the series. The "grudge match" was broadcast on September 20, 2005, with results to be announced two days later. Unlike the first episode, the three professional ballroom-dance judges had no say in the outcome — they only offered commentary, and a viewer vote determined the winner. This time, O'Hurley and his dance partner Charlotte Jørgensen emerged as the winners. O'Hurley and Jørgensen have since produced a dance instruction video called, "Learn to Dance with John and Charlotte".

• Dog Show Thanksgiving 2006
• Family Feud - Host (2006–present)
• Chicago (musical) - Billy Flynn
• Dancing with the Stars - Contestant and runner-up
• The Great American Celebrity Spelling Bee - Host
• The Mullets - Roger Heidecker
• To Tell the Truth - Host
• House of Mouse - voice of The Phantom Blot
• Seinfeld - J. Peterman
• Valley of the Dolls - Allen Cooper
• General Hospital - Greg Bennett
• Santa Barbara - Steven Slade #2
• The Young and the Restless - Jim Grainger #2
• Loving - Keith Lane/Jonathan Matalaine
• The Edge of Night - Greg Shaeffer
• Duck Dodgers - Star Johnson
• Buzz Lightyear of Star Command - King Nova
• Spongebob Squarepants - King Neptune
• Family Guy - Cult Leader / Man In White
• Narrartor of Coors Light commercials
• Hey Arnold - Councilman Gladhand
• Drake & Josh - Doctor

¹ A variation of a nonsense line used in at least three pop songs:

• Papa Oom Mow Mow, by The Rivingtons, 1962, much of it being that phrase over and over
• Surfin' Bird, by the Trashmen, 1963, echoing the Rivingtons: "Papa ooma mow mow, papa oom mow mow..."
• Elvira, by the Oak Ridge Boys, 1981: "Giddy up, a oom papa oom papa mow mow..."

• The official John O'Hurley web site
• FAIRWAY TO HEAVEN: LISA MESLOH & JOHN O'HURLEY
• John O'Hurley at the Internet Movie Database
• John O'Hurley at TV.com
• John O'Hurley at the Notable Names Database
• John O'Hurley at the Internet Broadway Database
• Dance-off for ‘Dancing with the Stars’: Kelly Monaco and John O’Hurley to face-off on September 20 (MSNBC.com)
• Learn to Dance with John and Charlotte
• John O'Hurley pushes casinos in ads