Adam Carolla facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Adam Carolla
Carolla in 2012
Born	(1964-05-27) May 27, 1964 (age 61) Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
Occupation	Radio personality television presenter comedian actor author podcaster
Known for	Loveline (radio show) The Adam Carolla Show (podcast) The Adam Carolla Show (radio program)
Television	Loveline The Man Show Crank Yankers Too Late with Adam Carolla The Adam Carolla Project Catch a Contractor
Spouse(s)	Lynette Paradise ​ ​ (m. 2002; div. 2021)​
Children	2

Adam Carolla (born May 27, 1964) is an American radio host, comedian, actor, and podcaster. He is famous for hosting The Adam Carolla Show, a talk show shared as a podcast. In 2011, this podcast set a Guinness World Records record for being the "most downloaded podcast" ever.

Carolla also co-hosted the radio show Loveline with Drew Pinsky from 1995 to 2005. He was also a co-host and co-creator of the TV show The Man Show (1999–2004). He helped create and performed regularly on Crank Yankers (2002–2007, 2019–present). He hosted The Adam Carolla Project, a home improvement TV show on TLC in 2005. He also hosted The Car Show on Speed in 2011.

Adam Carolla has appeared on reality TV shows like Dancing with the Stars and The Celebrity Apprentice. His books, In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks and Not Taco Bell Material, both became bestsellers on The New York Times Best Seller list.

Early Life

Adam Carolla was born on May 27, 1964. His parents were Jim and Kris Carolla. He grew up in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. His parents separated when he was young. As a joke, he listed his middle name as "Lakers" on his driver's license application, and it was accepted! His maternal step-grandfather, László Görög, was a screenwriter.

Adam went to Colfax Elementary School, Walter Reed Junior High, and North Hollywood High School. He didn't get his high school diploma until years later because of a library fine. You can even see him paying the fine and getting his diploma on an episode of his 2005 TV show, The Adam Carolla Project.

When he was young, Carolla played Pop Warner football for seven years. He later said that playing sports helped him a lot during a difficult time at home. He was a good football player in high school.

Adam started living on his own at 18. He went to Los Angeles Valley College, a community college, for a short time. He then worked many different jobs. These included carpet cleaner, carpenter, boxing instructor, and traffic school instructor.

In the early 1990s, Carolla learned improvisational comedy at The Groundlings. He was also part of the ACME Comedy Theatre comedy group.

Radio Career

In 1994, Adam Carolla helped Jimmy Kimmel train for a boxing match. This fight was part of a morning radio show called Kevin and Bean on KROQ-FM. Kimmel was a regular on the show. This led to a long friendship and business partnership between Carolla and Kimmel. Carolla also became a regular on Kevin and Bean as a funny woodshop teacher character named Mr. Birchum.

Loveline

In October 1995, Carolla was offered a job to co-host the evening radio call-in show Loveline. His co-hosts were doctor Drew Pinsky ("Dr. Drew") and metal DJ Riki Rachtman. Carolla got the job after Dr. Drew heard him on Kevin and Bean. Loveline was broadcast on KROQ-FM in Los Angeles and was shared across the country.

Adam Carolla was known for being the loud and funny part of the show. He was a good contrast to the calm and thoughtful Dr. Drew.

The Adam Carolla Show

In October 2005, Carolla was announced as the host of a new morning radio show. This new show would take the place of the popular Howard Stern Show in many cities. The Adam Carolla Show started in January 2006.

On February 18, 2009, The Adam Carolla Show was canceled because the radio station changed its format. The last show was on February 20, 2009.

Podcasts

The Adam Carolla Podcast

After his radio show was canceled, Carolla started a daily podcast on February 23, 2009. This podcast later became the ACE Broadcasting Network. The first Adam Carolla podcast was downloaded more than 250,000 times in just one day. By the third podcast, it was the number one podcast on iTunes in both the U.S. and Canada. In its first week, the podcast had 1.6 million downloads. In the second week, it had 2.4 million downloads.

At the end of 2009, iTunes chose The Adam Carolla Podcast as the Best Audio Podcast of the year.

On May 18, 2011, Carolla announced that The Adam Carolla Show had broken a Guinness World Record. It became the most downloaded podcast ever, with over 59.5 million unique downloads from March 2009 to March 2011. This record was previously held by Ricky Gervais.

"Patent Troll" Lawsuit

In 2013, a company called Personal Audio filed a lawsuit against Lotzi Digital, Inc. This company produces The Adam Carolla Show and other podcasts on Carolla's network. The lawsuit claimed that Adam Carolla and his network were using a patented technology without permission.

Carolla's listeners helped him by donating money through a website called FundAnything.com. They raised over $475,000 to help him with the legal costs.

Personal Audio dropped the lawsuit on July 29, 2014. They said that Carolla was not "making significant money" from the patented technology. However, Carolla then sued them back because he had already spent a lot of money defending himself. He wanted the original patent to be declared invalid. On August 15, 2014, Carolla and Personal Audio settled the case. The details of the settlement were not made public.

Television Career

1996 through 2004

From 1996 to 2000, Carolla and Dr. Drew hosted Loveline on MTV. This was a TV version of their radio show. Carolla then started his first original TV series, The Man Show, with his friend Jimmy Kimmel. It aired on Comedy Central from 1999 to 2003. Carolla left The Man Show at the same time as Kimmel. He continued to work with Kimmel as a writer and guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

Carolla and his partner Daniel Kellison run a company called Jackhole Productions. They created the TV show Crank Yankers for Comedy Central. This show brought back Carolla's Mr. Birchum character. The show first aired in 2002 and returned in 2019.

2005 through 2008

From August to November 2005, Carolla hosted a talk show called Too Late with Adam Carolla on Comedy Central.

Also in 2005, Carolla starred in a home remodeling show called The Adam Carolla Project. In this show, he and his old friends renovated his childhood home. The 13 episodes aired on TLC. After the renovations, the house was sold.

In 2008, Carolla announced he would be a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. His dance partner was Julianne Hough. He was voted off the show on April 8, 2008, after performing the Paso Doble.

Dancing with the Stars performances

In June 2008, Carolla was chosen to host a test episode for an American version of the popular BBC show Top Gear for NBC. However, NBC decided not to make the show.

2009 to Present

On February 21, 2009, CBS ordered a comedy pilot called Ace in the Hole. It starred Carolla as a husband and father who works as a driving instructor. Carolla created and wrote the pilot. However, CBS decided not to pick up the show.

In February 2010, Carolla announced that The History Channel had picked up Top Gear US. But he would not be co-hosting it due to other work. In June 2010, Carolla said his NBC comedy pilot was also not picked up.

On February 19, 2012, Carolla was a contestant on the 12th season of NBC's The Celebrity Apprentice. He was fired in Week 4.

In 2022, Carolla competed on The Masked Singer as "Avocado". He was eliminated during "Comedy Roast Night".

The Car Show

Carolla's The Car Show started on Speed TV on July 13, 2011. It featured Carolla as the host, along with Dan Neil, John Salley, and Matt Farah. The show was similar to Top Gear, mixing car reviews, tests, and humor. The show was canceled after one season.

Catch a Contractor

Catch a Contractor was a TV series on Spike. Carolla hosted it with contractor Skip Bedell and investigator Alison Bedell. They worked to find dishonest contractors and help homeowners who had been cheated.

The show premiered on March 9, 2014, to 1.2 million viewers. It was canceled in 2015.

Adam Carolla and Friends Build Stuff Live

This show premiered on Spike TV on March 14, 2017. Adam Carolla and Friends Build Stuff Live showed Carolla building projects live in the studio with some of his Hollywood friends. They also helped viewers with their home improvement projects through social media.

Voice Acting

Carolla has also done voice acting for animated shows and movies. He was the voice of Commander Nebula on the Disney animated series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. He voiced Death on Family Guy and Spanky Ham on Drawn Together. He was also the voice of Wynchell, the éclair police officer, in the Disney movie Wreck-It Ralph.

Film Career

In 2003, Adam Carolla appeared as himself in Windy City Heat. In 2006, he finished working on The Hammer. This was a semi-autobiographical independent film that he co-wrote, co-produced, and starred in. The movie is loosely based on his own life. It was filmed at a gym he helped build with his co-star, Ozzie, played by Oswaldo Castillo. The film was released on March 21, 2008, and received good reviews.

Carolla had a small role in Still Waiting..., playing a pick-up artist guru.

In July 2013, Carolla used crowdfunding to make Road Hard. This was a film he directed and starred in, about the lives of older comedians who travel for shows. The film featured David Alan Grier, Illeana Douglas, Diane Farr, and Larry Miller.

Carolla also directed the documentary Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman. This film is about the 35-year car racing career of actor Paul Newman.

In 2017, Carolla and Dennis Prager started filming No Safe Spaces. This documentary is about political correctness at universities. No Safe Spaces opened in theaters in October 2019.

Books

Carolla and Drew Pinsky wrote a self-help book together called The Dr. Drew and Adam Book: A Survival Guide to Life and Love, published in 1998. It shares advice they gave on Loveline.

In November 2010, Carolla's book In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks... And Other Complaints from an Angry Middle-Aged White Guy was published. It became a bestseller on The New York Times Best Seller list. The book was put together from rants Carolla had given on his radio show and podcast, along with new material.

Carolla published a short e-book called Rich Man, Poor Man in January 2012. This book talks about some similarities between the lives of very rich and very poor people that the middle class doesn't experience.

Carolla's book Not Taco Bell Material was published on June 12, 2012.

In President Me: The America That's in My Head, Carolla shares his ideas for how the United States would be if he were in charge.

In Daddy, Stop Talking!: And Other Things My Kids Want But Won't Be Getting, Carolla writes about modern parenting. He talks about what he believes adults need to do so they don't have to support their children forever. Carolla uses his own childhood as an example and talks about avoiding "helicopter parenting" (where parents are too involved in their children's lives).

Carolla's book, I'm Your Emotional Support Animal: Navigating Our All Woke, No Joke Culture, was published on June 16, 2020.

His latest book, Everything Reminds Me of Something, was published on July 19, 2022.

Views

Religious Views

Adam Carolla is an atheist, meaning he does not believe in a god or gods.

Political Views

Carolla has said that his political views are similar to those of a Republican. He supports secure borders and is not in favor of some welfare programs. He has also described his views as libertarian, which means he believes in individual freedom and limited government.

Cancel Culture

Carolla has spoken about "cancel culture," which is when people are publicly criticized or boycotted for things they have said or done. He believes that cancel culture is "destroying free speech and killing comedy."

Personal Life

On September 28, 2002, Adam Carolla married Lynette Paradise. They had twins, Natalia and Santino "Sonny" Richard Carolla, on June 7, 2006. In May 2021, Carolla announced that he and Lynette were divorcing after 19 years of marriage. He currently lives in La Cañada Flintridge, California.

Carolla was a part-owner of an Italian restaurant in Los Angeles.

Carolla is also a big car enthusiast and collector. He won the 2013 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race as a professional driver and the 2012 Pro/Celebrity Race as an amateur. He has over 20 cars in his collection. These include several rare Lamborghinis from the 1960s and early 1970s. He has even loaned one of his cars to the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

Honors

An Asteroid named (4535) Adamcarolla was named in his honor.

Filmography

See Also

In Spanish: Adam Carolla para niños