Mark DeCarlo is an American actor,

television host A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garne ...

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

internet personality An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social m ...

, and foodie expert. He is currently known for being a contributor to

WLS-TV WLS-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios on North State S ...

morning show ''Windy City Live'', a locally produced Chicago program that replaced ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime broadcast syndication, syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicag ...

'' following its 2011 ending. DeCarlo has been awarded three local

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

s for his work on ''Windy City Live''. DeCarlo's first major exposure came in 1991 when he became host of the dating game show '' Studs''. He is also known for providing the voice of

Hugh Neutron This is a list of characters in the American film '' Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius'', the animated television series spin-off'' The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius'' and other media. Main characters Cast table Jimmy Neutron James Isaa ...

, the

title character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...

's father in ''

The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius ''The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius'' (sometimes shortened to ''Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius'' or commonly ''Jimmy Neutron'') is an American CGI-animated television series. The second installment in the '' Jimmy Neutron'' franchise, it ...

'' for

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

and for portraying Alec Berg in the ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...

'' episode, “

The Face Painter "The Face Painter" is the 109th episode of NBC sitcom ''Seinfeld''. It is the 23rd episode of the series's sixth season. It aired on May 11, 1995. The table reading for "The Face Painter" was held on March 26, 1995. In this episode, Jerry Seinfeld ...

”. Mark authored ''“A Fork on the Road: 400 Cities, 1 Stomach”'' which is a comedic

travelogue Travelogue may refer to: Genres * Travel literature, a record of the experiences of an author travelling * Travel documentary A travel documentary is a documentary film, television program, or online series that describes travel in general or ...

cook book A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cou ...

published by Lyons Press. DeCarlo rose to influencer-style fame on the internet in July 2021 when

gained a meme-centric cult following, in attempt to get the Jimmy Neutron character into the ''Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl'' video game.

Career

Acting

Prior to ''Studs'', DeCarlo was a host on the cable network MovieTime before it became ''

E! Entertainment Television E! (an initialism for Entertainment Television) is an American basic cable channel which primarily focuses on pop culture, celebrity focused reality shows, and movies, owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of NBCUniversa ...

''. Early in his career, DeCarlo was a contestant on ''

Sale of the Century ''Sale of the Century'' (stylized as ''$ale of the Century'') is an American television game show that originally debuted on September 29, 1969, on NBC daytime. It was one of three NBC game shows to premiere on that date, the other two being th ...

'', winning $115,257 in cash and prizes, in 1985 and ''

Tic Tac Dough ''Tic-Tac-Dough'' is an American television game show based on the paper-and-pencil game of tic-tac-toe. Contestants answer questions in various categories to put up their respective symbol, ''X'' or ''O'', on the board. Three versions were produc ...

'' in 1990. He also guest-starred as himself in an episode of ''

Jonas Jonas may refer to: Geography * Jonas, Netherlands, Netherlands * Jonas, Pennsylvania, United States * Jonas Ridge, North Carolina, United States People with the name * Jonas (name), people with the given name or surname Jonas * Jonas, one of ...

'' and is now a regular on ''Windy City Live'', a local morning show in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

market. Mark hosted two more TV shows,

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

's extreme game show, '' Big Deal'', and FX's late night talk show ''

The X Show ''The X Show'' is a magazine, variety, and interview/talk program that aired on FX Network in the US from May 1999 to April 2001. Running time was originally one hour, but this was later reduced to a half-hour. The show was 'guy-themed' much lik ...

''. He appeared on the game show ''

Street Smarts ''Street Smarts'' is an American game show that featured two in-studio contestants trying to predict the outcome of interviews of people who were found on the street. The show, which was hosted by Frank Nicotero, aired in syndication from 2000 t ...

'' in 2002, playing against

Mark L. Walberg Mark L. Walberg (born August 31, 1962) is an American actor, television personality, and game show host best known for hosting ''Antiques Roadshow'', '' Temptation Island'', and the game shows '' Russian Roulette'' on GSN and '' The Moment of Tr ...

as part of a "Game Show Showdown", and lost the game with $1 to Walberg's $2. Since it was a charity episode, he still earned $500 for the M.S. Society of America. In 2005, DeCarlo starred in '' Sex Sells: The Making of Touché''. DeCarlo appeared on an episode of the show '' Interior Therapy with Jeff Lewis'' on

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels *Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 *Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...

that aired May 16, 2012. He co-hosted the TV series ''THIS vs THAT'' that premiered internationally in November 2012. He also had a small role on HBO's ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is an American television sitcom produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000, and created by Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. It follows David's life as a semi-retired televisio ...

''. In 2013, he hosted ''EconomicalECO'', a

how-to The Linux Documentation Project (LDP) is a dormant an all-volunteer project that maintains a large collection of GNU and Linux-related documentation and publishes the collection online. It began as a way for hackers to share their documentation wi ...

series that popularized ways to radically reduce the cost of living by choosing economical American products. On a 1992 episode of ''Studs'', DeCarlo hosted

Ronald Goldman Ronald Lyle Goldman (July 2, 1968 – June 12, 1994) was an American restaurant waiter and a friend of Nicole Brown Simpson, the ex-wife of the American football player O.J. Simpson. He was murdered, along with Brown, at her home in Los Angeles ...

, at the time an aspiring actor who become well known 2 years later after being murdered along with

Nicole Brown Simpson Nicole Brown Simpson (née Brown; May 19, 1959 – June 12, 1994) was the ex-wife of the former professional American football player, O. J. Simpson, to whom she was married from 1985 to 1992. She was the mother of their two children, Sydney an ...

in Los Angeles on June 12, 1994, which led to the arrest and Trial of O.J. Simpson.

Voice over acting

DeCarlo was the voice of

on the Nickelodeon computer animated series ''

''. His voice over career includes animated stints on '' Back at the Barnyard'', ''

Planet Sheen ''Planet Sheen'' is an American CGI-animated television series. It is the third and final installment in the ''Jimmy Neutron'' franchise, the second and final spin-off television series of the film '' Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius'', and a spin-off ...

'', ''

Johnny Bravo ''Johnny Bravo'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Van Partible for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It is the second of the network's Cartoon Cartoons, which aired from ...

'', ''

Handy Manny ''Handy Manny'' is a CGI-animated children's television series that premiered with its first two episodes consecutively on Saturday, September 16, 2006, originally as part of Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney block. On Valentine's Day 2011, th ...

'' and the ''Thumb'' series of comedies: ''

Thumb Wars ''Thumb Wars: The Phantom Cuticle'' is a 1999 short film directed by Steve Oedekerk. Using dressed up and coifed thumbs as puppets, Oedekerk created a parody of ''Star Wars'', with characters like Loke Groundrunner, Princess Bunhead, Oobee ...

'', ''BaTThumb'' and ''Thumbtanic''.

Travel & foodie expert

Mark hosted the

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...

's ''Taste of America with Mark DeCarlo'' for two seasons in 2004 and 2005, and is also known as the host of the early 1990s dating

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

, '' Studs'' and the short-lived 1996 game show '' Big Deal''. In September 2022, DeCarlo and his wife, Yeni Álvarez, resumed travel for their podcast, ''A Fork on the Road,'' which they began in 2017 but set aside due to the

Covid-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Internet icon

Mark hosts an internet sitcom called The ''Boffo the Bear Show'', via Facebook Live and YouTube. Mark portrays a pompous blue bear in Hollywood who runs his own interview talk show and game show. The realtime-CGI technology created for Boffo was programmed by Julian Sarmiento, Global Director of Virtual Production and Real-Time at

FuseFX FuseFX is a motion picture special visual effects (VFX) company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Their creative studios include FuseFX, Folks VFX, Rising Sun Pictures and El Ranchito. Established in 2006, the company develops visual ...

. Mark has held several interview panels with his Boffo character using this technology at comic-con conventions. On July 13, 2021, GameMill Entertainment announced ''Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl'', a platform-fighter video game for Fall 2021. The same day as the announcement trailer, the hashtag "#HughNation" and Hugh Neutron began to trend on Twitter, as memes of Mark's character becoming a playable fighter in the video game circulated. What started as a joke began to build a serious cult following for DeCarlo's character to be included. As a result, a

Discord Discord is a VoIP and instant messaging social platform. Users have the ability to communicate with voice calls, video calls, text messaging, media and files in private chats or as part of communities called "servers".The developer documenta ...

server for Mark's fanbase got Mark himself involved, in which he fueled the community's desire for the character to be added. Mark further interacted with his fans by reading submitted memes via Twitter, and later through his Cameo page. On May 13, 2022, GameMill Entertainment released a reveal trailer for ''Nickelodeon All-Star Brawls newest DLC fighters, including Hugh Neutron, which DeCarlo and his fanbase had been rallying for since the game's reveal. On August 5th, 2022, Hugh Neutron released as a paid downloadable fighter for the game. On the DLC's release day, DeCarlo and

Debi Derryberry Debi Derryberry is an American voice actress who has provided voices for a number of animations and video games. Biography Derryberry was born in Indio, California to a family of Hungarian Jewish descent. Her grandparents were Holocaust surviv ...

commentated a ''Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl'' tournament, consisting of twelve online content creators.

Personal life

DeCarlo graduated from

Benet Academy Benet Academy ( ) is a co-educational, college-preparatory, Benedictine high school in Lisle, Illinois, United States, overseen by the Diocese of Joliet. Founded in 1886, the school was initially established in Chicago as the all-boys St. Procopi ...

in 1980. He graduated from

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. He married voice actress Yeni Álvarez on November 24, 2012. Being a Chicago native, he is also an avid

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

fan as well and is often seen wearing various Cub merchandise.

References

External links

DeCarlo EntertainmentMark DeCarlo tells his story of losing seventy poundsMark DeCarlo at Voices.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Decarlo, Mark Male actors from Chicago Contestants on American game shows American game show hosts Drake University alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people)