Jeff Dunham Biography, Net Worth, Age, Height, Weight, Girlfriend, Family, Fact, and More

Jeffrey Douglas Dunham is said to be an American ventriloquist, stand-up comedian, and actor. His style is said to be “a dressed-down”, a version of Don Rickles with multiple personality disorder. His character was described as politically incorrect, ill-tempered, and insulting. He has done a lot for promoting art like ventriloquism. He is the most successful in Europe. Forbes ranked Dunham the 3^rd highest paid comedian in the U.S and it was reported that he was the highest-earning comic from 2008-2009. His name is in the Guinness Book of World Records for most sold tickets for a stand-up comedy tour.

Jeff Dunham Biography and Net Worth

Jeffrey Douglas Dunham’s Early life:

Born on April 18, 1962, in Dallas, Texas Dunham was into ventriloquism from a small age. He was 3 months old when he was adopted by a real estate appraiser Howard Dunham and his wife Joyce. When he was 8, he started ventriloquism, when he received a dummy for Christmas. He started learning more about it and got help from a book that he still has. He dreamt of being a professional ventriloquist and wanted to be the best in the whole world. He was the only child and this helped him in living alone when he was in Los Angeles. He went to the international ventriloquism meeting when he was in 6^th grade, and he met Jimmy Nelson. Since then, he has only missed one meeting which was held in 1977.

Jeffrey Douglas Dunham’s Career:

He started performing in his teenage, he performed in various venues. When he went to middle school years, he started performing for local celebrities such as Dalla Cowboys. Dunham’s TV debut came in 1976. Later, he did commercials for Datsun dealerships in Dallas and Tyler while he was still in high school. He became so associated with his art that he used to pose with his dummies for the yearbook.

He attended Baylor University and wanted to graduate with a degree in communications while he still used to perform around the campus. He used to fly to other countries for private shows. Dunham was making $70,000 a year while still being in his junior year. After graduating he did acts in many comedy clubs with different characters, but his fellow comedians said that he is not a true comedian because he used props. Dunham went to Los Angeles to get a real job and to pursue his dream.

James McCawley a talent booker told Dunham that he would star in the show named “The Tonight Show”. But his appearance was canceled later but on April 6, 1990, he finally made an appearance and continued his act in many other places. He did many small roles on TV such as in a commercial for Hertz. Dunham wanted to make more TV appearances as it would help him in raising his profile. He appeared in the show “The Best Damn Sports Show Period” and in 2003 he replaced Jimmy Kimmel on Fox NFL Sunday.

Dunham did his solo performance on “Comedy Central”. In 2008 he started performing in arenas filled with ten thousand people. He released his first music album that was named as “Don’t Come Home for Christmas” on November 8. It contains original Christmas songs. He signed a multi-platform deal with Comedy Central in 2009.

Jeffrey Douglas Dunham’s Controversy and Critical Praise:

He is the only ventriloquist who has won the “ventriloquist of the Year” award 2 times.

He used a Dead Terrorist named Achmed for a ringtone commercial which was later banned in South Africa as it was portraying Muslims as terrorists. He later said he will rename his character Bill and apologized.  In 2014 the government requested him to rename his character and now it is called “Jacques Merde the Dead French Terrorist”.

Jeffrey Douglas Dunham’s Characters:

Walter

Walter is said to be a retired, grumpy old man and has his hands crossed all the time in discontent. He created Walter when he watched Bette Davis’s final appearance and Walter often has a negative, harsh, and sarcastic view of today’s world.

Peanut:

Peanut is a purple-skinned “woozle”, who is hyperactive, has white fur covering his body, has green hair, and only wears one shoe on his left foot. Peanut is said to be from Micronesian Island and Dunham met him there. Peanut is said to be a bad boy.

Jose Jalapeno on a stick:

Jose is a talking jalapeno on a stick that talks and wears a small sombrero. He speaks in a Spanish accent.

Bubba J:

Bubba J is a beer-drinking Redneck. He does not appear on stage whereas he appears as a backstage security guard.

Achmed the Dead Terrorist:

Achmed is a skeleton who is a corpse of a suicide bomber. He mostly says “Silence! I Keel You”.

 Jeffrey Douglas Dunham’s Personal Life:

Paige Brown and Dunham met at Comedy Corner and began dating in December. They married in May 1994 and adopted a girl. Later in 1995 and 1997, they had their kids. But they got divorced. In mid-2009 he dated Audrey Murdick and got married in 2012. In October they had twins.

Jeffrey Douglas Dunham’s Features: