This Canadian comic, long in the USA, possesses a comic persona often is punctuated with a "What?" as if he is not understanding where the audience's laughter is coming from. In fact, Mandel often offers a cross between childlike innocence (a famed routine about a youngster afraid of the dark) and the class cut-up on the variety stage. He has orchestrated an accidental career which has included not just comedy, but a six-season run as Dr. Wayne Fiscus on NBC’s Emmy-winning hospital drama, "St. Elsewhere" (1982-88). At best, an indifferent student while in school, Mandel was working as a carpet salesman when, on a 1979 trip to Los Angeles to buy novelty items, he took a chance and performed on amateur night at The Comedy Store on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. Luckily, a game show producer was in the audience and booked him to host "Make Me Laugh” (Syndicated, 1979-1980). Mandel made frequent appearances on television and in comedy clubs throughout the country, then made his feature film debut in the forgettable Canadian comedy "Gas" (1981). In 1982, cast against type, Mandel was cast as Dr. Wayne Fiscus on "St. Elsewhere” (NBC, 1982-1988). Despite being his stand-up experience, he was not comic relief on the show. While Fiscus would have his funny moments—such as when he had sex on a slab in the morgue—he was a dedicated doctor to the end. While co-starring on "St. Elsewhere,” Mandel continued to do stand-up, and headlined the "HBO Comedy Hour: Howie From Maui—Live!" He traveled around North America in "Howie Mandel's Monkeyshine Tour" and again in 1988 in "Velcro of Love.” In 1990, Mandel was given his own short-lived sitcom "Good Grief" (Fox), about mortuary workers. The network also launched the animated "Bobby's World" (Fox, 1990- ), featuring a pre-school alter ego of Mandel who served as executive producer, provided live action wraparounds and voiced several characters. He also adapted his comic style to "The Amazing Live Sea Monkeys," a CBS live-action series he created for the 1992-93 season. In 1995, Mandel headed a sketch troupe for the Showtime series "Howie Mandel's Sunny Skies" and he continued to perform on comedy specials as well. In June 1998, Mandel entered the waters of daytime talk shows, hosting an eponymous series that premiered to good ratings if mixed reviews but quickly fell out of favor in a crowded market and was cancelled after just one season. On the big screen, Mandel may well be best known for performing the voice of Gizmo in the frightening "Gremlins" (1984) and "Gremlins 2: The New Batch" (1990). In the 1982 Canadian film "Funny Farm,” he got to perform his stand-up act while in Blake Edwards' "A Fine Mess" (1986), he was on the run with Ted Danson in a film that was supposed to be reminiscent of Laurel and Hardy, but wasn't. "Walk Like a Man" (1989), a slapstick in which Mandel was a man returned to civilization after being raised by wolves, also failed to establish him in features. He was also the prankish monster under Fred Savage's bed in "Little Monsters" (1989). While “Bobby’s World” continued its successful run through the 1990s (by 1998 it was syndicated in over 65 countries), Mandel continued to perform his stand-up act—mainly in Las Vegas—for up to 200 shows a year. He also turned in a few guest performances on series television, appearing in episodes of “Homicide: Life on the Streets” (NBC, 1993-1999), “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” (ABC, 1993-1997), “The Outer Limits” (Sci-Fi Channel, 1994-2002) and “The Nanny” (CBS, 1993-2000). In 1995, Mandel got to finally star in his own sketch comedy show, “Howie Mandel’s Sunny Skies” (CBC, 1994-1996), which was broadcast on Canadian television much to the dismay of some critics who felt the show was pandering and derivative. The show lasted two seasons. In the late-1990s, he developed a series of educational interactive CD-ROMs starring the helium-voiced Bobby, but by 1998 Mandel was finished with making the series. Meanwhile, he got his own syndicated daytime talk show, “The Howie Mandel Show” (1998-1999), but was canceled in less than a year due to low ratings. After an uncredited cameo on the medical drama, “Providence” (NBC, 1998-2003), Mandel returned to the feature world to star in “Tribulation” (2000), a straight-to-video apocalyptic thriller depicting the End Times as seen through the eyes of a cop (Gary Busey) who awakens from a coma to find his family gone and the world under the control of a New Age philosopher (Nick Mancuso). After a supporting role in the independently made “Everything’s Jake” (2000) and voicing a character in the animated short “The Tangerine Bear” (2000), Mandel played the Sandman in a low-budget retelling of the fable, “Hansel & Gretel” (2002). Despite nonstop touring and working regularly on television, Mandel grappled in private with a potentially debilitating problem—Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. He made the announcement on Howard Stern’s radio program—also a sufferer—and took strides in his life to curb his sometimes erratic behavior, which included incalculable hand-washings and refusing to shake anyone’s hand for fear of contracting germs. But Mandel never let the problem get in the way of his work. In fact, he maintained his rigorous schedule of 200 concert dates a year and continued to show up on television, including an appearance as himself on an episode of “Las Vegas” (NBC, 2003- ). He also appeared as a contestant on the ubiquitous “Celebrity Poker Showdown” (Bravo, 2003- ), then developed another show, “Hidden Howie: The Private Life of a Public Nuisance” (NBC, 2003-2005), a reality show that balanced Mandel’s role as a husband and a father with his zany job of humorous man-on-the-street encounters for “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” (NBC, 1991- ). While wearing thick glasses that housed a hidden camera, Mandel took to the streets and had random people perform a variety of strange requests, like making rental car customers practice parking without a car or using his daughter to help serve muffins in a men’s room while pretending to be a bathroom attendant on “Bring Your Daughter to Work Day.” “Hidden Howie” failed to capture a significant audience and was off the air after two seasons. But Mandel hit pay dirt as host of “Deal or No Deal” (NBC, 2005- ), a remake of the popular Dutch game show that offered a $1 million jackpot to the contestant who could pick the right briefcase out of a group of twenty-six that held varying dollar amounts—from one cent to the grand prize. A single contestant picks one of the briefcases to hold onto and one by one the amounts for the others are revealed while a mysterious banker communicating via cell phone to Mandel would make an offer to buy the case in the contestant’s possession. As more dollar amounts are shown, the contestant—constantly egged on by the audience and Mandel to make a deal—becomes more assured—or uncertain, depending on the person—where the million dollars might be. Mandel initially refused to take the offer to host, being leery of game shows and the uncertainty of television in general. But his wife, Terry, talked him into it and he never regretted it. The show first aired in December 2005 and was an instant ratings hit. More shows where ordered for the week following the 2006 Winter Olympics, pulling in over fifteen million viewers per episode. So popular was “Deal or No Deal” that “Saturday Night Live” lampooned the frenzied game show in one of their sketches. Meanwhile, the show vaulted to the top five shows in the United States, putting Mandel once again at the forefront of the celebrity landscape.