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Drew Allison Carey (born May 23, 1958) is an American actor and comedian recognizable by his crew cut and black-rimmed glasses.

After making a name for himself in stand-up comedy he eventually gained popularity starring on his own self-titled sitcom, The Drew Carey Show, and serving as host on the U.S. version of Whose Line Is It Anyway?.

He's 49!

Carey was born and raised in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. Drew had two older brothers and when he was eight years old his father, Lewis Carey, died from a brain tumor widowing his wife, Beulah Carey. According to his autobiography, he was born with 6 toes on his right foot, played the cornet and trumpet in the marching band of James Ford Rhodes High School and graduated in 1975. Carey was subjected to sexual abuse by a male member of his extended family as a child, and is one of very few male public figures to speak openly about being a sex abuse survivor. He continued on to college at Kent State University and was expelled twice for poor academic performance. He joined the Delta Tau Delta fraternity, but left it when he dropped out of KSU after three years. After leaving the university, Carey joined the United States Marine Corps Reserve in 1980 and served for six years. He also relocated to Las Vegas for a few years in 1984, and for a short time worked as a bank teller and a waiter at Denny's.

In 1985, he began his comedy career by following up on a suggestion by a friend to go to the library and borrow books on how to write jokes. In 1986, after winning an open-mic contest, he became emcee at the Cleveland Comedy Club. For the next few years, he performed at multiple comedy clubs in Cleveland and Los Angeles. He was first brought to the national eye as a comedian when he competed in the 1988 Star Search. Carey was working as a stand-up comedian in 1991 when he appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. His performance that night so impressed Johnny Carson that he invited Drew to sit on the couch near his desk for the rest of the show, which was a rare honor for a comedian on the show. Carey claims he reached the limit on his credit card the next day returning calls from interested casting directors and he credited Carson with making his career. In that same year, Carey also appeared on the 14th Annual Young Comedians Special on HBO and made his first appearance on Late Night with David Letterman. In 1994, Carey wrote his own stand-up comedy special which aired on Showtime, entitled Drew Carey: Human Cartoon, for which he won an Cable Ace Award for Best Writing.

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