Howie Mandel to host 2017 Canadian Screen Awards
'I am so excited about the free trip home!' comedian quips
Howie Mandel, comedian and America's Got Talent judge, has been tapped to host the 2017 Canadian Screen Awards.
"I'm thrilled," Mandel said in a statement about his latest hosting gig.
"I don't only look at it as honouring the best in Canadian entertainment, but more importantly, I am so excited about the free trip home!"
Wide-ranging career
Mandel first became a stand-up comedian at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, where he was born, before moving to Los Angeles. Though he continued to do stand-up, his career also expanded into acting, with his credits including Steven Spielberg's Gremlins films and the TV show St. Elsewhere.
During the 1990s, Mandel wrote, produced and did voice work for the Emmy-nominated animated kids series Bobby's World and was a regular on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
In 2005, Mandel began hosting NBC's game show Deal or No Deal, adding Deal or No Deal Canada to the mix two years later. He released a memoir about pursuing his career while dealing with anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder in 2009.
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Most recently, he directed the documentary Committed, about a less successful, but fiercely driven comedian friend, Vic Cohen. That film screened at Hot Docs in Toronto in 2015.
"I am thrilled to have one of our national treasures as our host. His unscripted hilarity and unbridled energy will make this show unmissable," said CSAs producer Barry Avrich.
The Canadian Screen Awards take place in Toronto on March 12, 2017 and will be broadcast live on CBC-TV.