Pauly Montgomery Shore is an American
comedian known for his vivid portrayals of American
youth culture.
Shore is the son of Sam and Mitzi Shore, who founded
Los Angeles comedy club The Comedy Store. He has a
brother, Peter.
Shore had unmemorable bit parts in several late-1980s
movies. His big break came as an MTV host, from 1989-1994.
He had his own show, Totally Pauly, and served as a
travelling ambassador, most memorably on MTV's annual
Spring Break parties. At his first Spring Break gig,
he unleashed his catchphrase, "weasel", on
the world.
Shore's first comedy album, 1991's The Future of
America, was named Best Comedy Album by the College
Music Journalists. The album paved the way for Shore's
subsequent releases Scraps from the Future, and Pink
Diggly Diggly.
Shore's first film, the critically panned Encino
Man in 1992, garnered him a Golden Raspberry Award
for his performance, largely because Shore was unabashedly
not acting -- his character uncannily resembled his
MTV persona. Yet the movie was remarkably popular,
and Shore parlayed it into several other films: Son
In Law (nominated for an MTV Movie Award), In The Army
Now, 1995 Razzie winner Jury Duty, and 1996 Razzie
winner Bio-Dome. Pauly's wave of fame crashed when
he tried to turn back to TV in 1997, with the series
Pauly. In 2000 he won the Razzie award for "Worst
New Star of the Decade", but lost "Worst
Actor of the Century" to Sylvester Stallone.
By that time, though, Shore had fully retreated to
smaller movie roles, and a "weasel"-free
standup routine. Being the superstar that he is, Shore
refused to let his star completely die out. He attempted
a surprisingly successful comeback with the star-studded,
autobiographical independent film Pauly Shore Is Dead:
You'll Never Wiez In This Town Again, going to video
on January 25, 2005, after a very small theater release. |