Roy Firestone

Biography

The Performer
Critically acclaimed as a performer, monologist, humorist, musician and impressionist, Roy Firestone is one of the nation`s most sought after live corporate performers, keynote speakers and lecturers.

Firestone has performed in more than two thousand venues spanning two decades. He recently shared the stage with performers Josh Groban, Reba McEntire, David Foster, Forrest Whitaker and Jon Bon Jovi.

As an actor, Firestone was featured in the Academy Award-winning film, Jerry Maguire, where he played himself in an unforgettable (and often repeated) scene with Academy Award-winner Cuba Gooding Jr.

His numerous television credits include Everybody Loves Raymond and Married with Children. Fans of The Simpsons remember him as the voice of `Bart Starr.` No stranger to talk shows, Firestone`s appearances include Late Night with David Letterman, Later with Bob Costas, Larry King Live and The Tonight Show.

Firestone is also an accomplished musical vocalist. He recently released his first CD, Another Voice, produced and backed by Grammy Award-winning fusion band, Hiroshima.

The Broadcaster
Roy Firestone is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning and seven-time cable ACE Award-winning host, interviewer, narrator, writer, and producer. As the ground-breaking, original host of ESPN`s legendary Up Close, Up Close Classic and Up Close Primetime, Firestone has interviewed more than 5,000 athletes, musicians, actors and political figures, as well as scores of writers and filmmakers.

Sports Illustrated calls Firestone "The best interviewer in the business." The late Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Jim Murray once said, "Roy Firestone isn`t just the best sports interviewer I`ve ever seen, he`s the best interviewer period. That includes, Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters, Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, any and all of them."

Firestone currently hosts Up Close Classic, which is broadcast on ESPN daily. Other shows hosted by Firestone include: HDNet`s Face to Face with Roy Firestone and AOL`s Time Out ... with Roy Firestone.

Not limited to television, Firestone is also prolific on the printed page -- as the author of two best-selling books, Up Close with Roy Firestone, and most recently, Don`t Make Me Cry, Roy.

Publications

Don`t Make Me Cry, Roy:
Adventure in Interviewing

Roy Firestone has interviewed over 5000 famous athletes and entertainers on television. About 25 of those have cried on the show. This created the mythical image that Roy Firestone was the Barbara Walters of sports, an expert in eliciting tears.

The irony of the title "Don`t Make Me Cry, Roy" is the reader can`t help but shed a few tears. The childhood obstacles many of the athletes faced, the sacrifices they made, and once successful, their efforts to create a better world for others, can tug at the heartstrings. Firestone`s book is like going back in time to a more innocent era.

Titles

The Many Voices of Roy Firestone

Roy Firestone . . . A One Man-Show

Face to Face with Roy Firestone

Why Do Sports Matter?

Stories From The Locker Room

American Legends

Portraits Of Champions

Up Close with Roy Firestone