Pauly Shore mini-bio: Paul Montgomery "Pauly" Shore is a Blockbuster Movie Award-nominated American actor and comedian, best known for starring in a series of comedy films in the 1990s. Pauly and his brother Joseph are the sons of Sam and Mitzi Shore, who founded the legendary Los Angeles comedy club, The Comedy Store. He grew up in Beverly Hills and graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1986.
Shore began his career in stand-up and a few bit parts in several late-1980s movies. His big break came when he became an MTV host, a position he held from 1989-1994. Pauly had his own show, Totally Pauly, and served as a traveling ambassador, most memorably on MTV's annual Spring Break parties. At his first Spring Break gig, he unleashed his catchphrase, "weasel," on the world. His 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 cult film Encino Man (1992), garnered him a Golden Raspberry Award for his performance, largely because Shore was unabashedly not acting - his character uncannily resembled his MTV persona. 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. Shore's wave of fame crashed when he tried to turn back to TV in 1997 with the series Pauly on the Fox Network, the premiere of which received ratings so low that the show was cancelled the next day. 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 stand-up routine. Despite rumors, he was NOT a guest star in an early episode of Degrassi: The Next Generation as a store clerk selling condoms to Toby and JT. He attempted a comeback with the star-studded, autobiographical independent mockumentary called Pauly Shore Is Dead, which went to video on January 25, 2005, after a small theatrical run. The film garnered critical praise and was positively received by fans, quickly developing a cult following.
Also in 2005, Shore had a reality show on TBS titled Minding the Store. The series followed Shore as he took control of the Comedy Store and attempted to revitalize it. In a CNN article to promote the show, Shore admitted that he is a recovering sex addict and currently seeing a therapist, and that he allowed some of his therapy sessions to be taped for the show. Shore also said that if anyone did not laugh while viewing the show, they would receive a dollar. The individual simply had to mail a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Shore, care of TBS, and would in turn receive a dollar bill. This deal was only open to the first 250,000 people, and it is unknown if anyone ever did receive a dollar
credit card. The show was cancelled after ten episodes.
