Craig Ferguson was born May 17,1962 in Glasgow, Scotland, to parents Robert and Janet Ferguson. He has two sisters (one older and one younger) and one older brother. He was raised in Cumbernauld, which is not far from Glasgow. He dropped out of high school, and while living in London, became the drummer for a punk rock band. Musical success eluded the group, but Ferguson tried his hand at comedy, and earned respect as a comic in the UK under the stage-name "Bing Hitler:"
He visited the United States to look for work, and shot a television pilot series, but the pilot was never picked up and so he moved back Scotland. He got a few smaller acting roles there, and soon he was starring in his own BBC television show, called
The Ferguson Theory - a sketch comedy show.
Ferguson moved to Los Angeles in 1994, nabbing a role on a short-lived comedy series, called
Maybe This Time, on ABC. He finally achieved stardom in the U.S. playing Nigel Wick, Drew Carey's immoral but goofy boss on
The Drew Carey Show, which lasted until 2003. When Craig Kilborn left
The Late Late Show in 2004, Ferguson was hired to be his successor. At first, he tried the typical formula of reading the opening monologue off cue cards, but soon he decided he would prefer to improvise, which he has been doing ever since. He also hosted the 32nd annual
People's Choice Awards in January 2006.
Ferguson was married twice, but both marriages ended in divorce. He and his second wife had one son, named Milo Hamish Ferguson, in 2001. Ferguson is also a published author. His first book was recently published in 2006, entitled
Between the Bridge and the River. Ferguson currently lives in Los Angeles.