Bobby Tonelli | |
|---|---|
 Bobby Tonelli - Actor / Host of History Asia's reality show Celebrity Car Wars & The Asian Academy Creative Awards | |
| Born | Robert Tonelli Jr. |
| Other names | Bobby Tonelli |
| Spouse | Ardhia Pramesti Regita Cahyani (girlfriend) |
Robert Tonelli Jr., known as Bobby Tonelli is an American actor and television host who has appeared in several Hollywood films including Cages , Running Red, No Tomorrow, and The Darwin Conspiracy, as well as numerous Singapore television series. [1]
Bobby Tonelli was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. He attended Chaparral High School there and graduated in 1994. He had a promising career in baseball as a pitcher until he suffered a rotator cuff injury that hindered his chances to pitch at the professional level. Tonelli attended several small colleges in California in hopes of rehabilitating his shoulder and professional baseball pitching career. After leaving baseball in 1997, he fell into the fashion industry by chance and traveled throughout Southeast Asia as a print and runway model, working for companies such as Donna Karan, Versace, Levi's, and Louis Vuitton.
In 1998, Tonelli traveled to Europe to continue modeling where he also attended The Actors Centre in London. He also studied with several renowned acting coaches in the US, including Ivana Chubbuck, Howard Fine, and John Holma.
From 1999 to 2004, Tonelli's acting career consisted of smaller roles in television and feature films. In 2002, his involvement in the Singaporean feature film Cages began after a chance meeting with director Graham Streeter. Because of his previous art background as an accomplished painter, Tonelli chose to paint all of the character Ethan's art in that film. During this time he also starred in the experimental short Hallelujah also directed by Streeter.
In 2007, Tonelli returned to Singapore where he was seen in the MediaCorp English programme Life Story featured as the American coach of Ang Peng Siong. He was one of six contestants in the Art Central reality programme The Food Bachelor. Tonelli has been one of the few prominent foreign actors in Singapore working on projects in various languages and channels. The turning point in his career was a supporting role in the Channel 8 drama The Little Nyonya playing the part of Paul Robertson, a lawyer who helps and eventually marries Yueniang, played by the actress Jeanette Aw. The series garnered the highest ratings for Channel 8 in 14 years. [2] Tonelli was part of the ensemble cast of the original musical Sleepless Town in 2009. In 2010 the actor was one of the stars of the Channel 5 drama series Fighting Spiders for two seasons. [3] [4] He also guest-starred in two seasons of Channel 5's series The Pupil , guest-starred in the comedy Anything Goes, and starred in the mini-series Massacre at Keong Saik Street. Besides Channel 5, Tonelli has also acted in five Suria (Malay) productions: Fajar Ramadan, BFF, Atas Heights Season 1, UMMI season 2, and Munah & Hirzi; Action which garnered him a nomination for "Best Villain" at the 2013 Pesta Perdana Awards show. [5]
Tonelli also co-starred in Okto series 100 Wishes for two seasons, starred in the Okto tele-movie The Million Dollar Job 2: Raffles' Gold and guest-starred in Nick of Time. He continued working for Channel 8, appearing in the Mandarin drama series Double Bonus , [6] playing the part of Michael, the ex-boyfriend of Peiling, played by actress Tracy Lee, and then followed by co-starring in the 30th anniversary blockbuster drama series Joys of Life acting opposite Rui En. [7] Both dramas required the actor to speak Mandarin quite extensively.
Tonelli was seen in Diva Universal (Asia) Hot Guys Who Cook as well as Channel 5 Sasuke Singapore. [8]
Tonelli also starred in the Toggle comedy series King of the Keng, [9] guest-starred in "Door to Door", hosted the sports reality show Take Me On and co-starred in the xinmsn series Get Social. [10]
In early 2014, Tonelli was cast as the male lead opposite Kit Chan in Ms. J Contemplates Her Choice (working title) slated to be released in the early part of 2015. [11] as well as the role of Steven in "Wayang Boy" which was released in the later part of 2014.
In 2015, Tonelli co-starred in "The Circle House" a Channel 5 telemovie which aired in late February, Suria series "Interns" as Runway Rio, "Kosmopolitan" as James and Channel U series Love? alongside Felicia Chin, Channel 5 series "Zero Calling Season 2" and guest-starred on Suria's drama 93m2. Also in 2015 Tonelli was cast as Captain Jason Anderson in what was touted as China's first English-language science fiction film Lost in the Pacific , released in China cinemas in December 2015. [12]
In 2016, Tonelli had a guest-starring role in the Channel 5 series "Rojak", and reprised his role as "RunWay Rio on Suria's Interns Season 2. In a departure from Singapore television series, Tonelli hosted his first regional television show Celebrity Car Wars on The History Channel Asia. With the success of the first season of Celebrity Car Wars, season 2 has been scheduled to go into production in mid-2017.
In 2017, Tonelli can be seen as the co-host of Channel 5 Steady lah!, Celebrity Car Wars season 2 and appeared in a deleted scene of Crazy Rich Asians . In 2020, Tonelli also appeared in Westworld Season 3, and co-hosted and hosted the Asian Academy Creative Awards for 2020 and 2021. Also in 2021 he co-hosted the official launch of Disney+ in Singapore with Nikki Mueller.
In Singapore television Tonelli has acted in 7 Mandarin drama series, 11 Malaysian drama series, 11 English drama series, hosted 8 English television/online shows and appeared in various variety and game shows in both English and Mandarin.
Tonelli speaks and acts in fluent English, basic Mandarin, and is learning Indonesian.
Apart from his acting career Tonelli has also been a radio DJ for Mediacorp Radio for the past four years. He co-hosted Class 95 Cartunes with Jean Danker from 2010 to 2012, [13] Rude Awakening on 987FM with Rosalyn Lee (Rozz) 2012–2014, and finally returned to Class 95 as the host of Class 95 Nights with Bobby Tonelli. [14]
In early 2015, after four years on radio, Tonelli left to focus on personal business ventures, acting in television and film, and emcee work. [15]
Was the host of Celebrity Car Wars, a rollicking, new hour-long action reality series, consists of 8 week road of automotive discovery. [16] [17]
Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. is a media conglomerate in Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the holding company of the Government of Singapore—it owns television, radio, and digital media properties in the country.
Television in Singapore began on 15 February 1963. The public broadcaster, MediaCorp TV, has a monopoly on terrestrial television channels and is fully owned by government holding company Temasek Holdings. Local pay TV operators are StarHub TV and Singtel TV. The private ownership of satellite dishes is banned.
Tay Ping Hui is a Singaporean actor and director. In 2014, Tay made his directorial debut with the basketball film Meeting the Giant.
The Asian Television Awards, is an appreciation to recognize and reward programming and production excellence in the Asian television industry. Held every December, the Awards comprises 56 categories across news, documentaries & current affairs, kids and animation, entertainment, drama, technical, digital as well as performances including acting and directing. The Awards draw about 1,400 entries each year from a wide range of broadcasters, including free-to-air TV stations, pay-TV platforms, OTT platforms as well as many independent production houses in Asia. Every year, a panel of more than 50 judges from more than 10 countries evaluate and select the entries.The winners are then awarded across 3 evenings: a Gala Dinner in Kuching for the technical and creative categories followed by a live telecast the next day for the entertainment and acting categories, also in Kuching. The digital awards are presented separately in another country.
Christopher Lee Meng Soon is a Singapore-based Malaysian actor, host and singer and managed under Catwalk Production House.
Lu Rui En, better known by her stage name Rui En (瑞恩), is a Singaporean actress and was named as one of the Seven Princesses of Mediacorp in 2006. She was under contract of MediaCorp and managed under Hype Records.
Joanne Peh Wei Siew is a Singaporean actress and host managed under The Celebrity Agency. She was named as one of the Seven Princesses of Mediacorp in 2006. She is married to Singapore-based Chinese actor Qi Yuwu.
Terence Cao Guohui is a Singaporean television actor.
Allan Wu is a Singapore-based Chinese-American actor, host, VJ and former model.
MOBTV was Singapore's first subscription-based video on demand service. Launched in August 2008, MOBTV provides viewers with access to various TV programmes via immediate digital streaming or download from an Internet connection.
Fiona Xie is a Singaporean actress, variety show host, and was named as one of the Seven Princesses of Mediacorp in 2006. She was prominently a full-time Mediacorp artiste from 2001 to 2009. Xie became one of the first Singaporean actresses to break into Hollywood, playing Kitty Pong in the 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians. Xie is slated to play the same role in its sequel China Rich Girlfriend based on the 2015 international best-selling novel of the same name by Kevin Kwan.
Rebecca Lim is a Singaporean actress who won Best Actress in a leading role at the Asian Television Awards and two Best Actress in a Leading Role awards, a Best Supporting Actress award and 10 consecutive Top 10 Most Popular Female Artiste in the local Star Awards ceremony from 2012 to 2022. Lim also won Best Performance in a Leading Role at the Seoul International Drama Awards. Lim has been the cover girl for numerous fashion magazines, and has been invited to Paris Fashion Week 2019 for Christian Dior and Hermes show. In 2020, Lim was awarded the Best Actress National Winner - Malaysia for her performance in The Bridge.
Hazlina Abdul Halim is a Singaporean television presenter, editor, journalist, news reader, simultaneous interpreter and radio announcer. Hazlina is of mixed parentage and is effectively bilingual in English and Bahasa Melayu. She is also conversant in Mandarin. She often fronts live variety and current affairs programmes and telethons. Hazlina is also often sought after for private emceeing engagements and has attended various seminars/workshop as a guest speaker. She was presenting the news Berita on Suria and was the Assignments Editor for Channel News Asia.
Andie Chen is a Singaporean actor, host and vlogger. He was prominently a full-time Mediacorp artist from 2007 to 2017 but continues to film on an ad hoc basis.
Tiffany Leong, was a Malaysian actress, host and model based in Singapore. In December 2015, she died of neuroendocrine cancer tumors.
Guo Liang is a Chinese-born Singaporean actor and television host.
Suhaimi Yusof is a Singaporean actor, comedian, entertainer and radio DJ, known for playing exaggerated Malay stereotype characters and for his spontaneity. Along with Batrisyia Johari who he plays with her heart.
C.L.I.F. 2 was a police procedural series produced by MediaCorp Singapore in 2012 in collaboration with the Singapore Police Force. It was broadcast from 18 February to 15 March 2013 on free-to-air MediaCorp Channel 8 and consists of 20 episodes. The series is co-sponsored by Gain City, Sheng Siong Supermarkets and Gold Roast Coffee. It stars Li Nanxing, Qi Yuwu, Rui En, Joanne Peh and Thomas Ong for the second installment of the series.
Star Awards 20 was a double television award ceremony which was held in Singapore. It is part of the annual Star Awards organised by MediaCorp for the two free-to-air channels, MediaCorp Channels 8 and U. The twentieth installment of Star Awards was broadcast live on Channel 8, on 20 and 27 April 2014. The first ceremony was held at the MediaCorp TV Theatre while the second ceremony was held at Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre. These ceremonies will also be broadcast on 8 International and the second ceremony on Toggle, Astro AEC (SD) and Astro Quan Jia HD (HD).
Ya Hui is a Singaporean actress.