Mandel was born in Toronto and grew up in the Bathurst Manor neighbourhood of the city.[2] He is Jewish, and his ancestors emigrated from Romania and Poland. Mandel is a distant cousin of Israeli violinist Itzhak Perlman.[3] His father was a lighting manufacturer and a real estate magnate. Mandel attended William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute,[4] where he was expelled for impersonating a school official and hiring a construction company to build an addition to the school.[5] Afterwards, Mandel worked as a carpet salesman.[6] He was a stand-up comedian at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, and by September 1978 he had a week-long booking as a featured act, which was billed as "a wild and crazy borderline psychotic."[7]
On a trip to Los Angeles, Mandel performed a set at The Comedy Store, which resulted in his being hired as a regular performer. A producer for the syndicated comedy game show Make Me Laugh saw him there, and booked Mandel for several appearances during the show's run in 1979 and 1980. He was booked to open for David Letterman at shows in the summer of 1979.[8]CBC-TV's head of variety programming saw his performance in October 1979 and immediately signed him for a TV special. In 1980, he won the lead role in the Canadian movie Gas, co-starring Susan Anspach and Donald Sutherland. Mandel was one of the first "VeeJays" to appear on Nickelodeon's music video series PopClips.[9]
Mandel came to national attention in the United States during a six-year run on St. Elsewhere, starting in 1982 and playing the role of Dr. Wayne Fiscus, opposite Ed Flanders and Norman Lloyd. He also appeared on a week's worth of episodes of the short-lived NBC game show Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour in March 1984. While working as Dr. Fiscus and continuing to work as a comedian, Mandel also worked in films, including providing the voice of Gizmo in the 1984 hit Gremlins and its 1990 sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch.[10] In 1985, Mandel made a cameo in the Michael J. Fox directed short "The Iceman Hummeth," which was subsequently broadcast on Late Night with David Letterman in November 1985. In 1986, he starred in A Fine Mess alongside Ted Danson. He performed his stand-up comedy act in several cities (the Watusi Tour), which was followed by his Watusi music video in 1987. For the first two seasons of Muppet Babies, he voiced Bunsen Honeydew, Animal, and Skeeter. He starred alongside Amy Steel in the 1987 comedy film Walk Like a Man. He was also "Maurice" in the 1989 movie Little Monsters. In 1990, he starred in the short-lived sitcom Good Grief on Fox. He was also the creator and executive producer of the Emmy-nominated children's animated series Bobby's World (1990–1998) to which he supplied the voices of the title character and his father. Bobby's World ran for seven seasons on Fox and was later syndicated.
In 1992, his self-titled comedy show Howie was aired weekly with multiple guest stars including Gilbert Gottfried, Little Richard, and Lita Ford as the in-house band guitarist. His character, Bobby, made a regular appearance on the show.[11] In 1994, Mandel voiced the lead character, Little Howie, of the video game Tuneland. He starred in the sketch comedy series Howie Mandel's Sunny Skies in 1995 on Showtime. Mandel appeared in the 1995 Clint Black music video "Summer's Comin'." He played the lead role of the professor in the short-lived TV series The Amazing Live Sea Monkeys, and he guest-starred on a 1996 episode of the ABC TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman as DC Comics supervillain Mister Mxyzptlk. In 1998, he hosted his syndicated talk show, The Howie Mandel Show, which was cancelled after one season. From 1999 to 2000, he played Jason in the film Apocalypse III: Tribulation, was the voice of Jack in the movie The Tangerine Bear in 2000, and 2002 he played the Sand Man in the movie Hansel and Gretel. In 2006, he appeared as himself as a guest host in a parody of Deal or No Deal in the show-within-a-show of the TV series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. In 2007, he guest-starred as himself in an episode of NBC's Medium and made a dream cameo of himself on Deal or No Deal. In that episode, he booted the nighttime drama's protagonist off for "cheating" since in the show, he is a psychic medium and appeared to "know" the contents of the cases. Mandel plays his alter ego, Phil Skorjanc, in most of his comedy shows, which are a fan favourite. Bobby also made a cameo appearance in a February 2007 episode of Deal or No Deal. On a special two-hour Christmas episode, first aired on December 25, 2007, Mandel delivered one line with Bobby's voice, as requested by the contestant.
Mandel's signature stunt as a stand-up comedian (besides his Bobby alter ego) was stretching a latex glove over his head, inflating it with his nostrils, and filling it until it suddenly propelled itself off his head. That trick also lent itself to the title and cover photo of his comedy album Fits Like a Glove (1986). He eventually gave up the routine under doctor's orders after being diagnosed with a perforated sinus. However, in a cameo role as himself on My Name Is Earl, he did the routine. He guest-starred in two episodes of Monk ("Mr. Monk Joins a Cult" and "Mr. Monk's 100th Case").
Additional appearances
Mandel is known for his frequent appearances as a comedian and for his hidden camera segments on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He has appeared in many television commercials for Boston Pizza as their hired spokesperson. In April 2004, he appeared as number 82 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time. In October 2005, he was named to be the host of the American version of Deal or No Deal, which debuted on December 19, 2005, on NBC, and became a popular program in early 2006. Mandel also hosts Deal or No Deal Canada; originating from Toronto, Deal or No Deal Canada debuted in January 2007 on Global,[12] which made him one of the few game show hosts (Weakest Link's Anne Robinson, The Chair's John McEnroe, Pyramid's Donny Osmond, The Singing Bee's Joey Fatone, and Minute to Win It's Darren McMullen being others) to host both a domestic and an international version of the same game show. Mandel joins Alex Trebek, Jim Perry, and Geoff Edwards on the list of game show hosts who emceed one game show simultaneously in Canada and the United States.
In 2007, Mandel made an appearance in an episode of Sesame Street's 38th season. Also in 2007, he was parodied on the show as Howie Eats well, the Muppet host of Sesame's game show segment "Meal or No Meal." Mandel has hosted the DVD game version of Deal or No Deal, "Fact or Crap Beat Da Bomb", and "Would You Rather" for Imagination Games. Mandel had a cameo appearance as himself on the NBC show My Name Is Earl in the episode where Earl's roommates robbed an Indian casino at which Mandel was performing. While stealing money, they also kidnapped Mandel. In the episode, Mandel performed his old routine of inflating a rubber glove over his head with his nostrils.
Mandel is a notable alumnus of Beth David B'nai Israel Beth Am's Hebrew School in Toronto, as well as three other Toronto high schools.[13] He performs a variety/comedy act at the MGM Grand Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas. Beginning in 2007, Mandel became a spokesperson for Internet retailer buy.com. He is sometimes featured in a section called "What's Shakin'?" with Mandel. On September 8, 2008, Mandel began hosting a five-day-a-week syndicated daytime version of Deal or No Deal, with a top prize of $500,000. On January 9, 2009, Mandel's reality show Howie Do It premiered on NBC.
On March 31, 2011, Mandel premiered a flash-mob show on Fox called Mobbed. Originally a presentation pilot, the ratings after American Idol prompted Fox to pick up the show for eight to ten episodes.[14] On October 18, 2012, Mandel appeared on The Big Bang Theory as himself in the season 6 episode "The Re-Entry Minimization". On November 30, 2012, he hosted the NASCAR Sprint Cup Awards Ceremony. On December 10, 2012, his six-night special game show Take It All premiered.
He appeared in one episode of the animated series Fugget About It as the voice of FBI Agent Rick Chickmagnet in 2013.[15] From 2013 to 2014, Mandel executive-produced the TBS hidden-camera show Deal with It.[16][17] He also regularly made appearances and co-hosted the show along with main host Theo Von. In 2023, Mandel competed in season nine of The Masked Singer as "Rock Lobster". He was eliminated on "ABBA Night" alongside Debbie Gibson as "Night Owl".
Deal or No Deal
In 2003, while Mandel was deciding whether or not to quit show business, the executive producers at NBC asked him to host the show, but he declined many times. They then mailed him a tape of the overseas version and he finally accepted.[citation needed] In 2007, he hosted a five-episode run of the Canadian-English version Deal or No Deal Canada. The show then went to daytime with Mandel remaining as host, although Arsenio Hall was originally intended to host the show. In a January 2009 interview on Anytime with Bob Kushell, Mandel expressed mild, jovial frustration over how some of his contestants hold out during the game show, even though the grand prize is many times what they would make in a year.[18]
On March 12, 2018, it was announced that Mandel would host the 2018 CNBC revival of the game show and also become an executive producer.[19] The show premiered on December 3, 2018. Mandel is one of three game show hosts to host the same game show in two different countries, the others being Donny Osmond for Pyramid in the US and the UK and Anne Robinson for The Weakest Link in the US and the UK.
In 2024, Mandel was credited as an executive producer on the reality game show spin-off of Deal or No Deal titled Deal or No Deal Island. In the finale of the first season, it was revealed that he is the secretive banker who made offers to the contestants over the course of the game. He did not return to be the banker for Season 2, as it was confirmed that the banker for that season would be a woman.[20] The banker was later revealed to be celebrity and former Deal or No Deal briefcase model Chrissy Teigen.[21]
Got Talent
In January 2010, it was announced that Mandel would replace David Hasselhoff as one of the judges on NBC's America's Got Talent after Hasselhoff announced that he was leaving to work on a new television series.[22] Out of all judges on the show, Mandel currently has the longest tenure than any other judge or host, spanning sixteen consecutive seasons (season 5–present).
In October 2021, it was announced that Mandel would be a judge on the second season of Canada's Got Talent, which aired in 2022.[23]
Howie Mandel Does Stuff
Since February 2021, Mandel has hosted the Howie Mandel Does Stuff Podcast with his daughter, Jackelyn Shultz, as co-host. According to the Apple Podcasts preview: "Together, these two make prank calls, discuss pop culture, interview interesting people, say weird things, chat with listeners, get deep..."[24]
Bullsh*t: The Game Show
On April 27, 2022, Netflix released the 10-episode debut season of Bullsh*t: The Game Show with Mandel as the host of the program. It was Mandel's first game show since the cancellation of the Deal or No Deal revival on CNBC in 2019. In this game show contestants have a chance to win up to $1,000,000 by answering a series of trivia questions but have to also be able to convince ("bullsh_") a group of prospective challengers that the answer they give is right, even if it's not. (The contestant is shown whether or not their answer is correct as soon as they choose it.) After explaining their reasoning, the judges will vote on whether they think the contestant is "bullshitting" (lying), or telling the truth. At a certain time after they are done convincing the judges, Mandel will ask the contestant if their answer is correct, or if they were "bullshitting." If the contestant's answer is correct (or if it's incorrect, but they successfully convinced at least one judge that they were telling the truth), they win and move on to the question. If they lie and none of the three judges buy it, they are removed from the game. The next contestant is the judge who most accurately guessed whether or not the contestant was truthful during each question.[25]
The Price Is Right
On June 3, 2025 it was announced that Howie Mandel would be hosting a Canadian spin-off of The Price is Right.[26]
Other businesses
Mandel is an avid tech futurist and has invested in many innovative startups. In 2021 he invested in MetaMedia's MagicScreen which plans interactive experiences for movie theatres.[27] In 2022, he became an investor and frequent user of Proto Hologram technology.[28] He uses it both for his own appearances and to promote the startup such as when he beamed into JFK Airport Terminal 4 to surprise travellers.[29]
Mandel has been married to Terry Mandel (née Soil) since 1980. They have three children.[30]
On September 4, 2008, Mandel received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and Comedy Central listed him as No. 82 on their list of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time.[31] Mandel received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. The induction ceremony was held on September 12, 2009.[32]
In October 2008, Mandel revealed that he has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on the morning talk show Live with Regis and Kelly, adding that he is currently working to raise adult ADHD awareness among the general public. On January 12, 2009, Mandel was reportedly sent to St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto suffering from chest pains and what was reported as a minor heart attack. According to various news reports, he was experiencing an irregular heartbeat, but the reports were later revealed as inaccurate. He was later discharged.[33] Mandel has written and published an in-depth autobiography that details his life with OCD, ADHD, and comedy called Here's the Deal: Don't Touch Me.
Mandel on Children's Mental Health Awareness Day, 2007
Mandel has spoken publicly about having OCD, which can take many forms, including mysophobia.[40][41] Mandel's anxiety affects him to the point that he does not shake hands with anyone, including enthusiastic contestants on Deal or No Deal unless he is wearing latex gloves. Instead of shaking contestants' hands when they offer them, Mandel often opts to exchange fist bumps, put his hands on contestants' shoulders, or give an occasional hug. He once kissed a female contestant on the show for good luck despite his disorder. He now takes medicine to control his condition and even pokes fun at himself for it. On March 24, 2006, he revealed on The Howard Stern Show that his shaved head, which first appeared in 1999, is not related to natural hair loss but OCD. He stated that the lack of hair makes him feel cleaner.[42] In the back yard of Mandel's house is a second, smaller house that he had built especially to live in solitude when a family member is sick.[43] During his appearance on Mad TV, Mandel and cast member Bobby Lee made fun of Mandel's condition. Mandel also confronted his germophobia in Season 4, Episode 1 of the Comedy Central series This Is Not Happening. The show aired on February 3, 2018.[44]
Mandel has reported a pivotal childhood experience during a family vacation in Florida that may have caused the manifestation of his mysophobia. During this trip, a sandfly laid its eggs in him, leading to the development of larvae that could be seen moving around just beneath the surface of his skin. The removal process was accompanied by considerable discomfort, with a dermatologist using liquid nitrogen to eliminate some of the larvae, and the rest being scrubbed out by his mother at home. The ordeal of discovering organisms growing beneath his skin left a profound impact on Mandel, who was only seven or eight years old at the time. Mandel says that recalling the event often evokes the sensation of organisms attempting to crawl underneath his skin.[45][46]
While guest-hosting on Live with Regis and Kelly in 2005, Mandel had an altercation in which his hand sanitizer was seized by guest Rob Schneider, who condescendingly teased Mandel, stating he needed to 'get over' his phobia. Host Kelly Ripa admonished Schneider on-air, while also obtaining hand sanitizer for Mandel from an audience member.[47] In September 2007, Mandel interviewed former NFL running back Marshall Faulk on NFL Network. Faulk asked him to shake hands, but Mandel refused, noting he would rather have the fist tap, as he does with Deal or No Deal contestants. Seconds later, Faulk subjected him to a "sneak attack" and shook his right hand. Mandel screamed and walked away from Faulk. He then washed his hands several times.[48] On a guest appearance on Free Radio, Mandel explained that not only is he afraid of public bathrooms, but he is unable to use any bathroom other than his own.[49]
In another America's Got Talent season 5 incident, Dan Sperry, a contestant on the YouTube quarterfinal depicted in episodes 21 and 22, dropped some dental floss that he had run through his neck as part of a magic act. He dropped the floss in Mandel's vicinity, prompting him to get up and run to the other side of the judges' table.[50] Just before Sperry's next performance in the semifinals, Mandel admitted that it was "the most horrified" he'd been on the show and that his therapist "loves [Dan Sperry]" because there had been two extra sessions that week.[episodeneeded] During the premiere of season 6, juggler Frank Olivier grabbed Mandel's head to balance himself during a unicycle act. Despite receiving a buzzer from Mandel, Olivier moved on to the next round. Mandel refused to give Olivier any feedback during the judge's voting process.[51]
During AGT's 10th-season premiere, contestant Chris Jones[52] directly utilized Mandel's fear of germs as the subject of his hypnotism act. Under the post-hypnotic suggestion that Jones and the other judges were wearing latex gloves, Mandel shook the bare hands of all involved, which elicited shouts of amazement. After viewing the video of the act, Mandel said that he was "upset" and "somewhat betrayed" by the act, but his therapist subsequently said it was a good thing.[53] Jones progressed to the Judge's Cuts where he was eliminated from the competition.
Mandel commented in 2011 that he has struggled with the condition since childhood but did not seek help until he was an adult:
I don't remember a time when I didn't feel there was an issue, but I wasn't diagnosed until adulthood. I've always felt a little bit different, and I always knew I wasn't as comfortable with life as everybody else seemed to be, but I didn't know what I could do about it. When I was a kid, I didn't know anybody who went to a psychiatrist. There was always a stigma attached to mental health issues. I think there still is. But now I'm taking care of myself.[54]
Since May 2022, Mandel has partnered with NOCD, a mental healthcare company focused on increasing access to evidence-based treatment for OCD and related conditions.[55]
Philanthropy
Mandel started his charitable foundation called Breakout the Masks, which helps provide personal protective equipment to healthcare workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.[56] He is also involved in Bell's Let's Talk Day initiatives to help people struggling with mental health issues.[57] And he has raised money for the American Cancer Society[58] and Trillium Health Partners for their mental health program.[59]
Use of name in scams
In 2025, scammers started using Mandel's name to promote an investment scam via social media, using fictitious "news articles" claiming that Mandel had been arrested following an interview.[60]
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