Artie Lange is the jack of all trades, but is best known as a comedian and for appearing on The Howard Stern Show and the Mad T.V. Apart from being a comedian, Lange is also an actor, radio and podcast host and an author. Lange’s struggle to reach the point is quite an inspiring one.
Lange has also been associated with many downhill rides till now, but he has managed to emerge from each one very bravely. Apart from being a regular in the stand-up scene of New York, Lange has acted in many movies and also hosted many radio shows and podcasts. Lange has also written two books till now.
Early Life
Lange was born as Arthur Steven Lange Jr. in Livingston, New Jersey on 11 October 1967.
He belongs from a multi-ethnic family. His mother, Judy, was an Italian and his father Arthur Lange Sr. was of German and Native American descent. Lange also has a sister, Stacey, who is a fashion designer now.
His father, Arthur Lange Sr. used to work as a general contractor for installation of television antennas and his mother, Judy was a housewife. Artie grew up in Union Township, Union County. Lange went to Union High school. As a kid, Lange had a great interest in baseball and he also was an all-county third baseman. He had to go to summer school as his grades were very poor. Lange then went on to attend the Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey.
On October 18, 1985, an event changed Lange’s life. His father met with an accident while working and broke his back falling from a ladder while in the midst of installing a T.V. antenna.
Lange’s father broke his back, and also became a quadriplegic. After this accident, the Lange family’s lives changed to a lot of extents. Artie’s mother took up a secretarial job and Artie, himself began installing antennas, as they were in need of every dime that they could get. In 1990, Lange’s father died because of the infection.
Career
Lange’s first ever stand-up was at The Improv in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan on 12 July 1987.
According to Lange he knew that his performance could have been much better but he was still proud that he managed to do it.
Lange took a job as a longshoreman, at Port Newark, so that he could support his family. Lange decided to quit his job and give a shot at comedy in September 1992. He gave himself one year of time to make it on the comedy circuit.
During this one year, Lange’s source of income was driving a taxi in New York City. Lange first performed his paid gig at the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York.
Soon, Lange became a regular in Manhattan at stand-up in 1992. Within a short period of only a year, Lange managed to get a role in a dinner theatre play and went across many restaurants and catering halls in New Jersey.
After a while, Lange along with some other people formed an improv troupe named Live On Tape and was quite a hit.The success of the troupe landed Lange a contract with the William Morris Agency. It was here that Lange met with his manager for next ten years, Peter Principato.
Lange also appeared in many commercials. Lange did a voiceover for Foot Locker, and as a result of which he became a member of AFTRA. Although everything was going pretty well for Lange, he developed an addiction to alcohol and cocaine in these years.
In 1995, Lange went to Los Angeles to start shooting for the show which was owned by Fox Network and he decided to move to Los Angeles for the shooting of the first season of the show.
Lange’s cocaine addiction reached its height and one day he tried to commit suicide after he ran out of cocaine. He was rescued and sent back to New Jersey for rehabilitation and counseling programme and resumed shooting.
In November 1996, during the second season of Mad Tv, he one day arrived on the set being high on cocaine. After this incident, he had to serve time in jail and was also asked to leave the show. After his jail time, he was again sent back rehabilitation and was offered a role in the sitcom The Norm Show and the movie Dirty Work (1998). Its promotion introduced him to The Howard Stern Show. After several appearances, he joined the show in 2001 soon after the departure of Jackie Martling. He did great impressions of renowned celebrities on the show before quitting in 2008 after a heated on-air argument with his personal assistant.
On 21 April 2008, Lange made a comeback on The Howard Stern Show and apologized by taking full responsibility for his behavior. Besides his production The Beer League, he also did a radio show for Fox Sports Radio alongside comedian Nick Di Paolo.
His writing career is amazing enough as both his books were critically acclaimed. He wrote two books named Too Fat to Fish (2008) and Crash and Burn (2013). He hosted a podcast named The Artie Quitter Podcast which ran from 2015 to 2017.
Personal life
His first marriage was with Dana Cironi in 2002. It lasted for four years till 2006 after which they got divorced. Later, he started dating Adrienne Ockrymiek from 2009. They first met at a Tanning salon and in 2014, they parted ways.
One of the reasons why his personal life took a rough turn may have been due to substance and alcohol abuse. He was caught multiple times for suicide attempts and was recently arrested for keeping drugs in his car.
However, Artie is a big supporter of gay rights and constantly admits that it has helped him to remain motivated in his career. The famous comedian has a net worth of ten million dollars and an exceptional set of assets.
Quick Summary
Full Name: Artie Lange
Date of Birth: 11 October 1967
Birth Place: Livingston, New Jersey
Age: 50 years
Profession: Comedian, Author, Actor, Radio and Podcast Host
Height: 5’9
Weight: Unknown
Net Worth: $10 million
