Drake Bell
Drake Bell | |
|---|---|
 Drake Bell performing | |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, singer-songwriter, musician, television director |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Website | http://www.drakebell.com/ |
Jared Drake Bell (born June 27, 1986)[1] is an American actor, comedian, guitarist, and singer/songwriter. After beginning his career as a child actor in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he appeared on The Amanda Show and became well known among young audiences for his role on the series Drake & Josh. In addition to his acting, Bell has a growing career as a musician and released his debut album, Telegraph, independently in 2005. His second album, It's Only Time, was released in 2006 after signing with Universal/Motown. Bell is commonly associated with his friend Josh Peck, who co-starred with him in both The Amanda Show and Drake And Josh.
Acting career
At eight, Drake had his first television role on the US comedy Home Improvement, as Little Pete. At nine years old, he acted in the film Jerry Maguire as Jesse Remo. He also appeared in a small role in the Seinfeld episode "The Frogger" in 1998. In 1999, he acted in a commercial for Barnie, and in 2000, was nominated for the Young Artist Award for "Best Performance in a TV Movie or Pilot" in the "Supporting Young Actor" category for his role as Cage Redding in the made-for-television film The Jack Bull.Also, in 2000, he starred as a younger Rob Gordon in High Fidelity. During the early 2000s, Bell was a featured performer on The Amanda Show and made a guest appearance on the series The Nightmare Room, before being cast as Drake Parker on the Nickelodeon series Drake & Josh, which began airing in 2004. During the time he made a guest appearance as himself on Nickelodeon's Zoey 101, won a "Blimp Award" at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in the "Favorite Male TV Actor" category for Element comedy College directed by Deb Hagan. This film was shot on location in New Orleans. Bell has signed a producing deal with Virtus Entertainment and will star in The Miracle of Santa Rosa, about an American who returns to his ancestral home in Italy to spread his father's ashes. Bell will also be in another Virtus Entertainment production, this one a mini-series titled Flying Tigers. The film is about a squadron of American pilots who fought the Japanese in Asia right before and during World War II. He is nominated for Favorite Television Actor for Drake & Josh. Bell also stars in the new film Superhero Movie, which is a parody of the superhero genre (written/directed by Craig Mazin and produced by David Zucker); it will be in theaters on March 28, 2008.
Filmography
- Drifting School (1995) – Kenny Smith
- The Neon Bible (1995) – David 'Age 10'
- Jerry Maguire (1996) – Jesse Remo
- Seinfeld (1998) – Kenny
- Dill Scallion (1999) – Eugene Bob
- Dragonworld: The Legend Continues (1999) – Johnny
- The Jack Bull (1999) – Cage Redding
- The Amanda Show (1999-2002), (39 episodes) – Himself
- High Fidelity (2000) – Young Rob Gordon
- Perfect Game (2000) – Bobby Jr.
- Chasing Destiny (2001) – Walter
- Drake & Josh (2004-2007),- Drake Parker
- Yours, Mine, and Ours (2005) – Dylan North
- Zoey 101 (2005), (1 episode) – Himself
- Drake & Josh Go Hollywood (2006) – Drake Parker
- Drake & Josh: Really Big Shrimp (2007) – Drake Parker
- College (2008) – Kevin Brewer
- Superhero Movie (2008) – Rick Riker/ The Dragonfly
- Unstable Fables: Tortoise vs. Hare (2008) – Hare's son (voice)
- The Miracle of Santa Rosa (2008)
Music career
Drake Bell's original band when he was about 14 years old was known as "Drake 24/7", though his band now has all different members and is just known as "Drake Bell". Bell's debut album, Telegraph, was released independently on September 27, 2005. His song, "I Found a Way", which can be found on the album, is the theme song for Drake & Josh. In 2005, Bell collaborated with Hawk Nelson in a song called Bring Em' Out which was featured in the movieYours, Mine, and Ours. Drake wrote the theme songs for the show Drake & Josh, and he also co-wrote and performed the theme song to iCarly "Leave It All To Me" with Miranda Cosgrove. Him and his fellow bandmate Michael Corcoran also write and perform the score music for the shows, Drake & Josh, Zoey 101, and iCarly. He even made a special guest appearance on Zoey 101 in 2005 (in the episode "Spring Fling") and performed Highway To Nowhere, which can also be found on the album Telegraph. In 2006 he signed with Universal Records, on which his first single "I Know" was released on October 17, 2006. Shooting for the video of "I Know" took place in October 2006. Drake's second album, entitled It's Only Time, was released on December 5, 2006. Drake performed live on MTV's TRL the day after it was released. On October 16, 2007 iTunes released a Radio Disney Single Edit Version of his song "Makes Me Happy". In Summer 2007, Bell went on a Nextfest tour in support of It's Only Time, headlining alongside Aly & AJ and Corbin Bleu. In an interview with Gibson Lifestyle, he expressed that it wasn't the tour of his dreams. Referring to his fellow tour mates, Bell said, "They’re all nice people, and they do what they do well, I guess. This isn't my scene, though.
Bell's third album stated by him on TRL is going to be a conceptual double album, in which the first disc will be like Magical Mystery Tour it will be as though you are on an airplane ride, with the air. And the second disc will be as though you are on the sea. He said the whole album will be very Beatles and Harry Nilsson. The album is expected to be released in the second half of 2008.[2]
However, on Drake Central, one of Bell's official websites, in future projects, there is a "Third Album" entry that has a release date of Fall 2008.
Albums
| Information |
|---|
Telegraph
|
It's Only Time
|
Singles
| Year | Song | Chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Hot 100 | U.S. Pop 100 | Hot Digital Tracks | |||
| 2006 | "I Know" | - | - | - | It's Only Time |
| 2007 | "Makes Me Happy" | 103 | 67 | 45 | |
| 2007 | "Leave It All To Me" | - | - | - | Leave It All To Me |
Instrumentation
Bell has been seen with a number of guitars on Drake & Josh. One being a copy of a Fender Stratocaster seen throughout Seasons one and two and two episodes in Season three. Two Squier by Fender Strat copies were seen in the Season two episode, Guitar. There was a black one and a red one. The red one wasn't played, but instead destroyed (and replaced) by Josh. Throughout Seasons three and four, Bell's main instrument were two Gibson Les Paul Classics. In the show, he mostly used a wine red, although he has used an ebony one in a few episodes. For touring he mainly uses his ebony Les Paul Classic and an orange Gretsch 6120 based on a Chet Atkins Model. He has also used another Gretsch guitar, a Red Sparkle Jet which he used mostly in the past including his music appearance on The Amanda Show, and he was seen with it in one concert during his summer 2007 tour in NJ. He was also seen with various acoustic guitars and a Rickenbacker 325.
References
- ^ "IMDB: Drake Bell". Retrieved 2008-01-21.
- ^ "Drake Bell TRL 3/18/08". Daily Motion. 2008-03-18.
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External links
