Ross Alan Shafer (born December 10, 1954) is an American
comedian
A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...
, network television host, motivational and leadership speaker and consultant. He has authored nine business books, and earned six
Emmy Awards
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
as a network talk and game show host.
Biography
Born in
McMinnville, Oregon
McMinnville is the county seat of and the most populous city in Yamhill County, Oregon, Yamhill County, Oregon, United States at the base of the Oregon Coast Range. The city is named after McMinnville, Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States cens ...
, Shafer graduated from Federal Way High School in
Federal Way, Washington. As a high school All-Conference
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player, he received a scholarship to play linebacker for the
University of Puget Sound in
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...
, where he earned a business marketing degree.
[
Shafer said, "I had trouble finding anything that I was passionate about, or that made me happy." He then opened a "combination pet and stereo store". His first acting came in the form of a community play; afterward, he tried out for a stand-up comedy competition.][
From 1984 to 1989, Shafer hosted the local Seattle-based talk and comedy show, '' Almost Live!'', and also hosted Fox's late night talk show, '' The Late Show''.
In 1985, Shafer spearheaded an effort to replace '']Washington, My Home
"Washington, My Home" (sometimes stylized "Washington My Home") is the List of U.S. state songs, state song of Washington (state), Washington, in the United States. It was composed in 1951 by Helen Davis and set to music by Stuart Churchill unde ...
'' by Helen Davis with '' Louie Louie'' as Washington's official state song.
In the 1986–1987 season, Shafer hosted the Canadian game show '' Love Me Love Me Not''. It also aired in the United States on the USA Network and ended after one season of 130 episodes.
From 1990 to 1991, Shafer hosted a short-lived revival of '' Match Game'' on ABC.
Ross works as a keynote speaker and leadership coach in the areas of market share growth, customer friction, and workforce motivator.Ross' Client List
/ref>
Bibliography
*''Cook-Like-A-Stud'' (1991)
*''Nobody Moved Your Cheese!'' (2003)
*''The Customer Shouts Back!'' (2006)
*''Are You Relevant?'' (2009)
*''Grab More Market Share'' (2011)
*''Shy to Confident'' (2013)
*''Absolutely Necessary'' (2015)
*''Behave Like a Startup'' (2016)
*''Success: It's on You'' (2016)
*''No More Customer Friction'' (2017)
*''Rattled'' (2021)
See also
*
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shafer, Ross
American game show hosts
21st-century American comedians
American television talk show hosts
Comedians from Oregon
Late night television talk show hosts
Living people
People from Denver
People from McMinnville, Oregon
Entertainers from Seattle
University of Puget Sound alumni
1954 births
American male comedians