 Weird Al Yankovic mini-bio: Son of Mary and Nick Yankovic, Alfred Matthew Yankovic is an American parodist, accordionist and actor. Although he is most famous for his song parodies, such as White and Nerdy, Fat and Eat It, he has also had a small acting career. The most notable is feature length film UHF in which he plays George Newman and daydreaming loser who gets his very own TV station. The Prince of Parodies has also had his own Saturday morning television show on CBS, The Weird Al Show. How ever this was short-lived and only lasted 13 episodes. His show was released on DVD on August 15, 2006. He has also made cameos on The Simpsons, The Drew Carey Show, and Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Weird Al's career has been propelled by his well-known parodies of pop hits. Though parody is protected free speech under the FirstAmendment to theUS Constitution, Yankovic prefers to secure the permission of the artists whose he parodies. Michael Jackson, whose songs "Beat It" and "Bad" were the inspiration for "Eat It" and "Fat," is an enthusiastic fan of Yankovic's work, and graciously gave his assent to both recordings. Yankovic has respected a number of notable refusals, including Michael Jackson's request that no parody of "Black or White" be released (because, in Jackson's own words, that song's message was too important). Release of the song Yoda was delayed for over two years due to glacial response from Lucasfilm's licensing division. And the artist known as Prince has famously refused Yankovic's repeated proposals over the years. Though Yankovic has respected these refusals with regard to his recordings, he does sometimes play "unauthorized" parody songs live in concert.
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piggygirl43posted 500 days ago
