Early life
Born in Willimantic, Connecticut, Norris is the son of Valija and Henry Nukis who were Latvian immigrants. The Smoking Gun: Stern Fred was raised in Manchester, Connecticut. By the time Fred, the second of two sons, was born, his parents' marriage was already on the ropes. His biological father left home when Fred was five, but those first few years were turbulent. "There was always tension and rage," Norris remembers. "My father had an alcohol problem. When Dad came home, you hid in the closet because there was always something going on you'd rather not be a part of." Fred spent most of his early childhood alone. When his older brother wasn't using Fred as a human punching bag, the brother wanted nothing to do with him. So Fred would escape by reading books, taking long bicycle rides, or watching lots of afternoon TV reruns (whence came his encyclopedic knowledge of trashy fifties TV). "I'd like to state for the record that every person on this show of Howard's, even Robin, at least had a father figure to guide them," he says. "Me, I was on my own."
Despite the lack of guidance, Fred managed to navigate his adolescence without major incident. When Fred was 13 his mother married his stepdad, Louis Norris, a cabinetmaker, whom Fred credits with finally making his mom happy. Around this time he began playing guitar. He also began hanging out with a "better class of people." Namely people who could afford instruments-a step up from his neighbors, who, he says, could have stepped right out of
Deliverance.
Radio career
A college student at the time, Norris first met Howard Stern while working the overnight shifts at WCCC, an FM and AM radio station in Hartford, Connecticut in the spring of 1979. When Stern later worked mornings at WWDC in Washington, D.C. in 1982, he brought Norris over with him to help write comedy bits for the show.
In 1995, Norris married Allison Ferman, a woman he originally met on the "Dial-A-Date" segment of Stern's radio show. The couple has one daughter, Tess. Howard Stern.com Norris owns a Triumph motorcycle, which he rides on a regular basis, and likes to box.
A regular bit on the show is "Win Fred's Money" where Fred and another contestant answer rapid-fire trivia questions. Fred usually wins these contests handily. However, his primary role on the show is playing sound clips that comically coincide with the current discussion, writing song parodies and skit and contributing jokes during the course of the show. Otherwise, he's mostly silent, painting the show with soundbites and timing commercial breaks. Stern occasionally teases Norris for "sleepwalking" through the show (as he once had a more prominent role when the show had a smaller cast).
Notable radio show moments
In January 2006, Norris revealed on Stern's Sirius Satellite Radio show that he has a half-sister during a bit where cast members revealed secrets about themselves (his father had an illegitimate child with Norris's godmother). He has stated that he doesn't want to meet this person due to his strong grudge against his father as well as his godmother. Fred also revealed that his godmother gave him the middle name "Leo", which is why he changed his name. Norris has served as a writer on the Stern Show for many years and has helped write most of the show's bits. Particularly memorable events specifically involving Norris include:
- Stern goofing on him for buying a Cookie Puss cake for his mother on Mother's Day
- Norris drunkenly cuddling with show intern Gay Rich at Scores for his bachelor party, then falling down stairs and landing on his head - requiring a trip to the emergency room.
- The on-air discussion of a fight between Norris and his wife at NBC's Rainbow Room which led to Fred quitting the show, only to come back the next day.
- Having to be restrained by Stern show staff from physically attacking John Melendez after Melendez attempted to act out a love scene from Tony n' Tina's Wedding with his wife, who was acting in the New York City production at the time.
- Norris frequently denies model Carol Alt a "supermodel" status, vigorously asserting that she has never attained that rare professional level. He also questions her status as a legitimate actress as she has not had a starring role in any Hollywood productions.
Norris, to his chagrin, is often mocked by Stern during the show for what he perceives as Norris' oddness, remarking that Norris is "from Mars" or noting that he fits the profile of a serial killer because he keeps a shovel in the trunk of his car.
Norris was also regularly mocked on the Stern show roasts for his oddness and on-air silence. Jackie Martling referred to him as an alien and Colin Quinn told Gary Dell'Abate that he was "uglier than Fred's thoughts;" also stating that he looked like "a retarded Gary Oldman."
When Norris announced on the show in May 2002 that Allison had become pregnant by means other than sexual intercourse, fellow Stern staffer Robin Quivers stated that she knew if Fred was going to have a child it would "have to be a science project." After a pause, Norris called Robin a "fat, malicious cow." A few months after this incident, possibly as a fence-mending gesture, Robin financed Fred's birthday celebration.
Name change
In 1993, Norris legally changed his name from Fred Leo Nukis to Eric Fred Norris. As is typical of Fred and his oft-mocked personality, he never discussed or even mentioned this fairly major event until a Stern Show staffer happened to notice Norris's new name signed in a log kept to comply with the FCC. Regardless, the cast has still referred to him mostly as Fred.
Most recently, Fred was confronted about his name on November 13, 2006. Fred revealed that the last name Norris is that of his kindly stepfather. Nukis was his biological father's name and Fred wished to remove that father from his life with the name change. Fred claimed that his mother wanted to name him Eric at birth, but that his natural father had not allowed it because "Eric" was the name of his mother's former boyfriend. The name Leo was selected by his maternal aunt - the same woman who eventually eloped with his natural father. Fred says he hates both the names Fred and Leo - although everyone including Norris's wife, Alison, calls him Fred.
