User:Lilduff90/Frank King (comedian)

Frank King (born November 26, 1957) is an American comedian, writer and public speaker, best known for his tenure as a writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and in recent years for his TEDx lectures about suicide and suicide prevention.

Biography
King was born in Raleigh, North Carolina and graduated from Needham B. Broughton High School in 1975. He graduated from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1979 with a degree in political science. Following graduation, King worked in real estate until the 2008-09 Great Recession in the United States forced him into bankruptcy. Since 2010, he has worked full time as a comedian and public speaker.

Career
King began doing stand-up comedy part-time in 1985, and eventually became a part of the writing team on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He left the writing team after a short period, and kept doing shows on an irregular basis, viewing comedy and writing as a side project to his real estate business. Following his 2010 bankruptcy, depression and health issues, King became a full time public speaker. In 2014, he appeared at TEDx RenfrewCollingwood with his lecture "A matter of laugh or death", which has since gathered more than ten thousand views on YouTube.

Personal life
King resides in Springfield, Oregon with his wife, Wendy. They married in 1987. King has struggled with depression "as long as I can remember" but didn't realize how serious it was until recent years. The stress of his depression combined with the 2010 bankruptcy led to a series of heart attacks from which he made a full recovery.

In 1993, King appeared in the music video for The Connells' 74-75 as part of the 1974-75 graduating class from Needham B. Broughton High School. He also appeared in the 2014 anniversary version.