Fred Norris

At 68 years old, Fred Norris has this physical status:

Eric Fred Norris (born Fred Leo Nukis; July 9, 1955) is an American radio personality and the longest-tenured staff member of The Howard Stern Show, second only to Stern himself.

Howard Stern first met him while working at WCCC-FM, a Hartford, Connecticut radio station.

Early life

Fred Norris is the son of Latvian immigrants Valija Kronberg and Henry Nukis. Fred was born in Manchester, Connecticut. By the time Fred, his second of two sons, was born, his parents' marriage was already in danger. When Fred was five years old, his biological father returned home, but those first few years were turbulent. Norris recalls, "there was always tension and rage." "My father had an alcohol problem." As Dad came home, you hid in the closet because there was always something going wrong that you'd prefer not to be involved with." Fred spent the bulk of his childhood alone. The brother, Robert, was furious enough to not have Fred as a human punching bag, and he had nothing to do with him. Fred will recover by reading novels, riding long bike rides, or watching many afternoon TV reruns (whence came his encyclopedic knowledge of classic fifties television). "I'd like to point out that almost every one on this show of Howard's, even Robin, had a father figure to guide them," he says. "I was on my own."

Despite the lack of guidance, Norris was able to navigate his adolescence with out a single incident. When Norris was 13 years old, his mother, Lewis Norris, a cabinet maker, whom Norris attributes with helping his mother be happy and unlike his stepfather's, Neville Norris, treated Norris with reverence. He began playing guitar around this time.

Personal life

Norris married Allison Furman, a woman he first encountered on Stern's "Dial-A-Date" segment on April 10, 1987. Tess and Tess were together in November 2002 and they had one child together.

Norris legally changed his name from Fred Leo Nukis to Eric Fred Norris in 1993. Stern and the cast had an extended discussion with Norris during the Howard Stern Show's May 23, 1996 episode. Norris did not give reasons for the change. Although he did not like the name Fred, he kept it because "Fred Norris" was the name the public knew him by.

Stern wondered if anyone ever called Norris by his legally changed name, Eric, on the November 13, 2006 show. Norris replied by claiming that no one referred to him as Eric. He went into detail that this was not the reason he changed his name in the first place. Stern was perplexed as to why Norris went to the extent to legally alter his name if no one called him Eric. Norris said the decision was based on the fact that he had a dysfunctional relationship with his father.

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Career

Norris, a college student at the time, first met Howard Stern while working the overnight shifts at WCCC, an AM and FM radio station in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1979. After Stern's departure, he continued at WCCC; but, he left the station in early 1981 to work at WAQY-FM in Springfield, Massachusetts.

When Stern became a ratings smash at WWDC in Washington, D.C., he was able to convince the station to bring Norris, who appeared on Stern's show in October 1981. In September 1982, he went from Stern to New York to work at WNBC and has been with the program ever since.

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