Telethon 2011 -
Good Things Happened

In October of 1991, Terry unexpectedly found himself on stage with a local band, launching what has rapidly grown to be a professionally greater accomplishment that he could have ever imagined.

More than twenty thousand (20,000) scarves later, he has sold over 40,000 CDs and has "opened up" for national acts such as Lee Greenwood, Diamond Rio, Montgomery Gentry, Rick Springfield, Jim Brickman, Sixpence None the Richer, Johnny Rivers, Grassroots and the Charlie Daniels Band, to name a few. Terry has performed for such celebrity functions as: Post Production Party for Disney's 2005 CBS Elvis Mini-Series; Emmy Award Cast Party for the TV show, Ally McBeal and The Practice in Hollywood, CA; WNY Make a Wish Foundation's "An Evening With the Stars," hosted by Kathy Lee Gifford; NYS Governor Pataki's New Years Eve Ball; Former Buffalo Bills Quarterback, Jim Kelly's NFL/ESPN Retirement Party; New York City and Boston Marathon post-race parties; Alan Thicke Celebrity Classic; Anheuser-Busch Summer Tour; NFL Superbowl Parties; and NHL All-Star Benefits. These performances have taken Terry to many major cities in the United States and Canada, including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Hollywood, New York City and Toronto. He has also performed in countries as far away as Japan, Puerto Rico and Mexico.

Terry's national television appearances include: the annual Variety Kids Telethon in Buffalo, New York of which he is part of the national cast; Your Big Break, a Dick Clark production; Doc, a PAX TV hit sitcom starring Billy Ray Cyrus; and U's Place, a Fox 29 children's show.

Locally, Terry's concerts and appearances are broadcast frequently on TV stations in upstate New York and Western Pennsylvania. Recently he was the subject of a three part ABC Special on Buffalo's Channel 7 News. He is also a spokesman, guest DJ and entertainer for Buffalo radio stations, 104.1, 97 Rock, Star 102 and Kiss 98.5. Frequently, area listeners hear him on commercials and voice-overs.

The Buffalo Music Awards have awarded Terry Top Solo Artist for 2002 and Top Show Band for 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008. 2009 and again for 2010. In addition Terry was so honored this year when he was one of the first inductees into the 2010 Buffalo Music Awards Hall of Achievement. Another major award that Terry received was Buffalo's Night Life Magazine Best Show Band for 2010.

Terry takes part in volunteer work, charities, fundraisers and awareness events for organizations such as Variety-The Children's Charity of Buffalo & Western New York; Women and Children's Hospital of Buffalo, Make A Wish Foundation, Children's Miracle Network, United Cerebral Palsy, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Muscular Dystrophy Association, AIDS Rochester and Hospice.

Terry has recorded four CDs which have hit the shelves of 13 Walmart stores, Sam's Club, Borders and Barnes and Noble. He is the first local artist to ever sell CDs in Walmart stores. He has sold 40,000 of his CDs: TCB, Big Hunk 'O Love, Home for Christmas and Good Rockin' then and now. His fans are awaiting the release of his next CD.

Hugely popular and beloved by millions, MR. FOOD is an original. He was the first TV chef to promote practical, "anybody can do it" cooking and food preparation solutions, and, after more than 30 years of sharing his unique brand of quick 'n' easy food tips and recipes with viewers across the country,
MR. FOOD continues to find fresh ideas for cooking up fun in the kitchen.

Art Ginsburg developed the MR. FOOD entity that has been a trusted name in media syndication as well as the consumer marketplace for more than a quarter of a century. With beginnings as a butcher with a flair for theatre, Art's "MR. FOOD story" began with his local television debut in 1975. Before long, MR. FOOD burst onto television screens across the Northeast in his self-syndicated, appealing 90-second food vignette. Rave reviews poured in! By 1982, King World took notice of MR. FOOD and brought him on as a client. (King World now syndicates such well-known television shows as "Oprah," "Jeopardy," and "Wheel of Fortune.") Today, the MR. FOOD vignette is syndicated by CBS/King World to affiliates in more than 130 television markets across the country, including our very own WKBW-TV Channel 7, bringing MR. FOOD into the homes of more than 6 million loyal fans daily.

The broad mass appeal of MR. FOOD led to a cookbook contract with William Morrow & Company in 1989. Now, with a track record of more than 40 MR. FOOD cookbooks, the MR. FOOD group has relationships with publishers HarperCollins, Oxmoor House (a division of AOL Time Warner), and the American Diabetes Association (ADA) - with MR. FOOD diabetes cookbooks ranking among the all-time top-selling ADA consumer books…from all categories!

With the television food vignettes and the cookbooks, a true American brand was born. In 1993, MR. FOOD went to QVC, where the increasingly popular brand was responsible for more than 25 million dollars in cookbook sales. As a result of the enormous success and growing credibility of the MR. FOOD brand, the MR. FOOD licensing division was launched in 1995. The MR. FOOD image became synonymously associated with quality product endorsements adhering to the no-nonsense "quick 'n' easy" MR. FOOD philosophy.

The MR. FOOD group now has to its credit a high-profile consumer Web site, www.mrfood.com, offering recipes, information, cookbooks and food-related products adhering to the MR. FOOD no-nonsense food preparation philosophy, in addition to a popular recipe continuity program, produced and distributed by Oxmoor House. The MR. FOOD brand has become well-known to manufacturers and councils desiring to align themselves with a credible, trusted spokesperson who values quality and maintains exceptional standards.

Holmes comes by his tremendous talent naturally. His father is an African-American jazz musician and his mother is a classically trained Opera singer from Great Britain. Clint admits it was the best of two musical worlds, "My mom taught me how to sing correctly, and my dad taught me how to enjoy it."

Casual elegance describes Clint's presence on stage. He has a magical way of filling a room with a warm, comfortable sound. Clint's musical selections range from contemporary to classic, with jazz and opera thrown into the mix. In addition, he has an energy and passion for life and performing that are infectious.

Having spent more than 20 years performing, Holmes has served as Joan Rivers' sidekick and announcer on "The Late Show," as the musical feature and event correspondent for "Entertainment Tonight" and as the host of his own Emmy-award-winning talk/variety show. Holmes freely admits, though, that he loves nothing more than performing before a live audience.

Among his various recordings, Clint had a "Top Ten," smash hit, "Playground In My Mind (My Name Is Michael)."

Named Atlantic City's Entertainer of the Year three times, the multi-talented, charismatic Holmes is an American treasure. He starred in "Clint Holmes' Sophisticated Rhythms," a dynamic stage show journey through music of the 1940's through the present. In an overwhelming success, "Sophisticated Rhythms" played to two sold out performances nightly at the Sands Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City.

In July 1992, Clint was honored to be asked to be the featured performer at the Democratic National Convention at Madison Square Garden on the evening of Bill Clinton's presidential nomination.

To prove he's popular in both camps, he also appeared at The White House performing for President and Mrs. Bush and Vice President and Mrs. Quayle at "The National Literacy Honors" which aired on ABC.

Since moving to Las Vegas, Clint has quickly become a favorite in the Las Vegas community as well as a rising star in the entertainment arena. He was selected as "Best Kept Secret" by Las Vegas Life Magazine, and "Best Singer" (two years in a row), Best All-Around Las Vegas Performer" and "Favorite Male Las Vegan" by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Additionally, he has been the featured performer and host for the "Best of Las Vegas" Gala for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and host of the "Las Vegas Life Epicurean Awards. Clint was inducted into the Buffalo Musical Hall of Fame and into the Casino Legends Hall of Fame.

He released a DVD of his live performance at the Clint Homes Theater at Harrah's, which debuted nationwide via IN DEMAND on July 7, 2001. In 2006 his PBS special of his Las Vegas Act was aired nationwide. PBS filmed three acts in Las Vegas for airing last year and along with Barry Manilow and Andrea Boccelli, Mr. Holmes, found himself in great company .

In the world of theater Clint is a seasoned performer and writer. Along with Nelson Cole he created the Book, Music and Lyrics for the musical Comfortable Shoes. Clint starred in the World Premiere of this musical at the legendary Papermill Playhouse. The musical had another successful run at the Royal George Theater in Chicago. Clint recently starred as Simon Zealotes in the YouthTheatre America One-Night-Only benefit production of Jesus Christ Superstar with Ted Neeley, Yvonne Elliman, Barry Dennen,. Ben Vereen and Jack Black.

He has just finished writing his latest musical "Just Another Man" with Larry Moss and Bill Fayne. The World Premiere of this exciting new musical starring Mr. Holmes will be presented by the Nevada Conservatory Theater in May and June at the Judy Bailey Theater at UNLV.

More Than Me having recently returned from a successful show at the prestigious London Calling festival in Hyde Park opening for Paul McCartney in front of an estimated crowd of over 45,000 +, true to form hit the road again at the end of June to play some National dates beginning with Summerfest in Milwaukee - the largest U.S. Festival.

The Hard Rock London Calling event came about from a national contest held by the Hard Rock Corporation. More Than Me competed with hundreds of bands throughout the US and Canada but in the end, there could be only one! Spurred on by a grass roots movement by the fans of MTM and the Western New York community as a whole, and the Facebook community, the band won the competition by being judged by music fans around the world via an online voting competition and a panel of judges. WNY truly embraced this young band evidenced by the fact that the band was in the smallest market, competing with the likes of cities such as New York City, Detroit, Boston and Los Angeles.

Given Morgan's height, he did what any red blooded American would do and found himself playing basketball. After a successful high school basketball career at Fairfield High School in Connecticut, Morgan played Division I college basketball at Monmouth University. During Morgan's freshman year at the university, the Monmouth Hawks defeated Rider University to become the Northeast Conference champions. By winning the conference tournament, Morgan and the Hawks received an automatic bid to the 1996 NCAA tournament. Following a coaching change at Monmouth, Morgan transferred to Chaminade University in Hawaii, where he finished his college basketball career and graduated magna cum laude. It was here in Hawaii where he would meet the love of his life and future wife Larissa Vasper.

While Morgan had a strong love for basketball, he decided he had another hunger he needed to answer to, pro wrestling. Morgan tried his hand at some smaller organizations in Hawaii but it wasn't until he saw an ad for an MTV show until he saw his true potential.

In 2002, MTV was casting for the second season of their hit reality tv series "Tough Enough". The show was hosted by the World Wrestling Entertainment and granted two of the show's winners a one year contract with the company. During the taping of the show Morgan suffered a knee injury that would see him being forced to withdraw from the show. WWE knew that they had a true giant with unlimited potential on their hands and decided to offer him a developmental contract with the company.

It was late 2002 when Morgan debuted in the WWE developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling. OVW was used to train future WWE superstars on how to perform in front of a crowd, tell stories in the ring, develop their abilities to talk on the mic and perform as a character. During his stay in OVW Morgan caught the attention of a long time wrestling legend and his future mentor Jim Cornette. Jim is credited with creating the "Blue Print" moniker siting that "Matt is the blue print for how big men in the wrestling business should be in the future."

Morgan would get his first taste of the WWE spotlight in 2003. It was short lived but WWE was very anxious to put someone as physically impressive as Morgan on their television. He would go on to appear on several shows on the UPN Network as well as a few Pay Per Views before returning to OVW for more fine tuning.

When Morgan returned to OVW this second time he was a new person. He was more focused and more determined than ever after getting a taste of what it was like on the main WWE Roster. The heads of OVW took notice and it wasn't long before he held OVW's more prestigious title. Morgan dominated in OVW for nearly a year before being called upon once more to join the main roster of the WWE's Smackdown Roster.

Although Morgan had found himself still in love with the business and working for the top company in the world, something felt missing. He would leave the WWE in 2005 and take his talents internationally.

Many don't realize the amount of acting that goes into pro wrestling and Morgan was confident he could demonstrate just how conditioned actors wrestlers were. While he was in Italy, Morgan was cast in a movie called "Hercules". This would be the first of many Morgan would to go on to perform in. The wrestling bug was far from dead though as he wrestled throughout Europe and Japan during his down time.

Back in the states, a new wrestling company had received a chance to perform on a cable network. It was October 2005 to in which Total Nonstop Action Wrestling signed a deal with Spike TV. This caught Morgan's attention and he wanted to find his way to the company. He would do so in 2006.

Coincidently Morgan found himself aligned with his long time mentor Jim Cornette once again. While he didn't stay in this role long, he certainly turned the heads of people in Hollywood.

After a successful first season of the NBC revival of "American Gladiators", the company was looking to attract bigger gladiators. It didn't take long for NBC to sign off on brining Morgan into the fold. Morgan joined the show to become the largest Gladiator in the history of the show. He was cast in the role of "The Beast". While on the show he held an undefeated record when competing one on one with the contestants.

Morgan's size and stature would soon be immortalized thanks to Richard Garriot. As part of a project "Operation Immortality", Richard Garriot spent over thirty million dollars to purchase a seat aboard a Russian Space Shuttle. On that space shuttle with him he was carrying what was called "The Immortality Drive". The drive carried the Digital DNA Sequences of select American's for the preservation of humanity. The drive is stored on the International Space Station and contains the DNA of Morgan as well as Stephen Colbert and Stephen Hawkings. Morgan was chosen because Garriot and his company believed that Morgan was the antithesis human genetics.

Morgan still wrestles for TNA and now not only referred to as "The Blue Print" Matt Morgan but also as "The DNA of TNA".