David Henry Sterry

David Henry Sterry
Born	David Henry Sterry United States
Occupation	Writer, actor/comic
Nationality	American
Period	1983–present
Notable works	Chicken: Self-Portrait of a Young Man for Rent (2002), Hos, Hookers, Call Girls & Rent Boys (2009), The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published, co-authored with his wife, Arielle Eckstut.
Spouse	Arielle Eckstut

David Henry Sterry is an American author, actor/comic, activist and former sex worker.

Sterry's parents were immigrants from Newcastle, England. His paternal grandfather was a coal miner. His maternal grandfather was a professional soccer player, bicyclist, and boxer, as well as a suspected pedophile. grew up in New Jersey; Birmingham, Alabama; Virginia, Minnesota; and Dallas, Texas. He attended boarding school at Darrow School in New Lebanon, NY, went to Immaculate Heart College in Hollywood for one year, where he also was employed as sex worker. This became the subject of his first memoir, Chicken: Self-Portrait of a Young Man for Rent. He then transferred to Reed College, where he studied existentialism and poetry, and graduated in 1978. There he began to publish his poetry, which has appeared in journals such as The Orangutan, and Santa Monica Review. He was a baseball prodigy, and after training in England, was offered a professional soccer contract when he was 21. He has worked as a building inspector, a chicken fryer, a limousine driver, a telephone solicitor, a soccer referee, and a marriage counselor.

He started in show business as a stand-up comedian and improviser in the San Francisco during the comedy boom of the early 1980s, performing at clubs such as the Holy City Zoo, The Other Cafe, and the infamous Sutro Bath House. He opened for acts ranging from Milton Berle to Robin Williams to Dana Carvey. He then became an actor, appearing in small productions, such as Nuts at the Walnut Creek Rep, and Comedians the Red Flag Theater Company. In 1984, he moved to New York, where he appeared in hundreds of commercials, for McDonald's, AT&T, and Levi's, eventually becoming the spokesman for Publisher's Clearing House. He also performed in many Off-Off Broadway plays, such as Story Theater, and Fast Girls, and began writing short plays which he performed at places such as the West Bank Theater, with actors such as John Michael Higgins, and comedians like Louis Black. In 1985 he was hired to be the master of ceremonies at Chippendales, the notorious male stripper show. Nick de Noia, the creator of the show, was assassinated while Sterry was working for him. This would become the subject of his second memoir, Master of Ceremonies: A True Story of Love, Murder, Roller Skates & Chippendales. He was brought to Hollywood to act in the film Memoirs of an Invisible Man, starring Chevy Chase, directed by John Carpenter. He appeared in a pilot for Eddie Murphy's production company. It starred Margaret Cho, and was not picked up by ABC. This led to a string of guest starring roles in black sitcoms like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Sister Sister, Roc, Minor Adjustmnents, and in HBO's Dream On. He was a regular on the HBO/CTW show Encyclopedia, where he played characters ranging from George Washington to Napoleon Bonaparte to Leif Erikson. He also appeared in what is widely regarded as one of the worst movies ever made, Hellroller. He wrote the movie script Army Dog for Disney, and sold the feature Jackpot to Nickleoden. His script Baby Love was purchased by Goldstreet Pictures. None of these scripts were made.

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