Chuck Lorre is the famous creator of numerous well-known CBS sitcoms, such as Two and Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, and Mom, which has helped him accumulate an estimated net worth of $600 million. While many people know about his numerous TV credits and achievements from over the past decade and a half, there are some facts about Chuck Lorre that may not be familiar with, ones that may surprise you. Here are five things you (probably) didn’t know about Chuck Lorre.
He changed his last name from “Levine” to “Lorre.”
Even though he was born as Charles Michael Levine in Bethpage, Long Island, New York in 1952, Chuck Lorre eventually changed his name when he was twenty-six years old. When asked why, he has given a very detailed explanation, stating that, “The reason I changed my name was simple. My mother, never a fan of my father’s family, had an unfortunate habit of using Levine as a stinging insult. When displeased with me, she would often say/shriek, ‘You know what you are? You’re a Levine! A no good, rotten Levine!’ So, for as far back as I can remember, every time I heard my last name I would experience acute feelings of low self-esteem.” Lorre’s first wife. Paula Smith, encouraged him to go through with the name change and even suggested Lorre as a last name, a suggestion that he obviously took.
He dropped out of college to become a songwriter.
Lorre dropped out of college at the State University of New York at Potsdam after two years in order to pursue a musical career as a songwriter. Lorre has said that during his two years in college he “majored in rock ‘n’ roll and pot and minored in LSD.” He ended up writing Deborah Harry’s radio hit single “French Kissin’ in the USA” for her Rockbird album back in 1986 and also composed the soundtrack to L the 1987 television series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles along with Dennis Challen Brown before landing a writing gig on the infamous TV sitcom, Roseanne.
He suffers from the autoimmune disease, Ulcerative Colitis.
Unfortunately, Chuck Lorre has the Ulcerative Colitis, an autoimmune disease that is a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which is not to be confused with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The disease causes the colon to have open sores and ulcers and even makes individuals have blood in their stool.
He publicly apologized for Two and Half Men.
Two and a Half Men is one of the most disliked shows on TV by countless critics and fans (despite the millions of viewers that it gets). Apparently, Chuck Lorre realizes how much of a bad reputation his show has, because he actually apologized for it just last month while at the at the Television Academy Honors. Lorre was being an honored for episode of Mom, which centered on Allison Janney’s character, who is an alcoholic on the show, falling off the wagon and then attempting to repair her life. During his acceptance speech, Lorre jokingly said, ““To do a show about people trying to redeem their lives and to salvage and repair the damage they’ve done — for me, it’s an opportunity to apologize for Two and a Half Men.”
There have been many connections/crossovers between the shows that he has worked on.
There have been numerous connections and crossovers between many of the shows that Chuck Lorre has worked on. For example, Lorre first met Jonathan Galecki of The Big Bang Theory when he played Darlene’s boyfriend (and then husband) on Roseanne, and additionally, Sara Gilbert, who played Darlene, was on The Big Bang Theory in the role of Leslie Winkle. Furthermore, Lorre has had his characters even watch shows that he worked on previously. In a fifth season episode of Two and a Half Men (“Is There a Mrs. Waffles?”), Charlie watches an episode of Dharma and Greg, a series that Lorre himself created back in 1997.
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