Terry Fator

Fator was the lead singer of a local band called Texas The Band during the late-1980s through 2001, and met his first wife, Melinda, after she began to follow the band extensively. They married on January 8, 1991. Melinda left Terry in January 2009 and returned to Texas from Las Vegas where they had recently moved. She filed for divorce in February 2009 in Texas. Terry married Taylor Makakoa (who, identified in the closing credits as "Taylor Dew", appears on Terry's DVD as his on-stage assistant) in Las Vegas. They had a wedding ceremony in Hawaii on November 7, 2010. After 4 years of marriage Terry and Taylor divorced. In April 2015 Terry was performing for a charity event in Corsicana TX and his sister Debi Beard had hired a caterer with the intention of hiring to set Terry up with Angela Fiore. Angie and Terry began to date and Terry proposed to Angie Fiore on stage in 2015. and subsequently married Angie Fiore a few months later in November 2015.

Fator's success stems from combining singing, ventriloquism, and comedy. Fator was the lead singer in bands and often did impersonations of singers Garth Brooks, Etta James, James Taylor and Dean Martin, while ventriloquism had been just a comic side gig for him. In 2005, Fator decided to combine his talents, singing, ventriloquism, comedy, and impersonations. "I had one of my characters sing Garth Brooks' "Friends in Low Places" and the audience went crazy," Fator said. "Boy, that was when my life changed." After his initial success Fator revamped his act. "It took me six months and I completely rewrote the show," says Fator. "It was then that people really noticed and I started getting standing ovations at the end of every show,"

On June 19, 2007, Fator made his first national appearance on America's Got Talent. Speaking on the experience, he said, "Not in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would win that show ... Essentially I auditioned because the guy that was the ventriloquist the first season got on Late Show with David Letterman... So I figured I'd do three episodes like he did and end up on 'David Letterman'." After winning the show, Fator actually had to turn the Letterman gig down fourteen times before his schedule was clear so he could appear. "My schedule got so packed, and it broke my heart every time I had to turn him down," Fator says.

It was announced on the show that in conjunction with winning, he was to appear at the Jubilee Theatre at Bally's Las Vegas. However, the spots were only going to be 15 minutes long, and in complete mutual cooperation with his management team and Bally's, the plan was dropped. Fator performed at Christian rock legend Larry Norman's 60th birthday party in April 2007. Later Fator flew Larry to tapings of America's Got Talent and also to his debut show at the Las Vegas Hilton as an honored guest. Norman told friends shortly before his death that it was one of the most fun years of his life.

In early December 2007, Fator signed a contract for $1.5 million with the Las Vegas Hilton to do three shows a month from January 2008 to May 2008. Fator also performed a 6 p.m. early family New Year's Eve show on December 31, 2007.

In 2007, Fator became an official supporter of Ronald McDonald House Charities and is a member of their celebrity board, called the Friends of RMHC.

In July 2007 Fator appeared in Montana to raise funds for the Kidsports Sports Complex in Kalispell and said he wanted to come back in 2008 to do another show. “We thought, we bet he wants to, but we bet he won’t have time,” said Nancy Manning of Rotary Club of Kalispell. “He made time because it’s so important to him.” All proceeds from Fator’s show went towards the field.

In 2007 Fator performed a benefit for families of miners in Huntington, Utah.

On September 3, 2007, Fator made a special appearance in the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon at the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, thanking the crowd for the support. He brought back Emma Taylor to sing "At Last" and Winston the Turtle to sing "What a Wonderful World". He returned to the Telethon on September 1, 2008 and brought Julius to sing "Only You" from The Platters, Marvin Gaye's song, "Let's Get It On," and "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley. Maynard Thomkins was also brought on to sing "Viva Las Vegas" to finish the show. Fator made his 3rd consecutive telethon appearance (this time via satellite from his showroom during a performance of his show) on September 6, 2009 with puppets The Fifth Beatle and Vikki The Cougar with special guests The Commodores, who joined Fator performing "Brick House".

On March 17, 2008, Fator appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show along with American Idol Judge Simon Cowell. To the amazement of Oprah, Cowell referred to Fator as one of the "two most talented people on the planet." Fator performed with three of his dummies; country singer Walter T. Airedale performed a Garth Brooks song and Winston the impersonating Turtle sang a Bee Gees song. Julius performed a Marvin Gaye song; Julius was a favorite when he appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show. "As soon as I brought out Julius, she had this look on her face, wondering what I was about to do," Fator said. "Once I started into Marvin Gaye, she fell out of her chair."

On May 13, 2008 it was announced that Fator had signed a five-year, $100 million contract to perform nightly at The Mirage on the Las Vegas Strip. He replaced headliner Danny Gans and the theater was renamed the Terry Fator Theatre. Reportedly, Fator's deal is one of the largest entertainment deals in Las Vegas history.

Fator announced in July 2008 that he was at work on a book. "I never thought in my whole life I would write a whole book. It's called 'Who's the Dummy Now?'" Fator announced at the 2008 Bloomsburg Fair on the week of September 20–27, 2008 that he finished his book.

On September 10, 2008, Fator reappeared on America's Got Talents Top Twenty Results Show as a guest. He brought back a larger Winston the Impersonating Turtle to sing Marvin Gaye's song, "Let's Get It On." Maynard Thomkins was also brought on to sing "Viva Las Vegas". Winston was not the only puppet that was reconfigured; on an August 1, 2008 ABC News Now interview, he brought a reshaped Emma Taylor to sing "At Last."

In 2008, Fator performed at the Palace Theatre in Corsicana, Texas. Proceeds benefited the Navarro Council of the Arts and the Mildred Drama Club. Fator is a native of Corsicana.

On September 1, 2009, Fator's first DVD, Terry Fator: Live from Las Vegas (recorded during a performance at the Mirage), was released shortly after its August 28, 2009 debut airing on CMT. Copies sold at Target stores include footage not shown on the CMT broadcast.

In 2010, Fator did a doodle for a charity celebrity doodle auction for Neurofibromatosis, more commonly known as NF. 100% of the profit from all the doodles went to help families with NF.

Also, on September 14, 2011, he was invited once again to perform as a guest on the Finals of America's Got Talent. This time he brought Julius, the soul singer, that performed "Ain't No Sunshine".

In 2013, he voiced a character on the Disney Channel show Mickey Mouse.

On May 30, 2013, Fator celebrated his 1,000th show at The Mirage Hotel & Casino.

On September 11, 2013, Fator returned to perform as a guest on America's Got Talent during the Top 12 results show.

On September 16, 2015, Fator made a guest appearance on America's Got Talent during the finals show, performing alongside eventual tenth-season winner and ventriloquist Paul Zerdin.

On September 20, 2017, Fator made another guest appearance during the twelfth-season finale, performing alongside eventual winner Darci Lynne, another singing ventriloquist.