Brian "Kato" Kaelin (born March 9, 1959 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American aspiring actor who received considerable notoriety due to his peripheral involvement in events surrounding the 1994-95 O.J. Simpson murder case. His name has become something of a byword, as a textbook example of Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame.
Kaelin graduated from Nicolet High School in Glendale, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, in 1977. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and subsequently moved to Los Angeles, California, to pursue a career in baseball.
He was married to Cynthia Coulter from 1983 to 1989. They have one child.
He was nicknamed "Kato" as a child after the character played by Bruce Lee in the television series, The Green Hornet.
Kaelin came to notice for his role as a minor witness in the trial of O.J. Simpson for the murder of Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. In 1994, Kaelin was staying in a guest house on the Simpson property, and was present at the compound on the night of June 12, witnessing some of Simpson's movements before and after the time of the murders. Kaelin's story seemed to contradict Simpson's version of the events on some key points. However, his rambling and inconsistent testimony over four days of the 1995 criminal trial made him a less-than-ideal witness for the prosecution. In fact, prosecutor Marcia Clark had him declared a hostile witness. Kaelin also testified at the 1996 civil trial against Simpson.
As one of the more colorful figures in the Simpson case cast of characters, Kaelin received considerable media attention. He was the subject of jokes by TV comedians, who made fun of his spaced-out surf bum persona, lack of employment and parasitic habits.
In 1989, Kato starred in a low budget movie "Night Shadow"... He is subsequently killed off by the Werewolf.
In 1998, Kaelin went on a speaking tour billed as the The Sixteenth Minute, talking about life after his fifteen minutes of fame.
For a short time in 1995, Kaelin was a radio talk host on KLSX in Los Angeles, and also worked for National Lampoon providing online content.
Kaelin participated in the development of a 2004 reality show called House Guest where he would live in the homes of other (minor) celebrities. The show never aired.
In 2005, Kaelin appeared in the first three National Lampoon's Strip Poker pay-per-view programs (Kaelin is an avid poker player). The titles were filmed at the notorious Hedonism II, a naturist resort in Negril, Jamaica, which led Kaelin to quip, "The first few days there were the hardest!" The Playboy bunnies, WWE Divas, and pin-up models competing in the no limit Texas hold 'em games -- upon losing all their chips and clothes -- had to dive into the "Pool of Shame" and visit "Kato's Guesthouse," where Kato would interview the defeated players. Kato also appeared in numerous comedic skits.
In June 2005, Kato Kaelin began to host National Lampoon's Eye for an Eye, a daytime TV court show that is in syndication in 34 countries.
He is a recurring guest on the video game review show X-Play.
Kaelin had a minor role in National Lampoon's Dorm Daze 2.
Kaelin also appeared periodically as a guest co-host for Confessions Live, a syndicated call-in talk show that was produced in Arkansas.
Kaelin also appeared as the subject of a 2007 Ask.com advertisement, as the topic for which the female user was looking.
This article contains a trivia section.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items into the main text and removing inappropriate items.
This article has been tagged since June 2007.
"If he'd hang out with Kato Kaelin, I guess he'd hang out with me"
O. J. Simpson murder case
Key figures
Prosecution figures
Defense figures
Witnesses
Other elements
Kato was involved in an ebay commercial during the summer of 2007.
Pre-expand include size: 2363 bytes
Post-expand include size: 1997 bytes
Template argument size: 36 bytes
Maximum: 2048000 bytes
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kato_Kaelin"
Categories: Articles with trivia sections from June 2007 | O.J. Simpson murder trial | 1959 births | Living people | People from Milwaukee | National Lampoon people
if (window.isMSIE55) fixalpha();
if (window.runOnloadHook) runOnloadHook();
