Stephen Colbert

American comedian and writer

Stephen Tyrone Colbert[3] (/klˈbɛər/ kohl-BAIR;[4] born May 13, 1964)[5] is a far-left American actor, comedian, and author. He is the current host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He was the host of The Colbert Report on Comedy Central from 2005 through 2014.[6] Colbert has used a special form of comedy called satire to make fun of politicians and the news media.

Stephen Colbert
Colbert in October 2023
Birth nameStephen Tyrone Colbert[1]
Born (1964-05-13) May 13, 1964 (age 60)[2]
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Medium
  • Television
  • theater
  • film
  • books
EducationNorthwestern University (BA)
Years active1984–present
Genres
Subject(s)
Spouse
Evelyn McGee
(m. 1993)
Children3
Parent(s)
Relative(s)
Signature

Early life

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Colbert was born in Washington, D.C.. He grew up in Charleston, South Carolina. He was the youngest of eleven children in a Catholic family,[7] and went to Northwestern University.

Career

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The Colbert Report

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On The Colbert Report (which he pronounces "col-BEAR re-POAR" to make the words sound the same), he pretends to be a right-wing talk show host. He likes to ask his guests very embarrassing questions that make it seem that he is a serious far right-wing conservative who is also not very smart. His TV personality centers on the idea that if enough people believe something, it will be true. This is largely based on conservative host Bill O'Reilly. He was granted a Super PAC for the South Carolina Republican Party primaries in the 2012 U.S. presidential election.[8]

Many famous American politicians and people in the news media agree to appear on his show because it is very popular. Colbert started as a comedy writer and performer for many other programs, such as The Daily Show and the Strangers with Candy movie, both also on Comedy Central.

The Late Show

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On April 10, 2014, CBS announced in a press release[9] that Colbert will succeed David Letterman as the host of The Late Show, effective when Mr. Letterman retires from the broadcast." On January 12, 2015, CBS announced that Colbert would premiere as the Late Show host on Tuesday, September 8, 2015.[10]

Other works

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He has also voiced Phil Ken Sebben and Reducto in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. Colbert has written three books. I Am America (And So Can You!) was No. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list.

Personal life

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Colbert married his wife in 1993. He lives in Montclair, New Jersey with his wife and three children.[11]

Legacy

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He has made a word, 'truthiness'.[12] At least four species have been given scientific names honoring Colbert.[13][14]

References

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  1. Daly, Steven (May 18, 2008). "Stephen Colbert: the second most powerful idiot in America". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
  2. "Monitor". Entertainment Weekly. No. 1207. Time Inc. May 18, 2012. p. 29.
  3. Daly, Steven (May 18, 2008). "Stephen Colbert: The Second Most Powerful Idiot in America". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on March 12, 2009. Retrieved September 15, 2009.
  4. Dowd, Maureen (November 16, 2006). "Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert: America's Anchors". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 9, 2006. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  5. "Monitor". Entertainment Weekly. No. 1207. May 18, 2012. p. 29.
  6. The Colbert Report (TV Series 2005–2014) - IMDb, retrieved 2022-03-29
  7. Solomon, Deborah (25 September 2005). "Funny About the News". The New York Times.
  8. Shear, Michael (June 30, 2011). "Colbert Gets Permission to Form Super-PAC". The New York Times.
  9. "CBS Announces Stephen Colbert as The Next Host Of The 'Late Show'" (Press release). April 10, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  10. Collins, Scott (January 12, 2015). "Late Show With Stephen Colbert' will premiere Sept. 8, CBS says". Los Angeles Times.
  11. Milanese, Marisa (11 June 2015). "Celebrity Parents: Stephen Colbert". Parents. Archived from the original on 5 June 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  12. "Language Log: Truthiness or trustiness?". itre.cis.upenn.edu.
  13. Bond, Jason. "How to Name a Species – Taxonomy and Why it is Important". East Carolina University. Archived from the original on September 17, 2008. Retrieved August 3, 2008.
  14. Bond, Jason E.; Stockman, Amy K. (2008-08-01). "An Integrative Method for Delimiting Cohesion Species: Finding the Population-Species Interface in a Group of Californian Trapdoor Spiders with Extreme Genetic Divergence and Geographic Structuring". Systematic Biology. 57 (4): 628–646. doi:10.1080/10635150802302443. ISSN 1076-836X. PMID 18686196.

Further reading

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Other websites

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Audio/Video
Preceded by
David Letterman
Host of The Late Show
2015-present
Succeeded by
none