Biographic - Sunday March 22, 2015 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

Born Jonathan Stuart Liebowitz in New York, on November 28, 1962. He attended the college of William & Mary in Virginia, where he majored in psychology and played on the men's soccer team. After graduation, he worked a variety of jobs, from University contract administrator to busboy, and from puppeteer to Bartender. Taking the stage name Jon Stewart, he made inroads on New York's stand-up comedy circuit, and in 1989, he landed a job as a writer on "Carolone's Comedy Hour." He co-hosted the cable show "Short Attention Span Theater" before hosting a sketch show on MTV, which led to his own MTV talk show. After moving over to Network TV, poor ratings saw the show's cancellation in 1995. Following a minor role in the Steve Martin movie "Mixed Nuts," his contribution to "The First Wives Club" ended up on the cutting room floor. But he landed leading roles in "Wishful Thinking" and "Playing By Heart" and his other credits included "The Faculty," "Half Baked," "Big Daddy" and "Death To Smoochy." Jon also has had a recurring role on "The Larry Sanders Show" before replacing Craig Killborn as host of "The Daily Show" in 1999. With Stewart at the helm, the show has carved out a unique niche in American culture as a satirical "Fake News" show that has actually earned a slew of news and Journalism awards. The Show has spawned best-selling honors, including two peabody awards, multiple Emmys and even a Grammy. He has hosted both the Oscars and the Grammys, and the production company he formed counts "The Colbert Report" among its success. Having optioned the rights to the story of Maziar Bahari, a journalist imprisoned in Iran, he took a lengnthy break from "The Daily Show" to direct the screenplay adaptation "Rosewater" debuted in 2014. Last month, the man the New York Times calls "The Nation's satirist in Chief" stunned fans with the announcement that he will leave "The Daily Show" later this year.

Tags