126 Facts About Stephen Colbert

Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host.

Stephen Colbert is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program The Colbert Report from 2005 to 2014, and the CBS talk program The Late Show with Stephen Colbert since September 2015.

Stephen Colbert first performed professionally as an understudy for Steve Carell at Second City Chicago.

Stephen Colbert performed on The Dana Carvey Show and wrote for the show, before collaborating again with Sedaris and Dinello on the sitcom Strangers with Candy.

Stephen Colbert hosted the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards in September 2017.

Stephen Colbert has won nine Primetime Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, and three Peabody Awards.

Stephen Colbert was named one of Times 100 Most Influential People in 2006 and 2012.

Stephen Colbert was born in Washington, DC, the youngest of eleven children in a Catholic family.

Stephen Colbert's mother, Lorna Elizabeth Stephen Colbert, was a homemaker.

In interviews, Stephen Colbert has described his parents as devout people who nevertheless strongly valued intellectualism, and taught their children it was possible to question the Church and still be Catholic.

Stephen Colbert has said his father was interested in French humanist writers including Leon Bloy and Jacques Maritain, while his mother was fond of Catholic Worker Movement leader Dorothy Day.

Regardless, Colbert recalls having a "pretty conservative upbringing"; with his mother voting for a Democrat, John F Kennedy, exactly once in her life.

Stephen Colbert offered his children the option to pronounce the name whichever way they preferred.

On September 11,1974, when Stephen Colbert was ten years old, his father and his brothers Paul and Peter, who were closest to him in age, died in the crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 while attempting to land in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Stephen Colbert has discussed the impact the tragedy has on him and his philosophy of grief and suffering.

Lorna Stephen Colbert moved the family from James Island to the George Chisolm House, in downtown Charleston, and she ran the carriage house as a bed and breakfast.

Stephen Colbert found the transition difficult and did not easily make friends in the new neighborhood.

Stephen Colbert developed a love of science fiction and fantasy novels, especially the works of JR R Tolkien, of which he remains an avid fan.

Stephen Colbert says two of his favorite chapters in The Lord of the Rings are The Shadow of the Past and The Council of Elrond.

Stephen Colbert attended Charleston's Episcopal Porter-Gaud School participating in several school plays and contributing to the school newspaper but he was not highly motivated academically.

Stephen Colbert found the curriculum to be rigorous, but was more focused than he had been in high school and was able to apply himself to his studies.

Stephen Colbert graduated from Northwestern's School of Communication in 1986.

Stephen Colbert began performing improvisation while in college, both in the campus improv team No Fun Mud Piranhas and at the Annoyance Theatre in Chicago as a part of Del Close's ImprovOlympic at a time when the project was focused on competitive, long-form improvisation, rather than improvisational comedy.

Stephen Colbert accepted and discovered that Second City employees were entitled to take classes at their training center free of charge.

When Sedaris and Dinello were offered the opportunity to create a television series for HBO Downtown Productions, Stephen Colbert left Second City and relocated to New York to work with them on the sketch comedy show Exit 57.

Stephen Colbert then worked briefly as a freelance writer for Saturday Night Live with Robert Smigel.

Smigel brought his animated sketch, The Ambiguously Gay Duo, to SNL from The Dana Carvey Show; Stephen Colbert provided the voice of Ace on both series, opposite Steve Carell as Gary.

Comedy Central picked up the series in 1998 after Stephen Colbert had already begun working on The Daily Show.

Stephen Colbert served as a main writer alongside Sedaris and Dinello, and portrayed Jerri's strict but uninformed history teacher, Chuck Noblet, seen throughout the series dispensing inaccurate information to his classes.

Stephen Colbert has likened this to the character he played on The Daily Show and later The Stephen Colbert Report, claiming that he has a very specific niche in portraying "poorly informed, high-status idiot" characters.

Stephen Colbert reprised his role for a film adaptation which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005 and had a limited release in 2006.

Stephen Colbert joined the cast of Comedy Central's parody-news series The Daily Show in 1997, when the show was in its second season.

Originally one of four correspondents who filmed segments from remote locations in the style of network news field reporters, Stephen Colbert was referred to as "the new guy" on-air for his first two years on the show, during which time Craig Kilborn served as host.

Unlike Stewart, who essentially hosted The Daily Show as himself, Stephen Colbert developed a correspondent character for his pieces on the series that was a parody of conservative political pundits such as Bill O'Reilly.

Stephen Colbert was frequently pitted against knowledgeable interview subjects, or against Stewart in scripted exchanges, with the resultant dialogue demonstrating the character's lack of knowledge of whatever subject he is discussing.

Stephen Colbert appeared in several recurring segments for The Daily Show, including "Even Stevphen" with Steve Carell, in which both characters were expected to debate a selected topic but instead would unleash their anger at one another.

Stephen Colbert commonly hosted "This Week in God", a report on topics in the news pertaining to religion, presented with the help of the "God Machine".

Stephen Colbert filed reports from the floor of the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention as a part of The Daily Show's award-winning coverage of the 2000 and 2004 US presidential elections; many from the latter were included as part of their The Daily Show: Indecision 2004 DVD release.

In several episodes of The Daily Show, Stephen Colbert filled in as anchor in the absence of Jon Stewart, including the full week of March 3,2002, when Stewart was scheduled to host Saturday Night Live.

Stephen Colbert won three Emmys as a writer of The Daily Show in 2004,2005, and 2006.

Stephen Colbert hosted his own television show, The Stephen Colbert Report, from October 17,2005, through December 18,2014.

The Stephen Colbert Report was a Daily Show spin-off that parodied the conventions of television news broadcasting, particularly cable-personality political talk shows like The O'Reilly Factor, Hannity, and Glenn Beck.

Stephen Colbert hosted the show in-character as a blustery right-wing pundit, generally considered to be an extension of his character on The Daily Show.

In July 2012, Stephen Colbert added two years to his contract with Comedy Central, extending the run of The Stephen Colbert Report until the end of 2014.

Stephen Colbert was an executive producer on Comedy Central's Tha God's Honest Truth.

Although, by his own account, he was not particularly political before joining the cast of The Daily Show, Stephen Colbert has described himself as a Democrat according to a 2004 interview.

Stephen Colbert owns a 1972 Richard Nixon campaign poster, which hangs on a wall in his office.

Stephen Colbert's issues were education, drugs, women, minorities, youth involvement, ending the draft, and improving the environment.

Stephen Colbert has criticized the United States' use of drone strikes, and NSA's surveillance tactics, during the Obama administration.

Stephen Colbert is in favor of abolishing the US Senate.

Stephen Colbert called for a ceasefire in Gaza after the 2024 World Central Kitchen aid convoy attack carried by the IDF.

On Saturday, April 29,2006, Stephen Colbert was the featured entertainer for the 2006 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.

Stephen Colbert's jokes were often met with silence and muttering, apart from the enthusiastic laughter of a few in the audience.

Washington Post columnist Dan Froomkin and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism professor Todd Gitlin claimed that this was because Stephen Colbert's routine was as critical of the media as it was of Bush.

Stephen Colbert later abandoned plans to run as a Republican due to the $35,000 fee required to file for the South Carolina primary; however, he continued to seek a place on the Democratic ballot and on October 28,2007, campaigned in the South Carolina state capital of Columbia, where he was presented with the key to the city by Mayor Bob Coble.

Stephen Colbert's promotion inspired $68,000 in donations to South Carolina classrooms, which benefited over 14,000 low-income students.

Stephen Colbert viewers donated $185,000 to projects reaching 43,000 students in Pennsylvania public schools.

In October 2008, Stephen Colbert made an extended 8-page appearance webslinging with Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man issue No 573.

Stephen Colbert voiced the president of the US in the 2009 film Monsters vs Aliens.

Stephen Colbert had a suit tailored for him in the Army Combat Uniform pattern.

On September 24,2010, Stephen Colbert testified in character before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Security.

Stephen Colbert was invited by committee chairwoman Zoe Lofgren to describe his experience participating in the United Farm Workers' "Take Our Jobs" program, where he spent a day working alongside migrant workers in upstate New York.

Stephen Colbert can be very funny, but his kind of sarcasm only works in some contexts, and a House committee hearing room does not appear to be one of them.

In September 2010, following Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor rally, a campaign developed that called for Stephen Colbert to hold his own rally at the Lincoln Memorial.

On September 16,2010, Stewart and Stephen Colbert announced competing rallies on the Washington, DC, Mall on October 30,2010, Stewart's "Rally to Restore Sanity", and Stephen Colbert's "March to Keep Fear Alive".

Stephen Colbert then stated that he would be making a "Major Announcement" during the next day's show.

Stephen Colbert is co-author of the satirical text-and-picture novel Wigfield: The Can Do Town That Just May Not, which was published in 2003 by Hyperion Books.

Stephen Colbert appeared in a small supporting role in the 2005 film adaptation of Bewitched.

Stephen Colbert voiced the characters of Reducto and Phil Ken Sebben in the Adult Swim's Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, but left the show in 2005 to work on The Colbert Report.

Stephen Colbert's characters were both killed, though he returned to voice Phil for the series finale.

Stephen Colbert has provided voices for Cartoon Network's The Venture Bros.

Stephen Colbert filled in for Sam Seder on the second episode of The Majority Report on Air America Radio, and was a frequent guest.

Stephen Colbert has done reports for The Al Franken Show.

Stephen Colbert appeared on a track on Wig in a Box, a tribute album for Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Stephen Colbert read the part of Leopold Bloom in Bloomsday on Broadway XXIV: Love Literature Language Lust: Leopold's Women Bloom on June 16,2005, at Symphony Space in New York City.

Stephen Colbert appeared in a series of TV commercials for General Motors, as a not-too-bright investigator searching for the elusive "Mr Goodwrench".

Stephen Colbert portrayed the letter Z in Sesame Street: All-Star Alphabet, a 2005 video release.

Stephen Colbert released a book associated with The Stephen Colbert Report, I Am America.

In January 2010, Stephen Colbert was named the assistant sports psychologist for the US Olympic speed skating team at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

In May 2011, Stephen Colbert joined the Charleston to Bermuda Race yachting race, as captain of the ship "the Spirit of Juno".

Stephen Colbert is part of the Montclair Film advisory board.

Stephen Colbert has a cameo as a "Laketown Spy" in the film The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, along with his wife and two sons, filmed on location in New Zealand.

The program is used by several late-night talk shows, including Stephen Colbert's Late Show, The Daily Show, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

Stephen Colbert has said his comedy influences include Don Novello; Phil Silvers; Alec Guinness; Bill Cosby; George Carlin; Dean Martin; Jon Stewart; Monty Python, Steve Martin; and David Letterman.

Stephen Colbert is a practicing Roman Catholic who has taught Sunday school at church.

Stephen Colbert is an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church Monastery.

Stephen Colbert is an avid reader and his favorite authors include JR R Tolkien, JD Salinger, Robertson Davies, George Saunders, Larry Niven, Henry Kuttner, and Isaac Asimov.

Stephen Colbert has been married to Evelyn "Evie" McGee-Stephen Colbert since 1993.

Stephen Colbert is the daughter of prominent Charleston civil litigator Joseph McGee, of the firm Buist Moore Smythe McGee.

Stephen Colbert's wife appeared with him in an episode of Strangers with Candy as his mother.

Stephen Colbert had an uncredited cameo as a nurse in the series pilot and a credited one in the film.

Stephen Colbert later described the first moment he met Evie as being a love at first sight encounter.

Stephen Colbert has been deaf in his right ear since he was a child due to complications from a surgery for a tumor.

In 2020, Stephen Colbert revealed he developed benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, a type of balance disorder.

In October 2023, Stephen Colbert tested positive for COVID for a second time.

In November 2023, Stephen Colbert suffered from a ruptured appendix during a taping of an episode of The Late Show, putting the show on hiatus for a few weeks as he recovered from surgery.

Stephen Colbert later said the pain he was attempting to conceal during the taping was greatly exacerbated when celebrity chef Jose Andres grabbed him for an impromptu dance during a cooking segment.

Stephen Colbert was nominated for three Emmys for The Colbert Report in 2006, including Best Performance in a Variety, Musical Program or Special, which he lost to Barry Manilow.

Manilow and Stephen Colbert jokingly signed and notarized a revolving biannual custody agreement for the Emmy on The Stephen Colbert Report episode aired on October 30,2006.

Stephen Colbert lost in the same category to Tony Bennett in 2007 and to Don Rickles in 2008.

In January 2006, the American Dialect Society named truthiness, a word which Stephen Colbert coined on the premiere episode of The Stephen Colbert Report, as its 2005 Word of the Year.

Stephen Colbert devoted time on five successive episodes to bemoaning the failure of the Associated Press to mention his role in popularizing the word truthiness in its news coverage of the Word of the Year.

In June 2006, after speaking at the school's commencement ceremony, Stephen Colbert received an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts degree from Knox College.

Stephen Colbert was named Person of the Year by the US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado on March 3,2007, and was given the Speaker of the Year Award by The Cross Examination Debate Association on March 24,2007, for his "drive to expose the rhetorical shortcomings of contemporary political discourse".

Stephen Colbert has received three Peabody Awards, in 2007,2011, and 2020.

Stephen Colbert was nominated for five TCA Awards for The Colbert Report by the Television Critics Association.

Stephen Colbert was honored for the Gutsiest Move on the Spike TV Guys' Choice Awards on June 13,2007, for his performance at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.

On October 28,2007, Stephen Colbert received the key to the city of Columbia, South Carolina, from Mayor Bob Coble.

On December 20,2007, Stephen Colbert was named Celebrity of the Year by The Associated Press.

In 2008, Stephen Colbert won the Emmy Award for writing again, this time as a writer for The Stephen Colbert Report.

Stephen Colbert delivered the Class Day address to the graduating class of Princeton University on June 2,2008, and accepted the Class of 2008 Understandable Vanity Award, consisting of a sketch of Stephen Colbert and a mirror.

Stephen Colbert has been announced as the Person of the Year for the 12th annual Webby Awards.

Stephen Colbert announced the nominees for Song of the Year while toting a pre-released Apple iPad.

Stephen Colbert was the 2011 commencement speaker for Northwestern University, and received an honorary degree.

In 2013, Stephen Colbert again won the Emmy award for writing for The Stephen Colbert Report.

In 2014, Stephen Colbert won the 2014 Best Spoken Word Album for his audiobook America Again: Re-becoming The Greatness We Never Weren't.

Stephen Colbert received an honorary degree from Wake Forest University as the 2015 commencement speaker.

In 2015, Stephen Colbert was awarded the third highest honor within the Department of the Army Civilian Awards, the Outstanding Civilian Service Award, for substantial contributions to the US Army community.

In 2017 and 2018, Stephen Colbert was named one of "The 35 Most Powerful People in New York Media" by The Hollywood Reporter.

Stephen Colbert was chosen as one of GQ's "Men of the Year" for its December 2017 issue.

Stephen Colbert was placed at number 32 in Vanity Fair "2018 New Establishment List".

In May 2021, Stephen Colbert received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Yale University.

Stephen Colbert waited until Easter to sample the ice cream because he "gave up sweets for Lent".

On his 45th birthday, Stephen Colbert was sent a framed print of his eponymous beetle by the biologists who named it.

NASA named the treadmill after Stephen Colbert, who took an interest during the Node3 naming census for the ISS module, Tranquility.

Stephen Colbert urged his followers to post the name "Stephen Colbert", which upon completion of the census received the most entries totaling 230,539, some 40,000 votes more than the second-place choice, Serenity.