Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart (born November 28, 1962 in Trenton, New Jersey) is an American comedian, actor, and producer, best known as host of The Daily Show and for his role in the cult film Half Baked. Stewart has gained notoriety as "the most trusted man in fake news" due to the popularity of The Daily Show, and some favorable comparisons have even been made between him and Walter Cronkite, who carried the "most trusted" moniker in real news for many years. Stewart has become an outspoken critic of established news media sources.
He was born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz and attended the College of William and Mary from which he graduated in 1984 with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology, and where he played on the men's soccer team. With a reputation for being a funnyman even in school, he soon moved to New York, New York to try his hand at the comedy club circuit. Eventually, he dropped his last name when doing performances because announcers apparently couldn't pronounce it (surprising given the strong Jewish community in New York).
He has had roles in in several television series and movies. He makes fun of his film appearances, as they have largely been in movies considered to be flops. In 1993, Stewart started hosting The Jon Stewart Show on MTV, the first talk show on that network. Stewart had earlier hosted the unsuccessful You Wrote It, You Watch It on MTV, which invited viewers to send in their stories to be acted out.
In 1999, Stewart began hosting The Daily Show on Comedy Central when Craig Kilborn left the show. Since that time, he has hosted all airings of the program save for a scant handful.
In 2000, Stewart, was presented with an honorary doctorate of arts degree from The College of William and Mary.
He married his wife Tracey in 2000, at which time they both legally changed their last names to "Stewart." the couple had their first child, Nathan Thomas, on July 3, 2004.
During an unusual, awkward and heated national television exchange with CNN's Tucker Carlson in October 2004, Stewart drew national attention, decrying the state of television journalism and referring to both Carlson and co-host Paul Begala as "partisan hacks", claiming that their show failed in its responsibility to inform and educate viewers about politics as a serious topic (transcript).
Bibliography
- Naked Pictures of Famous People (Rob Weisbach Books, 1998) ISBN 0688155308
- The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction (Warner Books, 2004) ISBN 0446532681
External links
- IMDb Entry on Jon Stewart
- Jon Stewart Intelligence Agency (fan club)
- The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Are you Ok? monologue (First broadcast after September 11, 2001) in Realvideo
- Interview with Stewart on NPR's Fresh Air (September 30, 2004)
- Stewart's appearance on Crossfire (October 15, 2004)