Jon Stewart Biography

Jon Stewart was born in 1962 and moved to New York City in the mid 1980’s to attempt a career in comedy entertainment. His stage debut was at the Bitter End in 1987, and Jon eventually began performing at the Comedy Cellar regularly. He worked at developing his style before landing a job writing for Caroline’s Comedy Hour in 1989.  For the next few years, Stewart hosted the shows Short Attention Span Theater and then You Wrote It, You Watch It, but his breakthrough would come just a few years later, in 1993, with his own television show.

The Jon Stewart Show first launched on MTV in 1993 and was an enormous success.  The show ran successfully for a few years, until Stewart began hosting the Daily Show, which has since made him a household name. The enormous success of the Daily Show is a testament to Jon Stewart’s skill in exploring current political and social topics with a steady dose of humor. The show has earned Steward a number of awards, including Peabody Awards, for his coverage of the presidential elections. The show does not shy away from exploring serious topics such as the wars in the Middle East, national healthcare, and the 9/11 attacks, sometimes infusing just the right touch of levity, but always remaining informational and topical.  The White House, The New York Times, and the Independent have all recognized Jon Stewart for bringing important information to the viewing public, wrapped in a humorous package that makes even the most difficult topics palatable.

In addition to his role on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart has also appeared in a number of television shows and film. Some of his roles include appearances in: Playing by Heart, Wishful Thinking, Since You’ve Been Gone, The Faculty, Half Baked, Big Daddy, The Larry Sanders Show, The Nanny, Spin City, NewsRadio, and The Simpsons. He has also appeared on a number of children’s television shows, including Sesame Street, and launched his own production company, Busboy Productions, in the mid 1990’s. The company works in cooperation with Comedy Central on a number of deals.  Jon Stewart has also hosted a number of awards ceremonies, including the Grammys in 2001 and 2002 and the Academy Awards in 2006 and 2008.  Stewart’s first book, Naked Pictures of Famous People, was published in 1998 and landed on the best sellers list.  He has also published America (The Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction and Earth (The Book): A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race. The former is a mock high school textbook that satirizes many of the American political precepts and processes.

The Daily Show has received Emmys for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program for a staggering number of years: 2001, 2003, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, and 2011. The show has also received the Emmy for Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series every year from 2003 to 2012. In addition, Jon Stewart himself has earned a Grammy for the audio recording of America (The Audiobook), and Time Magazine has named him as one of the 100 most influential people of the year.