| Jon Stewart  AKA Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz
Born: 28-Nov-1962
Birthplace: Lawrence, NJ
Gender: Male
Religion: Jewish
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Comic, Journalist Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Anchor of The Daily Show Jon Stewart was a puppeteer for children in his spare time, and decided to take a shot at stand-up comedy. As a comedian, he had a borderline successful career in the New York area -- it paid, but he couldn't quit his day job. When The Comedy Channel (now Comedy Central) went on the air in 1989, Stewart landed two jobs there -- he wrote for Rachel Sweet's show, The Sweet Life, and hosted Short Attention Span Theater. When those shows were canceled, Stewart moved on to You Wrote It, You Watch It, The Jon Stewart Show, Where's Elvis This Week?, and a few small roles in forgettable movies.
His biggest break came in a roundabout way in 1998 -- CBS told David Letterman's Worldwide Pants production company that Tom Snyder had to go as host of The Late Late Show. Craig Kilborn was tapped to replace Snyder, leaving Comedy Central's satirical newscast The Daily Show without an anchorman. With an announcement that "Craig Kilborn is on assignment in Kuala Lumpur", Stewart took over The Daily Show on 11 January 1999. The critics and ratings generally agree that Stewart's version is more topical, more biting, and funnier than Kilborn's. It is also, day in day out, more informative about national and international news than many so-called "news" shows on "news" networks.
On 15 October 2004, Stewart appeared on CNN's Crossfire with hosts Paul Begala "from the left" and Tucker Carlson "from the right". Instead of cracking a few jokes and promoting his book, Stewart asked Begala and Carlson why they waste half an hour daily yelling at each other and encouraging their guests to yell, when they could be discussing the news.
STEWART: You're doing theater, when you should be doing debate. ... It's not honest. What you do is not honest. What you do is partisan hackery. ... You have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably.
CARLSON: You need to get a job at a journalism school, I think.
STEWART: You need to go to one. ... I'm here to confront you, because we need help from the media and they're hurting us. ... I watch your show every day. And it kills me. It's so -- oh, it's so painful to watch, because we need what you do. This is such a great opportunity you have here to actually get politicians off of their marketing and strategy.
CARLSON: Is this really Jon Stewart? What is this, anyway?
STEWART: Yes, it's someone who watches your show and cannot take it anymore.
CARLSON: What's it like to have dinner with you? It must be excruciating. Do you like lecture people like this or do you come over to their house and sit and lecture them [that] they're not doing the right thing, that they're missing their opportunities, evading their responsibilities?
STEWART: If I think they are.
Several weeks later, in announcing that Carlson's services would no longer be needed, CNN president Jonathan Klein said, "I agree wholeheartedly with Jon Stewart's overall premise". He promised that CNN would be moving away from what he called "head-butting debate shows".
Father: Donald Leibowitz (physicist)
Mother: Marian Leibowitz (teacher)
Brother: Larry Leibowitz
Wife: Tracey Lynn McShane (veterinarian technician, m. 2000)
Son: Nathan Thomas Stewart (b. 3-Jul-2004)
Daughter: Maggie Rose Stewart (b. 5-Feb-2006)
Girlfriend: Tawny Kitaen (1995)
High School: Lawrence High School, Lawrenceville, NJ (1980)
University: BA Psychology, College of William and Mary (1984)
Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity quit after six months
Emmy Outstanding Writing in a Variety, Music or Comedy Series, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
George Orwell Award 2005
Risk Factors: Former Smoker, Marijuana, Insomnia
TELEVISION
The Daily Show Anchor (1999-)
The Larry Sanders Show Himself
MTV
FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
Evan Almighty (21-Jun-2007) Himself
Wordplay (6-Apr-2006) Himself
Doogal (24-Feb-2006) [VOICE]
The Aristocrats (Jan-2005) Himself
The Adventures of Tom Thumb & Thumbelina (6-Aug-2002) [VOICE]
Death to Smoochy (28-Feb-2002)
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (24-Aug-2001)
Barenaked in America (11-Sep-1999) Himself
Big Daddy (17-Jun-1999)
Playing by Heart (30-Dec-1998)
The Faculty (12-Nov-1998)
Since You've Been Gone (18-Apr-1998)
Half Baked (16-Jan-1998)
Wishful Thinking (1997)
Mixed Nuts (21-Dec-1994)
Appears on the cover of:
Newsweek, 5-Jan-2004, DETAILS: Jon Stewart -- Seriously Funny -- For Election Laughs, The Daily Show Rocks
Author of books:
Naked Pictures of Famous People (1-Oct-1998)
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction (2004, with the writers of The Daily Show)
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