| 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, The Daily Show, 1999-2015 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.
In a 1997 George Carlin comedy special on HBO, Stewart interviewed Carlin about his 40-year career in comedy. The interview was serious in tone, and Stewart's respect for Carlin was clearly reciprocated -- his closing comment to Stewart was, "You are going to show us a lot, and I look forward to it".
Stewart's big 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. Viewers generally agree that Stewart's version is more topical, more biting, and funnier than Kilborn's. It is also, day in day out, more critical 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 a day, yelling at each other and encouraging their guests to yell, when they could be discussing the news. His admonishment caught the pundits off-guard: "You're doing theater, when you should be doing debate... What you do is not honest. What you do is partisan hackery... 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... You have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably."
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 (New York Stock Exchange executive)
Girlfriend: Tawny Kitaen (actress, dated 1995)
Wife: Tracey Lynn McShane (veterinarian technician, m. 2000, one son, one daughter)
Son: Nathan Thomas Stewart (b. 3-Jul-2004)
Daughter: Maggie Rose Stewart (b. 5-Feb-2006)
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 2001, Outstanding Writing, for The Daily Show (shared)
Emmy 2003, Outstanding Writing, for The Daily Show (shared)
Emmy 2004, Outstanding Writing, for The Daily Show (shared)
Emmy 2005, Outstanding Writing, for The Daily Show (shared)
Emmy 2006, Outstanding Writing, for The Daily Show (shared)
Emmy 2009, Outstanding Writing, for The Daily Show (shared)
Emmy 2011, Outstanding Writing, for The Daily Show (shared)
Emmy 2003, Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series, for The Daily Show (shared)
Emmy 2004, Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series, for The Daily Show (shared)
Emmy 2005, Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series, for The Daily Show (shared)
Emmy 2006, Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series, for The Daily Show (shared)
Emmy 2007, Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series, for The Daily Show (shared)
Emmy 2008, Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series, for The Daily Show (shared)
Emmy 2009, Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series, for The Daily Show (shared)
Emmy 2010, Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series, for The Daily Show (shared)
Emmy 2011, Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series, for The Daily Show (shared)
Peabody 2001, for Indecision 2000
Peabody 2005, for Indecision 2004
George Orwell Award 2005
Hernia Operation
Changed Name 2001
Asteroid Namesake 116939 Jonstewart
Risk Factors: Former Smoker, Marijuana, Insomnia
TELEVISION
The Daily Show Anchor (1999-2015)
The Larry Sanders Show Himself (1996-98)
MTV
FILMOGRAPHY AS DIRECTOR
Rosewater (29-Aug-2014)
FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (12-Mar-2016)
Weiner (24-Jan-2016) · Himself
The Muslims Are Coming! (12-Sep-2013) · Himself
The Beaver (16-Mar-2011) · Himself
Conan O'Brien Can't Stop (13-Mar-2011) · Himself
The Adjustment Bureau (3-Mar-2011) · Himself
A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! (23-Nov-2008) · Himself
The Great Buck Howard (18-Jan-2008) · Himself
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) · Godfrey [VOICE]
Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns) (10-Mar-2002) · Himself
Death to Smoochy (28-Feb-2002)
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (24-Aug-2001) · Reg Hartner
Barenaked in America (11-Sep-1999) · Himself
Big Daddy (17-Jun-1999) · Kevin
Playing by Heart (30-Dec-1998)
The Faculty (12-Nov-1998) · Mr. Furlong
Since You've Been Gone (18-Apr-1998) · Todd Zalinsky
Half Baked (16-Jan-1998) · Enhancement Smoker
Wishful Thinking (1997) · Henry
Mixed Nuts (21-Dec-1994)
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)
Earth (the Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race (2010, with the writers of The Daily Show)
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