The Old Town Ale House is a saloon in the Old Town neighborhood of Chicago , United States , that has been in operation since 1958. It is currently located at 219 W. North Avenue.
139-632: Bruce Elliott is a painter and the current owner of the bar. Elliott inherited the bar from a previous owner on the condition that the bar not be changed. The walls of the bar are filled with portraits of regular bar-goers and famous patrons (such as Stephen Colbert , Bill Murray , John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd —many of whom had been working at the Second City Theatre also located on Wells and North Avenue). Other paintings include lewd political satire of well-known people such as Rod Blagojevich being strip searched, Sarah Palin posing naked on
278-570: A tropical storm for being upgraded to a hurricane , as well as for predicting hailstones "the size of canned hams". Letterman also occasionally reported the weather and the day's very high and low temps for fictitious cities ("Eight inches of snow in Bingree and surrounding areas"). On another occasion, he riffed that the state border between Indiana and Ohio had been erased, when a satellite map accidentally omitted it, jokingly attributing it to dirty political dealings: "The higher-ups have removed
417-474: A "cultural primary" and called it the "defining moment" of the 2006 midterm elections . Under his fictional persona in The Colbert Report , Colbert dropped hints of a potential presidential run throughout 2007, with speculation intensifying following the release of his book, I Am America (And So Can You!) , which was rumored to be a sign that he was indeed testing the waters for a future bid for
556-660: A 1977 pilot for a game show called The Riddlers (which was never picked up), and co-starred in the Barry Levinson -produced comedy special Peeping Times , which aired in January 1978. Later that year, Letterman was a cast member on Mary Tyler Moore 's variety show, Mary . He made a guest appearance on Mork & Mindy (as a parody of EST leader Werner Erhard ) and appearances on game shows such as The $ 20,000 Pyramid , The Gong Show , Hollywood Squares , Password Plus , and Liar's Club , as well as
695-487: A building or structure in Chicago is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( / k oʊ l ˈ b ɛər / kohl- BAIR ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, singer, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program The Colbert Report from 2005 to 2014 and
834-532: A bullhorn to interrupt a live interview on The Today Show on August 19, 1985, announcing that he was the NBC News president Lawrence K. Grossman and that he was not wearing any pants; walking across the hall to Studio 6B, at the time the news studio for WNBC-TV , and interrupting Al Roker 's weather segments during Live at Five ; and staging "elevator races", complete with commentary by NBC Sports' Bob Costas . In one appearance, in 1982, Andy Kaufman (who
973-588: A ceasefire in Gaza after the 2024 World Central Kitchen aid convoy attack carried by the IDF . Addressing Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu he said: "Nothing just happens. You are responsible. If your answer is, 'This happens in war,' then maybe consider ending the war." He also defended the pro-Palestine college protests saying: "Students should be allowed to protest. It's their first amendment right." During
1112-479: A celebrated comic essay in The New Yorker , "Yma Dream" by Thomas Meehan), he started off by introducing Uma Thurman to Oprah Winfrey, and then both of them to Keanu Reeves : "Oprah...Uma. Uma...Oprah," "Have you kids met Keanu?" This and many of his other jokes fell flat. Although Letterman attracted the highest ratings to the annual telecast since 1983, many felt that the bad publicity he generated caused
1251-489: A close relationship with Carson through his break with NBC. Three years after he left for CBS, HBO produced a made-for-television movie called The Late Shift , based on a book by The New York Times reporter Bill Carter, chronicling the battle between Letterman and Leno for the Tonight Show hosting spot. Carson later made a few cameo appearances as a guest on Letterman's show. Carson's final television appearance
1390-577: A cult show with a small but dedicated audience. Colbert reprised his role for a film adaptation which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005 and had a limited release in 2006. The film received mixed reviews. Colbert also co-wrote the screenplay with Sedaris and Dinello. 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
1529-477: A deal with CBS Studios , through which programs such as Tooning Out the News and Fairview are produced. Colbert is also an executive producer on Comedy Central's Tha God's Honest Truth . On August 30, 2023, Colbert and fellow talk show hosts Jimmy Fallon , Seth Meyers , Jimmy Kimmel , and John Oliver , began hosting the comedy podcast Strike Force Five to support their staff members out of work due to
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#17327912121431668-580: A decline in the Late Show 's ratings. Letterman recycled the apparent debacle into a long-running gag. On his first show after the Oscars, he joked, "Looking back, I had no idea that thing was being televised." He lampooned his stint two years later, during Billy Crystal 's opening Oscar skit, which also parodied the plane-crashing scenes from that year's chief nominated film, The English Patient . For years afterward, Letterman recounted his hosting
1807-513: A doctor and nurse who'd helped perform the emergency quintuple-bypass heart surgery that saved his life in 2000. "These are people who were complete strangers when they opened my chest," he says. "And now, eight years later, they're among my best friends." Additionally, Letterman invited the band Foo Fighters to play " Everlong ", introducing them as "my favorite band, playing my favorite song." During Letterman's last show, on which Foo Fighters appeared, Letterman said that Foo Fighters had been in
1946-594: A great candidate. And she's got a lot of flaws and a lot of baggage that she can't shake off, however historic or even prepared for the job she is in this case." Colbert supports the implementation of the Medicare for All plan introduced by Bernie Sanders , considering it "a sensible fix to Obamacare". He is also in favor of abolishing the U.S. Senate . When asked about his views on abortion , Colbert positioned himself as pro-choice . Colbert has been critical of Israel's treatment of Palestinians . He called for
2085-424: A group of comedians whom Walker hired to write jokes for his stand-up act, a group that at various times also included Jay Leno , Paul Mooney , Robert Schimmel , Richard Jeni , Louie Anderson , Elayne Boosler , Byron Allen , Jack Handey , and Steve Oedekerk . By the summer of 1977, Letterman was a writer and regular on the six-week summer series The Starland Vocal Band Show , broadcast on CBS. He hosted
2224-466: A job filming humorous correspondent segments for Good Morning America . Only two of the segments he proposed were ever produced and only one aired, but the job led his agent to refer him to The Daily Show's producer, Madeline Smithberg , who hired Colbert on a trial basis in 1997. During the same period, Colbert worked again with Sedaris and Dinello to develop a new comedy series for Comedy Central, Strangers with Candy . Comedy Central picked up
2363-488: A military style to show his solidarity with the troops. One Army major said that "shaving of the hair is an amazing show of support" that was "very touching." USO Senior Vice President John Hanson said the shows are an important diversion for the troops. On September 24, 2010, Colbert testified in character before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Security. He
2502-567: A montage of scenes from both his CBS and NBC series set to a live performance of " Everlong " by Foo Fighters. The final episode of Late Show with David Letterman was watched by 13.76 million viewers in the United States with an audience share of 9.3/24, earning the show its highest ratings since following the 1994 Winter Olympics on February 25, 1994, and the show's highest demo numbers (4.1 in adults 25–54 and 3.1 in adults 18–49) since Oprah Winfrey's first Late Show appearance following
2641-460: A new commute." Letterman further joked about the subject by pulling up his right pants leg, revealing a tattoo, presumably temporary, of the ABC logo. "Thirteen years ago, David Letterman put CBS late night on the map and in the process became one of the defining icons of our network," said Leslie Moonves , president and CEO of CBS Corporation. "His presence on our air is an ongoing source of pride, and
2780-411: A nurse who had given him bed baths—"This woman gave me a bath!"), including Drs. O. Wayne Isom and Louis Aronne , who frequently appeared on the show. For a number of episodes, Letterman continued to crack jokes about his bypass, including saying: "Bypass surgery: it's when doctors surgically create new blood flow to your heart. A bypass is what happened to me when I didn't get The Tonight Show! It's
2919-496: A part of Del Close 's ImprovOlympic at a time when the project was focused on competitive, long-form improvisation, rather than improvisational comedy. "I wasn't gonna do Second City", Colbert later recalled, "because those Annoyance people looked down on Second City because they thought it wasn't pure improv – there was a slightly snobby, mystical quality to the Annoyance people". After Colbert graduated in 1986, however, he
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#17327912121433058-533: A pastime which he later characterized as an early experience in acting and improvisation . Colbert attended Charleston's Episcopal Porter-Gaud School , where he participated in several school plays and contributed to the school newspaper but was not highly motivated academically. During his adolescence, he briefly fronted A Shot in the Dark , a Rolling Stones cover band . When he was younger, he had hoped to study marine biology , but surgery intended to repair
3197-467: A pit road reporter for ABC Sports ' tape-delayed coverage of the Indianapolis 500 , which was his first nationally telecast appearance (WLWI was the local ABC affiliate at the time). He was initially introduced as Chris Economaki , but this was corrected at the end of the interview ( Jim McKay announced his name as Dave Letterman). Letterman interviewed Mario Andretti , who had just crashed out of
3336-545: A polar bear rug, Vladimir Putin dancing as a ballerina or Kim Jong Un and Dennis Rodman in handcuffs (also painted by Elliott). The Old Town Ale House has been called "The best bar in the world that I know about" by Roger Ebert whose biographical film Life Itself contains several interviews within the bar, and ends with a portrait of Ebert in the bar that was painted by Elliott. 41°54′39.3″N 87°38′7.9″W / 41.910917°N 87.635528°W / 41.910917; -87.635528 This article related to
3475-581: A public meeting, the FEC voted 5–1 to grant The Colbert Report a limited media exemption. The exemption allows unlimited donations of airtime and show resources to promote the Colbert Super PAC without requiring disclosure to the FEC, but only for ads appearing on The Colbert Report . Following the hearing, Colbert formally filed paperwork for the creation of his Super PAC with the FEC secretary. After
3614-556: A rendition of " We'll Meet Again " and appearances from former guests of the show, including Jon Stewart , Randy Newman , Bryan Cranston , Willie Nelson , Yo-Yo Ma , Mandy Patinkin , Neil deGrasse Tyson , Tom Brokaw , David Gregory , J. J. Abrams , Big Bird , Gloria Steinem , Ken Burns , James Franco , Barry Manilow , Bob Costas , Jeff Daniels , Sam Waterston , Bill de Blasio , Katie Couric , Patrick Stewart , George Lucas , Henry Kissinger , Cookie Monster , Alan Alda , Eliot Spitzer , Vince Gilligan , Paul Krugman , and
3753-777: A report on topics in the news pertaining to religion, presented with the help of the "God Machine". 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 U.S. presidential elections ; many from the latter were included as part of their The Daily Show: Indecision 2004 DVD release. Other pieces that have been named as his signature segments include "Grouse Hunting in Shropshire", in which he reported on
3892-498: A severely perforated eardrum caused him inner-ear damage severe enough to preclude a career involving scuba diving , and leaving him deaf in his right ear. For a while, he was uncertain whether he would attend college, but ultimately he applied and was accepted to Hampden–Sydney College in Virginia , where a friend had also enrolled. Arriving in 1982, he majored in philosophy and continued to participate in plays. He found
4031-451: A text from Bill Clinton , and appearances by Alex Trebek , U.S. and coalition Afghanistan forces, and further characters (a space station astronaut, Santa Claus , Abraham Lincoln , etc.). On April 10, 2014, CBS announced in a press release that Colbert "will succeed David Letterman as the host of The Late Show , effective when Mr. Letterman retires from the broadcast." On January 12, 2015, CBS announced that Colbert would premiere as
4170-474: A tribute to Carson, all the opening monologue jokes during the first show after Carson's death were by Carson. Lassally also claimed that Carson had always believed Letterman, not Leno, to be his "rightful successor". During the early years of the Late Show ' s run, Letterman occasionally used some of Carson's trademark bits, including " Carnac the Magnificent " (with Paul Shaffer as Carnac), "Stump
4309-475: A whole different thing." In a later running gag, he lobbied Indiana to rename the freeway circling Indianapolis ( I-465 ) "The David Letterman Bypass". He also featured a montage of faux news coverage of his bypass surgery, including a clip of Letterman's heart for sale on the Home Shopping Network . Letterman became friends with his doctors and nurses. In 2008, Rolling Stone wrote: He hosted
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4448-550: A year or two". Correspondent Aasif Mandvi has stated "I just decided I was going to do my best Stephen Colbert impression". Reminiscing on his hiring, Smithberg said, "We saw what comedy genius was up close". 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. Colbert commonly hosted " This Week in God ",
4587-416: A year that Leno was ranked fifth. Leno was higher than Letterman on that poll three times during the same period, in 1998, 2007, and 2008. On March 27, 1995, Letterman hosted the 67th Academy Awards ceremony. Critics blasted what they deemed his poor performance, noting that his irreverent style undermined the traditional importance and glamor of the event. In a joke about their unusual names (inspired by
4726-689: Is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity, and graduated in 1969 from what was then the Department of Radio and Television. A self-described average student, Letterman later endowed a scholarship for what he called "C students" at Ball State. Though he registered for the draft and passed his physical after graduating from college, he was not drafted for service in Vietnam because he received a draft lottery number of 346 (out of 366). Letterman began his broadcasting career as an announcer and newscaster at
4865-442: Is over." It also featured cameos from The Simpsons and Wheel of Fortune (the latter with a puzzle saying "Good riddance to David Letterman"), a Top Ten List of "things I wish I could have said to David Letterman" performed by regular guests including Alec Baldwin , Barbara Walters , Steve Martin , Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey , Chris Rock , Julia Louis-Dreyfus , Peyton Manning , Tina Fey , and Bill Murray , and closed with
5004-728: The 2023 Writers Guild of America strike . Since 2024 he is a producer of the CBS late-night comedy panel game show , After Midnight , alongside his wife Evie. Although, by his own account, he was not particularly political before joining the cast of The Daily Show , Colbert has described himself as a Democrat according to a 2004 interview. In an interview at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard Institute of Politics , he said he has "no problems with Republicans , just Republican policies". Columnist and close friend Jonathan Alter has described him as " left of center ". On
5143-412: The 2023 writers' strike he showed his support to the writers, saying: "I'm a member of the guild. I support collective bargaining . This nation owes so much to unions ." In May 2023, Colbert was permanently banned from entering Russia alongside 500 other Americans, due to being "involved in the spread of Russophobic attitudes and fakes." These bans were made in response to U.S. imposed sanctions on
5282-531: The CBS talk program The Late Show with Stephen Colbert since September 2015. Colbert originally studied to be a dramatic actor, but became interested in improvisational theater while attending Northwestern University , where he met Second City director Del Close . Colbert first performed professionally as an understudy for Steve Carell at Second City Chicago , where his troupemates included Paul Dinello and Amy Sedaris , comedians with whom he developed
5421-512: The EPA . He opened China . He gave 18-year-olds the vote . His issues were education, drugs, women, minorities, youth involvement, ending the draft , and improving the environment. John Kerry couldn't have run on this!" As a child, he recalled being transfixed by the Watergate hearings, while his siblings explained the importance of what had happened. In 2013 he said that Nixon's prolongation of
5560-560: The George W. Bush Administration and the White House Press Corps with such lines as: I stand by this man. I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message, that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound – with the most powerfully staged photo ops in
5699-399: The Late Show host on Tuesday, September 8, 2015. The first guest of the new Late Show was George Clooney . The show has a much more political focus than David Letterman's Late Show . During his tenure as the host of The Late Show , Colbert hosted the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards , broadcast on CBS on September 17, 2017. More recently, he and his Spartina Productions company had signed
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5838-493: The Late Show instead. After Leno returned to The Tonight Show , Leno regained his lead. Letterman's shows have garnered both critical and industry praise, receiving 67 Emmy Award nominations, winning 12 times in his first 20 years in late night television. From 1993 to 2009, Letterman ranked higher than Leno in the annual Harris Poll of Nation's Favorite TV Personality 12 times. For example, in 2003 and 2004 Letterman ranked second in that poll, behind only Oprah Winfrey ,
5977-405: The Late Show with David Letterman . The new show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was taped at the historic Ed Sullivan Theater, where Ed Sullivan broadcast his eponymous variety series from 1948 to 1971. For Letterman's arrival, CBS spent $ 8 million in renovations. CBS also signed Letterman to a three-year, $ 14 million/year contract, doubling his Late Night salary. But while the expectation
6116-550: The Medical University of South Carolina , where, from 1969, he served as the school's first vice president of academic affairs. Stephen's mother, Lorna Elizabeth Colbert ( née Tuck), was a homemaker. In interviews, Colbert has described his parents as devout people who also strongly valued intellectualism, and taught their children it was possible to question the Church and still be Catholic. He has said his father
6255-484: The Obama administration . He has also described the 2016 Democratic candidate , Hillary Clinton , as someone who has "been around for a long time, but actually represents [...] what you would think of as the common systemic corruption of Washington, D.C." adding "I think people's hesitancy about Hillary Clinton is completely reasonable. [...] I can imagine that Trump might be the only person she could beat because she's not
6394-680: The Vietnam War for political gain, "Led to the deaths of tens of thousands of peoples, shattered the trust of the American people to the American military establishment, to trusting the president, and changed your [the press] relationship to the president forever." Adding that, "the depth of his selfish evil musn't be forgotten. Because while he's not the only one, he's the Ur for me". Initially "all in" for Ronald Reagan , Colbert's political ideas shifted left as he went to Northwestern: "I'm not buying
6533-402: The "gayness" of British aristocracy, his mock lionization of a smoking-rights activist and apparent chain-smoker, and his cameo appearances during his faux campaign for president. In several episodes of The Daily Show , 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 . After Colbert left
6672-450: The 12:30 slot. Additionally, because of intellectual property disagreements, Letterman was unable to import many of his Late Night segments verbatim, but he sidestepped this problem by simply renaming them (the "Top Ten List" became the "Late Show Top Ten", "Viewer Mail" became the "CBS Mailbag", etc.). Time magazine wrote, "Letterman's innovation ... gained power from its rigorous formalism"; as his biographer Jason Zinoman puts it, he
6811-437: The 2012 New Hampshire primary, a poll for the subsequent South Carolina primary taken by Public Policy Polling (of 1,112 likely GOP voters, Jan 5–7, 2012) was reported to place Colbert at 5%, one point ahead of Jon Huntsman polling at 4%, in spite of the fact that Colbert was not on the ballot. This poll showed Colbert to be closely behind Rick Perry's 7% and Ron Paul's 8% (with Romney at 27%, Gingrich 23% and Santorum at 18%). On
6950-814: The Band", and the "Week in Review". Oprah Winfrey appeared on Letterman's show when he was hosting NBC's Late Night on May 2, 1989. After that appearance, the two had a 16-year feud that arose, as Winfrey explained to Letterman after it had been resolved, as a result of the acerbic tone of their 1989 interview, of which she said that it "felt so uncomfortable to me that I didn't want to have that experience again". The feud apparently ended on December 2, 2005, when Winfrey appeared on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman in an event Letterman jokingly called "the Super Bowl of Love". Winfrey and Letterman also appeared together in
7089-517: The Canadian cooking show Celebrity Cooks (November 1977), talk shows such as 90 Minutes Live (February 24 and April 14, 1978), and The Mike Douglas Show (April 3, 1979 and February 7, 1980). He was also screen tested for the lead role in the 1980 film Airplane! , a role that eventually went to Robert Hays . Letterman's brand of dry, sarcastic humor caught the attention of scouts for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson , and he
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#17327912121437228-518: The January 11 episode of The Colbert Report , Colbert asked his audience if he should run for president in South Carolina, to which he received strong applause. He then stated that he would be making a "Major Announcement" during the next day's show. On January 12, Colbert started his show by discussing his role in the presidential campaign, then addressed the law preventing him from being a presidential candidate while running his Super PAC. With
7367-493: The May 20, 2015, broadcast of Late Show with David Letterman on CBS . In total, Letterman hosted 6,080 episodes of Late Night and Late Show , surpassing his friend and mentor Johnny Carson as the longest-serving late-night talk show host in American television history. He is also a television and film producer. His company, Worldwide Pants , produced his shows as well as The Late Late Show and several primetime comedies,
7506-511: The Oscars, although the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences continued to hold Letterman in high regard and invited him to host the Oscars again. On September 7, 2010, he made an appearance on the premiere of the 14th season of The View , and confirmed that he had been considered for hosting again. On January 14, 2000, a routine checkup revealed that an artery in Letterman's heart
7645-552: The South Carolina state capital of Columbia, where he was presented with the key to the city by Mayor Bob Coble. After announcing his presidential ticket, he asked his viewers to cast their votes by donating to Donorschoose.org , an online charity connecting individuals to classrooms in need. Colbert's promotion inspired $ 68,000 in donations to South Carolina classrooms, which benefited over 14,000 low-income students. Colbert teamed up with Donorschoose.org again in 2008 by asking supporters of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to do
7784-540: The United States of South Carolina. I'm doin' it!" He reiterated in the interview portion of that show that "I'm still in the exploratory phase" of his presidential campaign. David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC and ending with
7923-623: The Washington, D.C., Mall on October 30, 2010, Stewart's " Rally to Restore Sanity ", and Colbert's " March to Keep Fear Alive ". Both were eventually merged into the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear . In May 2011, Colbert filed a request with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) asking for a media exemption for coverage of his political action committee , ColbertPAC, on The Colbert Report . In June 2011, during
8062-621: The White House. On October 16, 2007, he announced his candidacy on his show, stating his intention to run on both the Republican and Democratic platforms, but only as a " favorite son " in his native South Carolina. He 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
8201-448: The appearance were posted on YouTube by audience members and widely reported in the media. In 2016, Letterman joined the climate change documentary show Years of Living Dangerously as one of its celebrity correspondents. In season two's premiere episode, Letterman traveled to India to investigate the country's efforts to expand its inadequate energy grid, power its booming economy, and bring electricity to 300 million citizens for
8340-463: The ballot. "The general sense of the council was that he wasn't a serious candidate and that was why he wasn't selected to be on the ballot", stated John Werner, the party's director. Several days later he announced that he was dropping out of the race, saying he did not wish to put the country through an agonizing Supreme Court battle (referencing the 2000 election , wherein a tight recount in Florida
8479-506: The border between Indiana and Ohio, making it one giant state. Personally, I'm against it. I don't know what to do about it." Letterman also starred in a local kiddie show, hosted a late-night TV show called "Freeze-Dried Movies" (a show in which he once acted out a scene from Godzilla (1954) using plastic dinosaurs), and hosted a talk show that aired early on Saturday mornings called Clover Power , in which he interviewed 4-H members about their projects. In 1971, Letterman appeared as
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#17327912121438618-761: The character he played on The Daily Show and later The Colbert Report , claiming that he has a very specific niche in portraying "poorly informed, high-status idiot" characters. Another running joke throughout the series was that Noblet, a closeted homosexual, was having a "secret" affair with fellow teacher Geoffrey Jellineck , despite the fact that their relationship was apparent to everyone around them. This obliviousness also appears in Colbert's Daily Show and Colbert Report character. Thirty episodes of Strangers with Candy were made, which aired on Comedy Central in 1999 and 2000. Though its ratings were not remarkable during its initial run, it has been characterized as
8757-527: The college's student-run radio station— WBST —a 10-watt campus station that is now part of Indiana Public Radio . He was fired for treating classical music with irreverence. He then became involved with the founding of another campus station—WAGO-AM 570 (now WCRD , 91.3). He credits Paul Dixon , host of the Paul Dixon Show , a Cincinnati-based talk show also shown in Indianapolis while he
8896-435: The committee's majority members look ridiculous. 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.' – Yuval Levin, The Corner 'As John Conyers notes, the media and spectators turned out to see whether Colbert would address the panel seriously as an expert on immigration and make the panel a joke, or stay in character and make
9035-541: The country . On Saturday, April 29, 2006, Colbert was the featured entertainer for the 2006 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. Standing a few yards from U.S. President George W. Bush – in front of an audience the Associated Press called a "Who's Who of power and celebrity" – Colbert delivered a searing routine targeting the president and the media. In his politically conservative character from The Colbert Report , Colbert satirized
9174-535: The creativity and imagination that the Late Show puts forth every night is an ongoing display of the highest quality entertainment. We are truly honored that one of the most revered and talented entertainers of our time will continue to call CBS 'home.'" According to a 2007 article in Forbes magazine, Letterman earned $ 40 million a year. A 2009 article in The New York Times , however, said his salary
9313-428: The crowd after walking on stage. "I was happy. I'll make actual friends. I was complacent. I was satisfied. I was content, and then a couple of days ago Donald Trump said he was running for president. I have made the biggest mistake of my life, ladies and gentlemen" and then delivering a Top Ten List roasting Trump's presidential campaign followed by an onstage conversation with Martin and Short. Cellphone recordings of
9452-434: The curriculum rigorous, but was more focused than he had been in high school and was able to apply himself to his studies. Despite the lack of a significant theater community at Hampden–Sydney, Colbert's interest in acting escalated during this time. After two years, he transferred in 1984 to Northwestern University as a theater major to study performance, emboldened by the realization that he loved performing, even when no one
9591-418: The ending of her feud with Letterman on December 1, 2005. Bill Murray, who had been his first guest on Late Night , was his final guest on Late Show . In a rarity for a late-night show, it was also the highest-rated program on network television that night, beating out all prime-time shows. In total, Letterman hosted 6,080 episodes of Late Night and Late Show , surpassing friend and mentor Johnny Carson as
9730-457: The final CBS show, which aired May 20, 2015. The show ran Monday through Thursday nights at 12:30 a.m. Eastern Time , immediately following The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (a Friday night broadcast was added in June 1987). It was seen as edgy and unpredictable, and soon developed a cult following (particularly among college students). Letterman's reputation as an acerbic interviewer
9869-420: The final months of his first stint as host of The Tonight Show , Leno beat Letterman in the ratings by a 1.3 million-viewer margin (5.2 million to 3.9 million), and Nightline and the Late Show were virtually tied. Once O'Brien took over Tonight , Letterman closed the gap in the ratings. O'Brien initially drove the median age of Tonight Show viewers from 55 to 45, with most older viewers opting to watch
10008-403: The first guest. In October 2022, Letterman traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine, to film a special standalone episode of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman , interviewing Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy . In spite of Johnny Carson's clear intention to pass his title to Letterman, NBC selected Jay Leno to host The Tonight Show after Carson's departure. Letterman maintained
10147-765: The first time. He also interviewed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and traveled to rural villages where power is a scarce luxury and explored the United States' role in India's energy future. On April 7, 2017, Letterman gave the induction speech for the band Pearl Jam into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame at a ceremony held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City . Also in 2017, Letterman and Alec Baldwin co-hosted The Essentials on Turner Classic Movies . Letterman and Baldwin introduced seven films for
10286-460: The help of his lawyer Trevor Potter, he then signed over control of his Super PAC to Jon Stewart, with the organization title then being referred to as "The Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC". Immediately after this legal block was out of the way, Colbert announced, "I am forming an exploratory committee to lay the groundwork for my possible candidacy for the President of
10425-505: The hype because I see how well-staged all of this is. Then after that, I was in theater and there's no turning back." He has joked that Reagan is "in hell" for his handling of the AIDS crisis . While teaching improv at The Second City he would tell his students to read and stay informed; recommending them the works of Noam Chomsky . Colbert has criticized the United States' use of drone strikes , and NSA's surveillance tactics , during
10564-455: The intersection of faith and politics, Colbert has pointed out that his views are in line with those of Cesar Chavez . Colbert owns a 1972 Richard Nixon campaign poster, which hangs on a wall in his office. The poster reads: "For the first time in 20 years we are spending more on human resources than on defense!" and highlights Nixon's compromise towards progressive issues. Colbert has half-jokingly made reference to those views: "He started
10703-441: The late-night talk show tradition of "guest hosts" that had virtually disappeared on network television during the 1990s, allowing Bill Cosby , Kathie Lee Gifford , Dana Carvey , Janeane Garofalo , and others to host new episodes of the Late Show . Upon his return to the show on February 21, 2000, Letterman brought all but one of the doctors and nurses on stage who had participated in his surgery and recovery (with extra teasing of
10842-443: The latter part of the 2000 U.S. presidential election season. The roles of the show's correspondents were expanded to include more in-studio segments and international reports, which were almost always done in the studio with the aid of a greenscreen . Colbert usually wrote and edited his own pieces. Unlike Stewart, who essentially hosted The Daily Show as himself, Colbert developed a correspondent character for his pieces on
10981-434: The lead guest, served as a guest host while Letterman was ill with a stomach virus. In March 2002, as Letterman's contract with CBS neared expiration, ABC offered him the time slot for long-running news program Nightline with Ted Koppel . Letterman was interested, as he believed he could never match Leno's ratings at CBS due to Letterman's complaint of weaker lead-ins from the network's late local news programs, but
11120-502: The least powerful people in the United States are migrant workers who come and do our work, but don't have any rights as a result. And yet we still invite them to come here and at the same time ask them to leave. And that's an interesting contradiction to me. And, you know, 'Whatsoever you do for the least of my brothers,' and these seem like the least of our brothers right now ... Migrant workers suffer and have no rights. Democratic committee member John Conyers questioned whether it
11259-631: The longest-serving late-night talk show host in U.S. television history. In the months following the end of Late Show , Letterman was seen occasionally at sports events such as the Indianapolis 500, during which he submitted to an interview with a local publication. He made a surprise appearance on stage in San Antonio , Texas when he was invited up for an extended segment during Steve Martin's and Martin Short 's A Very Stupid Conversation show, saying "I retired, and...I have no regrets," Letterman told
11398-615: The middle of a South American tour that they canceled to play on his comeback episode. In February 2003, Letterman again handed the reins of the show to several guest hosts (including Bill Cosby , Brad Garrett , Whoopi Goldberg , Elvis Costello , John McEnroe , Vince Vaughn , Will Ferrell , Bonnie Hunt , Luke Wilson , and bandleader Paul Shaffer) when he was diagnosed with a severe case of shingles . Later that year, Letterman made regular use of guest hosts—including Tom Arnold and Kelsey Grammer —for shows broadcast on Fridays. In March 2007, Adam Sandler , who had been scheduled to be
11537-514: The most successful of which was the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond . Several late-night hosts have cited Letterman's influence, including Conan O'Brien , Jimmy Fallon , Seth Meyers (each of whom succeeded Letterman on Late Night ), Stephen Colbert (his successor on The Late Show ), Jimmy Kimmel , and Jon Stewart . Since 2018, he has hosted the Netflix series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman . Letterman
11676-512: The name / k oʊ l ˈ b ɛər / kohl- BAIR , but maintained the /ˈkoʊlbərt/ pronunciation out of respect for his own father. He offered his children the option to pronounce the name whichever way they preferred. Stephen started using /koʊlˈbɛər/ later in life when he transferred to Northwestern University , taking advantage of the opportunity to reinvent himself in a new place where no one knew him. Stephen's brother Edward, an intellectual-property attorney, retained /ˈkoʊlbərt/ ; this
11815-543: The north side of Indianapolis, in the Broad Ripple area, about 12 miles (19 km) from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway . He enjoyed collecting model cars, including racers. In 2000, he told an interviewer for Esquire that, while growing up, he admired his father's ability to tell jokes and be the life of the party. Harry Joseph Letterman survived a heart attack at the age of 36 when David
11954-626: The panel a bigger joke,' – Ed Morrissey , Hot Air. In September 2010, following Glenn Beck 's Restoring Honor rally , a campaign developed that called for Colbert to hold his own rally at the Lincoln Memorial . On the September 10, 2010, episode of the Daily Show and The Colbert Report , Stewart and Colbert made preannouncements of a future event. On September 16, 2010, Stewart and Colbert announced competing rallies on
12093-632: The president of the U.S. in the 2009 film Monsters vs. Aliens . Colbert arrived in Baghdad, Iraq , on June 5, 2009, to film a week of shows called "Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando " sponsored by the USO (United Service Organizations). Colbert had a suit tailored for him in the Army Combat Uniform pattern. During the first episode (which featured a cameo appearance from U.S. president Barack Obama ), Colbert had his hair cropped in
12232-620: The previous contract. On the February 3, 2011 edition of the Late Show , during an interview with Howard Stern , Letterman said he would continue to do his talk show for "maybe two years, I think." In April 2012, CBS announced it had extended its contract with Letterman through 2014. His contract was subsequently extended to 2015. During the taping of his show on April 3, 2014, Letterman announced that he had informed CBS president Leslie Moonves that he would retire from hosting Late Show by May 20, 2015. Later in his retirement Letterman occasionally stated, in jest, that he had been fired. It
12371-466: The program; Comedy Central had already been searching for a way to extend the successful Daily Show franchise beyond a half-hour. The series opened to strong ratings, averaging 1.2 million viewers nightly during its first week on the air. Comedy Central signed a long-term contract for The Colbert Report within its first month on the air, when it immediately established itself among the network's highest-rated shows. Much of Colbert's personal life
12510-477: The race. In 1975, encouraged by his then-wife Michelle and several of his Sigma Chi fraternity brothers, Letterman moved to Los Angeles , California, with the hope of becoming a comedy writer. He and Michelle packed their belongings in his pickup truck and headed west. As of 2012, he still owned the truck. In Los Angeles, he began performing comedy at The Comedy Store . Jimmie Walker saw him on stage; with an endorsement from George Miller , Letterman joined
12649-408: The ratings from the time that Hugh Grant came on Leno's show after Grant's arrest for soliciting a prostitute. Leno typically attracted about five million nightly viewers between 1999 and 2009. The Late Show lost nearly half its audience during its competition with Leno, attracting 7.1 million viewers nightly in its 1993–94 season and about 3.8 million per night as of Leno's departure in 2009. In
12788-433: The resultant dialogue demonstrating the character's lack of knowledge of whatever subject he is discussing. Colbert also made generous use of humorous fallacies of logic in explaining his point of view on any topic. Other Daily Show correspondents have adopted a similar style; former correspondent Rob Corddry recalls that when he and Ed Helms first joined the show's cast in 2002, they "just imitated Stephen Colbert for
12927-581: The roof of a five-story building, demonstrations of unorthodox clothing (such as suits made of Alka-Seltzer , Velcro and suet ), a recurring Top 10 list , the Monkey-Cam (and the Audience Cam), a facetious letter-answering segment, several "Film[s] by My Dog Bob" in which a camera was mounted on Letterman's own dog (often with comic results) and Small Town News, all of which moved with Letterman to CBS. Other episodes included Letterman using
13066-580: The same. As a lead-up to the Pennsylvania primary, he created a "straw poll that makes a difference" by which people could donate to Pennsylvania classroom projects in honor of their favorite candidate. Colbert viewers donated $ 185,000 to projects reaching 43,000 students in Pennsylvania public schools. On November 1, 2007, the South Carolina Democratic Party executive council voted 13–3 to refuse Colbert's application onto
13205-399: The series focused less on the day-to-day news style of the Daily Show , instead frequently concentrating on the foibles of the host-character himself. The concept for The Report was first seen in a series of Daily Show segments which advertised the then-fictional series as a joke. It was later developed by Stewart's Busboy Productions and pitched to Comedy Central, which green-lighted
13344-411: The series in 1998 after Colbert had already begun working on The Daily Show . As a result, he accepted a reduced role, filming only around 20 Daily Show segments a year while he worked on the new series. Strangers with Candy was conceived of as a parody of after school specials , following the life of Jerri Blank , a 46-year-old dropout who returns to finish high school after 32 years of life on
13483-487: The series that was a parody of conservative political pundits such as Bill O'Reilly . Colbert has described his correspondent character as "a well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot" and "a fool who has spent a lot of his life playing not the fool – one who is able to cover it at least well enough to deal with the subjects that he deals with". Colbert was frequently pitted against knowledgeable interview subjects, or against Stewart in scripted exchanges, with
13622-549: The series. In 2018, Letterman began hosting a six-episode monthly series of hour-long programs on Netflix consisting of long-form interviews and field segments. The show, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman , premiered January 12, 2018 with Barack Obama as its first guest. The second season premiered on May 31, 2019. Season 3 premiered on October 21, 2020, and includes Kim Kardashian West , Robert Downey Jr. , Dave Chappelle and Lizzo as guests. Season 4 premiered on May 20, 2022, with Billie Eilish as
13761-595: The show received favorable reviews and was nominated for five CableACE Awards in 1995, in categories including best writing, performance, and comedy series. Following the cancelation of Exit 57 , Colbert worked for six months as a cast member and writer on The Dana Carvey Show , alongside former Second City castmate Steve Carell, and also Robert Smigel , Charlie Kaufman , Louis C.K. , and Dino Stamatopoulos , among others. The series, described by one reviewer as " kamikaze satire" in "borderline-questionable taste", had sponsors pull out after its first episode aired and
13900-548: The show, Rob Corddry took over "This Week in God" segments, although a recorded sample of Colbert's voice was still used as the sound effect for the God Machine. Later episodes of The Daily Show have reused older Colbert segments under the label "Klassic Kolbert". Colbert won three Emmys as a writer of The Daily Show in 2004, 2005, and 2006. Colbert hosted his own television show, The Colbert Report , from October 17, 2005, through December 18, 2014. The Colbert Report
14039-464: The sketch comedy series Exit 57 . He wrote and performed on The Dana Carvey Show (1996) before collaborating with Sedaris and Dinello again on the sitcom Strangers with Candy (1999–2000). Colbert's work as a correspondent on Comedy Central's news-parody series The Daily Show gained him wide recognition. In 2005, he left The Daily Show to host The Colbert Report . Following The Daily Show ' s news-parody concept, The Colbert Report
14178-626: The speech of American news anchors . Colbert sometimes jokingly claims that his surname is French. His ancestry though is actually 15/16 Irish, and one of his paternal great-great-grandmothers was of German and English descent. Many of his ancestors emigrated from Ireland to North America in the 19th century before and during the Great Famine . Originally, his surname was pronounced / ˈ k oʊ l b ər t / KOHL -bərt in English; Stephen Colbert's father, James, wanted to pronounce
14317-415: The street. Most noted by critics for its use of offensive humor, it concluded each episode by delivering to the audience a skewed, politically incorrect moral lesson. 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. Colbert has likened this to
14456-443: The style of network news field reporters, 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. When Kilborn left the show prior to the 1999 season, Jon Stewart took over hosting duties, also serving as a writer and co-executive producer. From this point, the series gradually began to take on a more political tone and increase in popularity, particularly in
14595-519: The transition difficult and did not easily make friends in his new neighborhood. Colbert later described himself during this time as detached, lacking a sense of importance regarding the things with which other children concerned themselves. He developed a love of science fiction and fantasy novels, especially the works of J. R. R. Tolkien , of which he remains an avid fan. During his adolescence, he also developed an intense interest in fantasy role-playing games , especially Dungeons & Dragons ,
14734-445: The trio became close friends while touring together, discovering that they shared a similar comic sensibility. When Sedaris and Dinello were offered the opportunity to create a television series for HBO Downtown Productions , Colbert left Second City and relocated to New York to work with them on the sketch comedy show Exit 57 . The series debuted on Comedy Central in 1995 and aired through 1996. Although it lasted only 12 episodes,
14873-420: The world. Colbert received a chilly response from the audience. His jokes were often met with silence and muttering, apart from the enthusiastic laughter of a few in the audience. The major media outlets paid little attention to it initially. Washington Post columnist Dan Froomkin and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism professor Todd Gitlin claimed that this was because Colbert's routine
15012-458: Was "a fascinatingly disgruntled eccentric trapped inside a more traditional talk show." The Late Show 's main competitor was NBC's The Tonight Show , which Jay Leno hosted for 22 years from 1992 to 2014, except from June 1, 2009, to January 22, 2010, when Conan O'Brien hosted. In 1993 and 1994, the Late Show consistently gained higher ratings than The Tonight Show . But in 1995, ratings dipped and Leno's show consistently beat Letterman's in
15151-488: 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 . 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 . Conceived by co-creators Stewart, Colbert, and Ben Karlin in part as an opportunity to explore "the character-driven news",
15290-511: Was a critical success, winning two Emmy Awards , but was a ratings disappointment and was canceled, the last show airing October 24, 1980. NBC kept Letterman on its payroll to try him in a different time slot. Late Night with David Letterman debuted February 1, 1982; the first guest was Bill Murray . Murray went on to become one of Letterman's most recurrent guests, guesting on his later CBS show's celebration of his 30th anniversary in late-night television, which aired January 31, 2012, and on
15429-537: Was a parody of personality-driven political opinion shows including The O'Reilly Factor , in which he portrayed a caricatured version of conservative political pundits , earning Colbert an invitation to perform as featured entertainer at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in 2006, which he did in character. This event led to the series becoming one of Comedy Central's highest-rated series. After ending The Colbert Report , he
15568-622: Was a young boy. The fear of losing his father was constantly with Letterman as he grew up. The elder Letterman died of a second heart attack in 1973 at the age of 57. Letterman attended his hometown's Broad Ripple High School and worked as a stock boy at the local Atlas Supermarket. According to the Ball State Daily News , he originally wanted to attend Indiana University , but his grades were not good enough, so he instead attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana . He
15707-407: Was announced soon after that comedian and political satirist Stephen Colbert would succeed Letterman. Letterman's last episode aired on May 20, 2015, and opened with a presidential sendoff featuring four of the five living American presidents, George H. W. Bush , Bill Clinton , George W. Bush , and Barack Obama, each mimicking the late president Gerald Ford 's statement "Our long national nightmare
15846-428: Was appropriate for the comedian to appear before Congress and asked him to leave the hearing. Though Colbert offered to depart at the direction of the committee chairwoman, Lofgren requested that he stay at least until all opening testimony had been completed, whereupon Conyers withdrew his request. Conservative pundits took aim at Colbert's Congress testimony not long after. 'Painfully awkward and pointless, it made
15985-576: Was as critical of the media as it was of Bush. Richard Cohen , also writing for The Washington Post , responded that the routine was not funny. The video of Colbert's performance became an internet and media sensation, while in the week following the speech, ratings for The Colbert Report rose by 37% to average just under 1.5 million total viewers per episode. In Time magazine, James Poniewozik called it "the political-cultural touchstone issue of 2006". Writing six months later, New York Times columnist Frank Rich referred to Colbert's speech as
16124-602: Was attempting to land in Charlotte, North Carolina . They were en route to enroll the two boys at Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut . He has discussed the impact on him and his philosophy of grief and suffering. Lorna Colbert relocated the family from James Island to the George Chisolm House , in downtown Charleston , and ran the carriage house as a bed and breakfast . Colbert found
16263-549: Was born in Indianapolis , Indiana, on April 12, 1947, and he has two sisters, one older and one younger. His father, Harry Joseph Letterman (April 15, 1915 – February 13, 1973), was a florist. His mother, Dorothy Marie Letterman Mengering (née Hofert; July 18, 1921 – April 11, 2017), a church secretary for the Second Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis , was an occasional figure on Letterman's show, usually at holidays and birthdays. Letterman grew up on
16402-666: Was born in Washington, D.C. , the youngest of eleven children in a Catholic family; in descending order of age, his siblings are James III, Edward, Mary, William, Margo, Thomas, Jay, Elizabeth , Paul, and Peter. He spent his early years in Bethesda, Maryland . He grew up in the Charleston, South Carolina , suburb of James Island . His father, James William Colbert Jr. , was an immunologist and medical school dean at Yale University , Saint Louis University , and finally at
16541-501: Was borne out in verbal sparring matches with Cher (who even called him an "asshole" on the show), Shirley MacLaine , Charles Grodin , and Madonna . The show also featured comedy segments and running characters, in a style heavily influenced by the 1950s and 1960s programs of Steve Allen . The show often featured quirky, genre-mocking regular features, including "Stupid Pet Tricks" (which had its origins on Letterman's morning show), Stupid Human Tricks, dropping various objects off
16680-405: Was canceled after seven episodes. 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 ; Colbert provided the voice of Ace on both series, opposite Steve Carell as Gary. Needing money, he also worked as a script consultant for VH1 and MTV , before taking
16819-524: Was coming to shows. He graduated from Northwestern's School of Communication in 1986. While at Northwestern, Colbert studied with the intent of becoming a dramatic actor; mostly he performed in experimental plays and was uninterested in comedy. He began performing improvisation while in college, both in the campus improv team No Fun Mud Piranhas and at the Annoyance Theatre in Chicago as
16958-431: Was estimated at $ 32 million. In June 2009, Letterman's Worldwide Pants and CBS reached an agreement to continue the Late Show until at least August 2012. The previous contract had been set to expire in 2010, and the two-year extension was shorter than the typical three-year contract period negotiated in the past. Worldwide Pants agreed to lower its fee for the show, though it had remained a "solid moneymaker for CBS" under
17097-560: Was growing up, for inspiring his choice of career: I was just out of college [in 1969], and I really didn't know what I wanted to do. And then all of a sudden I saw him doing it [on TV]. And I thought: That's really what I want to do! Soon after graduating from Ball State in 1969, Letterman began his career as a radio talk show host on WNTS and on Indianapolis television station WLWI (which changed its call sign to WTHR in 1976) as an anchor and weatherman . He received some attention for his novel on-air delivery, which included congratulating
17236-526: Was hired in 2015 to succeed retiring David Letterman as host of the Late Show on CBS. He hosted the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards in September 2017. Colbert has won nine Primetime Emmy Awards , two Grammy Awards , and three Peabody Awards . Colbert was named one of Time ' s 100 Most Influential People in 2006 and 2012. His book I Am America (And So Can You!) was listed No. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list in 2007. Colbert
17375-412: Was hired to perform with Second City's touring company, initially as an understudy for Steve Carell . It was there he met Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello , with whom he often collaborated later in his career. By their retelling, the three comedians did not get along at first – Dinello thought Colbert was uptight, pretentious and cold, while Colbert thought of Dinello as "an illiterate thug" – but
17514-415: Was in need of a job. A friend who was employed at Second City's box office offered him work answering phones and selling souvenirs. Colbert accepted and discovered that Second City employees were entitled to take classes at their training center free of charge. Despite his earlier aversion to the comedy group, he signed up for improvisation classes and enjoyed the experience greatly. Shortly thereafter, he
17653-628: Was interested in French humanist writers such as Léon 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. In an interview, Lorna has described Stephen as rambunctious. As a child, he observed that Southerners were often depicted as being less intelligent than other characters on scripted television; to avoid that stereotype, he taught himself to imitate
17792-555: 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. At the end of his often-humorous testimony, Colbert broke character in responding to a question from Rep. Judy Chu , D-CA, and explained his purpose for being at the hearing: I like talking about people who don't have any power, and this seems like one of
17931-432: Was often downplayed or even denied outright, and he frequently referred to having attended Dartmouth College (which was at the forefront of the conservative campus movement in the 1980s) rather than his actual alma mater, Northwestern. In July 2012, Colbert added two years to his contract with Comedy Central, extending the run of The Colbert Report until the end of 2014. The final episode on December 18, 2014, featured
18070-526: Was on May 13, 1994, on a Late Show episode taped in Los Angeles, when he made a surprise appearance during a Top 10 list segment. In early 2005, it was revealed that Carson occasionally sent jokes to Letterman, who used them in his monologue; according to CBS senior vice president Peter Lassally (a onetime producer for both men), Carson got "a big kick out of it." Letterman would do a characteristic Carson golf swing after delivering one of his jokes. In
18209-573: Was reflected in his character on The Colbert Report . With the extended exposure of the character on the show, he often referenced his interest in and knowledge of Catholicism, science fiction, and The Lord of the Rings , as well as using real facts to create his character's history. His alternate persona was also raised in South Carolina , is the youngest of 11 siblings and is married. However, Colbert's actual career history in acting and comedy
18348-408: Was reluctant to replace Koppel. He addressed his decision to re-sign on the air, stating that he was content at CBS and that he had great respect for Koppel. On December 4, 2006, CBS revealed that Letterman signed a new contract to host Late Show with David Letterman through the fall of 2010. "I'm thrilled to be continuing on at CBS," said Letterman. "At my age you really don't want to have to learn
18487-672: Was settled in a landmark Supreme Court decision ). CNN has reported that Obama supporters pressured the South Carolina Democratic Executive Council to keep Colbert off the ballot. One anonymous member of the council told CNN that former State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum had placed pressure on them to refuse Colbert's application despite his steady rise in polls. Though Colbert's real-life presidential campaign had ended, Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada established in an interview on The Colbert Report that Colbert's campaign
18626-693: Was severely obstructed. He was rushed to New York Presbyterian Hospital for emergency quintuple bypass surgery. During the first weeks of his recovery, reruns of the Late Show were shown and introduced by friends of Letterman, including Norm Macdonald , Drew Barrymore , Ray Romano , Robin Williams , Bonnie Hunt , Megan Mullally , Bill Murray, Regis Philbin , Charles Grodin , Nathan Lane , Julia Roberts , Bruce Willis , Jerry Seinfeld , Martin Short , Steven Seagal , Hillary Clinton , Danny DeVito , Steve Martin , and Sarah Jessica Parker . Later, while still recovering from surgery, Letterman revived
18765-476: Was shown in a February 12, 2009, appearance on The Colbert Report , when his second-oldest brother asked him, “ /ˈkoʊlbərt/ or /koʊlˈbɛər/ ?” Ed responded “ /ˈkoʊlbərt/ “, to which Stephen jokingly replied, “See you in Helll. On September 11, 1974, when Colbert was ten years old, his father and his brothers Peter and Paul, who were closest to him in age, died in the crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 while it
18904-458: Was soon a regular guest on the show. He became a favorite of Carson and was a regular guest host for the show beginning in 1978. Letterman credits Carson as the person who influenced his career the most. On June 23, 1980, Letterman was given his own morning comedy show on NBC , The David Letterman Show . It was originally 90 minutes long but was shortened to 60 minutes in August 1980. The show
19043-707: Was still going strong in the fictional Marvel Universe , citing the cover art of a then-recent issue of The Amazing Spider-Man which featured a Colbert campaign billboard in the background. Background appearances of Colbert campaign ads continued to appear in Marvel Comics publications, as late as August 2008's Secret Invasion No. 5 (which also features a cameo of an alien Skrull posing as Colbert). In October 2008, Colbert made an extended 8-page appearance webslinging with Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man issue No. 573. Colbert voiced
19182-528: Was that Letterman would retain his unique style and sense of humor with the move, Late Show was not an exact replica of his old NBC program. The monologue was lengthened. Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band followed Letterman to CBS, but they added a brass section and were rebranded the CBS Orchestra (at Shaffer's request); a small band had been mandated by Carson while Letterman occupied
19321-525: Was wearing a neck brace) appeared with professional wrestler Jerry Lawler , who slapped and knocked the comedian to the ground (Lawler and Kaufman's friend Bob Zmuda later revealed that the incident was staged ). In 1992, Johnny Carson retired, and many fans, and Carson himself, believed that Letterman would become the new host of The Tonight Show . When NBC instead gave the job to Jay Leno, Letterman departed NBC to host his own late-night show on CBS, opposite The Tonight Show at 11:30 p.m., called
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