Biography And Filmography:

For funny man Jon Stewart, the witty anchor of the Emmy award-winning fake news program “The Daily Show”, the change from college boy comedian to social, cultural and political joker took place during one of the countries most unstable periods. Among war, government corruption and an increasingly liberal national news media, he surfaced from a small basic cable channel to become one of the nation’s comedic voices of reason in a world of news cycles, political talking-heads and greedy politicians. “The Daily Show” quickly became one of the most trusted and admired sources of national news for the generation X kids, and adults alike, even while repeatedly claiming it was a fake news program. Nevertheless, the comedian turned the unfamiliar show into a genuine network ratings champion that won nine Emmy Awards and several Peabody's.
 

Born Jonathan Stewart Leibowitz on Nov. 28, 1962 in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, he is the son of a physicist father and special education mother. When he was only eleven years old, his parents got a divorce, leaving him confused and cut-off from his father. He saw that even at his young age that he was a cynical comedian, a talent he used to defend himself from his menacing classmates who teased him for being a Jew. After he graduated from high school, he attended The College of William & Mary in Virginia, graduating in 1984 with a bachelor degree in psychology. He then returned to New Jersey, where he was employed as a bartender and performed humorous puppet shows for young disabled children, and anybody else that would watch. At the age of twenty-four, He sold his run-down old car and made the chancy move to New York to try his hand at becoming a stand-up comedian.

In time, he got his first lucky break with a hosting job on the ensemble sketch comedy show “Short Attention Span Theater” from 1990 to 1994. After his contract expired in 1992, he was considered as a possible replacement for David Letterman’s old time-slot on NBC’s “Late Night,” but was not thought of as well-known enough and lost out to veteran "Saturday Night Live" comic and writer Conan O’Brien. Other network Executives were impressed enough with him to give him his own show on MTV, “The Jon Stewart Show” from 1993 to 1995. Although the interview and variety show was cancelled after only two seasons, Stewart had attracted the attention of the country and gained valuable experience in hosting shows and polishing his comedy style.

Stewart was then hired for a number of guest appearances on various television shows including “The Nanny” starring Fran Drescher, "Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist",  “Newsradio” with Phil Hartman and Dave Foley, and “Spin City” starring Michael J. Fox and Heather Locklear.

Jon's first movie role was playing a rollerblader in the Steve Martin family comedy "Mixed Nuts" (1994), about the events that take place at a crisis hotline business on one bizarre night during the Christmas holidays. He was then hired and cast as Henry in the comedy "Wishful Thinking" (1997) starring Drew Barrymore. His biggest success to that point came in the cult movie favorite "Half Baked" starring Dave Chappelle, Harland Williams and Tommy Chong, the pot-smoking story about three not so bright men who come up with a series of crazy schemes to get a friend out of jail. He then took a small part in the made-for-television move "Since You've Been Gone" starring Teri Hatcher, Lara Flynn Boyle and David Schwimmer, about a 10th anniversary High School reunion told through the eyes of a doctor who was humiliated. 

The comedian next took the role of Professor Edward Furlong in the horror thriller "The Faculty" (1998) with Josh Hartnett, Salma Hayek and Elijah Wood, a story about high school students who suspect that their teachers are aliens from another planter after several bizarre events. Another small movie role followed as Trent in the romantic comedy "Playing By Heart" (1998) with Angelina Jolie, Sean Connery, Gillian Anderson, Ryan Phillippe and Dennis Quaid, a comedy about eleven articulate people who work through affairs of the heart, and life in Los Angeles. He was growing frustrated at the lack of big roles and his apparent B-list status, even though he was well liked and admired as a comedian. Jon was fearful that he would be labeled as a bit-player and cast only in small supporting roles to help make the more mainstream A-list Hollywood celebrities appear funny.

One of his larger, and more memorable roles came in the part of Kevin Gerrity in Adam Sandler's comedy "Big Daddy" in 1999. The story revolved around a lazy law school graduate (Adam Sandler) who adopts a kid to impress his girlfriend, but everything doesn't go as planned and he becomes the unlikely foster father. Jon had more screen time in "Big Daddy" then many of his other films and Hollywood started to take notice of the actor. 

Another big break for Stewart was in the smash hit "Death To Smoochy" (2002) starring Robin Williams, Edward Norton and  Danny DeVito, about the host of a children's television show who is fired for taking payola and plots revenge against his replacement, a rhino named Smoochy. "Smoochy" was a critical success and gave him a platform to stretch his comedy talents. But Hollywood still looked at him as a stand-up comedian and not a movie star.

Though he had made inroads into the movie business, it looked as though his career was stalling. But that all changed in 1998 when Craig Kilborn, the then anchor of “The Daily Show”, left to host “The Late Late Show” on the CBS network. He took Kilborn’s place on “The Daily Show.” But he soon became unhappy with the show’s overuse of celebrity gossip and tabloid stories, attempting instead to move into more political waters and issues he felt strongly about. His first season was a rough one, with the updated format and focus frustrating many of the writers.

Over time, almost all of the original writers left while he retooled the show to focus more on politics and current events. The end result was a piercing lampoon that not only exposed the hypocrisies of the government, but also the biased and liberal way the national media reported the news. From his fake news anchor chair, he delivered mock coverage of the day’s headlines with hilarious satire, edited film footage, parsed sound-bites, and clever impressions and facial expressions not seen from traditional newscasters. The show had become a smash hit and won a Peabody Award and the Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Musical or Comedy Program.

"The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" was on a roll, in part due to the string of fake news correspondents that have included Stephen Colbert, Rob Corddry, Ed Helms, Samantha Bee, Steve Carell, Jason Jones, John Oliver, Rob Riggle, Nancy Walls, Lewis Black and newcomer Aasif Mandvi. No other show in history except for "Saturday Night Live" has spun  off so many A-list Hollywood celebrities as "The Daily Show". The unique fake news correspondent position seem to focus on the individual, giving them an outlet to express their true comedy skills, each is different and funny in their own way, and viewers loved it. Stewart soon became not only the fake news host, but also lead write and executive producer, and ended the year with two more Emmy awards: one for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program, the other for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series.

In October 2004, he received heavy criticism for his appearance on the CNN show “Crossfire”. Stewart was the only guest for the entire segment, and to the shock of many in the audience used his position to assault the show and its two hosts, Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson, calling them “political hacks” and criticizing the show for “hurting America.” Begala took the criticism in stride, but Tucker Carlson took offence and accused Stewart of not being funny. Stewart responded by informing Carlson that he was not “going to be his monkey” and that Carlson was “as big a dick on his show as he was on any show.” He returned to “The Daily Show” as a hero, where he continued to criticize the liberal bias and hypocrisy of “Crossfire.” The long-running CNN show was cancelled three months later, with CNN president Jonathan Klein admitting Stewart’s criticisms were correct and valid. 

As a testament to his shows status, he had the ability to attract top rated guests including Al Gore, Bill Clinton, John McCain, tons of A-list Hollywood celebrities, and even Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf. In 2005, he teamed with fellow funnyman Steven Colbert to create the next generation of satire fake news with the show "Colbert Report". Acting as executive producer for the series, Colbert's role was a take on Bill O'Reilly, who hosted his own cable news talk show. Even though O'Reilly's ratings were strong, viewers had begun to consider O'Reilly as a bully, and frequently misinformed, if not flat out wrong in his opinions. The character that Colbert created was an effort to show how proud and arrogant some television hosts can become, to the point that they begin to believe every word that leaves their mouth. "The Colbert Report" became an overnight sensation, and the continued collaboration between Colbert and Stewart cemented the two shows into Hollywood history.

Not staying away from the movie business forever, the comedian turned actor took a role in the comedy "Nailed" (2009) starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Jessica Biel, Kirstie Alley and Tracy Morgan, about a small town waitress who gets a nail accidentally lodged in her head causing unpredictable behavior that leads her to Washington, DC, where sparks fly when she meets a clueless young senator who takes up her cause.

 Watch Jon Stewart And Steven Colbert At The 2007 Emmy Awards

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