Jon Stewart

Background

Jon Stewart, born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz on November 28, 1962, in New York City is a popular T.V. show host. His mother, Marian Leibowitz, was a teacher, and his father, Donald Leibowitz, was an energy coordinator. Stewart has three siblings, all boys. Stewart was five when his parents got divorced and he barely saw his father from then on. Even as an adult, Stewart commented that his relationship with his father was “complicated.” Stewart grew up with his mother and his older brother in Lawrence Lawrenceville, New Jersey. He attended Lawrence High School. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at The College of William & Mary and majored in Chemistry and Psychology. He dropped his surname and had his surname changed legally to Stewart in 2001.

After graduating from college in 1984, Stewart had several odd jobs. He worked as a bartender, a busboy, a shelf stocker, a high school soccer coach, a puppeteer, and many more jobs. In 1986, Stewart moved back to New York City to try luck in a career as a comedian. He was often regarded as a “funny man,” so how could it not work? Once in New York City, Stewart started doing stand-up comedy at different comedy clubs. Stewart became a regular and popular performer at the comedy club Comedy Cellar, where he performed for two years. In 1990, Stewart began co-hosting “Short Attention Span Theater” after his first television job as a writer for “Caroline’s Comedy Hour” the previous year. In 1993, Stewart began hosting “The Jon Stewart Show,” an M.T.V. talk show which was later dropped by the network.

Stewart got his big break in 1998 when he replaced Craig Kilborn on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” but he didn’t make his first on-air appearance until January 11, 1999. Stewart hosted “The Daily Show” until 2015 and during his journey on the show, Stewart won 22 Primetime Emmy Awards and two Grammy Awards.