Stephen Colbert

Colbert married Evelyn McGee-Colbert in October 1993. The couple, who both grew up in the Charleston, South Carolina area before meeting later in life, reside in New Jersey. Together they have three children: daughter Madeleine and sons Peter and John. In 2024, Colbert and his wife co-authored the bestselling family cookbook Does This Taste Funny? Recipes Our Family Loves.

Born in Washington, D.C., Colbert grew up in Charleston as the youngest of eleven children in a devout Irish Catholic family. His father, James William Colbert Jr., was an immunologist and medical school dean. In 1974, when Colbert was ten years old, his father and two of his older brothers were killed in an airplane crash. In the aftermath of the loss, Colbert turned inward and developed a passion for reading science fiction and fantasy, particularly the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as playing role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, which he later credited with sparking his interest in improvisation. Colbert is also deaf in his right ear.

Colbert initially enrolled at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia to study philosophy before transferring to Northwestern University, where he graduated with a theater degree in 1986. After graduation, he moved to Chicago and began working with the Second City comedy troupe, initially taking classes and working in the box office before joining the touring company. During his time at Second City, he forged creative partnerships with fellow comedians Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello. The trio created and starred in the sketch comedy series Exit 57 for Comedy Central from 1995 to 1996, earning multiple CableACE Award nominations, and later developed the cult sitcom Strangers with Candy, which aired from 1999 to 2000 and spawned a 2005 feature film adaptation.

During the mid-1990s, Colbert also wrote and performed on The Dana Carvey Show and wrote for Saturday Night Live, where he and Steve Carell voiced the title characters in Robert Smigel's animated segment "The Ambiguously Gay Duo." In 1997, Colbert joined Comedy Central's satirical news program The Daily Show. Working first under host Craig Kilborn and then under Jon Stewart, Colbert served as a writer and senior political correspondent for eight years. He became a central figure on the series through popular recurring segments, including "This Week in God" and the mock debate series "Even Stephven" opposite Steve Carell.

In 2005, Colbert launched his own spin-off program on Comedy Central, The Colbert Report, portraying a blustering, self-important conservative pundit parodying cable news commentators such as Bill O'Reilly. On the series premiere, Colbert introduced the satirical term "truthiness," which was named Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society. The Colbert Report quickly became one of the network's flagship programs and won multiple Primetime Emmy Awards and Peabody Awards for writing and variety programming.

Colbert's satirical persona extended regularly into public and political spheres. In April 2006, he served as the featured speaker at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, delivering an in-character keynote address that sharply satirized President George W. Bush and the Washington press corps. In October 2010, Colbert and Jon Stewart hosted the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., attracting an audience of more than 200,000 attendees. In 2011, Colbert established a political action committee, "Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow," using the Super PAC to purchase satirical campaign advertisements during the 2012 presidential election cycle and draw attention to campaign finance regulations following the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling. The Colbert Report ended its run in December 2014.

In September 2015, Colbert took over as host of CBS's The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, succeeding David Letterman following Letterman's retirement. Dropping his satirical conservative persona to host as himself, Colbert incorporated sharp political commentary and extensive interviews with political figures, authors, and entertainers. Musician Jon Batiste led the show's house band, Stay Human, from its premiere until 2022. Under Colbert's tenure, The Late Show rose to the top of the late-night ratings, earning multiple Emmy Awards including Outstanding Talk Series. The program completed its run in May 2026.

Beyond his late-night programs, Colbert has hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards and served as executive producer on animated and satirical series such as Our Cartoon President, Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News, and the comedy game show After Midnight. He has authored several satirical bestsellers, including I Am America (And So Can You!), America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't, and Whose Boat Is This Boat?, with proceeds from the latter dedicated to disaster relief causes. Colbert has also contributed voice roles to animated feature films, including Monsters vs. Aliens, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, and Despicable Me 4, and made a cameo appearance in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.