Top Current Late Night Talk Show Hosts
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Conan O'Brien grew up in a large Irish Catholic family in Massachusetts. At an early age, he developed a love of comedy and goofing off. This carried on when he entered prestigious Harvard University, acting out many pranks in his time, as well as becoming the president of the Harvard humor magazine, the Harvard Lampoon. After leaving Harvard, Conan found his way into a television writing job in LA. After jumping around on many unsuccessful shows, Conan moved out to New York, and won an Emmy for his writing on Saturday Night Live (1975). Later, he moved on to work for The Simpsons (1989), when SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels offered him the job of producer for the vacant 12:30 slot on NBC. Conan, after searching for a new host, decided to audition for the job himself and eventually wound up as the host of Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993).- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
Stephen Tyrone Colbert (pronounced "cole-BEAR") was born on May 13, 1964 in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Charleston, South Carolina. He is the son of Lorna Elizabeth (Tuck) and James William Colbert, Jr., a doctor and medical school dean at Yale, Saint Louis University, and MUSC. He is the youngest of eleven children, and is of Irish Catholic background.
Stephen studied acting at Northwestern and performed with the Second City comedy troupe in Chicago before teaming up with fellow cast members Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello to create the sketch comedy Exit 57 (1995) for Comedy Central. During its two-season run in the mid-1990s, it garnered five CableACE nominations for best writing, performing, and comedy series. After the demise of Exit 57 (1995) from 1997 (until his departure in October 2005), Stephen was a correspondent on The Daily Show (1996), then hosted by Craig Kilborn. Initially billed as "The New Guy," Stephen became the show's longest-running correspondent before getting his own show, The Colbert Report (2005), which has done well in its slot following The Daily Show (1996).
At the time he left The Daily Show (1996), Stephen had been its longest-running and most diverse correspondent. In addition to his role as Senior Political Correspondent, he was one of the hosts of "Even Stepheven," a point-counterpoint assault featuring co-correspondent Steve Carell, and the host of "This Week in God," a recurring segment in which he reported on all things theological with the assistance of the "God Machine."
Stephen helped The Daily Show (1996) win numerous Emmy and Peabody Awards and contributed to "America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction" (Warner Books) which immediately topped the New York Times bestseller list and stayed there for 15 consecutive weeks.
His personality, intelligence, and leftist political satire could only have led him to The Colbert Report (2005), a half-hour nightly platform for him to give his tongue-in-cheek take on the issues of the day, and more importantly, to tell you why he thinks everyone else's take is just plain wrong.
His other notable credits include serving as both writer and cast member on The Dana Carvey Show (1996), writing for Saturday Night Live (1975), and providing the voice of Ace in Robert Smigel's "Ambiguously Gay Duo," which originated on The Dana Carvey Show (1996) and was a semi-regular feature in Smigel's "TV Funhouse" segment on SNL. He was also featured on "Mr. Goodwrench" commercials (2003-2005).
Stephen lives in northern New Jersey with his wife and three children.- Actor
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Graham Norton was born on 4 April 1963 in County Cork, Ireland. He is an actor and writer, known for Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020), So Graham Norton (1998) and Soul (2020). He has been married to Jono McLeod since 10 July 2022.- Writer
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- Actor
John Oliver was born on 23 April 1977 in Birmingham, England, UK. He is a writer and producer, known for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2014), The Lion King (2019) and The Smurfs (2011). He has been married to Kate Norley since October 2011. They have two children.- Producer
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Trevor Noah is a South African comedian, television host, actor, and political commentator. He is the host of The Daily Show, an American satirical news program on Comedy Central.
Born in Johannesburg, Noah began his career in South Africa in 2002. He had several hosting roles with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and was the runner-up in the fourth season of South Africa's iteration of Strictly Come Dancing in 2008. From 2010 to 2011, he hosted the late-night talk show Tonight with Trevor Noah, which he created and aired on M-Net and DStv.
In 2014, Noah became the Senior International Correspondent for The Daily Show, and in 2015 succeeded long-time host Jon Stewart. His autobiographical comedy book Born a Crime was published in 2016. He hosted the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2021 and the 64th Annual Grammy Awards edition in 2022.
Noah has won various awards, including an MTV Africa Music Award and a Primetime Emmy Award from eleven nominations. He was named one of "The 35 Most Powerful People in New York Media" by The Hollywood Reporter in 2017 and 2018. In 2018, Time magazine named him one of the hundred most influential people in the world.- Actor
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Jimmy Kimmel was born on 13 November 1967 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003), The Man Show (1999) and Win Ben Stein's Money (1997). He has been married to Molly McNearney since 13 July 2013. They have two children. He was previously married to Gina Kimmel.- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Describing himself as the "chunky unit," James Kimberley Corden was born in Hillingdon, London, England and raised in Buckinghamshire, England, the son of Margaret (Collins), a social worker, and Malcolm Corden, a musician. He studied drama at the Jackie Palmer Stage School before going on to Holmer Green Senior School, near High Wycombe. However, he admits that he had very little academic ambition and turned to acting, making his screen debut in the monochrome Shane Meadows film TwentyFourSeven (1997). After taking small roles in television drama series, he landed his first notable role as the teenage member of a slimming club in the British TV comedy-drama Fat Friends (2000). Shortly afterwards, he appeared on the London stage in Alan Bennett's play "The History Boys," taking part in its subsequent international tour, as well as the cinema adaptation. Whilst working on Fat Friends (2000), he met the Welsh actress Ruth Jones and, between them, they fashioned the sitcom (in which both also appear) Gavin & Stacey (2007), the big hit of the 2007 season, winning British Film Academy awards for them both as Best Comedy Show and for James as Best Comedy Actor. He also persuaded three of the erstwhile "History Boys" to make cameo appearances as Gavin's stag party friends. In 2011 he found fame as a stage actor in the acclaimed farce 'One Man, Two Guv'nors' transferring with it from London to Broadway, thus beginning Transatlantic success topped in 2015 when he became the host of CBS 'The Late, Late Show.'- Writer
- Actor
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Seth Meyers was born on 28 December 1973 in Bedford, New Hampshire, USA. He is a writer and actor, known for Documentary Now! (2015), Saturday Night Live (1975) and New Year's Eve (2011). He has been married to Alexi Ashe Meyers since 1 September 2013. They have three children.- Writer
- Actor
- Director
Russell Howard was born on 23 March 1980 in Bristol, England, UK. He is a writer and actor, known for Russell Howard: Live (2008), Russell Howard Live: Dingledodies (2009) and Russell Howard's Good News (2009).- Producer
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Bill Maher was born William Maher in New York City, New York, and grew up in River Vale, New Jersey. His father, William Aloysius Maher Jr., who was of Irish Catholic descent, was a radio announcer and news editor. His mother, Julie (Berman), was a nurse, who was of Jewish descent. Maher was raised in his father's Catholic faith. While attending Cornell University, he decided to try stand-up comedy. His first stand-up routine was in a Chinese restaurant on Route 17 in Paramus, New Jersey. He soon landed a regular gig at Catch a Rising Star in New York City. After a few years, he became a regular host at the club and was spotted by a scout for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962). Maher made numerous appearances on the show, and Carson had been a hero of his since childhood, but he always felt constrained by the rules of network television. During this time, he appeared in films and made guest appearances on numerous sitcoms.
In 1993, Maher was offered his own talk show by Comedy Central. Maher developed the show as a round table discussion on current events. Politically Incorrect (1993) premiered to critical acclaim and attracted major celebrities as well as politicians and pundits. In 1997, the show moved to ABC where it aired to continued success. On September 17, 2001, Maher made controversial comments regarding the terrorists who orchestrated the September 11 attack on the US. Sponsors pulled their ads and affiliates refused to air the show. ABC canceled the show in 2002, citing "low ratings". Maher had been nominated for 11 Emmys for his work on the show. In 2003, he was able to continue his television work with a similar program on HBO titled Real Time with Bill Maher (2003). He remains single and lives in Los Angeles.- Writer
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Jimmy Fallon was born in 1974 in Brooklyn, New York, to Gloria (Feeley) and Jimmy Fallon. He is of Irish, German, and Norwegian descent. He was raised in Saugerties, New York, which is in upstate New York. He has performed stand up, impressions and characters across the country, in some of the biggest comedy clubs, such as the Improv (in Los Angeles) and Caroline's Comedy Club (in New York City). He also took acting classes with The Groundlings, an LA-based breeding ground for great comedians. Jimmy joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (1975) as a featured player in September 1998. He has already been called the best SNL player since Phil Hartman, and is popular amongst SNL fans.- Writer
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Alan Carr was born on 14 June 1976 in Weymouth, England, UK. He is a writer and actor, known for Alan Carr: Chatty Man (2009), Changing Ends (2023) and The Friday Night Project (2005).- Writer
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- Actor
Comedian, talk show host, game show host, film critic, radio DJ and awards show compere, Jonathan Ross is the most successful British broadcaster of his generation. After attending the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London and gaining a Modern European History degree, he worked as a researcher on Channel Four in the 1980s, becoming a presenter for the first time in January 1987 on the channel's series The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross (1987). Ross made an immediate impression, largely because he didn't base his presentational style on conventional, comforting and polite British broadcasters such as Frank Bough, Michael Parkinson, Russell Harty, Alan Whicker and the BBC's main talk show host of the time, Terry Wogan; his inspiration was the more fast-witted and irreverent style of American talk show hosts, in particular David Letterman.
Although The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross (1987) had a short life, it established him as a major draw for Channel Four and introduced viewers to his trademark irreverent humour and his distinctive speech impediment, which has been the source of plenty of jokes over the years, including a few by Ross himself.
The 1990s were a period of growing success for Jonathan Ross. In 1999 he was chosen by the BBC to replace Barry Norman as the host of Film '72 (1971), their long-running film series on BBC One. The same year he left Virgin Radio to start his popular Radio 2 show, broadcast on Saturdays. In 2001 he landed his own chat show on BBC One, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (2001).
Further evidence of his status came in 2005, when he was chosen by the BBC to host the corporation's coverage of the Live 8 (2005) rock concerts. Two years later, he was the obvious choice to host the similar Live Earth (2007) for the BBC.
He has been the winner of numerous awards, with Sony judges praising him for his "speed of thought, natural wit, and ability to transform even the most mundane of thoughts into entertaining broadcasting". BBC Director-General Mark Thompson has called him an "outstanding talent", and BBC One Controller Peter Fincham called him a "uniquely talented broadcaster at the very top of his game". He was awarded the OBE for services to broadcasting in 2005.
Ross has not been without his critics. Some have accused him of being the spearhead for a general decline in British television standards since the 1980s, epitomised by his regular use of foul language and blatant sexual references during his late night BBC talk show. He has been at the centre of a number of controversies due to his irreverent style, prompting cautions from The Broadcasting Standards Commission and the BBC's board of governors. Ofcom, the communications regulator, called him "deliberately provocative". John Beyer, director of TV watchdog Mediawatch, has called his language "disgraceful and unacceptable". In 2006, Andrew Neil likened Ross' style to football hooliganism.
Once the bad boy of Channel Four, Jonathan Ross hadn't moderated his style but he became the BBC's most valued broadcaster, with a reputed salary of £6 million a year. In October 2008, Ross caused a major controversy when he left obscene messages with Russell Brand on the answerphone of veteran actor Andrew Sachs while guesting on Brand's Radio 2 show. He was suspended from the BBC for three months and also reprimanded by the BBC Trust over his explicit comments to actress Gwyneth Paltrow on his talk show earlier in the year. In 2009, it was announced that Ross was leaving the BBC in 2010 and in July 2010, the same month his last BBC programme went out, it was announced he had signed a deal to begin a new talk show on ITV1 in 2011.