Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert is a comedian and writer, one of the hosts of American television identified with political satire. He was born on May 13, 1964 in Washington, D.C. He became widely known first for his news parody in which he posed as a fake conservative commentator, and then for his late-night program on CBS.

From improvisation to satire programs

He studied theater at Northwestern University and graduated in 1986. He started at Chicago improv troupe The Second City, first working the box office and taking classes in return; he later joined the touring team and the main stage cast. During this period, he collaborated with Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello on the sketch series Exit 57 in the 1990s, and on Strangers with Candy in 1999-2000, in which he played history teacher Chuck Noblet.

In 1997, he joined Comedy Central's The Daily Show as a correspondent and remained on camera and on the writing staff until 2005; The show won three Emmys for its writing team. His impersonations of conservative cable channel commentators became the basis for his own show, The Colbert Report, which debuted in October 2005.

The program lasted until December 2014. The word "truthiness", which he introduced in the first chapter, that is, the perception of "as if it were true" based on instinct rather than facts, was chosen as the word of the year by the American Dialect Association in 2005.

The Late Show era

In September 2015, he replaced David Letterman as host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS. This time, he appeared with his own identity and hosted the program for eleven years and more than 1,800 episodes. CBS announced that the show would end in July 2025; The last episode was broadcast on May 21, 2026, thus ending the 33-year-old Late Show brand.

He has received numerous Primetime Emmys, two Grammys and three Peabody awards throughout his career. His satirical book I Am America (And So Can You!), published in 2007, reached the top of The New York Times bestseller list. Although he also has voice-over and guest acting jobs, he is most remembered as a presenter who interprets the political agenda with humor.