Stephen Tyrone Colbert is a satirist, comedian and writer who was born on May 13, 1964 in Washington, D.C. He was raised in Charleston, South Carolina on James Island, and was the youngest of 11 children in an Irish-Catholic family. Colbert has described his parents as people who put a premium on intellectualism instead of blind devotion and faith, teaching their offspring that it was acceptable to question the Church and yet still be good Catholics. He has studied at the Episcopal Porter-Gaud School, Hampden-Sydney College, and Northwestern University. Colbert became well-known as a correspondent on The Daily Show with John Stewart, and then for starring in his own successful spin-off show The Colbert Report.
Stephen Colbert is a distinct character also played by his namesake comedian Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report, though he has his own views and personality. He is the anchorman of the show, and is a caricature of various conservative news pundits seen on cable television. Stephen and his show is most notably a parody of controversial conservative media figure Bill O’Reilly and The O’Reilly Factor, whom Stephen calls “Papa Bear” and idolizes. Stephen is egomaniacal, self-important, and an idiot on many of the matters he interviews politicians about. He earned critical distinction during the 2006 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, wherein he ironically praised and lambasted the Bush administration at the same time.
(Photo courtesy of Comedy Central)
