Jon's Bio
Jonathan Stewart Leibowitz was born on November 28, 1962 in New York City, and grew up in Lawrence Township, New Jersey. His mother Marion, a retired teacher; and father, Donald, a physicist who currently teaches at The College of New Jersey; divorced when Jon was nine years old. Jon has an older brother, Larry, and a half-sibling from when his father remarried. Jon attended Lawrence High School and got his first taste of acting in the eleventh grade when he was cast as second helper in the school's production of The Pajama Game. When asked to reflect on his experience, Jon said, "I spent all my time wishing desperately that the first helper would fall ill". Now, Jon still returns to his high school to help with fundraisers. After graduating from high school, Jon was accepted into The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity and the school's soccer team, which to this day still gives out the "Leibo" award (named for Jon's birth name) to the team's clown/sweetheart. Jon graduated with a Bachelor's degree in psychology in 1984. Jon got the idea to pursue a career in stand-up comedy at age 24, when he used puppets to teach school kids about disabled people. Jon spent the next five years trying to make his dream of becoming a profesional comedian come true. He had his first big break after opening for Sheena Easton in Las Vegas in which he was asked to host a show on Comedy Central. That show was Short Attention Span Theater, which debuted in 1989. A few years later, Jon got an offer to do a show for MTV. You Wrote It, You Watch It featured ideas for skits sent in by viewers which were performed by the show's actors. Next for Jon came MTV's first late-night talk show in 1993, The Jon Stewart Show. With this show came more popularity and admiration for Jon, as he began to receive offers for small parts in television shows and movies. Jon's television apperances include : playing himself on the HBO series The Larry Sanders Show in various episodes between 1996 and 1998, the role of "Bobby" in a 1997 episode of The Nanny, the role of "Andrew" in a 1997 episode of News Radio, and the role of "Parker" in a 1999 episode of Spin City. Jon was also a contestant on a celebrity edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, in which Jon played for The Alzheimer's Assoc. in honor of his grandmother and won $125,000. Jon hosted both The 43rd and 44th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2001 and 2002. Jon's movie appearances include : playing a rollerblader in Mixed Nuts (1994), the role of "Henry" in Wishful Thinking (1997), the role of "Enhancement Smoker" in Half Baked (1998), the role of "Todd Zalinsky" in Since You've Been Gone (1998), the role of "Prof. Ed Furlong" in The Faculty (1998), himself in the Sesame Street special Elmopalooza! (1998), the role of "Trent" in Playing By Heart (1998) *my personal favorite*, the role of "Kevin" in Big Daddy (1999), and the role of a t.v. news anchor in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001). Jon recently starred in the movie, Death to Smoochie, which was released March 29, 2002. Jon is not just an actor though, he is also a best selling author, releasing his book Naked Pictures of Famous People in 1998. It is a collection of fictitious essays about people in the news at that time which earned its place on The New York Times Best Seller List. Jon has also written for The New Yorker, George, Esquire, and Spin. Jon took over as host of The Daily Show on January 11, 1999. In addition to hosting, he also serves as the show's co-executive producer, earning a salary of $1,500,000 (2000season). Since Jon joined The Daily Show, the program has won some prestigous awards, including : The Peabody Award for their "Indecision 2000" coverage of the past presidential election, nominated for 2001 Emmy for Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series, and won the 2001 Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music of Comedy Program. Also in 1999, Jon was voted one of People Magazine's : Fifty Most Beautiful People in the World. In the summer of 2000, Jon married Tracy McShane, a graphics designer turned veternary student. They live in Greenwich Village with their pets : Shamsky, a Pit-Bull and Stan, a cat amongst other animals Tracy brings home from her job at the vet clinic.. |
