Jon Stewart Biography
Jon Stewart is a Jewish-American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, and stand-up comedian. He is best known as the host of The Daily Show, a satirical news program airing on Comedy Central. He began hosting The Show in 1999 and hosted it until 2015. From Feb. 12, 2024, Stewart will return to The Daily Show as a part-time host and executive producer through the 2024 presidential election cycle and he’ll lead the program on Monday nights.
Jon Stewart Age
Stewart is 61 years old as of January 2024. He was born on 28 November 1962, in New York, New York, United States.
Jon Stewart Height
He stands at a height of 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in).
Jon Stewart Nationality
He holds American nationality.
Jon Stewart Education
Stewart attended Lawrence High School and he was subjected to antisemitic bullying as a child. He describes himself in high school as “very into Eugene Debs and a bit of a leftist.” In 1984, he graduated from The College of William & Mary, where he majored in chemistry before switching to psychology.
While at William & Mary, Stewart became a Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity member, but eventually began disassociating himself from them, leaving the fraternity altogether after six months. “My college career was waking up late, memorizing someone else’s notes, doing bong hits, and going to soccer practice”, he later said.
Stewart was a three-year starter in 1981, 1982, and 1983 with the Tribe men’s soccer team. He had 10 goals and 12 assists on a squad that went 40–15–9 (.695) in his three seasons with the program. He is listed as Jon Leibowitz in official William & Mary Athletics records. The former head coach of the Tribe men’s soccer team from 1971 to 2003, Al Albert, describes Stewart as “athletic and feisty and quick” and added that he “wasn’t the most technical or clinical player, but he could make things happen.”
Jon Stewart Parents
Jon was born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz and is the son of Marian (née Laskin), a teacher and later educational consultant, and Donald Leibowitz (1931–2013), an energy coordinator for the New Jersey Department of the Treasury. His family members are Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants to America from Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus. One of his grandfathers was born in Manzhouli (now part of China). Jon is the second of four sons, with older brother Lawrence who was previously the chief operating officer of NYSE Euronext (parent company of the New York Stock Exchange), and younger brothers Dan and Matthew.
Jon’s parents divorced when he was eleven years old, and he was largely estranged from his father. Because of his strained relationship with his father, which in 2015 he described as “still ‘complicated'”, he dropped his surname and began using his middle name. Jon stated, “There was a thought of using my mother’s maiden name, but I thought that would be just too big a fuck you to my dad… Did I have some problems with my father? Yes. Yet people always view [changing my surname] through the prism of ethnic identity.” He had his surname changed legally to Stewart in 2001.
Jon grew up in the era of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal, which inspired in him “a healthy skepticism towards official reports”. His first job was working with his brother at a Woolworth’s store and he jokingly says being fired by Lawrence was one of the “scarring events” of his youth. He has also credited renowned television producer Norman Lear as someone who “raised me.”
Jon Stewart Wife
Jon is married to Tracey McShane, a 56-year-old former veterinary technician. The couple first met on a blind date in 1995. During a 2002 appearance on Larry King Live, Jon shared his story of how he was set up on a date by a person he was working with on a TV special. That person happened to be Tracey’s roommate at the time.
In November 2002, Jon and Tracey wed. However, before tying the knot Jon uniquely proposed to his wife. He popped the question using the help of New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz, who aided in the creation of a crossword puzzle filled with clues leading to the proposal. The couple are parents to two children, a son Nathan Thomas born July 3, 2004, and a daughter Maggie Rose born February 4, 2006.
Jon’s wife Tracey is a vegan. Given her commitment to animals, Tracey’s dietary habits reflect that. She’s a vegan, though the entire Stewart family is not. The couple also owns a farm in New Jersey that serves as a sanctuary for rescued farm animals that’s affiliated with the national animal rescue group Farm Sanctuary. Tracey is also the author of the memoir Do Unto Animals and the president of the Hey Friend Foundation, which is “dedicated to promoting healthy, sustainable, and kind living.”
Jon Stewart The Daily Show
Stewart is a Jewish-American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, and stand-up comedian. He is best known as the host of The Daily Show, a satirical news program airing on Comedy Central. He began hosting The Daily Show on Comedy Central in 1999 and he has won ten Emmys for his work on the show as a writer and producer. In 2000 and 2004, the show won two Peabody Awards for its coverage of the presidential elections relevant to those years.
Stewart, who hosted the program for 16 years before leaving in 2015, will return to The Daily Show as a part-time host and executive producer through the 2024 presidential election cycle. He’ll lead the program on Monday nights beginning Feb. 12, leaving hosting on Tuesdays through Thursdays to the show’s correspondents. But, more importantly, Stewart and his manager James Dixon will serve as executive producers for all episodes through 2025.
Since Stewart recently left a deal with Apple to do a show called The Problem with Jon Stewart over content conflicts, he is free to return to a place where he had his greatest success, at a moment when old-school fans of the show often post that they wish he was hosting The Daily Show, anyway.
Jon Stewart Other Jobs
After holding numerous jobs, Stewart moved to New York City in 1986 to try his hand at the comedy club circuit. He made his stand-up debut at The Bitter End, the same place where Woody Allen began his career. Stewart landed his first television job as a writer for Caroline’s Comedy Hour in 1989 and began co-hosting Comedy Central’s Short Attention Span Theater with Patty Rosborough in 1991. He then hosted the short-lived MTV show You Wrote It, You Watch It. From 1993 to 1995, he hosted The Jon Stewart Show on MTV.
In 1999, Stewart began hosting The Daily Show on Comedy Central. In the mid-1990s, Stewart launched his own production company named Busboy Productions. He has also had roles in several films and television series. He also hosted the Grammy Awards in 2001 and 2002 and the Academy Awards in 2006 and 2008.
Stewart’s first book, 1998’s Naked Pictures of Famous People, reached The New York Times Best Seller List. In 2004, Stewart and The Daily Show writing staff released America (The Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction, a mock high school history textbook. The book sold millions of copies and ended the year as a top fifteen bestseller.
In 2005, Stewart was named in Time Magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people of the year. The same year, Stewart and The Daily Show received the NCTE George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language.
In February 2015, Stewart announced his retirement from hosting The Daily Show. Later that year he signed an exclusive contract with HBO to create a shortform digital animated series based on American politics, but after numerous issues, the show was scrapped.
In 2022, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts awarded Stewart the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter said that Stewart has “brightened our lives and challenged our minds as he delivers current events and social satire with his trademark wit and wisdom.”
Jon Stewart Illness
As of January 2024, Jon hasn’t mentioned to the public that he is unwell. However, because of his weight loss, some have speculated that he may be having cancer or suffering from something else.
Jon Stewart Salary
At the peak of his career with The Daily Show, Stewart commanded an annual salary of $25 million.
Jon Stewart Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of $120 million as of January 2024.
