John Stewart

Forget Katie Couric, Charles Gibson and Brian Wiliams, most Americans take their news from Jon Stewart. As the host of the Comedy Central ‘fake news broadcast’ The Daily Show, Jon makes us laugh - and makes us think - nightly.

Born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz in New York City on November 28, 1962, Jon, not surprisingly, was voted ‘Best Sense of Humor’ by his schoolmates at New Jersey’s Lawrence High School (where he graduated third in his class). After earning a degree in psychology in 1984 from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, Jon moved to New York in 1986 drawn by the lure of stand-up comedy stardom, but he didn’t actually take the stage until a year later.

The future fake anchorman's first TV job came in 1989, as a writer for Caroline’s Comedy Hour, leading to rounds in basic cable, hosting Short Attention Span Theater for Comedy Central and You Wrote It, You Watch It for MTV. The music network liked Jon so much that they gave him his own talk show, The Jon Stewart Show in 1993. The program became syndicated the next year, but due to poor ratings was canceled in 1995. When comedian Craig Kilborn left Comedy Central’s The Daily Show in 1999, Jon took his spot and the rest, as they say, is history-like.

Jon has won ten Emmys, hosted the Academy Awards twice and published two best-selling books. Big-screen success has continued to take a back seat to Jon’s Daily duties, but he has graced Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, The Faculty and Big Daddy, where he played Adam Sandler’s roomie. Jon will continue to keep us informed and in stitches until 2010, or longer if his contract is renewed.