Born as Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz, Jon Stewart legally changed his last name to Stewart in 2001. He is an American comedian, writer, director, producer, political commentator, activist and TV host. Stewart emerged as a TV personality because of his hosting duties on The Daily show. Ever since his appearance on the show, audience has loved his sarcastic sense of humor and his approach at covering politics and other news stories.
Jon Stewart Biography and Net Worth
| Net Worth $120 M |
| Full Name Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz |
| Birth Date November 28, 1962 |
| Age 59 |
| Birthplace New York, New York, United States |
| Profession Comedian, Writer, Actor, TV Host |
| Wife Tracey McShane |
Jon Stewart Early Life
Stewart grew up in Lawrenceville, New Jersey and attended Lawrence High School. Stewart stated that while growing up he developed skepticism towards official reports due to Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal. In 1984, Stewart graduated from The College of William and Mary, where he changed his major from chemistry to psychology. He was also a starter in the Tribe men’s soccer team for three years. After completing his college, Stewart worked various jobs as a contingency planner, a contract administrator, a puppeteer for children, a caterer, and a busboy.
Jon Stewart Career
In 1986, Stewart returned to New York City to see if he could make a name for himself at the comedy club circuit. Initially, Stewart had difficulty performing on stage but a year later, he made his debut in stand-up comedy at The Bitter End. After that he started using his stage name Jon Stewart by dropping the last name and eventually changing his name legally in 2001. Stewart started performing regularly at the Comedy Cellar, where he performed for 2 years and developed his comedy style. Stewart landed his first writing job for ‘Caroline’s Comedy Hour’ in 1989 and in 1990 he was hired as a co-host on Comedy Central’s ‘Short attention span theatre’. He also hosted a show for MTV called ‘You wrote it, you watch it’. While Stewart’s career had a slow start, his appearance on NBC’s Late night with David Letterman helped his career immensely and he was even thought to take over the show once Letterman retired but that show was given to someone else. Stewart also developed a talk show for MTV in 1993 called ‘The Jon Stewart show’. The show was the first talk show on MTV and was a great hit. It became the second-highest rated MTV show. The show was later cancelled due to some issues at the network. Later, David Letterman signed Stewart with his production company that allowed him to be a frequent guest host at ‘The late show with Tom Snyder’. In 1996, Stewart hosted a talk show called ‘where’s Elvis this week?’. Stewart also hosted and interviewed George Carlin for HBO special called ‘George Carlin: 40 years of comedy’.
In 1998, Stewart started hosting The Daily Show on Comedy Central. The premises of The Daily Show was reporting daily news stories with a humorous blend, while making fun of politicians and news media. Stewart hosted The Daily Show, until it was permanently taken over my Trevor Noah in 2015. For his work on The Daily Show as a writer and producer, Stewart earned a total of 20 Primetime Emmy awards. He also won 2 Emmys as a producer for The Colbert Report. In total Stewart has 22 Emmy awards, giving him the title of most wins by a male. While working on The Daily Show, Stewart received a Grammy award for best comedy album for the audiobook edition of America (The book): A Citizen’s guide to democracy inaction. The show also won two Peabody words in year 2000 and 2004. Stewart’s political news reporting helped boost his career. In 2008 New York Times story questioned whether he was “the most trusted man in America”.
After his retirement from The Daily Show, Stewart signed a four year deal with HBO. When his contract with HBO ended, Stewart signed a deal with Apple and started his new series called ‘The Problem with Jon Stewart’.
Stewart has also written a book called ‘Naked pictures of famous people’ which included short stories and essays. The book was New York Times best seller. He also wrote America (The book): A citizen’s guide to democracy inaction with his Daily show’s writing staff. He also released a sequel to this book in 2010.
Steward has various acting credits to his name including playing by heart, wishful thinking, the faculty, and big daddy to name a few. He also guest starred in the nanny, the Simpsons, American dad, and sesame street.
Stewart also has his own production company by the name of Busboy productions. Stewart has also worked as a directed on a films called ‘Rosewater’ and ‘Irresistible’.
Stewart has also hosted award shows such as Grammys and Oscars.
Jon Stewart Wife
Jon Stewart married Tracey McShane who is a Para veterinary worker, in 2000. The couple shares 2 children.
Jon Stewart Net worth
Jon Stewart has a net worth of 120 million dollars that can be attributed to his successful career as TV host, comedian, actor, producer and director. He has signed multiple deals with various networks including HBO and Apple.
