Jon Stewart, born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz on 28 November 1962, hosted The Daily Show on Comedy Central from 1999 to 2015 and part-time since 2024. He has won 25 Primetime Emmy Awards, two Grammys and five Peabody Awards.
Jon Stewart was born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz at Doctors Hospital on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. His father, Donald Leibowitz, was an energy coordinator for the New Jersey Department of the Treasury, and his mother, Marian Leibowitz (née Laskin), was a teacher and later an educational consultant. His family is Ashkenazi Jewish, and he is the second of four sons, with an older brother, Lawrence, and younger brothers, Dan and Matthew. His parents divorced when he was eleven and he became largely estranged from his father; he later dropped his surname and began using his middle name alone.
He began as a stand-up comedian and moved into television as host of Short Attention Span Theater on Comedy Central. He went on to host You Wrote It, You Watch It (1992–1993) and then The Jon Stewart Show (1993–1995) on MTV, until that show was retooled, dropped by the network and moved into syndication. He also appeared in films including Big Daddy (1999) and Death to Smoochy (2002).
He became host of The Daily Show in 1999, also working as a writer and co-executive producer. The show steadily gained popularity and critical acclaim and won numerous Emmy Awards during his tenure. In 2010 he and Stephen Colbert headlined the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, and in 2012 he took control of the satirical Colbert Super PAC, retitled “The Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC”. He hosted the 78th and 80th Academy Awards, and co-wrote the best-selling satirical books America (The Book) in 2004 and Earth (The Book) in 2010.
He was executive producer of The Colbert Report (2005–2014), The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore (2015–2016) and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015–2026). From 2021 to 2023 he hosted The Problem with Jon Stewart on Apple TV+, and in February 2024 he returned to The Daily Show for Monday episodes and as an executive producer.
After leaving The Daily Show in 2015, he used his celebrity in a sustained advocacy for 9/11 first responders and war veterans’ health benefits. In 2019 he received the New York City Bronze Medallion for his advocacy that helped pass the permanent authorisation of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act. He was instrumental in passing the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022, which expands health care access for veterans exposed to toxic substances such as burn pits, and in November 2022 received the Bronze De Fleury Medal from the US Army Engineer Regiment. He was also awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2022.
One of his grandfathers was born in Manzhouli, in present-day China, and after leaving The Daily Show he kept a low profile in entertainment circles while using his voice for advocacy.
The full titles of his two satirical books are America (The Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction and Earth (The Book): A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race.
Image: Jon Stewart holding a Peabody Award in 2005 (file photo). Photo: Peabody Awards / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
