Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( kohl-BAIR; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the Comedy Central news satire show The Colbert Report from 2005 to 2014, and the CBS late-night talk show The Late Show with Stephen Colbert from 2015 to 2026. The son of immunologist James William Colbert Jr., Colbert was raised a Catholic in South Carolina. He originally studied to be a dramatic actor, but became interested in improvisational theater while attending Northwestern University, where he met Second City director Del Close. Colbert first performed professionally as an understudy for Steve Carell at Second City Chicago. Paul Dinello and Amy Sedaris, comedians with whom he developed the sketch comedy series Exit 57, were in his troupe. Colbert performed on The Dana Carvey Show (1996) and wrote for the show, before collaborating again with Sedaris and Dinello on the sitcom Strangers with Candy (1999–2000). Colbert's work as a correspondent on Comedy Central's news-parody series The Daily Show gained him wide recognition. In 2005, he left The Daily Show to host The Colbert Report. Following The Daily Show's news-parody concept, The Colbert Report was a parody of personality-driven political opinion shows including The O'Reilly Factor, in which he portrayed a caricatured version of conservative political pundits. In the first episode, he introduced the neologism truthiness, which was named Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society and Merriam Webster. It earned him an invitation to perform as featured entertainer at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in 2006, which he did in character. This event led to the series becoming one of Comedy Central's highest-rated series. In 2010, he and Jon Stewart headlined the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. In 2011, he started the satirical Colbert Super PAC, which was credited with raising awareness of campaign finance issues. After ending The Colbert Report, he was hired in 2015 to succeed David Letterman, who was retiring as host of the Late Show on CBS. Colbert hosted the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards in September 2017. Colbert has won eleven Primetime Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, and three Peabody Awards. Colbert was named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People in 2006 and 2012. His book I Am America (And So Can You!) was listed No. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list in 2007.