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Conan O'Brien

Conan O'Brien

With a comic identity as distinctive as his name, according to The New York Times, Conan O'Brien has firmly established himself in the late night universe. Hailed by The Washington Post as modest, wry, self-effacing and demonstrably the most intelligent of the late-night comics, O'Brien is one of TV's hottest properties according to People magazine's 25 Most Intriguing People issue. His unique brand of comedy has earned Conan the title Late Night's King of Cool from Entertainment Weekly and landed him on the magazine's list of the 50 Funniest People Alive.

This fall marks O'Brien's tenth anniversary combining his talents as writer, performer and interviewer as host of Late Night, which his hometown paper The Boston Globe dubbed, the most consistently funny and original show on late night.

In 2002, O'Brien brought his wit and style to his hosting duties on the 54 th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, garnering big laughs and critical acclaim, delivering "one of the funniest opening monologues in Emmy history according to The Los Angeles Times".

Since 1996, O'Brien and the Late Night writing team have consistently been nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy or Variety Series. Recently, the show received its first Emmy nomination for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series. He and the Late Night writing staff have won four Writer's Guild Award for Best Writing in a Comedy/Variety Series, including two consecutive wins in 2002 and 2003. Two-time president of the venerable and notorious Harvard Lampoon, O'Brien moved to Los Angeles upon graduation and joined the writing staff of HBO's Not Necessarily the News. During his two years with the show, he performed regularly with several improvisational groups, including The Groundlings. By 1988 his talents had come to the attention of Saturday Night Live's executive producer Lorne Michaels, who hired O'Brien as a writer in January of that year. His three-and-a-half years on the show produced such recurring sketches as Mr. Short-Term Memory and The Girl Watchers (first performed by Tom Hanks and Jon Lovitz). In 1989 his work on SNL was recognized with an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy or Variety Series.

In the spring of 1991, O'Brien left SNL and wrote and produced a TV pilot, Lookwell, starring Adam West. It was telecast on NBC in July of that year but was not picked up as a series. That fall O'Brien signed on as a writer/producer for the Fox series, The Simpsons, where he later became the show's supervising producer. Of all the episodes he wrote, his favorite is Springfield Gets a Monorail.

On April 26, 1993, O'Brien was selected from among the many talented potential hosts of Late Night for his particular and unique mix of vitality, wit and intelligence, according to Michaels. Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, O'Brien is married and resides in New York City.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2003.

Conan O'Brien Facts

Birth NameConan Christopher O'Brien
OccupationTalkshow Host, Comedian
BirthdayApril 18, 1963 (60)
SignAries
BirthplaceBrookline, Massachusetts, USA
Height6' 4" (1m93)  How tall is Conan O'Brien compared to you?
Social Media ConanOBrien

Selected Filmography

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop
Late Night with Conan O'Brien 10th Anniversary Special
President Barack Obama
Late Night With Conan O'Brien: 10th Anniversary Special/The Best of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog
Laurie Kilmartin: 45 Jokes About My Dead Dad
Berlin
Valentine's Day
Conan in Cuba
Tracy Does Conan
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