Conan O'Brien Biography

 Television talk show host, writer. Born Conan Christopher O’Brien, on April 18, 1963, in Brookline, Massachusetts, the third of six children. His father, Dr. Thomas O’Brien, is a noted epidemiologist, the head of microbiology at Peter Brigham Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School. His mother, Ruth Reardon O’Brien, was a partner at Ropes & Gray law firm outside Boston until her retirement in 1997. He has three brothers: Neal, an antique car collector, Luke, a lawyer, and Justin, a business consultant, and two sisters: Kate, a teacher, and Jane, a scriptwriter. Actor and comedian Denis Leary is a cousin.

O’Brien attended Harvard University, where he majored in American History (BA 1985). He was elected as president of the revered parody magazine, The Harvard Lampoon twice (the only other person to hold that distinction was humorist Robert Benchley in 1912). After graduation, O’Brien moved to Los Angeles and began writing for Not Necessarily the News, a series on cable station HBO. He also performed with an improv group, The Groundlings.

From 1988-91 O’Brien wrote for the hit NBC comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live; the writing staff of the show won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in 1989. (Some of O’Brien’s more memorable sketches were the “The Girl Watchers,” first performed by Tom Hanks and Jon Lovitz, singing “Roxanne” in the elevator with Sting, and Mr. Short-Term Memory). O’Brien joined The Simpsons, the animated FOX series known for its hilarious, sharp writing, as a writer, then supervising producer, for their 1992-93 season. Of the episodes he wrote, he has said that his favorite is “Springfield Gets a Monorail.”

When late-night staple Johnny Carson announced he would retire 1992, both Jay Leno, who had been the permanent guest host, and David Letterman, whose own late-night show followed Carson’s, were considered as his successor. NBC chose Leno over Letterman, and Letterman left the network for CBS, where his new late-night show would go head-to-head with Leno’s. Countless personalities and comedians applied and auditioned for the coveted spot after The Tonight Show, and it was somewhat surprising when the unknown Conan O’Brien was introduced as the new host of Late Night. Tall (6-feet 4-inches) and a bit gangly, with no previous experience in front of the camera, NBC’s choice was questioned, critiqued, and ridiculed by some.

Despite initially struggling in the ratings (he was renewed at 13-week intervals until he proved himself), O’Brien persevered with his own style of off-center, self-effacing comedy, reminiscent of Letterman’s early days, when he was establishing himself as a favorite of college students and the Generation X crowd. After four years on the air, NBC finally gave O'Brien a lucrative five-year contract. In 2001, O'Brien formed his own television production company, Conaco, which now shares in the production credits for Late Night.