Conan O'Brien Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Conan O'Brien
OCCUPATION: Comedian, Talk Show Host
BIRTH DATE: April 18, 1963 (Age: 48)
EDUCATION: Harvard University
PLACE OF BIRTH: Brookline, Massachusetts

ZODIAC SIGN: Aries

more about Conan

Best Known For

Comedian and writer Conan O'Brien rose to fame as the host of the talk show Late Night and later the Tonight Show and Conan.

Print Cite This

Conan O'Brien

APA Style

Conan O'Brien. (2012). Biography.com. Retrieved 09:48, Feb 03, 2012 from http://www.biography.com/people/conan-obrien-9542192

Harvard Style

Conan O'Brien [Internet]. 2012. http://www.biography.com/people/conan-obrien-9542192, February 03

MLA Style

" Conan O'Brien." 2012. Biography.com 03 Feb 2012, 09:48 http://www.biography.com/people/conan-obrien-9542192

MHRA Style

' Conan O'Brien', Biography.com,(2012) http://www.biography.com/people/conan-obrien-9542192 [accessed Feb 03, 2012]

Chicago Style

" Conan O'Brien," Biography.com, http://www.biography.com/people/conan-obrien-9542192 (accessed Feb 03, 2012).

CBE/CSE Style

Conan O'Brien [Internet]. Biography.com; 2012 [cited 2012 Feb 03]. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/conan-obrien-9542192.

Bluebook Style

Conan O'Brien, http://www.biography.com/people/conan-obrien-9542192 (last visited Feb 03, 2012).

AMA Style

Conan O'Brien, http://www.biography.com/people/conan-obrien-9542192 (last visited Feb 03, 2012).

Synopsis

Born Conan Christopher O'Brien on April 18, 1963, in Brookline, Massachusetts, Conan O'Brien started out as a TV writer before moving in front of the camera to become a TV talk show host. After writing for Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons, O'Brien landed a prime spot hosting Late Night and has hosted two shows since: the Tonight Show and Conan.

Early Life

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.

Television

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