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Conan
O'Brien
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Richie Cunningham and Phyllis Diller mated, would it equal
Conan O'Brien? It's probably not a good-enough match to
poop on, but definitely one that has brought some laughs to
television audiences everywhere. Conan Christopher O'Brien
was born April 18, 1963, in Brookline, MA, to Ruth, a lawyer,
and Tom, a doctor. He has three brothers, two sisters, and
his cousin is comedian Denis Leary. At Brookline High School,
he was on the debate team and served as editorial editor on
the Sagamore. After high school, he attended Harvard University
where he was the editor of the Harvard Lampoon; he graduated
magna cum laude in 1985 with a B.A. in American history. After
graduation, O'Brien went out to L.A. to put his education
and sense of humor to work for him. He was on the writing
staff of HBO's Not Necessarily the News for two years and
worked with the improv group the Groundlings. In 1988, Saturday
Night Live creator Lorne Michaels recognized O'Brien's talent
and hired him as a writer for the show. He wrote for the show
for three and a half years and in 1989, shared an Emmy with
the writing team for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy or Variety
Series. In 1991, he left the show and pitched an idea to NBC
for a series starring Adam West, but it was not picked up.
Good thing, though, because O'Brien's next gig would be yet
another high-profile show on its way to television history.
As a writer and producer for Fox's The Simpsons, he wrote
such hilariously memorable episodes as "Marge Vs. the
Monorail" and "Whacking Day." After the much-ballyhooed
decision that Jay Leno would replace Johnny Carson on NBC's
Tonight Show instead of David Letterman, and when Letterman
left for CBS, Letterman's old timeslot was left open. Enter
one tall, funny Irish guy with a classically dry sense of
humor to keep late-night audiences tuning in. Late Night With
Conan O'Brien premiered September 13, 1993, with Michaels
serving as executive producer. An aspiring writer/performer,
Andy Richter, had hopes of getting on the team behind the
new show, but instead wound up in the role of "trusty
sidekick" to O'Brien. Rounding out the late-night backdrop
was music director Max Weinberg, who had been the drummer
with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, and his backing
band. This amalgam of performers, plus an Emmy-winning writing
team, led to such comedic bits involving Triumph the Insult
Comic Dog, Pimpbot 5000, and In the Year 2000. In 1997 and
2000, he and the writing staff won the Writer's Guild Award
for Best Writing in a Comedy/Variety Series. However, Richter
left in 2000 to work on his own television career, starring
in Fox's Andy Richter Controls the Universe in 2002. O'Brien
married advertising executive Liza Powell in January 2002.
-- Rachel Sprovtsoff-Mangus |
Conan O'Brien Fan Message Board
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