thumb|right|300px|1867 edition of ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch'', a ground-breaking British magazine of popular humour, including a great deal of satire of the contemporary social and political scene.]] Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be funny, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit as a weapon.

A common feature of satire is strong irony or sarcasm—"in satire, irony is militant"—but parody, burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all frequently used in satirical speech and writing. This "militant" irony or sarcasm often professes to approve (or at least accept as natural) the very things the satirist wishes to attack.

Satire is nowadays found in many artistic forms of expression, including literature, plays, commentary, and media such as lyrics.

Term

The word satire comes from the Latin word ''satur'' and the subsequent phrase ''lanx satura.'' ''Satur'' meant "full," but the juxtaposition with ''lanx'' shifted the meaning to "miscellany or medley": the expression ''lanx satura'' literally means "a full dish of various kinds of fruits."

The word ''satura'' as used by Quintilian however, indicated a narrower genre than what would be later intended as ''satire;'' it denoted only works in strictly hexameter form, which were a distinctly Roman genre. Quintilian famously said that ''satura,'' that is a satire in hexameter verses, was a literary genre of wholly Roman origin (''satura tota nostra est''). He was aware of and commented on Greek satire, but at the time did not label it as such, although today the origin of satire is considered to be Aristophanes' Old Comedy. The first critic to use satire in the modern broader sense was Apuleio.

The derivation of ''satire'' from ''satura'' properly has nothing to do with the Greek mythological figure ''satyr''. To Quintilian, the satire was a strict literary form, but the term soon escaped from the original narrow definition. Robert Elliott writes: :"As soon as a noun enters the domain of metaphor, as one modern scholar has pointed out, it clamours for extension; and satura (which had had no verbal, adverbial, or adjectival forms) was immediately broadened by appropriation from the Greek word for “satyr” (satyros) and its derivatives. The odd result is that the English “satire” comes from the Latin satura; but “satirize,” “satiric,” etc., are of Greek origin. By about the 4th century AD the writer of satires came to be known as satyricus; St. Jerome, for example, was called by one of his enemies 'a satirist in prose' ('satyricus scriptor in prosa'). Subsequent orthographic modifications obscured the Latin origin of the word satire: satura becomes satyra, and in England, by the 16th century, it was written 'satyre.'"

Satire and humour

Satirical works often contain "straight" humour, usually to give relief from what might otherwise be relentless preaching. Although this has always been so, it is probably more marked in modern satire. Yet some satire is not "funny", nor is meant to be. Obviously, not all humour - even on such topics as politics, religion or art, or using the great satirical tools of irony, parody, and burlesque - is necessarily "satirical"; the most light-hearted satire always has a serious "after-taste". The Ig Nobel Prize satire on trivial scientific research describes this as "first make people laugh, and then make them think" - a fair definition of satire itself.

The Italian satirical playwright Dario Fo points out the difference between satire and good-humoured teasing, or ''sfottò'', which is an ancient form of buffoonery. According to Fo, satire has a subversive character; it is directed against oppression, and has a moral dimension. On the other hand ''sfottò'' (simple poking fun, benign spoof, light parodying and mockery) is a form of comedy without satire's subversive edge. Historically, people in positions of power have tried to censor and repress satire, but have often welcomed good-humoured buffoonery. From this, Fo draws criteria to tell real satire from ''sfottò'', saying that one can tell real satire from the reaction it arouses in the powerful. ''Sfottò'' on a powerful individual, by focusing on superficial matters such as personal appearance, may actually draw sympathy towards its target; Hermann Göring propagated jests and jokes against himself, with the aim of humanizing his image.

Types of Satire

Satirical literature can commonly be categorized as either Horatian or Juvenalian, although the two are not entirely mutually exclusive.

Horatian

Named for the Roman satirist, Horace, this playfully criticizes some social vice through gentle, mild, and light-hearted humour. It directs wit, exaggeration, and self-deprecating humour toward what it identifies as folly, rather than evil. Horatian satire's sympathetic tone is common in modern society.

Examples of Horatian satire include:

Daniel Defoe's ''The True-Born Englishman''

Alexander Pope's ''The Rape of the Lock''

C.S. Lewis' ''The Screwtape Letters''

Matt Groening's ''The Simpsons''

Rick Mercer's ''The Rick Mercer Report''

The Ig Nobel Prizes.

Juvenalian

Named after the Roman satirist Juvenal, this type of satire is more contemptuous and abrasive than the Horatian. Juvenalian satire addresses social evil through scorn, outrage, and savage ridicule. This form is often pessimistic, characterized by irony, sarcasm, moral indignation and personal invective, with less emphasis on humour. Strongly polarized political satire is often Juvenalian.

Examples of Juvenalian satire:

Joseph Hall's ''Virgidemiarum''

Jonathan Swift's ''A Modest Proposal'' and ''The Predictions for the Ensuing Year'' (written as Isaac Bickerstaff).

Samuel Johnson's ''London''

George Orwell's ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' and ''Animal Farm''

Bret Easton Ellis's ''American Psycho''

Ray Bradbury’s ''Fahrenheit 451''

William Golding's ''Lord of the Flies''

Aldous Huxley's ''Brave New World''

Anthony Burgess' ''A Clockwork Orange''

Joseph Heller's ''Catch-22''

William Burroughs' ''Naked Lunch''

Jon Stewart's ''The Daily Show with John Stewart''

Stephen Colbert's performance at the 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner

Trey Parker & Matt Stone's ''South Park''

Types of satire can also be classified according to the object it addresses into political satire, satire of everyday life, and philosophical satire. Satire of everyday life criticizes mode of life of common people; political satire aims at behavior, manners of politicians, and vices of political systems; philosophical satire has as its object global vices inherent to the mankind. The state of political satire in a given country reflects the state of civil liberties and human rights. Under totalitarian regimes any criticism of a political system including satire is suppressed. A typical example is the Soviet Union where the dissidents, such as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Andrei Sakharov were under strong pressure from the government. While satire of everyday life in the USSR was allowed, the most prominent satirist being Arkady Raikin, political satire existed in the form anecdotes that made fun of Soviet political leaders, especially Brezhnev famous for his narrow-mindness and love for awards and decorations.

Development

Ancient Egypt

One of the earliest examples of what we might call satire, The Satire of the Trades, is in Egyptian writing from the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. The text's apparent readers are students, tired of studying. It argues that their lot as scribes is useful, and their lot far superior to that of the ordinary man. Scholars such as Helck think that the context was meant to be serious.

The Papyrus Anastasi I (late 2nd millennium BC) contains a satirical letter which first praises the virtues of its recipient, but then mocks the reader's meagre knowledge and achievements.

Greco-Roman world

The Greeks had no word for what later would be called "satire", although the terms cynicism and parody were used. Modern critics call the Greek playwright Aristophanes one of the best known early satirists: his plays are known for their critical political and societal commentary, particularly for the political satire by which he criticized the powerful Cleon (as in ''The Knights''). He is also notable for the persecution he underwent. Aristophanes's bawdy style was adopted by Greek dramatist-comedian Menander. His early play ''Drunkenness'' contains an attack on the politician Callimedon.

The oldest form of satire still in use is the Menippean satire by Menippus of Gadara. His own writings are lost. Examples from his admirers and imitators mix seriousness and mockery in dialogues and present parodies before a background of diatribe. The reader is meant to question approved truths in order to form a didactic set of knowledge.

The first Roman to discuss satire critically was Quintilian, who invented the term to describe the writings of Lucilius. The two most prominent and influential ancient Roman satirists are Horace and Juvenal, who wrote during the early days of the Roman Empire. Other important satirists in ancient Latin are Lucilius and Persius. ''Satire'' in their work is much wider than in the modern sense of the word, including fantastic and highly coloured humorous writing with little or no real mocking intent. When Horace criticized Augustus, he used veiled ironic terms. In contrast, Pliny reports that the 6th century BC poet Hipponax wrote ''satirae'' that were so cruel that the offended hanged themselves.

Medieval Islamic world

:''Main articles: Arabic satire and Persian satire''

Medieval Arabic poetry included the satiric genre ''hija''. Satire was introduced into Arabic prose literature by the Afro-Arab author Al-Jahiz in the 9th century. While dealing with serious topics in what are now known as anthropology, sociology and psychology, he introduced a satirical approach, "based on the premise that, however serious the subject under review, it could be made more interesting and thus achieve greater effect, if only one leavened the lump of solemnity by the insertion of a few amusing anecdotes or by the throwing out of some witty or paradoxical observations. He was well aware that, in treating of new themes in his prose works, he would have to employ a vocabulary of a nature more familiar in ''hija'', satirical poetry." For example, in one of his zoological works, he satirized the preference for longer human penis size, writing: "If the length of the penis were a sign of honor, then the mule would belong to the (honorable tribe of) Quraysh". Another satirical story based on this preference was an ''Arabian Nights'' tale called "Ali with the Large Member".

In the 10th century, the writer Tha'alibi recorded satirical poetry written by the Arabic poets As-Salami and Abu Dulaf, with As-Salami praising Abu Dulaf's wide breadth of knowledge and then mocking his ability in all these subjects, and with Abu Dulaf responding back and satirizing As-Salami in return. An example of Arabic political satire included another 10th century poet Jarir satirizing Farazdaq as "a transgressor of the Sharia" and later Arabic poets in turn using the term "Farazdaq-like" as a form of political satire.

The terms "comedy" and "satire" became synonymous after Aristotle's ''Poetics'' was translated into Arabic in the medieval Islamic world, where it was elaborated upon by Islamic philosophers and writers, such as Abu Bischr, his pupil Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Averroes. Due to cultural differences, they disassociated comedy from Greek dramatic representation and instead identified it with Arabic poetic themes and forms, such as ''hija'' (satirical poetry). They viewed comedy as simply the "art of reprehension", and made no reference to light and cheerful events, or troubled beginnings and happy endings, associated with classical Greek comedy. After the Latin translations of the 12th century, the term "comedy" thus gained a new semantic meaning in Medieval literature.

Ubayd Zakani introduced satire in Persian literature during the 14th century. His work is noted for its satire and obscene verses, often political or bawdy, and often cited in debates involving homosexual practices. He wrote the ''Resaleh-ye Delgosha'', as well as ''Akhlaq al-Ashraf'' ("Ethics of the Aristocracy") and the famous humorous fable ''Masnavi Mush-O-Gorbeh'' (Mouse and Cat), which was a political satire. His non-satirical serious classical verses have also been regarded as very well written, in league with the other great works of Persian literature. Between 1905 and 1911, Bibi Khatoon Astarabadi and other Iranian writers wrote notable satires.

Medieval Europe

In the Early Middle Ages, examples of satire were the songs by Goliards or vagants now best known as an anthology called Carmina Burana and made famous as texts of a composition by the 20th century composer Carl Orff. Satirical poetry is believed to have been popular, although little has survived. With the advent of the High Middle Ages and the birth of modern vernacular literature in the 12th century, it began to be used again, most notably by Chaucer. The disrespectful manner was considered "Unchristian" and ignored but for the moral satire, which mocked misbehaviour in Christian terms. Examples are ''Livre des Manières'' (~1170), and some of Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales''. The epos was mocked, and even the feudal society, but there was hardly a general interest in the genre.

Two major satirists of Europe in the Renaissance were Giovanni Boccaccio and François Rabelais. Other examples of Renaissance satire include ''Till Eulenspiegel'', ''Reynard the Fox'', Sebastian Brant's ''Narrenschiff'' (1494), Erasmus' ''Moriae Encomium'' (1509) and Thomas More's ''Utopia'' (1516).'''

Early modern western satire

Direct social commentary via satire returned with a vengeance in the 16th century, when farcical texts such as the works of François Rabelais tackled more serious issues (and incurred the wrath of the crown as a result).

The Elizabethan (i.e. 16th century English) writers thought of satire as related to the notoriously rude, coarse and sharp satyr play. Elizabethan "satire" (typically in pamphlet form) therefore contains more straightforward abuse than subtle irony. The French Huguenot Isaac Casaubon pointed out in 1605 that satire in the Roman fashion was something altogether more civilised. Casaubon discovered and published Quintilian's writing and presented the original meaning of the term (satira, not satyr), and the sense of wittiness (reflecting the "dishfull of fruits") became more important again. 17th century English satire once again aimed at the "amendment of vices" (Dryden).

In the 1590s a new wave of verse satire broke with the publication of Hall's ''Virgidemiarum'', six books of verse satires targeting everything from literary fads to corrupt noblemen. Although Donne had already circulated satires in manuscript, Hall's was the first real attempt in English at verse satire on the Juvenalian model. The success of his work combined with a national mood of disillusion in the last years of Elizabeth's reign triggered an avalanche of satire - much of it less conscious of classical models than Hall's - until the fashion was brought to an abrupt stop by censorship.

The Age of Enlightenment, an intellectual movement in the 17th and 18th century advocating rationality, produced a great revival of satire in Britain. This was fuelled by the rise of partisan politics, with the formalisation of the Tory and Whig parties - and also, in 1714, by the formation of the Scriblerus Club, which included Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, John Gay, John Arbuthnot, Robert Harley, Thomas Parnell, and Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke. This club included several of the notable satirists of early 18th century Britain. They focused their attention on Martinus Scriblerus, "an invented learned fool...whose work they attributed all that was tedious, narrow-minded, and pedantic in contemporary scholarship". In their hands astute and biting satire of institutions and individuals became a popular weapon.

Jonathan Swift was one of the greatest of Anglo-Irish satirists, and one of the first to practise modern journalistic satire. For instance, In his ''A Modest Proposal'' Swift suggests that Irish peasants be encouraged to sell their own children as food for the rich, as a solution to the "problem" of poverty. His purpose is of course to attack indifference to the plight of the desperately poor. In his book ''Gulliver's Travels'' he writes about the flaws in human society in general and English society in particular. John Dryden wrote an influential essay entitled "A Discourse Concerning the Original and Progress of Satire" that helped fix the definition of satire in the literary world. His satirical ''Mac Flecknoe'' was written in response to a rivalry with Thomas Shadwell and eventually inspired Alexander Pope to write his satirical ''The Rape of the Lock''. Other satirical works by Pope include the ''Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot''.

Daniel Defoe pursued a more journalistic type of satire, being famous for his ''The True-Born Englishman'' which mocks xenophobic patriotism, and ''The Shortest-Way with the Dissenters'' - advocating religious toleration by means of an ironical exaggeration of the highly intolerant attitudes of his time.

Anglo-American satire

Ebenezer Cooke, author of "The Sot-Weed Factor," was among the first American colonialists to write literary satire. Benjamin Franklin and others followed, using satire to shape an emerging nation's culture through its sense of the ridiculous.

Mark Twain was a great American satirist: his novel ''Huckleberry Finn'' is set in the antebellum South, where the moral values Twain wishes to promote are completely turned on their heads. His hero, Huck, is a rather simple but goodhearted lad who is ashamed of the "sinful temptation" that leads him to help a runaway slave. In fact his conscience, warped by the distorted moral world he has grown up in, often bothers him most when he is at his best. Ironically, he is prepared to do good, believing it to be wrong.

Twain's younger contemporary Ambrose Bierce gained notoriety as a cynic, pessimist and black humorist with his dark, bitterly ironic stories, many set during the American Civil War, which satirized the limitations of human perception and reason. Bierce's most famous work of satire is probably ''The Devil's Dictionary'', in which the definitions mock cant, hypocrisy and received wisdom.

Satire in Victorian England

Novelists such as Charles Dickens often used passages of satiric writing in their treatment of social issues. Several satiric papers competed for the public's attention in the Victorian era and Edwardian period, such as ''Punch'' and ''Fun''.

Perhaps the most enduring examples of Victorian satire, however, are to be found in the Savoy Operas of W. S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan. In fact, in ''The Yeomen of the Guard'', a jester is given lines that paint a very neat picture of the method and purpose of the satirist, and might almost be taken as a statement of Gilbert's own intent: :''"I can set a braggart quailing with a quip, :''The upstart I can wither with a whim; :''He may wear a merry laugh upon his lip, :''But his laughter has an echo that is grim!"

20th century satire

In the 20th century, satire was used by authors such as Aldous Huxley and George Orwell to make serious and even frightening commentaries on the dangers of the sweeping social changes taking place throughout Europe and United States. The film ''The Great Dictator'' (1940) by Charlie Chaplin is a satire on Adolf Hitler. Many social critics of the time, such as Karl Kraus, Dorothy Parker and H. L. Mencken, used satire as their main weapon, and Mencken in particular is noted for having said that "one horse-laugh is worth ten thousand syllogisms" in the persuasion of the public to accept a criticism. Joseph Heller's most famous work, ''Catch-22'', satirizes bureaucracy and the military, and is frequently cited as one of the greatest literary works of the twentieth century. Novelist Sinclair Lewis was known for his satirical stories such as ''Babbitt'', ''Main Street'', and ''It Can't Happen Here''. His books often explored and satirized contemporary American values.

The film ''Dr. Strangelove'' from 1964 was a popular satire on the Cold War. A more humorous brand of satire enjoyed a renaissance in the UK in the early 1960s with the ''Satire Boom'', led by such luminaries as Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore, whose stage show ''Beyond the Fringe'' was a hit not only in Britain, but also in the United States. Other significant influences in 1960s British satire include David Frost, Eleanor Bron and the television program ''That Was The Week That Was''. Paul Krassner's magazine The Realist was immensely popular during the 1960s and early 1970s among people in the counterculture and had articles and cartoons that were savage, biting satires of politicians such as Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, the Vietnam War, the Cold War and the War on Drugs.

Contemporary satire

Contemporary popular usage of the term "satire" is often very imprecise. While satire often uses caricature and parody, by no means are all uses of these or other humorous devices, satiric. Refer to the careful definition of satire that heads this article. Stephen Colbert’s television program, ''The Colbert Report'', is instructive in the methods of contemporary American satire. Colbert's character is an opinionated and self-righteous commentator who, in his TV interviews, interrupts people, points and wags his finger at them, and "unwittingly" uses a number of logical fallacies. In doing so, he demonstrates the principle of modern American political satire: the ridicule of the actions of politicians and other public figures by taking all their statements and purported beliefs to their furthest (supposedly) logical conclusion, thus revealing their perceived hypocrisy. Other political satire includes various political causes in the past, including the relatively successful Polish Beer-Lovers' Party and the joke political candidates Molly the Dog and Brian Miner.

The television program ''South Park'' relies almost exclusively on satire to address issues in American culture, with episodes addressing anti-Semitism, militant atheism, homophobia, environmentalism, corporate culture, political correctness and Catholic sex scandals, among many other issues.

In the United Kingdom, a popular modern satirist is Sir Terry Pratchett, author of the internationally best-selling ''Discworld'' book series. One of the most well-known and controversial British satirists is Chris Morris, co-writer and director of ''Four Lions''.

Satire is used on many UK television programmes, particularly popular panel shows and quiz shows such as ''Mock the Week'', ''Have I Got News for You'', and ''The Now Show''. Similarly it is found on radio quiz shows such as ''The News Quiz''.

In Canada, satire has become an important part of the comedy scene. Stephen Leacock was one of the best known early Canadian satirists, and in the early 20th century, he achieved fame by targeting the attitudes of small town life. In more recent years, Canada has had several prominent satirical television series. Some, including ''CODCO'', ''The Royal Canadian Air Farce'', and ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' deal directly with current news stories and political figures, while others, like ''History Bites'' present contemporary social satire in the context of events and figures in history. The Canadian website ''The Daily Week'' combines social and political satire with absurdity. Canadian songwriter Nancy White uses music as the vehicle for her satire, and her comic folk songs are regularly played on CBC Radio.

Cartoonists often use satire as well as straight humour. Al Capp's satirical comic strip ''Li'l Abner'' was censored in September 1947. The controversy, as reported in ''Time'', centred around Capp's portrayal of the US Senate. Said Edward Leech of Scripps-Howard, "We don't think it is good editing or sound citizenship to picture the Senate as an assemblage of freaks and crooks... boobs and undesirables." Walt Kelly's ''Pogo'' was likewise censored in 1952 over his overt satire of Senator Joe McCarthy, caricatured in his comic strip as "Simple J. Malarky". Garry Trudeau, whose comic strip ''Doonesbury'' has charted and recorded many American follies for the last generation, deals with story lines such as the Vietnam War (and now, the Iraq War), dumbed-down education, and over-eating at "McFriendly's". Trudeau exemplifies humour mixed with criticism. Recently, one of his gay characters lamented that because he was not legally married to his partner, he was deprived of the "exquisite agony" of experiencing a nasty and painful divorce like heterosexuals. This, of course, satirized the claim that gay unions would denigrate the sanctity of heterosexual marriage. Doonesbury also presents an example of how satire can cause social change. The comic strip satirized a Florida county that had a law requiring minorities to have a passcard in the area; the law was soon repealed with an act nicknamed the Doonesbury Act. Like some literary predecessors, many recent television satires contain strong elements of parody and caricature; for instance, the popular animated series ''The Simpsons'' and ''South Park'' both parody modern family and social life by taking their assumptions to the extreme; both have led to the creation of similar series. As well as the purely humorous effect of this sort of thing, they often strongly criticise various phenomena in politics, economic life, religion and many other aspects of society, and thus qualify as satirical. Due to their animated nature, these shows can easily use images of public figures and generally have greater freedom to do so than conventional shows using live actors.

''Fake News'' is also a very popular form of contemporary satire, appearing in as wide an array of formats as the news media itself: print (e.g. The Onion, Private Eye), radio (e.g. On the Hour), television (e.g. The Day Today, The Daily Show, Brass Eye) and the web (e.g. Mindry.in, Scunt News, Faking News, The Giant Napkin, Unconfirmed Sources and The ''Onion'''s website). Other satires are on the list of satirists and satires. Another internet-driven form of satire is to lampoon bad internet performers. An example of this is the Internet meme character Miranda Sings.

In an interview with ''Wikinews'', Sean Mills, President of ''The Onion'', said angry letters about their news parody always carried the same message. "It’s whatever affects that person," said Mills. "So it’s like, 'I love it when you make a joke about murder or rape, but if you talk about cancer, well my brother has cancer and that’s not funny to me.' Or someone else can say, 'Cancer’s ''hilarious'', but don’t talk about rape because my cousin got raped.' Those are rather extreme examples, but if it affects somebody personally, they tend to be more sensitive about it."

''Zhou Libo'', a comedian from Shanghai, is the most popular satirist in China. His humour has interested the middle-class people and had sold out shows ever since his rise to fame. Primarily a theater performer, Zhou said his work is never scripted, allowing him to improvise jokes about recent events. He often mocks political figures he supports.

Perception of satire

Because satire often combines anger and humour it can be profoundly disturbing - because it is essentially ironic or sarcastic, it is often misunderstood.

Common uncomprehending responses to satire include revulsion (accusations of poor taste, or that "it's just not funny" for instance), to the idea that the satirist actually does support the ideas, policies, or people he is attacking. For instance, at the time of its publication, many people misunderstood Swift’s purpose in ''A Modest Proposal'', assuming it to be a serious recommendation of economically motivated cannibalism. Again, some critics of Mark Twain see ''Huckleberry Finn'' as racist and offensive, missing the point that its author clearly intended it to be satire (racism being in fact only one of a number of Mark Twain's known concerns attacked in ''Huckleberry Finn''). This same misconception was suffered by the main character of the 1960s British television comedy satire ''Till Death Us Do Part''. The character of Alf Garnett (played by Warren Mitchell) was created to poke fun at the kind of narrow-minded, racist, little-Englander that Garnett represented. Instead, his character became a sort of anti-hero to people who actually agreed with his views. The same thing happened with conservative Americans in regard to the main character in the American TV Show ''All in the Family'', ''Archie Bunker''.

The Australian satirical television comedy show ''The Chaser's War on Everything'' has suffered repeated attacks based on various perceived interpretations of the "target" of its attacks. The "Make a Realistic Wish Foundation" sketch (June 2009), which attacked in classical satiric fashion the heartlessness of people who are reluctant to donate to charities, was widely interpreted as an attack on the Make a Wish Foundation, or even the terminally ill children helped by that organisation. Prime Minister of the time Kevin Rudd stated that The Chaser team "should hang their heads in shame". He went on to say that "I didn't see that but it's been described to me....But having a go at kids with a terminal illness is really beyond the pale, absolutely beyond the pale." Television station management suspended the show for two weeks and reduced the third season to eight episodes.

Satire under fire

Because satire criticises in an ironic, essentially indirect way, it frequently escapes censorship in a way more direct criticism might not. Periodically, however, it runs into serious opposition, and people in power who perceive themselves as attacked attempt to censor it or prosecute its practitioners. In a very early instance of this, Aristophanes was persecuted by the demagogue Cleon.

In 1599, the Archbishop of Canterbury John Whitgift and the Bishop of London George Abbot, whose offices had the function of licensing books for publication in England, issued a decree banning verse satire. The decree ordered the burning of certain volumes of satire by John Marston, Thomas Middleton, Joseph Hall, and others; it also required histories and plays to be specially approved by a member of the Queen's Privy Council, and it prohibited the future printing of satire in verse. The motives for the ban are obscure, particularly since some of the books banned had been licensed by the same authorities less than a year earlier. Various scholars have argued that the target was obscenity, libel, or sedition. It seems likely that lingering anxiety about the Martin Marprelate controversy, in which the bishops themselves had employed satirists, played a role; both Thomas Nashe and Gabriel Harvey, two of the key figures in that controversy, suffered a complete ban on all their works. In the event, though, the ban was little enforced, even by the licensing authority itself.

In 2005, the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy caused global protests by offended Muslims and violent attacks with many fatalities in the Near East. It was not the first case of Muslim protests against criticism in the form of satire, but the Western world was surprised by the hostility of the reaction: Any country's flag in which a newspaper chose to publish the parodies was being burnt in a Near East country, then embassies were attacked, killing 139 people in mainly four countries (see article); politicians throughout Europe agreed that satire was an aspect of the freedom of speech, and therefore to be a protected means of dialogue. Iran threatened to start an International Holocaust Cartoon Competition, which was immediately responded to by Jews with an Israeli Anti-Semitic Cartoons Contest.

In 2006 British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen released ''Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'', a "mockumentary" that satirized everyone, from high society to frat boys. Criticism of the film was heavy, from claims of antisemitism (despite the fact Cohen is Jewish) to the massive boycott of the film by the Kazakh government; the film itself had been a reaction to a longer quarrel between the government and the comedian.

In 2008, popular South African cartoonist and satirist Jonathan Shapiro (who is published under the pen name Zapiro) came under fire for depicting then-president of the ANC Jacob Zuma in the act of undressing in preparation for the implied rape of 'Lady Justice' which is held down by Zuma loyalists. The cartoon was drawn in response to Zuma's efforts to duck corruption charges, and the controversy was heightened by the fact that Zuma was himself acquitted of rape in May 2006. In February 2009, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, viewed by some opposition parties as the mouthpiece of the governing ANC, shelved a satirical TV show created by Shapiro, and in May 2009 the broadcaster pulled a documentary about political satire (featuring Shapiro among others) for the second time, hours before scheduled broadcast. Apartheid South Africa also had a long history of censorship.

On December 29, 2009, Samsung sued Mike Breen, and the ''Korea Times'' for $1 million, claiming criminal defamation over a satirical column published on Christmas Day, 2009.

Satirical prophecy

Satire is occasionally prophetic: the jokes precede actual events. Among the eminent examples are:

The 1784 presaging of modern daylight saving time, later actually proposed in 1907. While an American envoy to France, Benjamin Franklin anonymously published a letter in 1784 suggesting that Parisians economize on candles by arising earlier to use morning sunlight. In the 1920s an English cartoonist imagined a very laughable thing for that time: a hotel for cars. He drew a multi-story car park.

The second episode of ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which debuted in 1969, featured a ''skit'' entitled "The Mouse Problem" (meant to satirize contemporary media exposés on homosexuality), which depicted a cultural phenomenon eerily similar to modern furry fandom (which did not become widespread until the 1980s, over a decade after the skit was first aired)

The comedy film "Americathon", released in 1979 and set in the United States of 1998, predicted a number of trends and events that would eventually unfold in the near future, including an American debt crisis, Chinese capitalism, the fall of the Soviet Union, terrorism aimed at the civilian population, a presidential sex scandal, corporate takeover of the government, and the popularity of reality shows.

In January 2001, a satirical news article in ''The Onion'', entitled "Our Long National Nightmare of Peace and Prosperity Is Finally Over" had newly elected President George Bush vowing to "develop new and expensive weapons technologies" and to "engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years." Furthermore he would "bring back economic stagnation by implementing substantial tax cuts, which would lead to a recession." However, the article predicted the "deregulation of ... industries, and the defunding of ... social-service programs," which turned out to be erroneous, as the Administration dramatically increased such spending, including under a trillion dollar prescription drug program.

In 1975, the first episode of ''Saturday Night Live'' included an ad for a triple blade razor called the Triple-Trac; in 1998, Gillette introduced the Mach3. In 2004, ''The Onion'' satirized Shick and Gillette's marketing of ever-increasingly multi-blade razors with a mock article proclaiming Gillette will now introduce a five-blade razor. In 2006, Gillette released the Gillette Fusion, a five-blade razor.

See also

Onomastì komodèin

Parody religion

List of satirists and satires

Political satire

News satire

References

Bibliography

Lee, Jae Num. "Scatology in Continental Satirical Writings from Aristophanes to Rabelais" and "English Scatological Writings from Skelton to Pope." Swift and Scatological Satire. Albuquerque: U of New Mexico P, 1971. 7-22; 23-53.

Jacob Bronowski & Bruce Mazlish, ''The Western Intellectual Tradition From Leonardo to Hegel'', p. 252 (1960; as repub. in 1993 Barnes & Noble ed.).

''Theorizing Satire: A Bibliography'' , by Brian A. Connery, Oakland University

Bloom, Edward A. . "Sacramentum Militiae: The Dynamics of Religious Satire." Studies in the Literary Imagination 5 (1972): 119-42.

The Modern Satiric Grotesque. Lexington: U of Kentucky P, 1991.

Theories/Critical approaches to satire as a genre:

Frye, Northrop. Anatomy of Criticism. (See in particular the discussion of the 4 "myths").

Udo Kindermann, Satyra. Die Theorie der Satire im Mittellateinischen. Vorstudie zu einer Gattungsgeschichte. Nürnberg 1978.

Emil Draitser. Techniques of Satire: The Case of Saltykov-Shchedrin. (Berlin-New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1994) ISBN 3110126249.

Hammer, Stephanie. Satirizing the Satirist.

Highet, Gilbert. Satire.

Kernan, Alvin. The Cankered Muse

The Plot of Satire.

Seidel, Michael. Satiric Inheritance.

Entopia: Revolution of the Ants (2008), by Rad Zdero.

Category:Humor Category:Rhetoric Category:Humanities Category:Literature Category:Theatre Category:Genres Category:Film genres Category:Television genres

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name	Steve Carell
birth date	August 16, 1962
birth name	Steven John Carell
birth place	Emerson Hospital, Concord, Massachusetts
nationality	American
notable works	''The Daily Show'' ''The Office''
yearsactive	1991–present
spouse	Nancy Carell (m. 1995)
children	Annie Carell (b. 2001) John Carell (b. 2004)
occupation	Actor, comedian, voice artist, producer, writer, director }}

Steven John "Steve" Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American comedian, actor, voice artist, producer, writer, and director. Although Carell is notable for his role on ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'', he found greater fame in Hollywood for playing Michael Scott on ''The Office''. He has also starred in lead roles in the films ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'', ''Little Miss Sunshine'', ''Evan Almighty'', ''Dan in Real Life'', ''Get Smart'', ''Date Night'', ''Dinner for Schmucks'', and ''Crazy, Stupid, Love.''; and voiced characters in the animated films ''Over the Hedge'', ''Horton Hears a Who!'', and ''Despicable Me''. Carell was nominated as "America's funniest man" in ''Life'' magazine, and received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Comedy Series for playing the lead role of Michael Scott for ''The Office'' in 2006.

Early life

Carell, the youngest of four brothers, was born at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Massachusetts, and was raised in nearby Acton by his parents, Harriet T. (née Koch), a psychiatric nurse, and Edwin A. Carell, an electrical engineer. His maternal uncle, Stanley Koch, worked with Allen B. DuMont to create cathode ray tubes. Carell's paternal grandfather was Italian; his father was born with the surname "Caroselli", later shortening it to "Carell". Carell was raised Roman Catholic, and was educated at The Fenn School and Middlesex School. Carell also played ice hockey as a teenager for his high school. He played the fife, performing with other members of his family, and later joined a reenacting group portraying the 10th (North Lincoln) Regiment of Foot. Carell attributed his interest in history to this, in which he earned his degree from Denison University in Granville, Ohio in 1984. While at Denison, Carell was a member of Burpee's Seedy Theatrical Company, a student-run improvisational comedy troupe. He originally aspired to become a radio broadcaster, deejaying at WDUB in Granville.

Early career

Before opting for a career as a performer, Carell claims that he worked as a mail carrier in Littleton, Massachusetts, where he met his future wife, Nancy Walls. He later recounted that he quit after a few months because his boss told him he was not very good as a mail carrier; he needed to be more efficient. He planned on attending law school, but was unable to write an explanation on his application form as to why he wanted to be a lawyer. Early in his performing career, Carell acted on the stage in a touring children's theater company and later in the comedy musical, Knat Scatt Private Eye. He also acted in a television commercial for Brown's Chicken in 1989. After that, Carell performed with Chicago troupe The Second City in 1991, where Stephen Colbert was his understudy for a time. That same year, he obtained his first film work in a minor role as Tesio in ''Curly Sue''.

During the spring of 1996, he was a cast member of ''The Dana Carvey Show'', a primetime sketch comedy program on ABC. Along with fellow cast member Stephen Colbert, Carell provided the voice of Gary, half of ''The Ambiguously Gay Duo'', the Robert Smigel-produced animated short which continued on ''Saturday Night Live'' later that year. While the program lasted only seven episodes, ''The Dana Carvey Show'' has since been credited with forging Carell's career. During this time, he also played a supporting character for several series including ''Come to Papa'' and the short-lived 1997 Tim Curry situation comedy ''Over the Top''. He has made numerous guest appearances, including on an episode of ''Just Shoot Me!'' titled "Funny Girl." Carell's other early screen credits includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus's short-lived situation comedy ''Watching Ellie'' (2002–2003) and Woody Allen's ''Melinda and Melinda''. He has also made fun of himself for auditioning for ''Saturday Night Live'' but losing the job to Will Ferrell. Carell was a correspondent for ''The Daily Show'' from 1999 until 2005, with a number of regular segments including "Even Stevphen" with Stephen Colbert and "Produce Pete."

''The Office''

During 2005, Carell signed a deal with NBC to star in an American version of the BBC British TV show ''The Office'', a "mockumentary" about life at a mid-sized paper supply company. He plays Michael Scott, the idiosyncratic regional manager of Dunder Mifflin Inc, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Although the first season of the adaptation suffered mediocre ratings, NBC renewed it for another season due to the anticipated success of Carell's movie ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'', and the series subsequently became a ratings success. Carell won a Golden Globe and Television Critics Association award during 2006 for his ''Office'' role. He has also received five Emmy nominations for his work in the series (2006–2010). His last episode for the show, "Goodbye, Michael" aired on April 28, 2011.

Carell earned approximately US$175,000 per episode of the third season of ''The Office'', twice his salary for the previous two seasons. In an ''Entertainment Weekly'' interview, he commented on his salary, saying "You don't want people to think you're a pampered jerk. Salaries can be ridiculous. On the other hand, a lot of people are making a lot of money off of these shows." Carell was allowed "flex time" during filming to work on theatrical films. Carell worked on ''Evan Almighty'' during a production hiatus during the second season of ''The Office''. Production ended during the middle of the fourth season of ''The Office'' because of Carell's and others' refusal to cross the picket line of the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike. Carell, a WGA member, has written two episodes of ''The Office'': "Casino Night" and "Survivor Man". Both episodes were praised, and Carell won a Writer's Guild of America award for "Casino Night".

On April 29, 2010, Carell stated he would be leaving the show when his contract expires at the conclusion of the 2010–2011 season.

His last episode, "Goodbye, Michael," aired April 28, 2011. Michael Scott is last seen walking to his Colorado-bound plane to live with his fiancée, Holly Flax.

Film career

Carell's first starring role was in the 2005 film ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'', which he developed and co-wrote. The film made $109 million in domestic box office and established Carell as a leading man. It also earned Carell an MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance and a WGA Award nomination, along with co-writer Judd Apatow, for Best Original Screenplay.

Carell acted as "Uncle Arthur", imitating the camp mannerisms of Paul Lynde's original character for the 2005 remake of ''Bewitched'' with Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell. He also voiced a starring role for the 2006 computer-animated film ''Over the Hedge'' as Hammy the Squirrel. He also voiced for the 2008 animated film ''Horton Hears a Who!'' as the mayor of Whoville, Ned McDodd. He starred in ''Little Miss Sunshine'' during 2006, as Uncle Frank. His work in the films ''Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,'' ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'', and ''Bewitched'' established Carell as a member of Hollywood's so-called "Frat Pack" group. (This set of actors includes Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, and Luke Wilson).

Carell acted as the title character of ''Evan Almighty'', a sequel to ''Bruce Almighty'', reprising his role as Evan Baxter, now a U.S. Congressman. Although, ostensibly, God tasks Baxter with building an ark, Baxter also learns that life can generate positive returns with people offering Acts of Random Kindness. During October 2006, Carell began acting for the film ''Dan in Real Life'', co-starring Dane Cook and Juliette Binoche. Filming ended December 22, 2006, and the film was released on October 26, 2007.

Carell played Maxwell Smart for a movie remake of ''Get Smart'', which began filming February 3, 2007 and was filmed in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and Moscow, Russia. The movie was successful, grossing over $200 million worldwide. During 2007, Carell was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Carell filmed a movie during late 2008 opposite Tina Fey, titled ''Date Night''. It was released on April 9, 2010 in the U.S. He voiced Gru who is the main character in the Universal CGI movie ''Despicable Me'' along with Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Miranda Cosgrove, and Julie Andrews, which was very successful (he will likely be reprising the role for the upcoming sequel). He has several other projects in the works, including a remake of the 1967 Peter Sellers film ''The Bobo''. He is currently doing voiceover work in commercials for Wrigley's Extra gum.

Carell has launched a television division of his Carousel Prods., which has contracted a three-year overall deal with Universal Media Studios, the studio behind his NBC comedy series. Thom Hinkle and Campbell Smith of North South Prods., former producers on Carell's alma mater, Comedy Central's ''The Daily Show'', have been hired to manage Carousel's TV operations.

Personal life

Carell is married to ''Saturday Night Live'' alumna Nancy Carell, whom he met when she was a student in an improvisation class he was teaching at Second City. They have two children, Elisabeth Anne "Annie" (born May 25, 2001) and John "Johnny" (born June 2004). In addition to working with him as a fellow correspondent on ''The Daily Show'', Nancy also acted with him on ''The Office'' as his realtor and short-lived girlfriend Carol Stills, and also cameoed as a sex therapist in ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin''.

The Carells have homes in Toluca Lake, California, Marshfield, Massachusetts and in Florida. They recently helped to preserve some of the town's history by purchasing the 155-year-old Marshfield Hills General Store, an antique country store well-known for its candy counter.

Filmography

Film

{|class="wikitable" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 1991 | ''Curly Sue'' | Tesio | as Steve Carell |- | 2003 | ''Bruce Almighty'' | Evan Baxter | |- |rowspan="3"| 2004 | ''Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy'' | Brick Tamland | Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Team shared with Will Ferrell, David Koechner and Paul RuddNominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Musical Performance shared with Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd and Fred Armisen |- | ''Sleepover'' | Officer Sherman | |- | ''Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie'' | Brick Tamland | |- |rowspan="3"| 2005 | ''Melinda and Melinda'' | Walt Wagner | |- | ''Bewitched'' | Uncle Arthur | |- | ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'' | Andy Stitzer | Also Writer/Executive ProducerMTV Movie Award for Best Comedic PerformanceNominated — MTV Movie Award for Best PerformanceNominated — MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Team shared with Romany Malco, Seth Rogen and Paul RuddNominated — Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay shared with Judd Apatow |- |rowspan="2"| 2006 | ''Over the Hedge'' | Hammy | Voice |- | ''Little Miss Sunshine'' | Frank Ginsburg | Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best CastChlotrudis Award for Best CastPhoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best CastScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureWashington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best EnsembleNominated — Gotham Award for Best Ensemble CastNominated — Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor |- |rowspan="4"| 2007 | ''Evan Almighty'' | Evan Baxter | Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: ScreamNominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: ComedyNominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Hissy Fit |- | ''Stories USA'' | Mark | |- | ''Knocked Up'' | Himself | |- | ''Dan in Real Life'' | Dan Burns | |- |rowspan="2"| 2008 | ''Horton Hears a Who!'' | Ned McDodd: Mayor of WhoVille | Voice |- | ''Get Smart'' | Maxwell Smart | Also Executive ProducerNominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance |- |rowspan="3"| 2010 | ''Date Night'' | Phil Foster | |- | ''Despicable Me'' | Gru | Voice |- | ''Dinner for Schmucks'' | Barry Speck | |- |rowspan="1"| 2011 | ''Crazy, Stupid, Love.'' | Cal Weaver | Also Producer |- |rowspan="1"| 2012 | ''Seeking a Friend for the End of the World'' | Dodge | |- |}

Television

{|class="wikitable" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- |1996 | ''The Dana Carvey Show '' | Various characters | Sketch comedy |- | 1997 | ''Over the Top'' | Yorgo Galfanikos | 12 episodes; only 3 aired. |- | 1998 | ''Just Shoot Me!'' | Insurance Agent |- |1999–2004 | ''The Daily Show'' | Correspondent |- | 2005–2011 | ''The Office'' | Michael Scott | Writer, episodes "Casino Night" and "Survivor Man"; director, episodes "Broke", "Secretary's Day and "Garage Sale""Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2006)Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2007, 2008)Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor: Comedy (2007, 2008)TV Land Future Classic AwardTelevision Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy (2006)Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy Series shared with ensemble writers (2007)Writers Guild of America Award for Episodic Comedy for episode "Casino Night"People's Choice Awards for Favorite TV Comedy Actor (2009)Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Comedy Series (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)Nominated — Prism Award for Best Performance in a Comedy Series (2007)Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2006, 2007)Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011)Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2009, 2011)Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor: Comedy (2006) (2011)Nominated — Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy (2009)Nominated — Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy Series shared with ensemble writers (2008, 2009) |- | rowspan="2"|2010 | 2010 Kids' Choice Awards | rowspan="2"| Himself | Covered by slime |- | ''Todos Contra Juan'' | Argentinian TV sitcom – Season 2/Series finale |}

Other awards

Carell won the Spike TV 2008 "Guys Choice", Funniest M.F. Award.

References

External links

in 2007

Dateline NBC's interview with Carell

Carell's antique country store in Marshfield, MA

USA Today article on real-life CEO lessons

Category:1962 births Category:Actors from Massachusetts Category:American comedians Category:American film actors Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (television) winners Category:Denison University alumni Category:Living people Category:The Office (U.S. TV series) Category:Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:People from Concord, Massachusetts Category:Second City alumni Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners

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Width	235px
Position	Small Forward
Height ft	6
Height in	8
Weight lb	250
Team	Miami Heat
Number	6
Nationality	American
Birth date	December 30, 1984
Birth place	Akron, Ohio, United States
Draft round	1
Draft pick	1
Draft year	2003
Draft team	Cleveland Cavaliers
Career start	2003
High school	St. Vincent – St. Mary High School
Profile	lebron_james
Team1	Cleveland Cavaliers |years1–
Team2	Miami Heat |years2–present
Highlights	2× NBA Most Valuable Player (–) NBA Rookie of the Year () 7× NBA All-Star (2005–2011) NBA Scoring Champion () 5× All-NBA First Team (, –) 2× All-NBA Second Team (, ) 3× All-Defensive First Team (–) NBA All-Rookie First Team () 2× NBA All-Star Game MVP (2006, 2008) Naismith Prep Player of the Year (2003)
Medaltemplates	}}

LeBron Raymone James (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he was a three-time "Mr. Basketball" of Ohio in high school, and was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar while a sophomore at St. Vincent – St. Mary High School. He was selected with the number one pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers and signed a shoe contract with Nike before his professional debut. Listed as a small forward, James has set numerous youngest player records since joining the league. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2003–04, was named the NBA Most Valuable Player in 2008–09 and 2009–10, and has been both an All-NBA selection and an All-Star every season since 2005. In 2010, a much-publicized free agency process ended with James signing with the Miami Heat. He became the third reigning NBA MVP to change teams and the first since Moses Malone in 1982.

The focal point of the Cleveland offense, James led the team to consecutive playoff appearances from 2006 through 2010. In 2007, the Cavaliers advanced to the Conference Finals for the first time since 1992 and to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, ultimately losing to the San Antonio Spurs. In 2011, James and the Miami Heat advanced to the NBA Finals but lost to the Dallas Mavericks in 6 games, 4–2. James has been a member of the USA national team, winning a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics and gold at the 2008 Olympics.

High school career

James attended St. Vincent–St. Mary High School in Akron, where he became a starter during his freshman year for the Fighting Irish. He averaged 21 points and 6.2 rebounds, and led the team to a 23–1 record, en route to the Division III state title. Coach Keith Dambrot started working with James doing $1 clinics at a local recreation center. In his sophomore year, James averaged 25.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 3.8 steals. He led the team to a 26–1 record and a Division III state title for the second straight season. He was the first sophomore to be named Ohio's "Mr. Basketball" and became the first sophomore ever selected to the ''USA Today'' All-USA First Team.

In James' junior year his stats improved again. He averaged 29.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 3.3 steals and was again named Mr. Basketball of Ohio. He earned a spot on the All-USA First Team, and was named the 2001–02 boys' basketball Gatorade National Player of the Year. It was at this time that his nickname "King James" became a household staple in Ohio.

James appeared in ''SLAM Magazine'', which began his nationwide exposure. The St. Vincent–St. Mary basketball team did not defend its state title when increased enrollment forced the team to move up to the more challenging Division II (Ohio high school basketball has four divisions based on annual enrollment figures) and lost to Roger Bacon High School. James considered declaring for the 2002 draft after the season ended by petitioning for an adjustment to the NBA's draft eligibility rules, which at the time required prospective players to have at least completed high school. The petition was unsuccessful, but it ensured him an unprecedented level of nation-wide attention as he entered his senior year. By then, James had already appeared on the covers of ''Sports Illustrated'' and ''ESPN The Magazine''. His popularity forced his team to move their practices from the school gym to the nearby James A. Rhodes Arena at the University of Akron. NBA stars such as Shaquille O'Neal attended the games, and a few of James' high school games were even televised nationally on ESPN2 and regionally on pay-per-view.

In 2003, James' mother, Gloria James, got approval for a loan to buy a Hummer H2 for her son's 18th birthday. The bank took her son's future earning power into consideration, prompting an investigation by the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA). Under the OHSAA guidelines, no amateur may accept any gift valued over $100 as a reward for athletic performance. When James later accepted two throwback jerseys of Wes Unseld and Gale Sayers worth $845 from NEXT, an urban clothing store in Shaker Square, in exchange for his posing for pictures to be displayed on the store's walls, OHSAA stripped him of his eligibility. James appealed and a judge blocked the ruling, reducing the penalty to a two-game suspension and allowing him to play the remainder of the season. James' team was forced to forfeit one of their wins as a result. That forfeit was the team's only official loss that season.

Despite the distractions, the Irish won a third state title, with James averaging 31.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.4 steals on the season. James was named to the All-USA First Team for an unprecedented third time, and was selected as Mr. Basketball of Ohio for the third year in a row. He earned MVP honors at the McDonald's All-American Game, the EA Sports Roundball Classic, and the Jordan Capital Classic. Although it was a foregone conclusion, by participating in more than two high school all-star events, James officially lost his NCAA eligibility. James finished his high school career with 2,657 points, 892 rebounds and 523 assists.

James also played football during his high school years at St.Vincent-St. Mary's. In his sophomore year he was named first-team all-state as a wide receiver, and in his junior year he led his team to the state semifinals. Sports analysts have speculated on whether he could have played in the NFL.

NBA career

Cleveland Cavaliers (2003–2010)

Rookie season

James was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. Facing the Sacramento Kings in his first NBA game, James recorded 25 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals and shot 60% from the floor. After recording a season-high 41 points against the New Jersey Nets, James became the youngest player in league history to score at least 40 points in a game. He was scheduled to compete in the 2004 Slam Dunk Contest during the All-Star weekend, although due to an ankle injury he suffered in January 2004, he was unable to participate in the contest. James averaged 20.9 points, 5.9 assists, and 5.5 rebounds per game for the season, and was named 2003–04 NBA Rookie of the Year; becoming the first Cavalier and youngest NBA player to ever receive the award. He joined Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history to average at least 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game in their rookie season (Tyreke Evans has since joined this group). The Cavaliers improved by 18 wins and concluded the regular season with a 35–47 record, but failed to make the playoffs.

2004–05 season

In the 2004–05 season, James was selected to his first NBA All-Star Game and recorded 13 points, 6 assists, and 8 rebounds, as the Eastern All-Stars defeated the Western All-Stars 125–115. During the season, James became the youngest player in league history to record a triple-double and make the All-NBA Team. He averaged 27.2 points, 7.2 assists, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.2 steals per game. The Cavaliers failed to reach the playoffs again and finished with a 42–40 regular season record.

2005–06 season

In the 2005–06 season, James was elected to his second straight All-Star Game appearance and led the Eastern All-Stars to a 122–120 victory, with 29 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists. He became the youngest All-Star MVP at 21 years, 51 days. He was named ''NBA Player of the Week'' for an unprecedented three consecutive weeks and concluded the season with five honors. He scored 35 or more points in nine consecutive games, joining Jordan and Kobe Bryant as the only players since 1970 to accomplish the feat. For the season, James averaged 31.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game, and became the youngest player in NBA history to average at least 30 points. He became the fourth player in NBA history to average more than 30 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in a single season. The Cavaliers made the playoffs for the first time since 1998, and improved from a record of 17–65 in 2002–03 to 50–32 in 2005–06.

Following the regular season, James was named as one of the candidates for the NBA Most Valuable Player Award. Although he finished second to Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns in MVP voting, he was awarded co-MVP honors with Nash by ''The Sporting News''; an award given by the publication that is based on the voting of thirty NBA general managers.

James made his playoff debut against the Washington Wizards in 2006. He recorded a triple-double with 32 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds, as the Cavaliers defeated the Wizards 97–86. He joined Johnny McCarthy and Magic Johnson as the only players in NBA history to register a triple-double in their playoff debut. For the series, James averaged 35.7 points, as the Cavaliers defeated the Wizards in six games. In the process, James set a new record for turnovers in a 6-game series, with 34. In the second round of the playoffs, James and the Cavaliers lost in seven games to the defending Eastern Conference champion and divisional rival Detroit Pistons. James averaged 30.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 5.8 assists in the playoffs.

At the end of the season, James negotiated a three-year contract extension, with a player option for a fourth year. The contract was worth $60 million and began at the start of the 2007–08 season. Although it was for fewer years and less money than the maximum he could sign, it allowed him the option of seeking a new contract worth more money as an unrestricted free agent following the 2010 season. He had discussed this with fellow members of his 2003 draft class, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, who also re-signed with their respective teams while allowing them to be unrestricted agents in 2010.

2006–07 season

James was elected to his third consecutive All-Star game appearance during the 2006–07 season. He played a game high 32 minutes and finished with 28 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. In the regular season, the Cavaliers tied the previous season's record with 50 wins and clinched the second seed of the Eastern Conference on the last day of the season. For the season, James averaged 27.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. He joined Robertson as the only players in NBA history to average 27 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists per game for three consecutive years.

In the first round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs, James led the Cavaliers to their first sweep in franchise history over the Washington Wizards in four games. It was the first time the franchise had won consecutive road playoff games. For the series, James averaged 27.8 points, 7.5 assists, and 8.5 rebounds. In the second round of the playoffs, James led the Cavaliers to a 4–2 series victory over the New Jersey Nets. He averaged 25.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 8.6 assists in the series, as the Cavaliers advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 15 years.

In the Eastern Conference Finals, James led the Cavaliers from an 0–2 deficit against the Detroit Pistons to win the series in six games. His performance in Game 5 was especially memorable. James recorded a franchise-record 48 points on 54.5% field goal shooting, to go with 9 rebounds and 7 assists. In addition, James scored 29 of Cleveland's last 30 points, including the team's final 25 points in a double-overtime victory. He concluded the night with a game-winning lay-up with 2 seconds left. NBA analyst Marv Albert referred to James' performance as "one of the greatest moments in postseason history," while color commentator Steve Kerr called it "Jordan-esque."

In the 2007 NBA Finals, James averaged 22.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.8 assists, as the Cavaliers were swept by the San Antonio Spurs, losing 4 consecutive games. For the postseason, James averaged 25.1 points, 8.0 assists and 8.1 rebounds per game. He set a franchise record for double-doubles in a playoff season with eight and became the first Cavalier and the first non-guard in NBA history to have at least seven assists in eight consecutive playoff games.

2007–08 season

In the 2007–08 season, James continued his dominant play, earning his fourth consecutive All-Star Game appearance and once again positioning himself as one of the front runners for the NBA Most Valuable Player Award. He won the 2008 All-Star Game MVP with 27 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals as the Eastern Conference All-Stars defeated their Western counterparts, 134–128.

On February 19, 2008, James recorded his fifth triple-double of the 2007–08 season by putting up 26 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists against the Houston Rockets. It was the fifteenth triple-double of his career. He is the third youngest player to post 15 triple-doubles, behind Robertson and Johnson. He scored his sixth triple-double of the season and sixteenth of his career against the Indiana Pacers the very next game. It was the second time during the season that he had a triple-double in back-to-back games. The last player to accomplish that feat was Johnson in 1988. James finished the season with seven triple-doubles, breaking his personal and team records for triple-doubles in a season and 17 career triple-doubles broke his team record as well.

On February 27, 2008, against the Boston Celtics, James became the youngest person to score 10,000 points in his career at 23 years and 59 days, achieving the feat in style with a slam-dunk over 11-time All-Star Kevin Garnett, eclipsing the old mark by more than a year. James did so in 368 games, the ninth fastest in league history. On March 5, 2008, James scored 50 points with 8 rebounds and 10 assists on the New York Knicks, becoming only the third player since the ABA-NBA merger to record a 50-point 10-assist game. On March 21, 2008, James scored 29 points against the Toronto Raptors, taking him past Brad Daugherty's all-time Cavaliers scoring record of 10,389 points. Daugherty achieved this record over the course of 548 games, while James took only 380 games to score 10,414 points.

All told, James propelled Cleveland to a 45–37 record, good for second place in the Central Division and the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Prior to Cleveland's first-round series versus the Washington Wizards, Wizards guard Deshawn Stevenson said James was "overrated," prompting James to say that he would not return the insult, as that would be "almost like Jay-Z [responding to a negative comment] made by Soulja Boy." In response, Soulja Boy himself made an appearance at Game 3 of the series (played in Washington) in support of the Wizards, and his music was played over the PA system. James would later say that he meant no disrespect to Soulja Boy with his comment, and that his young son is a big fan of the rapper. Jay-Z responded by producing a freestyle version of the Too Short single "Blow the Whistle", named "Playoff", in which he "disses" Stevenson and Soulja Boy on James' behalf. The Cavaliers won the series against the Wizards in 6 games (4–2). The Cavaliers were eliminated by the Boston Celtics in the next round (4–3). During the decisive seventh game, which was played in Boston, James scored 45 points, but opponent Paul Pierce's 41 led the Celtics to a narrow victory.

2008–09 season

In the 2008–09 season James continued to improve facets of his game while setting new career highs. He had 23 chase-down blocks (93 blocks in total, a career-high) and improved his free-throw shooting (78.0%, a career-high, with league-leading 594 free-throws made). He was the NBA Player of the Month four times, making him the second player in NBA history to do that after Kevin Garnett did so in his 2003–04 MVP season. In addition, he became the fourth player in NBA history to lead his team in all five major statistical categories (total points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks) in one season. After a win on March 25 against the New Jersey Nets the Cleveland Cavaliers improved their record to 58–13 exceeding their previous franchise best of 57–25 set in the 1988–89 and 1991–92 NBA seasons. They ended the regular season with a league best of 66–16 after losing their final home game to the Philadelphia 76ers in overtime. The Cavaliers had a chance to tie the 1985–86 Boston Celtics for the all-time best NBA home record but ended at 39–2 after home losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and 76ers. In the playoffs, the Cavaliers swept the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs. James averaged 32.0 points, 11.3 rebounds and 7.5 assists in the series and became just the third player in NBA history to average at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in a postseason series. At the end of the last game, in which he tallied 36 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists on 16–17 free throw shooting, there were MVP chants for him in The Palace of Auburn Hills. On May 4, he was announced as the NBA Most Valuable Player. He became the first Cavaliers player in history to win the award.

He was named to the NBA All-Defensive Team for the first time in his career.

In the next series in the playoffs, James once again led his team to a sweep against the Atlanta Hawks.

On May 22, during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Orlando Magic's Hedo Türkoğlu shot a 12-foot jumper to give the Magic a 2-point lead with 1 second left. Following a Cleveland timeout, Williams inbounded the ball to James, but heavy defense by Türkoğlu denied James a chance at a tying layup. James then attempted and made a three-point shot over Türkoğlu, giving the Cavs a 96–95 victory to tie the series 1–1. Following a Game 3 loss, James attempted another game-winning, buzzer-beating three-pointer in Game 4, but this time from farther away; it missed, thus dropping the Cavaliers down 3–1 in the series. After a Game 5 home win, he scored a playoff low 25 points in Game 6 and Cleveland lost the series to Orlando. James' postgame behavior incited some controversy when he left the game floor without shaking hands with his opponents. James later told reporters: }}

2009–10 season

Before the 2009–10 season, Cleveland traded for four-time NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal to address an inside presence that was missing against Orlando. O'Neal's goal was to "Win a Ring for the King." James was selected to his sixth consecutive All-Star game appearance. He became the first player to earn at least 2.5 million votes three times. James recorded 25 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals as the Eastern Conference All-Stars defeated the Western Conference All-Stars 141–139. In a 118–116 loss to the Denver Nuggets, James tallied 43 points, 13 rebounds, 15 assists, two steals and four blocks in a game. He was the first player to have at least 40 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds in a game since Robertson did so on February 13, 1962. All-Star Antawn Jamison was acquired by the Cavs on February 17, 2010. On March 13, 2010, James became the youngest player in NBA history to score 15,000 regular season points during a 92–85 win over the Chicago Bulls.

At the end of the regular season, Cleveland finished with the best regular season record for the second consecutive year. James won the Most Valuable Player for the second time in his career, becoming the tenth NBA player in history to do so. James received 116 of a possible 122 first-place votes to win.

In the playoffs, the Cavaliers beat the Chicago Bulls in the first round, but fell to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals. James was criticized for not playing well, especially in Game 5 of the series, in which he shot only 3 for 14 and scored 15 points. He walked off the court in that game, his final home game as a Cavalier, "to a smattering of boos and rows of empty seats" and Cleveland lost 88–120 in their worst home playoff loss in team history. Cleveland was eliminated in Game 6, James' last playing for Cleveland, as he recorded 27 points, 19 rebounds, 10 assists, but also 9 turnovers.

2010 free agency

James became a free-agent at 12:01 am ET on July 1, 2010. He filed papers to formally change his jersey number 23 to 6 for the season. James was courted by several teams, including the Knicks, Nets, Heat, Bulls, Mavericks, Clippers, and his hometown Cavaliers.

On July 8, 2010, James announced on a live ESPN special, ''The Decision'', that he would be playing for the Miami Heat for the 2010–11 season and teaming with Miami's other All-Star free agent signees Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. ''The Decision'' was broadcast from the Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich, Connecticut.

|LeBron James}}

Wade had informed Heat President Pat Riley that James wanted to become less of a scorer and more of a distributor, and James looked forward to no longer carrying the offense night after night as he did playing with Cleveland. Riley sold to James that "LeBron would be Magic Johnson, Dwyane Wade would be Kobe Bryant, Chris would be Kevin Garnett." Relieved of the burden of scoring, James thought he could be the first player to average a triple-double in a season since Oscar Robertson.

The Cavaliers were informed of James' decision minutes before the show began. The television program drew high ratings as well as criticism for the prolonged wait until James' actual decision and the spectacle of the show itself.

In Cleveland, fans considered James' departure a betrayal that ranks second to Art Modell's efforts to relocate the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore. Cleveland Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert almost immediately published an open letter to fans, denouncing James' decision as a "selfish", "heartless", "callous", and "cowardly betrayal", while guaranteeing that the Cavs would win an NBA title before the "self-declared former King." Gilbert's sports-memorabilia company Fathead also lowered the price of wall graphics depicting James from $99.99 to $17.41, the birth year of Benedict Arnold. William Rhoden of ''The New York Times'' defended James by stating that Gilbert's "venomous, face-saving personal attack", along with the ensuing "wrath of jersey-burning fans", only validated James’ decision to leave Cleveland. Reverend Jesse Jackson, American civil rights activist, said Gilbert's feelings "personify a slave master mentality", and he was treating James as "a runaway slave". J. A. Adande of ESPN said, however, that James chose to promote the drama of his decision in an hour-long television special instead of showing "common courtesy" to notify Cleveland and other teams of his plans. On July 12, 2010, NBA Commissioner David Stern fined Gilbert $100,000 for the letter's contents, while also criticizing the way James handled free agency. On July 14, James told J. R. Moehringer for a ''GQ'' article that there was "nothing at all" he would change about his handling of free agency.

Former NBA players criticized his decision to not stay with Cleveland and continuing to try to win a championship as "the guy". Michael Jordan stated that he would not have contacted his rivals from other teams like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird to play on one team together, as "I wanted to defeat those guys." Jordan added that "...things are different [now]. I can't say that's a bad thing. It's an opportunity these kids have today." Johnson echoed Jordan's sentiments on teaming with rivals.

On September 29, 2010, asked by Soledad O'Brien of CNN if race was a factor in the fallout from ''The Decision'', James said, "I think so, at times. There's always – you know, a race factor." James had previously stayed clear of racial issues. When the earlier controversy over his cover on ''Vogue'' became a national debate, James had no comment. Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com, said James suddenly bringing up race in this instance was "laughable." Jason Whitlock of Foxsports.com said James' usage of the race card was "an excuse to avoid dealing with his own bad (The) Decision." Adande, however, said James "didn't claim to be a victim of racial persecution" and "caused us to examine the bias that's always lurking".

Before a game against the Nets on October 31, his first game against one of his suitors, James reflected on his free agency: “If I had to go back on it, I probably would do it a little bit different,” James said. “But I’m happy with my decision.” He declined to be more specific.

Miami Heat (2010–present)

On July 9, James officially completed a sign-and-trade deal with the Miami Heat. On the same day, the Heat threw a welcome party and introduced James, Wade and Bosh to the 13,000 Heat fans at American Airlines Arena. The rock concert atmosphere featured the trio arriving to plumes of smoke with Bosh and Wade pointing to the crowd and James strutting around. Howard Beck of ''The New York Times'' described the national fan reaction to the party: "Everyone saw something: greatness, arrogance, self-indulgence, boldness, cowardice, pride, friendship, collusion, joy, cynicism, heroes, mercenaries."

On November 2, James had a game-high 12 assists in a 129–97 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. James was the primary ball handler for nearly the entire 33 minutes he played against the Wolves. He has been playing throughout the season the point guard role that Riley sold to him during free agency. "I don't want to be called a point guard, but I can't stop it," said James. Heat public relations announced that James's 12 assists was the highest in franchise history by a forward. On November 9 in a 116–114 loss to the Utah Jazz, James finished with 20 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds, his first triple-double with the Heat. It was his 29th career triple-double, the seventh that came in a loss. On December 2, the Heat played in Cleveland in James' first game back since departing as a free agent. The crowd directed derisive chants and signs at James, who was booed every time he touched the ball. With tight security, the crowd was rowdy but not violent and there was only one arrest and four ejections. James scored a then-season-high 38 points and Miami won in a 118–90 blowout as the hostile crowd was quieted before halftime. In a well publicized arrival after spurning the franchise, LeBron James had his second triple double of the season with 32 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden in a blowout victory. In the Heat's 104–100 victory over the Orlando Magic on February 3, 2011, James scored 23 points in the first quarter, breaking Alonzo Mourning's single-game franchise record of 21 first-quarter points (March 29, 1996). James finished the game with 51 points, a season high, along with 11 rebounds and eight assists.

On March 29, in James' second game at Cleveland as a member of the Heat, he skipped his pregame player introduction, saying that he was using the bathroom, and entered the arena during the Cleveland Cavaliers player introductions. The Heat lost to the Cavaliers 102–90 despite James' 27 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.

James finished second in the league in scoring with 26.7 points per game and Dwyane Wade finished fourth (25.5 points per game). They combined to score 4,052 points this season, most by a duo in franchise history.

In the 2011 NBA Finals James finished with averages of 17.8 points, 6.8 assists, and 7.1 rebounds, although the Miami Heat were beaten in 6 games by the Dallas Mavericks, 4–2. Throughout the postseason James averaged 23.6 points, 5.8 assists, and 8.3 rebounds. James's 17.8 points per game (down 8.9 points from 26.7) in the Finals was the largest drop off in points from a regular season to an NBA Finals in NBA history.

International career

After his rookie season, James played on the 2004 U.S. Olympic basketball team in Athens, where the US men's team won the bronze medal. It was the first time a U.S. Olympic team with NBA players failed to win the gold medal. Limited to 14.6 minutes per game, James averaged just 5.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.

Along with Kobe Bryant, he was one of the first two players to be publicly named to the 2006–2008 U.S. preliminary roster in 2006 by Jerry Colangelo. James competed in the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan and averaged 13.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. The team finished with an 8–1 record, and was again awarded the bronze medal. James was named as one of three captains for the 2006 USA Men's World Championship team, alongside Carmelo Anthony and Wade.

After failing to win the 2006 World Championships, the team competed at the 2007 Tournament of Americas Olympic qualifiers to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. During the gold medal game against Argentina, James recorded 31 points, the most by an American in an Olympic qualifier, as the United States captured gold medal honors. He averaged 18.1 points (on tournament-high field-goal percentage (76%) and three-point percentage (62.2%), 4.7 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 22.2 minutes per game.

James, along with the rest of Team USA reclaimed the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, defeating Spain 118 to 107. He finished the gold medal game with 14 points along with 6 rebounds and 3 assists as the U.S. went unbeaten, winning their first gold medal since the 2000 Olympics. It was later reported that James' "immaturity and downright disrespectfulness" were a risk to his being included on the Beijing Olympic team as Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski and managing director Jerry Colangelo believed that Bryant joining the national team would allow the team to win the gold medal with or without James.

Player profile

As of the 2010–11 season, James has averaged 27.7 points, 7.0 assists and 7.1 rebounds per game for his career in the regular season, and has recorded 34 triple-doubles in his career, with 28 in the regular season and six in the postseason. In the 2005–06 season, he led the league in completed traditional three point plays. He regularly ranks among the league leaders in rebounds for the small forward position. James' skills have led to many comparisons to NBA legends Robertson, Johnson, and Jordan. James was not named to the NBA All-Defensive Team until the 2008–09 season, when he finished second in voting for Defensive Player of the Year.

In March 2011, the New York Times wrote that James "has not mastered a reliable midrange jumper ... has not developed a go-to move in the post" and his options in a half-court set at the end of games "often are a long jump shot or a mad dash to the rim."

James started a petition saying that no one should be allowed to wear the No. 23 in the NBA to honor Jordan. On March 1, 2010, James filed an application to the NBA to wear the No. 6 starting the 2010–11 season.

Off the court

Personal life

James was born on December 30, 1984 in Akron, Ohio, to a 16-year-old mother, Gloria. His biological father, Anthony McClelland, was an ex-convict who left Gloria. Gloria then had to raise LeBron by herself.

James has two children with his high school sweetheart, Savannah Brinson. The first, LeBron James Jr., was born on October 6, 2004, and the second, Bryce Maximus James, on June 14, 2007. They currently reside in Coconut Grove, a Miami suburb, where James bought a three-story mansion overlooking Biscayne Bay for $9 million on November 12, 2010.

Endorsements

James has endorsement contracts with Nike, Sprite, Glacéau, Bubblicious, Upper Deck, McDonald's and State Farm. With Nike, James has released six signature shoe styles, and four additional shoes (20–5–5, Soldier, Soldier 2, Ambassador). He has acted in a 2007 series of commercials called "The LeBrons", as well as had his likeness voiced by Kenan Thompson in a 2009 commercial series titled "MVPuppets". In December 2007, James was ranked at No.1 in the ''Forbes'' Top 20 Earners Under 25 with annual earnings of $27 million.

James and Ice Cube have paired up to pitch a one-hour special to ABC based on James' life. James will act as executive producer if the show is greenlighted. James appeared on the cover of the February 2009 edition of ''GQ'' magazine. He stars in the Lions Gate film, ''More Than a Game'' (2009).

Following an agreement with Fenway Sports Group to become the sole marketer of his rights globally, in return as part of the deal James and his manager Maverick Carter became minority stakeholders in English Premier League giants Liverpool F.C.

On April 10, 2011 James became the new global brand ambassador for luxury Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet. He will in addition collaborate to produce his own limited-edition watch, for which he will donate the proceeds from any future auctions of these timepieces to his charity, the LeBron James Family Foundation.

Public image

During the 2007 NBA Playoffs, James drew criticism when he declined to sign a petition started by his teammate, Ira Newble, regarding the Chinese government's alleged involvement in the ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan, stating that he did not know enough about the issue. A year later, James did talk publicly about the issue, saying, "At the end of the day we're talking about human rights. And people should understand that human rights and people's lives are in jeopardy. We're not talking about contracts here. We're not talking about money. We're talking about people's lives being lost and that means a lot more to me than some money or a contract."

James received criticism from Cleveland fans and critics for attending Cleveland Indians games against the New York Yankees dressed in a Yankees hat. James said, "As individuals I want every Indian to succeed. I love all these fans for coming out and supporting us. But team-wise I want the Yankees to win." Despite residing in Ohio for all of his childhood, James added that he grew up as a Yankees fan, a Dallas Cowboys fan and a Chicago Bulls fan. In January 2008, Nike released the Air Zoom V LeBron shoe, which featured a Yankees-type motif and was made available only in New York City.

In March 2008, James became the first black man to appear on the cover of ''Vogue'', posing with Gisele Bündchen. He was the third man to appear on the cover of ''Vogue'', after Richard Gere and George Clooney. Some sports bloggers and columnist considered the cover offensive, describing the demeanor of James and his holding Bündchen as a reference to classic imagery of the movie monster King Kong, a dark savage capturing his light-skinned love interest.

In June 2008, James donated $20,000 to a committee to elect Barack Obama. On October 29, 2008, James gathered almost 20,000 people at the Quicken Loans Arena for a viewing of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's 30-minute ''American Stories, American Solutions'' television advertisement. It was shown on a large screen above the stage, where Jay-Z later held a free concert.

On July 6, 2009, James courted controversy when he ordered organizers to confiscate CBS video tape of him being dunked on by Xavier University guard Jordan Crawford at the Nike LeBron James Skills Academy.

On July 23 in an interview for his upcoming book "Shooting Stars", James admitted to smoking marijuana at one point during his high school career to help cope with all the stress resulting from constant media attention he was receiving at the time.

James, with comedian Jimmy Kimmel, co-hosted the 2007 ESPY Awards. James himself was nominated for three ESPYs: Best Male Athlete, Best NBA Player (winner), and Best Record Breaking Performance. The performance for which he was nominated was when he scored 48 points in Game 5 of the 2007 NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Detroit Pistons, including 29 of the last 30 points and all of the team's 25 points in overtime. In other comedic pursuits, James hosted the 33rd season premiere of ''Saturday Night Live''. The show's creator Lorne Michaels praised him for his versatility.

In April 2010, Forbes ranked James as the second most influential athlete behind Lance Armstrong.

In September 2010, ''The Q Score Company'' ranked James as the sixth most disliked sports personality behind Michael Vick, Tiger Woods, Terrell Owens, Chad Ochocinco and Kobe Bryant.

Salaries

{|class="wikitable sortable" |- !Season!!Team!!Salary |- |2003–04||Cleveland||$4,018,920 |- |2004–05||Cleveland||$4,320,360 |- |2005–06||Cleveland||$4,621,800 |- |2006–07||Cleveland||$5,828,090 |- |2007–08||Cleveland||$13,041,250 |- |2008–09||Cleveland||$14,410,581 |- |2009–10||Cleveland||$15,779,912 |- |2010–11||Miami||$14,500,000 |}

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |79||79||39.5||.417||.290||.754||5.5||5.9||1.6||.7||20.9 |- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |80||80||42.4||.472||.351||.750||7.4||7.2||2.2||.6||27.2 |- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |79||79||42.5||.480||.335||.738||7.0||6.6||1.6||.8||31.4 |- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |78||78||40.9||.476||.319||.698||6.7||6.0||1.6||.7||27.3 |- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |75||74||40.4||.484||.315||.712||7.9||7.2||1.8||1.1||30.0 |- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |81||81||37.7||.489||.344||.780||7.6||7.2||1.7||1.1||28.4 |- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |76||76||39.0||.503||.333||.767||7.3||8.6||1.6||1.0||29.7 |- |style="text-align:left;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Miami |79||79||38.8||.510||.330||.759||7.5||7.0||1.6||.6||26.7 |-class="sortbottom" |style="text-align:left;"|Career |style="text-align:left;"| |627||626||40.1||.479||.329||.759||7.1||7.0||1.7||.8||27.7 |-class="sortbottom" |style="text-align:left;"|All-Star |style="text-align:left;"| |7||7||30.9||.511||.326||.760||7.1||6.0||1.6||.3||24.4 |}

Playoffs

|- |style="text-align:left;"|2006 |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |13||13||46.5||.476||.333||.737||8.1||5.8||1.4||.7||30.8 |- |style="text-align:left;"|2007 |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |20||20||44.7||.416||.280||.755||8.1||8.0||1.7||.5||25.1 |- |style="text-align:left;"|2008 |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |13||13||42.5||.411||.257||.731||7.8||7.6||1.8||1.3||28.2 |- |style="text-align:left;"|2009 |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |14||14||41.4||.510||.333||.749||9.1||7.3||1.6||.9||35.3 |- |style="text-align:left;"|2010 |style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland |11||11||41.8||.502||.400||.733||9.3||7.6||1.7||1.8||29.1 |- |style="text-align:left;"|2011 |style="text-align:left;"|Miami |21||21||43.9||.466||.353||.763||8.4||5.9||1.7||1.2||23.7 |-class="sortbottom" |style="text-align:left;"|Career |style="text-align:left;"| |92||92||43.6||.460||.323||.746||8.4||7.0||1.6||1.0||28.0 |}

Awards and honors

2× NBA Most Valuable Player: 2009, 2010

NBA Rookie of the Year: 2004

NBA Scoring Champion: 2008

2× NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2006, 2008

7× NBA All-Star: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

7× All-NBA:

*First Team: 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

*Second Team: 2005, 2007

3× NBA All-Defensive:

*First Team: 2009, 2010, 2011

NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2004

'''Bronze medal with Team USA, 2004 Summer Olympic Games

'''Bronze medal with Team USA, 2006 FIBA World Championship

'''Gold medal with Team USA, 2007 FIBA Americas Championship

'''Gold medal with Team USA, 2008 Summer Olympic Games

See also

List of National Basketball Association career playoff free throw scoring leaders

References

Further reading

External links

Official website

U.S. National Team Bio

LeBron James: NBA.com Draft Profile

"LeBron James", on ''TIME''s list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch"

LeBron James: Monster Dunks – slideshow by ''Life magazine''

LeBron James on ESPN Video Archive

LeBron James on FoxSports Video Archive

Category:1984 births Category:American basketball players Category:African American basketball players Category:Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Basketball players from Ohio Category:Cleveland Cavaliers draft picks Category:Cleveland Cavaliers players Category:Miami Heat players Category:Gatorade National Basketball Player of the Year Category:Living people Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans Category:National Basketball Association high school draftees Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the United States Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:People from Akron, Ohio Category:Sportspeople from Cleveland, Ohio Category:Small forwards Category:United States men's national basketball team members Category:Liverpool F.C. chairmen and investors Category:Olympic medalists in basketball

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Name	Jon Stewart
Alma mater	The College of William & Mary
Birth name	Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz
Birth date	November 28, 1962
Birth place	New York City, New York, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film, books
Nationality	American
Active	1987–present
Genre	Satire/political satire/news satire, observational comedy
Subject	Mass media/news media/media criticism, American politics, current events, religion, Jewish culture, race relations, human sexuality, self-deprecation
Influences	George Carlin, Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce, David Letterman, Steve Martin, Richard Pryor
Influenced	Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Ed Helms, Rob Corddry
Spouse	Tracey Stewart (née McShane; 2000— ; 2 children)
Children	Nathan Stewart, Maggie Stewart
Notable work	Host of ''The Daily Show''Host of ''The Jon Stewart Show''''America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction''''Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race''
Child	yes
Emmyawards	Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009 ''The Daily Show'' Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 ''The Daily Show''
Grammyawards	Best Comedy Album 2005 ''America (The Audiobook): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction Best Spoken Word Album 2011 ''Earth (The Audiobook): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race }}

}} Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian. He is widely known as host of ''The Daily Show'', a satirical news program that airs on Comedy Central.

Stewart started as a stand-up comedian, but branched into television as host of ''Short Attention Span Theater'' for Comedy Central. He went on to host his own show on MTV, called ''The Jon Stewart Show'', and then hosted another show on MTV called ''You Wrote It, You Watch It''. He has also had several film roles as an actor. Stewart became the host of ''The Daily Show'' on Comedy Central in early 1999. He is also a writer and co-executive-producer of the show. After Stewart joined, ''The Daily Show'' steadily gained popularity and critical acclaim, resulting in his fourteen Emmy Awards.

Stewart has gained acclaim as an acerbic, satirical critic of personality-driven media shows, in particular those of the US media networks such as CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC. Critics say Stewart benefits from a double standard: he critiques other news shows from the safe, removed position of his "fake news" desk. Stewart agrees, saying that neither his show nor his channel purports to be anything other than satire and comedy. In spite of its self-professed entertainment mandate, ''The Daily Show'' has been nominated for news and journalism awards. Stewart hosted the 78th and 80th Academy Awards. He is the co-author of ''America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction'', which was one of the best-selling books in the U.S. in 2004 and ''Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race'' released in 2010.

Early life

Stewart was born into a Jewish family in New York City. He and his older brother, Larry Leibowitz (currently Chief Operating Officer of the New York Stock Exchange), grew up in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, where they attended Lawrence High School. Jon's mother, Marian, is an educational consultant and teacher. His father, Donald Leibowitz, was a professor of physics at The College of New Jersey from 2001 through 2008; he now teaches an online course at Thomas Edison State College. Jon's parents were divorced when Stewart was eleven years old, and Stewart no longer has any contact with his father.

Stewart has said that he was subjected to anti-Semitic bullying as a child. He describes himself in high school as "very into Eugene Debs and a bit of a leftist."

Stewart graduated in 1984 from the College of William & Mary in Virginia, where he majored in psychology and played on the soccer team. While at W&M;, Stewart became a brother of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. After college, Stewart held numerous jobs. He was a contingency planner for the New Jersey Department of Human Services, a contract administrator for the City University of New York, a puppeteer for children with disabilities, a caterer, a busboy, a shelf stocker at Woolworth's, and a bartender at the Franklin Corner Tavern, a local blue-collar bar. In college, Stewart was friends with future Congressman Anthony Weiner, who is the only politician to have received campaign donations from Stewart.

Career

Early work

With a reputation for being a funny man in school, Jon Stewart moved to New York City in 1986 to try his hand at the comedy club circuit, but he could not muster the courage to get on stage until the following year. He made his stand-up debut at The Bitter End, the same place where his comedic idol, Woody Allen, began. He began using the stage name "Jon Stewart" by dropping his last name and changing the spelling of his middle name "Stuart" to "Stewart." He often jokes this is because people had difficulty with the pronunciation of Leibowitz or it "sounded too Hollywood" (a reference to Lenny Bruce's joke on the same theme). He has implied that the name change was actually due to a strained relationship with his father with whom Stewart no longer has any contact.

Stewart became a regular at the Comedy Cellar, where he was the last performer every night. For two years, he would perform at 2 a.m. while developing his comedic style. In 1989, he landed his first television job as a writer for ''Caroline's Comedy Hour''. In 1991, he began co-hosting Comedy Central's ''Short Attention Span Theater'' along with Patty Rosborough. In 1992, Stewart hosted the short-lived ''You Wrote It, You Watch It'' on MTV, which invited viewers to send in their stories to be acted out by the comedy troupe, The State. When David Letterman left NBC in 1993, Stewart was a finalist to replace him, but Conan O'Brien was hired instead.

''The Jon Stewart Show''

Later in 1993, Stewart developed ''The Jon Stewart Show'', a talk show on MTV. Despite the quick cancellation of his previous MTV show, the network was still eager to work with him. ''The Jon Stewart Show'' was the first talk show on that network and was an instant hit, becoming the second-highest rated MTV show behind ''Beavis and Butt-head''. In 1994, Paramount pulled the plug on ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' and, with new corporate sibling MTV (through MTV parent Viacom's acquisition of the studio), launched an hour-long syndicated late-night version of ''The Jon Stewart Show''. Many local affiliates had moved Hall's show to 2 a.m. during its decline and Stewart's show inherited such early morning time slots in many cities. Ratings were dismal and the show was canceled in June 1995.

Amongst the fans of the show was David Letterman, who was the final guest of ''The Jon Stewart Show''. Letterman signed Stewart with his production company, Worldwide Pants. Stewart then became a frequent guest host for Tom Snyder on ''The Late Late Show'', which was produced by Letterman and aired after ''Late Show'' on CBS. This led to much speculation that Stewart would soon replace Snyder permanently, but Stewart was instead offered the time slot after Snyder, which he turned down.

''The Daily Show''

In 1999, Stewart began hosting ''The Daily Show'' on Comedy Central when Craig Kilborn left the show to replace Tom Snyder on ''The Late Late Show''. The show, which has been popular and successful in cable television since Stewart became the host, blends humor with the day's top news stories, usually in politics, while simultaneously poking fun at politicians and many newsmakers as well as the news media itself. In an interview on ''The O'Reilly Factor'', Stewart denies the show has any intentional political agenda, saying the goal was "schnicks and giggles." "The same weakness that drove me into comedy also informs my show," meaning that he was uncomfortable talking without hearing the audience laugh.

Stewart has since hosted almost all airings of the program, except for a few occasions when correspondents such as Stephen Colbert, Rob Corddry, and Steve Carell subbed for him. Stewart has won a total of fourteen Emmys for ''The Daily Show'' as either a writer or producer. In 2005, ''The Daily Show'' and Jon Stewart also received a Best Comedy Album Grammy Award for the audio book edition of ''America (The Book)''. In 2000 and 2004, the show won two Peabody Awards for its coverage of the presidential elections relevant to those years, called "Indecision 2000" and "Indecision 2004", respectively.

The September 20, 2001, show, the first show after the attacks of September 11, 2001, began with no introduction. Before this, the introduction included footage of a fly-in towards the World Trade Center and New York City. The first nine minutes of the show included a tearful Stewart discussing his personal view on the event. His remarks ended as follows:

On April 4, 2006, Stewart confronted US Senator John McCain about his decision to appear at Liberty University, an institution founded by Jerry Falwell, whom McCain had previously denounced as one of the "agents of intolerance." In the interchange, Stewart asked McCain, "You're not freaking out on us? Are you freaking out on us, because if you're freaking out and you're going into the crazy base [politics] world—are you going into crazy base world?" McCain replied, "I'm afraid so." The clip was played on CNN and created a surge of articles across the blogosphere.

In 2007, ''The Daily Show'' was involved in former correspondent Stephen Colbert's announcement that he would run for president in 2008. In 2008, Stewart appeared on an episode of the show ''Democracy Now!'' A 2008 ''New York Times'' story questioned whether he was, in a phrase originally used to describe longtime network news anchor Walter Cronkite, "the most trusted man in America".

On April 28, 2009, during a discussion on torture with Clifford May, Stewart expressed his opinion that former President Harry S. Truman was a war criminal for his use of the atomic bomb on Japan during World War II. Moments later, Stewart defended his assertion:

On April 30, 2009, Stewart apologized on his program, and stated he did not believe Truman was a war criminal:

}}

In April 2010, Comedy Central renewed Stewart's contract to host ''The Daily Show'' into 2013. Stewart is paid a reported $1.5 million for one season of ''The Daily Show''. According to the Forbes list of Celebrities, he earns $14 million a year.

On September 16, 2010, Stewart along with Stephen Colbert announced a rally for October 30, known as the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. It took place on the National Mall in Washington D.C. and attracted an estimated 215,000 participants.

In December 2010 Stewart was credited by the White House and other media and political news outlets for bringing awareness of the Republican filibuster on the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act to the public, leading to the ultimate passing of the bill which provides health benefits to first responders whose health has been adversely affected by their work at Ground Zero.

The January 10, 2011 Stewart began the show with a personal monologue about the shootings in Tucson, AZ. During the monologue, Stewart described how he wished that the "ramblings of crazy people didn't in any way resemble how we actually talk to each other on television". Before commercial break, Stewart told viewers that the show would continue as usual the next night. After commercial break, the show featured a rerun of a field piece done by Jason Jones two years earlier.

As a result of such high-profile political stands, Stewart is being recognized as a political force rather than merely as a comedian. ''The New York Times'' suggested that he is "the modern-day equivalent of Edward R. Murrow" and the UK national newspaper ''The Independent'' called him the "satirist-in-chief".

In the middle of 2002, amid rumors that David Letterman was going to make a switch from CBS to ABC when his contract ran out, Stewart was rumored to be the person who would take over Letterman's show on CBS. Ultimately, Letterman renewed his contract with CBS. On the March 9, 2002, episode of ''Saturday Night Live'', hosted by Stewart, a "Weekend Update" sketch poked fun at the situation. In the middle of the sketch, "Weekend Update" anchor Jimmy Fallon said that he could not continue doing the broadcast and he brought Stewart in to replace him. Stewart glowed with excitement and chattered to himself about this chance to prove himself on network television. His pep talk went on too long, however, and before Stewart could deliver any headlines, Fallon returned and said he would be able to finish out the broadcast himself.

Later that year, ABC offered Stewart his own talk show to air after ''Nightline.'' Stewart's contract with ''The Daily Show'' was near expiring and he expressed strong interest. ABC, however, decided to give another Comedy Central figure, Jimmy Kimmel, the post-''Nightline'' slot.

Books

thumb|Stewart at the launch of his book, ''[[Earth (The Book)|Earth'', in New York, September 27, 2010.]]In 1998, Stewart released his first book, ''Naked Pictures of Famous People'', a collection of humorous short stories and essays. The book reached ''The New York Times'' Best Seller List.

In 2004, Stewart and ''The Daily Show'' writing staff released ''America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction,'' a mock high school history textbook offering insights into the unique American system of government, dissecting its institutions, explaining its history and processes, and satirizing such popular American political precepts as "one man, one vote", "government by the people," and "every vote counts." The book sold millions of copies upon its 2004 release and ended the year as a top fifteen best-seller.

In 2005, Stewart provided the voice of President James A. Garfield for the audiobook version of Sarah Vowell's ''Assassination Vacation''.

In 2007, Stewart voiced a role on friend Stephen Colbert's audiobook version of ''I Am America (And So Can You!)''. He plays Mort Sinclaire, former TV comedy writer and Communist.

On September 21, 2010, ''Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race'' was released, also written by Stewart and other writers of ''The Daily Show''.

Acting

Although best known for his work on ''The Daily Show,'' Stewart has also had roles in several films and television series.

His first film role was a minor part in ''The First Wives Club'' but his scene was deleted. In 1995, Stewart signed a three-year deal with Miramax. He played romantic leads in the films ''Playing by Heart'' and ''Wishful Thinking''. He also had supporting roles in the romantic comedy ''Since You've Been Gone'' and in the horror film ''The Faculty''. Other films were planned for Stewart to write and star in, but they were never produced. Stewart has since maintained a relationship with Miramax founders Harvey and Bob Weinstein and continues to appear in films they have produced including ''Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back'', ''Doogal'' and the documentary ''Wordplay''.

He also appeared in ''Half Baked'' as an "enhancement smoker" and in ''Big Daddy'' as Adam Sandler's roommate; he has joked on the ''Daily Show'' and in the documentary ''The Aristocrats'' that to get the role he slept with Sandler. Stewart often makes fun of his appearances in the high-profile flop ''Death to Smoochy'', in which he played a treacherous television executive, and the animated film ''Doogal'', where he played a blue spring named Zeebad that shot a freeze ray from his mustache. In 2007, Stewart made a cameo appearance as himself in ''Evan Almighty'', which starred former ''Daily Show'' correspondent Steve Carell. In the movie, Stewart was seen on a television screen in a fictional ''Daily Show'' episode poking fun at Carell's character for building an ark.

Stewart had a recurring role in ''The Larry Sanders Show'' in which he played himself as an occasional substitute and possible successor to late-night talk show host Larry Sanders (played by Garry Shandling). In 1998, Stewart hosted the television special, ''Elmopalooza'', celebrating 30 years of ''Sesame Street''. He has guest-starred on other sitcoms such as ''The Nanny'', ''Dr Katz, Professional Therapist'', ''Spin City'', ''NewsRadio'', ''American Dad'', and ''The Simpsons''. He has also made guest-appearances on the children's television series ''Between the Lions'', ''Sesame Street'' and ''Jack's Big Music Show''.

Producing

In the mid-1990s, Stewart launched his own production company, Busboy Productions. The name of the company is a reference to Stewart's previous job as a busboy. The company's production logo features the sound of a glass being knocked over followed by a voice whispering "Oops. Sorry." Stewart signed a deal with Miramax to develop projects through his company, but none of his ideas were ever produced. After Stewart's success as host and producer of ''The Daily Show'', he revived Busboy Productions with ''Daily Show'' producers Ben Karlin and Rich Korson. In 2002, Busboy planned to produce a sitcom for NBC starring Stephen Colbert, but the show did not come to fruition.

In 2005, Comedy Central reached an agreement with Busboy to finance the production company. Comedy Central has a first-look agreement on all projects, then Busboy is free to shop them to other networks. The deal spawned the ''Daily Show'' spin-off ''The Colbert Report''. Other projects include the sitcom pilot ''Three Strikes'', the documentary ''Sportsfan'', the series ''Important Things with Demetri Martin'', and the film ''The Donor''.

In March 2010, Stewart announced that he had optioned rights to the story of journalist Maziar Bahari, who was imprisoned in Iran for 118 days. On June 6th's episode of The Daily Show the following year, Stewart again hosted Bahari and confirmed that the two would be collaborating on the project.

Awards show hosting

Stewart has hosted the Grammy Awards twice, in 2001 and in 2002. In the middle of the 2001 broadcast, after laying a number of comedic duds, Stewart did what he encourages most public officials to do: he recognized his lackluster performance, saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, I just want to say I feel your scorn and accept it." When Stewart returned to host the next year, his comedy was more successful. Joking about the performance of the song "Lady Marmalade", he said, "Our next performance is from the movie ''Moulin Rouge!'', a film about a time when the whorehouses were about the music!" When the award winners for Album of the Year walked up on stage, many in number, Stewart quipped, "I don't know what you may have heard, but you were only supposed to go on stage if you worked on the ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' soundtrack, not if you heard it."

On January 5, 2006, Stewart was officially announced as the host of the 78th Academy Awards, which were held March 5 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Responding to press questions at the time of his selection, Stewart remarked: "As a performer, I'm truly honored to be hosting the show. Although, as an avid watcher of the Oscars, I can't help but be a little disappointed with the choice. It appears to be another sad attempt to smoke out Billy Crystal." (According to ''The New York Times'', Oscar producer Gil Cates knew Crystal was going to be performing ''700 Sundays'' during the time period and was not able to host.) On the Monday before the Oscars, Stewart told Larry King that he was more "excited" than nervous about the job and joked that if he turned out a failure, he could be "bumped down to public access". When asked what the opening would be, the comedian chastised himself by comparing a Stewart opening to a "Gene Rayburn homage". Instead, the opening segment, preceding Stewart's monologue, featured several recent hosts "declining" to host the show.

Critical response to Stewart's performance was mixed. Roger Ebert compared him favorably to legendary Oscar host Johnny Carson. Other reviewers were less positive; Tom Shales of ''The Washington Post'' said that Stewart hosted with “smug humorlessness.” James Poniewozik of ''Time'' said that Stewart was a bad host, but a great “anti-host” in that he poked fun at parts of the broadcast that deserved it, which lent him a degree of authenticity with the non-Hollywood audience. Stewart and correspondent John Oliver later poked fun at his lackluster reception on ''The Daily Show'''s coverage of the 79th Academy Awards by saying that the "demon of last year's Oscars had finally been exorcised."

Stewart also hosted the 80th Academy Awards on February 24, 2008. Reception this time, however, was far more positive.

Criticism of journalists

''Crossfire'' appearance

In a televised exchange with then-CNN personality Tucker Carlson on ''Crossfire'' on October 15, 2004, Stewart criticized the state of television journalism and pleaded with the show's hosts to "stop hurting America," and referred to both Carlson and co-host Paul Begala as "partisan hacks." When posted on the internet, this exchange became widely viewed and was a topic of much media discussion.

Despite being on the program to comment on current events, Stewart immediately shifted the discussion toward the show itself, asserting that ''Crossfire'' had failed in its responsibility to inform and educate viewers about politics as a serious topic. Stewart stated that the show engaged in partisan hackery instead of honest debate, and said that the hosts' assertion that ''Crossfire'' is a debate show is like "saying pro wrestling is a show about athletic competition." Carlson responded by saying that Stewart criticizes news organizations for not holding public officials accountable, but when he interviewed John Kerry, Stewart asked a series of "softball" questions (Stewart has acknowledged he voted for Kerry in the 2004 presidential election). Stewart responded that he didn't realize "the news organizations look to ''Comedy Central'' for their cues on integrity." When Carlson continued to press Stewart on the Kerry issue, Stewart said, "You're on CNN! The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls! What is wrong with you?" In response to prods from Carlson, "Come on. Be funny," Stewart said, "No, I'm not going to be your monkey." Later in the show when Carlson jibed, "I do think you're more fun on your show," Stewart retorted, "You're as big a dick on your show as you are on any show." In response to Stewart's criticisms, Carlson said, "You need to teach at a journalism school," to which Stewart responded, "You need to go to one!"

Stewart discussed the incident on ''The Daily Show'' the following Monday: }}

In January 2005, CNN announced that it was canceling ''Crossfire''. When asked about the cancellations, CNN/US' incoming president, Jonathan Klein, referenced Stewart's appearance on the show: "I think he made a good point about the noise level of these types of shows, which does nothing to illuminate the issues of the day." Soon after, Stewart quipped on ''The Daily Show'' that "I fought the law, and the law lost!"

When asked about his relationship with Tucker Carlson on CNN's ''Larry King Live'' in February 2008, Stewart said: "It became this idea that it was personal between the two of us, and it wasn't… If there's one thing I regret about that thing, it was probably the idea that it was personal, that there was something I was saying about Tucker to Tucker, but actually it was about the show."

On March 18, 2009, Carlson wrote a blog entry for ''The Daily Beast'' criticizing Stewart for his handling of the CNBC controversy (see below). In this article, Carlson discusses the CNN incident and claims Stewart remained backstage for at least "an hour" and "continued to lecture our staff", something Carlson described as "one of the weirdest things I have ever seen."

Criticism of CNBC

Stewart again became a viral internet phenomenon following a March 4, 2009, ''The Daily Show'' sequence. CNBC cancelled Rick Santelli's scheduled appearance but Stewart still ran a short segment showing CNBC giving bad investment advice.

Subsequent media coverage of exchanges between Jim Cramer, who had been featured heavily in the original segment, and Stewart, led to a highly anticipated face-to-face confrontation on ''The Daily Show''. The episode received a large amount of media hype and became the second most-viewed episode of ''The Daily Show'', trailing only the 2009 Inauguration Day episode. It had 2.3 million total viewers, and the next day, the show's website saw its highest day of traffic in 2009. Although Cramer acknowledged on the show that some of Stewart's criticisms of CNBC were valid and that the network could "do better," he later said on ''The Today Show'' that Stewart's criticism of the media was "naïve and misleading."

Criticism of Fox News

For years, Stewart has regularly accused Fox News of distorting the news to fit a conservative agenda, at one point ridiculing the network as "the meanest sorority in the world." In November 2009, Stewart called out Fox News for using some footage from a previous Tea Party rally during its report of a more recent one, making the later rally appear larger than it was. The show's anchor, Sean Hannity, apologized the following night. A month later, Stewart criticized ''Fox & Friends'' cohost Gretchen Carlson – a former Miss America and Stanford graduate – for claiming that she googled words such as "ignoramus" and "czar." Stewart said that Carlson was dumbing herself down for "an audience who sees intellect as an elitist flaw."

Stewart stepped up his criticism of Fox News in 2010; as of April 24, ''The Daily Show'' had 24 segments criticizing Fox News' coverage. Bill O'Reilly, host of ''The O'Reilly Factor'', countered that ''The Daily Show'' was a "key component of left-wing television" and that Stewart was a fan of Fox News because the network was so interesting to watch.

WGA strike of 2007–2008

Stewart was an important factor in the unionization of the writers for Comedy Central. ''The Daily Show'' writers were the first of Comedy Central's writers to be able to join the guild, after which other shows followed.

He supported the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, commenting on ''The Daily Show'' episode just before the strike in a sarcastic manner about how Comedy Central had made available all of the episodes for free on their website, but without advertising, and said 'go support our advertisers'. The show went on hiatus when the strike began, as did other late night talk shows. Upon Stewart's return to the show on January 7, 2008, he refused to use the title ''The Daily Show'', stating that "The Daily Show" was the show made with all of the people responsible for the broadcast, including his writers. During the strike, he referred to his show as ''A Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' until the strike ended on February 13, 2008. Stewart, as well as several other late night talk shows, returned to TV early in January even though the strike was not over, because their stage crews and production teams were suffering much more than the writers from the financial crunch, and by that point had been out of work for two months.

The Writers Guild Strike of 2007–2008 was also responsible for a notable mock feud between Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Conan O'Brien in early 2008. Without writers to help fuel their banter, the three comedians concocted a crossover/rivalry in order to garner more viewers during the ratings slump. Colbert made the claim that because of "the Colbert bump", he was responsible for Mike Huckabee's success in the 2008 presidential race. O'Brien claimed that he was responsible for Huckabee's success because not only had he made mention of him on his show, but also that he was responsible for Chuck Norris' success (Norris backed Huckabee). In response, Stewart claimed that he was responsible for the success of O'Brien, since Stewart had featured him on ''The Jon Stewart Show'', and in turn the success of Huckabee. This resulted in a three-part comedic battle between the three pundits, with all three appearing on each other's shows. The feud ended on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' with a mock brawl involving the three hosts.

Honors and awards

Stewart and the rest of the members of ''The Daily Show'' have received two Peabody Awards for "Indecision 2000" and "Indecision 2004", covering the 2000 presidential election and the 2004 presidential election, respectively.

Stewart's ''The Daily Show'' has received Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program Emmy Awards in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009. The show has also received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010.

Stewart won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album in 2005 for his recording, ''America (The Audiobook): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction''.

In the December 2003 New Years edition of ''Newsweek'', Stewart was named the "Who's Next?" person for the coming year of 2004, with the magazine predicting he would emerge as an absolute sensation in that year. (The magazine said they were right at the end of that year.)

''Entertainment Weekly'' named Stewart as its "Entertainer of the Year" for 2004.

In 2004, Stewart spoke at the commencement ceremonies at his alma mater, William and Mary, and received an honorary Doctor of Arts degree. Stewart was also the Class Day keynote speaker at Princeton University in 2004, and the 2008 Sacerdote Great Names speaker at Hamilton College.

Stewart was also named one of the ''2005 Time 100'', an annual list of 100 of the most influential people of the year by ''Time'' magazine.

In addition, Stewart and ''The Daily Show'' received the 2005 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language.

Stewart was presented an Honorary All-America Award by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) in 2006.

Asteroid 116939 Jonstewart, discovered April 15, 2004, is named in his honor.

On April 21, 2009, President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf made Stewart a chief.

On October 26, 2010, Stewart was named the Most Influential Man of 2010 by AskMen.com.

Personal life

In 2000, Stewart married Tracey McShane, his girlfriend of four years. The couple met on a blind date set up by a production assistant on Stewart's film, ''Wishful Thinking''. On June 19, 2001, Stewart and his wife filed a joint name change application and legally changed both of their surnames to "Stewart." He proposed to his future wife through a personalized crossword puzzle created with the help of Will Shortz, the crossword editor at ''The New York Times''. The couple had their first child, Nathan Thomas Stewart (named after Stewart's grandfather), in July 2004. Their second child, a daughter, Maggie Rose Stewart, was born in February 2006. They also have a cat named Stanley and two pit bull terriers, Monkey and Shamsky (named after former Major League Baseball player Art Shamsky).

In 2000, when he was labeled a Democrat, Stewart generally agreed but described his political affiliation as "more socialist or independent" than Democratic. While interviewing David Barton in 2011, he said to be a secular humanist.

Stewart is an avid fan of both the New York Giants and the New York Mets and occasionally brings this up on his show. He gave an impassioned rant to open his show on February 4, 2008, immediately after the Giants had defeated the Patriots in the Super Bowl, about the Giants victory, noting his satisfaction in having bragging rights over Patriot and Red Sox sports fans who worked with him and had tormented him for years. Additionally he has mentioned his fandom on his show during interviews with Tiki Barber and David Wright.

Filmography

! Year!!Title!!Role!!Notes
1994	''Mixed Nuts''	Rollerblader
1996	''The First Wives Club''	Elise's lover	Scenes deleted
	''Wishful Thinking''	Henry
''The Nanny''	Bob
''NewsRadio''	Andrew	Episode 18
Space Ghost Coast to Coast	Himself	Guest
	''Half Baked''	Enhancement Smoker
	Todd Zalinsky	TV film
''The Faculty''	Prof Edward Furlong
''Playing by Heart''	Trent
1999		Kevin Gerrity
	''The Office Party''	Pizza Guy	Short film
	Party Guest
2001	''Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back''	Reg Hartner
	''Death to Smoochy''	Marion Frank Stokes
''The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina''	Godfrey	Voice
		Zeebad	Voice
	Himself
''American Dad''	Himself
2007	''Evan Almighty''	Himself
	''The Simpsons''	Himself
''The Great Buck Howard''	Himself
2011	''The Adjustment Bureau''	Himself

Bibliography

''Naked Pictures of Famous People'' (Rob Weisbach Books, 1998) ISBN 0-688-17162-1

''America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction'' (Warner Books, September 2004) ISBN 0-446-53268-1

''Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race'' (Grand Central Publishing, 2010) ISBN 978-0-446-57922-3

References

External links

in 2010 in 2005 in 2004

Jon Stewart at WN

Collected news and commentary at ''The New York Times''

Category:1962 births Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from New Jersey Category:Actors from New York City Category:American film actors Category:American Jews Category:American media critics Category:American television talk show hosts Category:American political pundits Category:American satirists Category:American stand-up comedians Category:Criticism of journalism Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish comedians Category:Living people Category:Male comedians Category:Peabody Award winners Category:People from Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey Category:New York Democrats Category:William & Mary Tribe men's soccer players

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name	Bill Maher
birth name	William Maher, Jr.
birth date	January 20, 1956
birth place	New York, New York, U.S.
alma mater	Cornell University
medium	Stand-Up, Television, Film, Books
nationality	American
active	1979–present
genre	Satire, Political satire, News Satire, Observational comedy
subject	American politics, current events, American culture, pop culture, freedom of speech, environmentalism, religion, human sexuality, recreational drug use, libertarianism, American liberalism, American conservatism
influences	Steve Allen, George Carlin, Johnny Carson, David Frost, Robert Klein, Don Rickles, Gore Vidal, Lenny Bruce
notable work	Elliot on Charlie HooverHost of Politically Incorrect Host of Real Time with Bill Maher''Religulous''
website	BillMaher.com
footnotes	}}

William "Bill" Maher, Jr. (; born January 20, 1956) is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author and actor. Before his current role as the host of HBO's ''Real Time with Bill Maher'', Maher hosted a similar late-night talk show called ''Politically Incorrect'' originally on Comedy Central and later on ABC.

Maher is known for his political satire and sociopolitical commentary, which targets a wide swath of topics including: religion, politics, bureaucracies of many kinds, political correctness, the mass media, greed among people and persons in positions of high political and social power, and the lack of intellectual curiosity of the electorate. He supports the legalization of marijuana and same-sex marriage, and serves on the board of PETA. He is also a critic of religion and is an advisory board member of Project Reason, a foundation to promote scientific knowledge and secular values within society. In 2005, Maher ranked at number 38 on Comedy Central's 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time. Bill Maher received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star on September 14, 2010.

Early life and education

Maher was born in New York City, the son of Julie (née Berman), a nurse, and William Maher, Sr., a network news editor and radio announcer. He was raised in his Irish American father's Catholic religion, remaining unaware that his mother was Jewish until his early teenage years. Maher's family stopped attending church services when Maher was thirteen, due to his father's disagreement with the Catholic Church's position on birth control.

Maher was raised in River Vale, New Jersey, and graduated from Pascack Hills High School in Montvale in 1974. He received a B.A. in English and history from Cornell University in 1978.

Early career

Maher began his career as a stand-up comedian and actor. He was host of the New York City comedy club Catch a Rising Star in 1979. Thanks to Steve Allen, he began appearing on Johnny Carson's and David Letterman's shows in 1982. He made limited television appearances including a recurring role in ''Sara'' (1985), appeared in ''Max Headroom'' (1987), two separate appearances on ''Murder, She Wrote'' (1989, 1990), a recurring role in ''Charlie Hoover'' (1991) and other productions. He has also appeared in several films, usually in a comic role. His feature film debut was in ''D.C. Cab'' (1983), and he also appeared in ''Ratboy'' (1986) ''Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death'' (1988) and ''Pizza Man'' (1991), among others.

Television career

''Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher''

Maher assumed the host role ''Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher'', a late-night political talk show that ran on Comedy Central from 1993 to 1997 and on ABC from 1997 to 2002. The show regularly began with a topical monologue by Maher preceding the introduction of four guests, usually a diverse group of individuals from show business, popular culture, political pundits, political consultants, authors, and occasionally news figures. The group would discuss topical issues selected by Maher, who also participated in the discussions. Jerry Seinfeld, a regular guest on the show, stated that ''Politically Incorrect'' reminded him of talk shows from the 1950s and 60s "when guests interacted with each other as much as with the host."

''Politically Incorrect'' won an array of awards, including an Emmy Award for Outstanding Technical Direction, two CableACE awards for Best Talk Show Series, and a Genesis Award for Best Television Talk Show. Maher earned numerous award nominations for his producing, writing and hosting of ''Politically Incorrect'', including ten Emmy nominations, two TV Guide nominations, and two Writers Guild nominations. ABC decided against renewing Maher's contract for ''Politically Incorrect'' in 2002, after he made a controversial on-air remark shortly after the September 11 attacks. He agreed with his guest, conservative pundit Dinesh D'Souza, that the 9/11 terrorists did not act in a cowardly manner (in rebuttal to President Bush's statement calling 9/11 hijackers cowards). Maher said, "We have been the cowards. Lobbing cruise missiles from two thousand miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building. Say what you want about it. Not cowardly. You're right." Maher later clarified that his comment was not anti-military in any way whatsoever, referencing his well-documented longstanding support for the American military.

In the context of the attacks, some corporate advertisers found the comment too insensitive and controversial. Several companies, including FedEx and Sears Roebuck, pulled their advertisements from the show, costing the show more than it returned.

The show was cancelled on June 16, 2002, and the Sinclair Broadcast Group had dropped the show from its ABC-affiliated stations months prior. On June 22, 2002, just six days after the cancellation of ''Politically Incorrect'', Maher received the Los Angeles Press Club president's award (for "championing free speech"). Maher was on the board of judges one year for the PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award.

Maher's remarks after 9/11 were not the first time he had sparked controversy on ''Politically Incorrect''. In the same year, Maher was widely criticized for comparing dogs to retarded children. He apologized for his comments.

''Real Time with Bill Maher''

In 2003, Maher became the host, co-producer and co-writer of ''Real Time with Bill Maher'', a weekly hour-long political comedy talk show on the cable television network HBO. During an interview, Maher told Terry Gross (on NPR's ''Fresh Air'') that he much prefers having serious and well-informed guests on his program, as opposed to the random celebrities that fleshed out his roundtable discussions on ''Politically Incorrect''.

As with his previous show, ''Politically Incorrect'', Maher begins ''Real Time'' with a comic opening monologue based upon current events and other topical issues. He proceeds to a one-on-one interview with a guest, either in-studio or via satellite. Following the interview, Maher sits with three panelists, usually consisting of pundits, authors, activists and journalists, for a discussion of the week's events. In the segment "New Rules" at the end of each show, Maher delivers a humorous editorial on popular culture and American politics.

In late May 2005, Alabama Congressman Spencer Bachus sent a letter to Time Warner's board of directors requesting ''Real Time'' be cancelled after remarks Maher made after noting the military had missed its recruiting goals by 42 percent. Bachus said he felt the comments were demeaning to the military and treasonous. Maher stated his highest regard and support for the troops and asked why the congressman criticized him instead of doing something about the recruitment problem.

''Real Time'' has earned widespread praise. It has been nominated for more than ten Primetime Emmy Awards and six Writer's Guild awards. In 2007, Maher and his co-producers were awarded the Television Producer of the Year Award in Variety Television.

In early 2006, ''Real Time'' was released as an audio CD, along with another CD entitled ''Bill Maher's New Rules'' which features clips, segments and teasers from Real Time. Starting with Episode 67 (2-23-06), ''Real Time'' became available in the USA on iTunes as a free weekly audio podcast.

Maher holds the record for the most Emmy nominations without a win, having been nominated on 22 occasions and not winning once. Eleven of the nominations were for ''Politically Incorrect'', while nine were for ''Real Time.'' The other two were nominations for two of his HBO comedy specials: ''Bill Maher: I'm Swiss'' and ''Bill Maher: The Decider.''

HBO announced in July 2011 the show was renewed for a tenth season.

Christine O'Donnell

On September 17, 2010, Maher aired a clip of Delaware Republican Senatorial candidate Christine O'Donnell from the October 29, 1999 episode of his old show ''Politically Incorrect'' on his current show ''Real Time with Bill Maher'', where she discussed that she had "dabbled in witchcraft." This was one of the most notable of numerous controversial statements by O'Donnell that made her the most covered candidate in the 2010 mid-term election cycle.

Political commentator

Maher is a frequent commentator on various cable news networks, namely CNN, MSNBC, and HLN. Maher has regularly appeared on CNN's ''The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer'' and has also been a frequent guest on MSNBC's ''Hardball with Chris Matthews'', ''The Rachel Maddow Show'' and ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann''. Maher has also appeared as a guest on HLN's ''The Joy Behar Show''.

Maher hosted the January 13, 2006 edition of ''Larry King Live'', on which he was a frequent guest. Maher appeared as a special guest on the June 29, 2010 edition of the show, on which CNN anchor Larry King announced his retirement. Maher co-emceed the final show of ''Larry King Live'' on December 16, 2010 with Ryan Seacrest.

Since May 2005, he has been a contributing blogger at ''The Huffington Post''.

Views and beliefs

Politics

Maher eschews political labels, referring to himself as "practical". In the past, he has described himself as a libertarian and has also referred to himself "as a progressive, as a sane person".

Maher favors a partial privatization of Social Security, ending corporate welfare and federal funding of non-profits, and legalization of gambling, prostitution, and marijuana. Maher is a member of NORML's Advisory Board, an organization which supports regulated legalization of marijuana. He describes himself as an environmentalist, and he has spoken in favor of the Kyoto treaty on global warming on his show ''Real Time''. He often criticizes industry figures involved in environmental pollution.

Maher is a board member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. He has expressed his distaste for the pharmaceutical and health care industries in general, on the grounds that they make their money out of curing people who are made sick by consuming unhealthy food that corporations urge upon the public. He maintains that mass consumption of high-fructose corn syrup is a contributor to the rise in frequency of obesity in the United States. :" If you believe you need to take all the pills the pharmaceutical industry says you do, then you're already on drugs!"

Before the 2004 U.S. presidential election, Maher became candid in his stated opposition to the re-election of George W. Bush and in his support for John Kerry.

Known for protesting against the demonization of the word "liberal", during the campaign Maher criticized Kerry for being ashamed of the word. On his show, the comedian has noted the paradox of people claiming they distrusted "elite" politicians while at the same time wanting elite doctors to treat them and elite lawyers to represent them in court. Maher supports the death penalty, the legality of abortion and euthanasia. Since the 9/11 attacks, he has endorsed the use of racial profiling at airports.

He was originally against the Iraq War, and has summarized his opinion by saying that the United States and the world have had to pay too high a price for the war. He is skeptical of Iraq surviving without civil war.

In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Maher announced his support for Barack Obama. Although Maher welcomed Obama's electoral victory, he has subjected him to criticism once in office for not acting boldly on health care reform and other progressive issues.

Religion

Maher is highly critical of religion, and views it as not worth the bother. He has referred to himself as an apatheist, instead of an agnostic or atheist, on ''Scarborough Country'' on April 24, 2007, and again in July 2011. He has reiterated this stance in subsequent interviews, rejecting both the certitude of the existence, as well as the certitude of nonexistence of deities, concluding, "I'm saying that doubt is the only appropriate response for human beings." He is an advisory board member of author Sam Harris's The Reason Project, a foundation that promotes scientific knowledge and secular values within society.

Maher and director Larry Charles teamed up to make the feature film ''Religulous'' (2008), described by trade publication ''Variety'' as a documentary "that spoofs religious extremism across the world." It was released on October 3, 2008.

While Maher is critical towards Christianity, he is an outspoken critic of religion as a whole, including Islam. On October 29, 2010, during a Real Time segment, Maher commented on a news story saying that the name Mohammed had become the most popular baby name in the United Kingdom. He asked, "Am I a racist to feel alarmed by that? Because I am. And it’s not because of the race, it’s because of the religion. I don’t have to apologize, do I, for not wanting the Western world to be taken over by Islam in 300 years? Sharia law is being institutionalized in England? Well, then I am right, I should be alarmed." He later defended his comments on CNN, saying, "And when I say Westerner, I mean someone who believes in the values that Western people believe in that a lot of the Muslim world does not. Like separation of church and state. Like equality of the sexes. Like respect for minorities, free elections, free speech, freedom to gather. These things are not just different from cultures that don’t have them. … It’s better. … I would like to keep those values here."

Maher received the Richard Dawkins Award for 2009 from Atheist Alliance International "for his efforts to further the values science and reason in the world."

Maher was ranked first by MormonVoices, a group associated with Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research, on its Top Ten Anti-Mormon Statements of 2011 list for saying "By any standard, Mormonism is more ridiculous than any other religion".

Health care

Maher has stated that the AMA is a powerful lobbying group and one of the primary reasons why the United States had failed to enact health care reform.

On August 24, 2009, Maher was a guest on ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' and on the topic of getting universal health care legislation passed, Maher stated that Obama should forget about trying to get 60 votes for it, "he only needs 51." "Forget getting the sixty votes or sixty percent — sixty percent of people don't believe in evolution in this country — he just needs to drag them to it, like I said, they're stupid; get health care done, with or without them."

Maher has expressed the view that most illness is generally the result of poor diet and lack of exercise, and that medicine is often not the best way of addressing illness. In an episode of his show about the 2008 presidential candidates' health plans, Maher stated that poor nutrition is a primary cause of illness, and that "the answer isn't another pill."

In a discussion with Michael Moore about the film ''Sicko'', Maher asks, "The human body is pretty amazing; it doesn't get sick, usually, for no reason. I mean, there's some genetic stuff that can get to you, but, basically, people are sick in this country because they're poisoned. The environment is a poisoning factor, but also, we gotta say, they poison themselves. They eat shit. People eat shit, and that's, to my way of thinking, about 90 percent of why people are sick, is because they eat shit. Would you agree?"

On October 9, 2009, on his HBO show, Maher debated the effectiveness of flu vaccinations with Bill Frist and stated, "Why would you let them be the ones to stick a disease into your arm? I would never get a swine flu vaccine or any vaccine. I don’t trust the government, especially with my health." Maher also expressed skepticism about the seriousness of the swine flu and whether completely healthy people could die from it. His comments have generated criticism, and his remarks have been called unscientific and even harmful.

Maher responded to the criticism, noting, "What I've read about what they think I'm saying is not what I've said. I'm not a germ theory denier. I believe vaccinations can work. Polio is a good example. Do I think in certain situations that inoculating Third World children against malaria or diphtheria, or whatever, is right? Of course. In a situation like that, the benefits outweigh costs. But to me living in Los Angeles? To get a flu shot? No." (see Vaccine controversy)

Criticism of 9/11 conspiracy theories

Maher has been a critic of 9/11 conspiracy theories. On October 19, 2007, Maher confronted several 9/11 truthers and had them ejected from his show audience after they interrupted the live show numerous times by calling out from the audience. The incident drew significant media attention and praise from Fox News talk show host and frequent critic John Gibson.

Personal life

Maher has never married. In 2003, he began dating former Playboy Cyber Girl Coco Johnsen. In November 2004, at the end of their 17-month relationship, she sued him for USD $9 million for "pain and suffering" for alleged "insulting, humiliating and degrading racial comments." Her suit stated that Maher promised to marry her and father her children, support her financially, and purchase a Beverly Hills home. Her suit also alleged that she quit her job as a flight attendant and occasional model to be with him. Maher's lawyers in their response filed on November 23, 2004, in Los Angeles Superior Court said Maher is a "confirmed bachelor, and a very public one at that" who "never promised to marry [Johnsen] or to have children with her."

Maher's filing stated that "When the dating ended, [Johnson] (sic) launched a campaign to embarrass, humiliate, and extort ridiculous sums of money from Bill Maher." Johnsen accused another former boyfriend of rape and kidnapping in 1997, and the charges were later dismissed for lack of evidence. Her lawsuit against Maher was dismissed on May 2, 2005.

Maher enjoys his bachelor status and states that he does not want to get married. On his website, he is quoted as saying, "I'm the last of my guy friends to have never gotten married, and their wives — they don't want them playing with me. I'm like the escaped slave — I bring news of freedom."

In 2005, he began dating Karrine Steffans, best-selling author and former hip hop model. When commentators suggested there was a pattern to his dating because both his girlfriend and former girlfriend were black, Maher said, "People say I'm into black women. Robert De Niro is into black women. I'm just into women who are real, and they happen to be black."

Credits

Bibliography

''True Story : A Novel'', 1994 (ISBN 0-7432-4251-3)

''Does Anybody Have a Problem With That? Politically Incorrect's Greatest Hits'', 1996 (ISBN 0-679-45627-9)

''Does Anybody Have a Problem with That? The Best of Politically Incorrect'', 1997 (ISBN 0-345-41281-8)

''When You Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Laden: What the Government Should Be Telling Us to Help Fight the War on Terrorism'', 2003 (ISBN 1-893224-90-2)

''Keep the Statue of Liberty Closed: The New Rules'', 2004 (ISBN 1-932407-47-2)

''New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer'', 2005 (ISBN 1-59486-295-8)

''The New New Rules: A Funny Look at How Everybody but Me Has Their Head Up Their Ass'', 2011 (ISBN 0-39915-841-3)

Filmography

Film
! Year	! Title	! Role
1983	''D.C. Cab''	Bob
	''Rags to Riches''	Freddie
''Club Med''	Rick
''Ratboy''	Party Guest
1987	''House II: The Second Story''	John
1988		Maxwell Taylor
1989	''Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death''	Jim
1991	''Pizza Man''	Elmo Bunn
1996	''Don't Quit Your Day Job!''	Comic's Table
1997	''Bimbo Movie Bash''	Unknown
1998	''EDtv''	Himself
2001	''Tomcats (film)''	Carlos
2005		Himself
		Himself
''Religulous''	Himself
2009	''New Rules: Best of''	Himself
2010	''Sex, Drugs & Religion (2010)''	Himself
HBO Specials
! Year	! Title	! Role
1989	''One Night Stand''	Himself
1992	''One Night Stand''	Himself
1995	''Stuff that Struck Me Funny''	Himself
1997	''The Golden Goose Special''	Himself
2000		Himself
2003	''Victory Begins at Home''	Himself
2005	''I'm Swiss''	Himself
2007		Himself
2010		Himself
Television
! Year	! Title	! Role
1985		Marty Lang
		Unknown
	Haskel
1989–90	''Murder, She Wrote''	(2 episodes)
1990	''The Midnight Hour''	Host
1991	''Charlie Hoover''	Elliot
1992	''Say What?''	Host
	''Married... with Children''	Adam Gold
''Roseanne''	Photographer
1997	''Dharma & Greg''	Himself
1993–2002	''Politically Incorrect''	Host
2002	''Just for Laughs''	Himself
2003–present	''Real Time with Bill Maher''	Host
2008	''True Blood''	Himself
2010		Himself
2010	''Family Guy''	Himself

References

External links

in 2004

HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" site

2006 Maher Interview with ''The A.V. Club''

2009 Maher Interview with writers at the ''Religulous'' DVD release

Category:1956 births Category:Writers from New York Category:Actors from New Jersey Category:Writers from New Jersey Category:American people of Jewish descent Category:American agnostics Category:American cannabis activists Category:American film actors Category:American libertarians Category:American satirists Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television actors Category:American television talk show hosts Category:Cornell University alumni Category:American comedians of Irish descent Category:American writers of Irish descent Category:Living people Category:People from Beverly Hills, California Category:People from River Vale, New Jersey Category:Religious skeptics Category:Former Roman Catholics Category:Actors from New York City Category:Drug policy reform activists Category:Animal rights advocates

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