Background

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

Education

A valedictorian at Brookline High School, O'Brien began his career as a writer for his school's newspaper, and after enrolling at Harvard University in 1981, where he studied history and literature, he became a staff writer for the college's celebrated humor magazine, The Harvard Lampoon. O'Brien wrote for the magazine for four consecutive years and was elected president of the Lampoon twice. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard in 1985 with a Bachelor of Arts in American History.

Career

After graduation, O'Brien moved to Los Angeles and began writing for Not Necessarily the News, a series on cable station HBO. He also performed with an improv group, The Groundlings.

From 1988 to 1991, O'Brien wrote for the hit comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live; the writing staff of the show won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in 1989.

O'Brien joined The Simpsons as a writer, then supervising producer, for their 1992-'93 season. Of the episodes he wrote, he has said that his favorite is "Springfield Gets a Monorail."

When late-night staple Johnny Carson announced he would retire in 1992, both Jay Leno, who had been the permanent guest host and David Letterman, whose own late-night show followed Carson's, were considered as his successor. NBC chose Leno over Letterman, and Letterman left the network for CBS, where his new late-night show would go head-to-head with Leno.

Countless personalities and comedians applied and auditioned for the coveted spot after The Tonight Show, and it was somewhat surprising when the unknown Conan O'Brien was introduced as the new host of Late Night. Tall, with no previous experience in front of the camera, NBC’s choice was questioned, critiqued, and ridiculed by some.

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

During his time as Late Night host, O'Brien pushed the envelope with his quirky, comedic stunts. In 2006, he inadvertently invented a cult following after making a joke about an amorous manatee Web site. Two years later, during the Writers Guild of America strike, Conan created his own series of material to fill the gap. His performances included a staged dispute with comedian Jon Stewart of The Daily Show and a stunt in which O'Brien ziplined through his audience to his anchor desk.

O'Brien replaced Leno on the Tonight Show after Leno's contract expired in 2009. Comedian Jimmy Fallon was chosen as O'Brien's replacement on Late Night, and O'Brien moved to Tonight Show's headquarters in California. A few months before O'Brien took the reins, Leno renegotiated his contract with NBC, moving to a prime-time slot just before O'Brien's show. When Leno's program produced poor ratings, the network attempted to shift the programming schedule.

O'Brien, who had only been on the show for seven months, refused to make the switch. "It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule," he told his audience. O'Brien officially ended his contract with NBC in 2010 and moved his late-night show, Conan, to the cable television network, TBS.

O'Brien also appeared in the TV shows The Single Guy (1996), Space Ghost Coast to Coast (1999), DAG (2000), The Office (2006), Web Therapy (2012), and Maron (2014). He made appearances in films such as Vanilla Sky (2001), Pittsburgh (2006), and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013).

O'Brien lent his voice to films such as Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 2 and The Lego Batman Movie (2017).

His latest movie appearance was for the 2017 movie Sandy Wexler, in which he played himself. He is currently the executive producer of the TV show People of Earth (2016).

A documentary named Conan O'Brien Can't Stop, based on his life, was released in 2011.

Achievements

• Conan O’Brien is best known for hosting the talk show Late Night with Conan O'Brien from 1993 to 2009. The Harvard graduate started his career as a writer for the HBO sketch-comedy series Not Necessarily the News in 1983. He then got an opportunity to write the episodes of Saturday Night Live, for which he and his fellow writers won an Emmy in 1989. He also wrote for the animated sitcom The Simpsons and became a supervising producer of the series later. It was around this time that he got a chance to host a show for NBC after David Letterman moved to host for another network. Conan soon started hosting Late Night with Conan O'Brien. The show ended in 2009, with Conan thanking a lot of people who helped him with his career. Conan has appeared in a number of TV shows too, such as Spin City (1998), Robot Chicken (2005-2008), and Nashville (2013). He has also been part of films such as Bewitched (2005), Thunderstruck (2012), and Now You See Me (2013). In 2015, O'Brien became the longest-working of all current late-night talk-show hosts in the United States.

Works

More photos

• movie

  • Conan O'Brien Can't Stop

    (After a much-publicized departure from hosting NBC's "Ton...)

    2011
  • Conan O'Brien: The Art of Comedy

    (Conan O'Brien discusses the art of comedy with Pulitzer P...)

    2012

Religion

O'Brien was raised in an Irish Catholic household and has often affirmed his Catholic identity. He is a Roman Catholic and has mentioned that his lineage is 100% Irish Catholic.

Personality

Conan O'Brien is described by fans as a funny, entertaining, quick-witted, intelligent, and likeable person.

Physical Characteristics: Conan O'Brien is tall (6-feet 4-inches) and a bit gangly.

Interests

• Travel, adventure, variety, meeting new people

Connections

O'Brien met Liza Powell, an advertising executive, in 2000 when she appeared in a skit on Late Night. The two began dating, and a year later announced their engagement. The couple married on January 12, 2002, in Seattle, Washington. O'Brien and Powell have two children together, Neve and Beckett.

Father:

Thomas O'Brien

Mother:

Ruth Reardon O'Brien

Spouse:

Liza Powell

(married 2002)

Daughter:

Neve O'Brien

Son:

Beckett O'Brien

Sister:

Jane O'Brien

Sister:

Kate O'Brien

Brother:

Luke O'Brien

Brother:

Neal O'Brien

Brother:

Justin O'Brien

colleague:

Jon Stewart

References

• Conan O'Brien on Instagram