Radio disc jockey and television talk-show host, born in New York City, USA. He studied at Boston University, where he became involved with college radio, then took various deejay jobs, eventually basing himself in New York City (from 1982). He has built a reputation as a shock jock, developing a flamboyant style and explicit programme content, in various Howard Stern shows on radio and television during the 1990s, which has brought him fines and controversy as well as a huge public audience. His best-selling book Private Parts (1993) was later issued as a recording and filmed (both 1997).
Howard Stern|
|
|
| Born: |
January 12, 1954 (age 52) Roosevelt, New York |
|---|---|
| Occupation: | Radio Talk Show Host |
| Website: | www.howardstern.com |
Howard Stern currently hosts The Howard Stern Show varying between four days a week (Monday-Thursday) and five days a week (Monday-Friday) on Howard 100, a Sirius Satellite Radio station. Which is a replay of old Howard Stern shows from years past. Stern has said that the show was never about shocking people, but primarily intended to offer his honest opinions on a gamut of issues (ranging from world affairs to problems among his own staff).
He is best known for his national radio show, which for many years was syndicated on FM radio stations (and a few AM stations) throughout the United States until his last terrestrial radio broadcast on December 16, 2005.
In addition to radio, Stern has ventured into publishing, television, feature films, and music. Stern's television endeavors include a variety show on New York City's WWOR-TV, a nightly E! show documenting his radio broadcasts, a similar CBS program that competed with Saturday Night Live for a time, "Howard On-Demand" for digital cable subscribers in various markets, and Son of the Beach, a comedic parody of Baywatch for FX which Stern executive produced.
Early life
Howard Stern was born into a Jewish American family in Roosevelt, Long Island, New York. Although both his parents are Jewish, Stern has long claimed on his show to be "a half-Jew" and "half-Italian". This claim is most likely a comedy bit, as Stern sometimes utters Yiddish phrases on the air which he claims to be Italian phrases. his paternal grandparents, Froim and Anna (Gallar) Stern and maternal grandparents, Sol and Esther (Reich) Schiffman, were Austro-Hungarian Jews who immigrated to America at about the same time.
Stern often said that his parents verbally "abused" him as a child, which was corroborated during a 1990 broadcast when he played old family recordings, many of which have become his soundbites, including paternal gems such as "I told you not to be stupid, you moron" and "Shut up! These old recordings were later used in a parody commercial for the "Ben Stern School of Broadcasting", which specialized in graduating self-loathing and emotionally disturbed workaholic media leaders.
Stern attended Roosevelt Junior High School, where he was supposedly one of the few white students in a predominantly African American school. During a 1992 special, Howard Stern's former gym teacher ('Mr. Chestnut') mentioned that the school's student body was 60% black, revealing Stern's claims to be an exaggeration. When Stern's family moved in 1969, he transferred to South Side High School, where he graduated in 1972 .
On June 4, 1978, Stern married college sweetheart Alison Berns at Temple Ohabei Shalom in Brookline, Massachusetts. A hallmark of Stern's humor was his claiming to be tempted by the strippers, porn stars and lesbians who appeared on his show, but always insisted that he had to be faithful to his wife. In 1978, Stern landed his first morning show job in Hartford, Connecticut at WCCC-FM and WCCC-AM, whose progressive rock format promoted Howard's development as a "free-form" personality. Stern moved to FM radio station WWWW (aka W4) in Detroit, Michigan, and further developed his show until the station adopted a country music format, and then went to DC101 in Washington, D.C. Also working at NBC was David Letterman, who became a fan of Stern's radio show. Stern's guest appearance on Late Night with David Letterman on June 19, 1984, launched Stern into the national spotlight and gave his radio show unprecedented exposure. Stern would appear on Letterman's show many times thereafter.
Stern and his crew were fired from NBC in 1985, ostensibly in response to a particularly outrageous sketch — "Bestiality Dial-A-Date" — although relations between station management and Stern had been strained from the beginning. The program made great sport of feuding with other cities' top-rated DJs, and soon Stern's broadcast was #1 in important markets, including Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
In 1994, Stern embarked on a political campaign for Governor of New York, formally announcing his candidacy under the Libertarian Party ticket.
It received mostly positive reviews from critics, most notably from Siskel and Ebert, who were frequent guests of Stern's radio show.
For his performance, Stern won the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Male Newcomer. Stern was nominated for a Golden Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture (Comedy).
In October 1999, Stern announced that his wife Alison was divorcing him, because he was a workaholic. Stern soon started a period of single living in Manhattan, during which time he dated dozens of women including Angie Everhart and Robin Givens. Ostrosky is reportedly happy with the current four-day work week Stern frequently schedules.
Satellite radio career
On October 6, 2004, Stern announced on his show that he signed a five-year deal with the satellite radio service Sirius. Other media sources have claimed that Stern got an additional $225 million one-time stock bonus for meeting subscriber quotas, which he did meet in January 2006.
The deal, which took effect on January 1, 2006, enabled Stern to broadcast his show without the content restrictions imposed by the FCC. Moreover, the deal also enabled Stern to program an additional Sirius channel.
On February 28, 2006, CBS Radio announced it had filed a lawsuit against Stern, Stern's agent Don Buchwald and Sirius Satellite Radio, saying Stern used CBS's airwaves to unfairly promote the satellite service and enrich himself. The lawsuit also claims that Stern "repeatedly and willfully" breached his contract with CBS, "misappropriated millions of dollars worth of … airtime" for his own benefit, and "fraudulently concealed" his performance-related interests in Sirius stock. Not to be outdone, Stern earlier in the day (prior to CBS's announcement) held a press conference at which he mentioned that CBS added to the media attention, booking him for appearances on Late Show with David Letterman and its news magazine show 60 Minutes.
Leslie Moonves appeared on one of Stern's final shows to compliment him on his move to Sirius and thank him for the record advertising revenue the network sold. Moonves told Stern that he bought Sirius stock. Stern said the network had the option to "push the button" on his program, taking him off the air, if they did not agree with what he was presenting to the public.
On May 11, 2006, CBS said it was near settling the lawsuit with Stern.
As a result of the CBS lawsuit settlement, Stern announced on June 7, 2006, that Sirius gained exclusive rights to his entire back catalogue of radio shows from his days at CBS (about 23,000 hours). Sirius has the rights to the tapes until the end of Stern's current contract with Sirius, and then all ownership rights will return to Stern. Tom Sneider Howard Stern Commercial : Beaver Shave Howard Stern Commercial : Monkey Spank Howard Stern Commercial : Clams Howard Stern interview, 1991 Howard Stern on NBC Dateline
User Comments Add a comment…