Actors - Howard Stern

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	Actors - Howard Stern

Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and TV personality, humorist and author. Stern currently hosts The Howard Stern Show four or five days (Monday - Thursday/ Monday - Friday) a week on Sirius Satellite Radio.

The "King of All Media" (the title was a joking reference to Michael Jackson's appellation "The King of Pop") has been dubbed a shock jock for his highly controversial use of scatological, sexual and racial humor, and exploitation of his guests. Stern and many of his fans hate the term "Shock Jock." He has said himself, "The show was never about shocking people." Some of his commentaries are perceived by many to include bigoted, misanthropic and misogynistic remarks about various religious and ethnic groups, women and men - though one of his trademarks is that he makes fun of everyone equally, even himself. He is both the highest-paid radio personality in the United States and the most fined personality in radio broadcast history.

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 broadcast via terrestrial radio on December 16, 2005. After a brief hiatus, he began broadcasting via the subscription-based Sirius satellite radio service on January 9, 2006.

His national television shows include The Howard Stern Show on WWOR-TV, which ran in the early 1990s; Howard Stern, consisting of segments from his radio show, which ran from 1994 to 2005 on E!; and The Howard Stern Radio Show, which ran from 1998 to 2001 in syndication. The Howard Stern Show was a weekly skit-driven show that was produced in the Secaucus, N.J. studios of WWOR-TV and shown in selected markets. The other shows were produced from video footage of his live radio broadcast.

Since November 18, 2005, Howard Stern on Demand has been available on television through the iN DEMAND video on demand pay service that various cable TV systems offer. Currently, this includes uncensored versions of shows which previously aired on E!; video from his Sirius show will be available starting in April 2006. OnDemand also includes movies (Ex. Supertwink), skits, bits, wack packer videos, behind-the-scenes videos and anything else related to the show.

Early life and career

Howard Stern was born into a Jewish family in Roosevelt, Long Island, New York. His father, Ben, owned a recording studio in Manhattan, and Howard developed an interest in broadcasting as a child when he would accompany his father to work. Although both his parents are Jewish, Stern has long claimed on his show to be "a half-Jew". His Hebrew name is Tzvi; his paternal grandparents, Froim and Anna (Gallar) Stern, and maternal grandparents, Sol and Esther (Reich) Schiffman, were Jews from Austria-Hungary who emigrated to America at about the same time.

Stern often joked that his parents "abused" him as a child, and presumptions of verbal abuse were confirmed when Stern played old family recordings during a 1990 broadcast. Many pieces of those old recordings have become soundbites, with such paternal gems as, "I told you not to be stupid, you moron" and "Shut up! Sit down!" being screamed at a young (under 10-year-old) Howard. 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 said his mother ran her house with "the intensity of Hitler" and that his father often called him a moron. However, he also has stated this was just part of his gimmick and that his parents were warm, loving and supportive.

Stern attended Roosevelt Junior High School, where he was one of the few white students in a predominantly African American school, until 1969. Stern's family then moved, and he attended South Side High School, where he graduated in 1972 . In 1976 he received his Bachelor's degree in communications from Boston University, where he had worked as a volunteer at the campus radio station.

After graduation, he worked as a disc jockey for an obscure station in Westchester County, New York playing rock music. He discovered a talent for Lenny Bruce-type comedy, and developed a wide-ranging confrontational style. In 1978, Stern landed his first morning show job in Hartford, Connecticut at WCCC-FM and WCCC-AM. The radio stations with a progressive rock format lend itself nicely to developing Howard's "free-form" personality. It was at the Hartford radio station where Howard also met his future show writer and producer, Fred Norris, who was working as an overnight deejay as well. He migrated to FM radio stations in Detroit (WWWW known as W4) and Washington, D.C. (putting in a year at DC101 and making it the #1 station in town in the process), and returned to New York in 1982 to work at NBC's flagship AM radio station WNBC-AM. 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.

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Actors - Howard Stern

Early life and career

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