- Is deaf in his right ear.
- His father and two of his brothers died in a plane crash when he was ten years old. On September 11, 1974, they were on an Eastern Airlines DC-9 that crashed in dense fog during its approach to Charlotte, NC. Of the 82 people on board, 72 were killed. In its report, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that "the probable cause of the accident was the flight crew's lack of altitude awareness at critical points during the approach due to poor cockpit discipline in that the crew did not follow prescribed procedures".
- As a result of the plane crash that killed his father and two of his brothers, the Federal Aviation Administration established the "sterile cockpit" rule, which prohibits flight crews from engaging in any conversation or activities apart from their flying duties while the aircraft is below 10,000 feet.
- Is a huge "Lord of the Rings" fan and has an encyclopedic knowledge of the series. Specifically recited the entire biography of LOTR character Aragorn from memory when Viggo Mortensen appeared on The Daily Show (1996). Mortensen sent him a platter full of LOTR characters carved out of chocolate.
- As a result of an operation he had when he was young, he can fold his right ear inside out and can pop it out when he squints his eye.
- Teaches Sunday School every weekend at his church and teaches his own specific story of salvation and has the children learn spiritual songs.
- The youngest of 11 children, Stephen served as an altar boy for 11 years.
- In January 2008 he began a campaign on his show to have a portrait of his character hung in the "Treasures of American History" exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in Washington, DC (pieces shown in that exhibit included a top hat worn by' Abraham Lincoln, an original light bulb made by Thomas A. Edison, a Greensboro (NC) lunch counter that was the scene of a seminal civil rights sit-in, Lewis and Clark's compass, and Kermit the Frog). When the National Museum of American History refused the portrait, Colbert next offered it to the National Portrait Gallery (also a Smithsonian museum), which accepted it on a temporary basis and hung it between the bathrooms adjacent to the Hall of Presidents. After the portrait's term at the National Portrait Gallery was up, the National Museum of American History did agree to hang the portrait--next to a Dumbo car from the original Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride at Disneyland.
- Provided the voice of Ace for Saturday Night Live (1975)'s "The Ambiguously Gay Duo" segments. The voice of Gary is provided by fellow The Daily Show (1996) correspondent Steve Carell.
- While still a struggling actress, Jennifer Garner once babysat for Stephen and wife Evelyn's baby girl after they'd become acquainted playing cameo roles on The Competition (1996).
- "Truthiness," a word he coined, was declared the Word of the Year 2005 by the American Dialect Society.
- Father, with wife Evelyn McGee, of three children: daughter Madeline Colbert, and sons Peter Colbert and John Colbert.
- His surname is actually pronounced how it looks, "col burt", but he has preferred "cole-bear" since college since his family is part French and it sounds more sophisticated to his family.
- A new George Mason University study found that he had made 337 jokes about President Trump's first 100 days in office.[May 2017].
- Has stated that not all of his family members say "Colbert" the way he does. Some pronounce the latter syllable as "Burt".
- Often sings and dances in television performances. He has said in interviews that he studied voice and ballet in college.
- All of his three children have appeared on The Daily Show (1996).
- He was briefly a correspondent on Good Morning America (1975).
- Worked alongside Louis C.K., Charlie Kaufman and Robert Smigel on the writing staff of The Dana Carvey Show (1996).
- Was named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People.[2006].
- In the 1980s he attended Chicago's Northwestern University's theater & speech class with friend David Schwimmer.
- He and Ted Danson are distant relatives, as revealed on the PBS series, Puritans and Pioneers (2017).
- Was included in the Peabody Award given to Indecision 2002: Election Night (2002) for "offering biting political satire, these scintillating segments had something droll and amusing to say about almost everything and everyone associated with American politics and the presidential election".
- Received the final call back audition for SNL with Tracy Morgan in 1996.
- Is in the process of putting together news pieces about every congressional district in the United States.
- His father was of seven-eighths Irish ancestry, with his other roots being English and German. His mother was of entirely Irish descent.
- Received an honorary doctorate in fine arts from Knox College in Galesburg, IL, in 2006.
- Occasionally replaced Jon Stewart as anchor of The Daily Show (1996) while Jon was occupied with other things.
- His older sister, Elizabeth Colbert Busch (aka Lulu), is the 2014 South Carolina Democratic congressional candidate. Her Republican opponent will be Gov. Mark Sanford [April 2013].
- An alumnus of the Second City and Annoyance Theatre in Chicago, IL. Graduated from Northwestern University in 1986.
- Voiced several characters on Comedy Central's Crank Yankers (2002).
- His father James was a immunologist.
- Was number one on The New York Times Best Seller list. [October 2007].
- Lent his voice to some attack ads that were used for The 78th Annual Academy Awards (2006), hosted by Jon Stewart.
- His show, The Colbert Report (2005), averages 1.2 million viewers.
- His siblings from oldest to youngest are: James Jr. ('Jimmy'), Edward ('Eddie/Ed'), Mary Colbert Denger, William ('Billy'), Margaret ('Margo'), Thomas ('Tommy'), Jay, Elizabeth ('Lulu'), Paul, and Peter. Stephen is the youngest of the eleven.
- Early in his career Colbert auditioned unsuccessfully for 21 Jump Street (1987), Less Than Zero (1987) and Road House (1989), etc.
- Friends with Jon Stewart.
- Worked as a waiter for 5 years as a young man.
- Most of the shows he has been a part of are on Comedy Central. These shows are Exit 57 (1995), The Daily Show (1996), Strangers with Candy (1999), and The Colbert Report (2005).
- Is a big fan of author Flannery O'Connor, "The Enduring Chill" being his favorite of her books.
- He was nominated for the 2017 New Jersey Hall of Fame in the Performing Arts category.
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