craig kilborn

Craig Kilborn
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Craig Kilborn
Born August 24, 1962 (1962-08-24) (age 45)
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Medium stand-up, television
Nationality American
Genres Comedy
Craig Kilborn (born August 24, 1962) is an American comedian and former talk show host. He was the original host of The Daily Show and Tom Snyder's successor on CBS's The Late Late Show.

Contents
1 Biography
1.1 Early life
1.2 Career
2 Broadcast career highlights
3 References
4 External links



[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life
Kilborn was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Shirley, a homemaker, and Hiram Kilborn, an insurance executive.[1] He was raised in Hastings, Minnesota, located thirty minutes from Minneapolis-St. Paul. He played basketball at Hastings High School, earning All-State & All-Conference honors and a basketball scholarship to Montana State University.


[edit] Career
After working in several smaller jobs following college, Kilborn was an ESPN SportsCenter anchor from 1993 to 1996. Kilborn was primarily the anchor of the late broadcast of SportsCenter, gaining a large fan following. He made a return appearance to SportsCenter on August 8, 2004 when he co-hosted SportsCenter with Dan Patrick during ESPN's 25th Anniversary Celebration. The character of Casey McCall on ABC's Sports Night was said to be modeled on Kilborn's SportsCenter career.

In 1996, Kilborn became host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central. In a 1997 interview with Esquire, Kilborn described Daily Show creator and executive producer Lizz Winstead as an "emotional bitch" who over-reacts to him.[2] Kilborn apologized publicly and insisted that the remarks were "said in jest," but was suspended for a week. A source suggested to the New York Post that there might've been more to the suspension than the comment in Esquire, saying, "the network has been angry because of inappropriate sexual comments he makes to female staff members, especially junior staffers. There's a real problem." Winstead later quit the show.[3]

Kilborn hosted The Daily Show for two seasons before leaving the show to host a new CBS talk show The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, produced by David Letterman's production company WorldWide Pants, to run after The Late Show with David Letterman. His last Daily Show episode aired on December 17, 1998. On January 11, 1999 Jon Stewart replaced Kilborn as host.

Kilborn hosted The Late Late Show for five years, changing the format to appeal to a younger audience. In August 2004 he elected not to extend his contract, stating "I simply want to try something new. I can now focus on writing and producing different television projects I haven't had time for."[4] Kilborn made his motion picture acting debut with a small role in Old School and has since appeared in four other motion pictures: The Shaggy Dog, The Benchwarmers, Full of It, and Cursed.


[edit] Broadcast career highlights
1986 - 1988: Play-by-play commentator for the Savannah, Georgia, Spirits of the Continental Basketball Association.
1990 - 1993: Sports Director at KCBA television in the Salinas/Monterey/Santa Cruz market of California.
1993 - 1996: Anchor of SportsCenter for ESPN
1996 - 1998: Host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central
1999 - 2004: Host of The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn
Some of Kilborn's more popular segments on the Late Late Show included Five Questions (a bit he originally used to end interviews on The Daily Show), To Blank with Love, Recreation of a Press photo and Yambo the brain teasing game of skill and intelligence.

One of his most popular recurring characters include Sebastian the Asexual Icon, an androgynous character loosely based on Morrissey, the former lead singer of The Smiths.

He also provided the voice of Captain Kirk for various commercials on G4TV.

BRISTOL, CT―Craig Kilborn, the former host of The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn, actor from the film The Benchwarmers, and SportsCenter anchor from 1993 to 1997, was spotted at 5:30 a.m. this morning broke, homeless, and passed out in front of ESPN's SportsCenter studios.

According to ESPN sources, Kilborn appeared even thinner and more frail than usual, reeked of cigarette smoke and gin, and his clothes―a moth-eaten dark suit that may have been the same one he wore in his last-ever SportsCenter appearance―were in tatters. Kilborn was reportedly only wearing one shoe at the time of his discovery.

Onlookers stated that, upon being woken up from his drunken stupor, the still-inebriated Kilborn asked to be shown to his "regular dressing room." The gangly, 6'5" former anchor then eluded security for long enough to stumble down the studio halls and blurt out random catchphrases from his broadcasting days at SportsCenter, including but not limited to "Gettin' giddy in the zone," "If it feels good, do it," and "The low angle spank!"

"Craiggers is back, people," said Kilborn, whose signature gelled blond hair was described in a later police report as dank and lice-ridden. "Nothing to be afraid of, folks. This is just Kilby simply being Kilby. Release. Rotation. Splash."

Kilborn then regurgitated in a nearby garbage can.

"Da da da―Da da da," an increasingly aggressive Kilborn audibly hummed in a mocking tone, mimicking the final six notes of SportsCenter's theme song while still hovering over the trash receptacle. "I'm Craig Kilborn. He's Dan Patrick. Welcome to the feel-good edition of SportsCenter. Unless you're me, and you feel like complete shit because your whole life is nothing but a goddamn joke."

"Jumanji!" he added, scaring a nearby production assistant.

Kilborn, who had moved to Los Angeles before apparently going bankrupt, losing his home, and becoming a vagrant, would not comment as to how he ended up in Bristol, CT, but police sources said they later found a Mercedes registered to Kilborn's older sister broken down on the side of nearby I-95. The vehicle had clearly been lived in for weeks, possibly even months.

"Craig looked, sounded, and smelled awful," said former colleague Kenny Mayne, who spent half an hour attempting to talk Kilborn out of his makeup chair. "But then again, as a broke, homeless man, that's his job."

Though Kilborn did not harm anyone and was treated with respect by current employees during his unannounced visit to his former employer, his mood shifted noticeably when he saw a framed picture of former ESPN anchor Keith Olbermann.

"Keith!" Kilborn said as he opened doors to the sound, graphics, and editing bays. "Come out, you son-of-a-bitch. I know you're in here somewhere. I just want to talk to you for a second. I got your daily dose of Did You Know right here!"

Olbermann was at MSNBC studios in Secaucus, NJ at the time.

After ransacking sportscaster Stuart Scott's dressing room, urinating on his own shoes, and emerging with a tie knotted around his bare, sweaty neck, Kilborn proceeded to interrupt the 6 a.m. broadcast of SportsCenter by forcibly removing anchor Scott Van Pelt, whom Kilborn referred to as a "wannabe," from his chair.

Kilborn then repeatedly attempted to kiss former colleague Linda Cohn.

"Miss me, baby?" Kilborn said while unsuccessfully trying to suppress a fit of belching. "I gotta say, I'm―I'm―I'm proud of ya, Linda. Longevity, people. This woman just drips longevity. Drips. Linda Cohn, everyone!"

Added Kilborn: "Stick around, folks. I've got five questions with Linda coming up right after the break. Maybe this time she'll say 'yes.'"

Kilborn then burst into tears, collapsed, and was eventually escorted out of ESPN headquarters. According to employees, Kilborn mumbled underneath his breath that he was starving and would be "dropping by" The Daily Show studios, hopefully before they took down the staff's free lunch buffet.