• Craig Kilborn is an actor, comedian, sports commentator, and TV show host best known as the first host of "The Daily Show".
• He was born in Kansas City, Missouri and raised in Hastings, Minnesota.
• He was the host of "The Daily Show" from 1996-1998 and "The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn" from 1999-200•
• Craig has been married twice and has three children.
• He has an estimated net worth of over $7 million.
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Who is Craig Kilborn? Wiki
An actor, comedian, sports commentator, and TV show host, Craig Kilborn is probably still known best as the first host of “The Daily Show”, a late-night talk and satirical television news program. He’s known for his charming wit, superior but never condescending demeanor, and penchant for sharp commentary, so it isn’t surprising that he was nominated for the CableACE Award for Entertainment Host.
From 1996 to 1998, Craig also served as a writer of “The Daily Show”, and is credited with 386 episodes. To learn more about him, his career beginnings, his private life, and what he’s doing now, just keep on scrolling.
Early life, family, and education
Born Craig Lawrence Kilborn under the zodiac sign of Virgo on 24 August 1962, he’s now aged 60 (as of January 2023). He hails from Kansas City, Missouri USA, holds American nationality, and his ethnicity is White.
When he was four years old, his parents, Shirley and Hiram, moved with him to Hastings, Minnesota, where he was raised alongside his younger brother, Chris. As a teenager, Craig played basketball, and when he was in the ninth grade, was recruited by an all-star basketball team from Minneapolis, Minnesota, called the Northside Magicians.
Craig excelled with his high school team and the Magicians, earning multiple all-state honors. Upon matriculating from Hastings High School in 1980, Craig enrolled at Montana State University thanks to his scholarship, graduating with a dual Bachelor’s degree in Media and Theater Arts in 1985.
Before and after “The Daily Show”
Before his job on “The Daily Show”, Craig worked as a play-by-play radio commentator during 1986 and 1987. Later, he served as the sports anchor for FOX TV affiliate in Salinas, Monterey County, then from 1993 to ‘96, Craig worked as an Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) SportsCenter anchor.
Next, Craig began hosting “The Daily Show”, and during his time on the show (1996-1998), it was named ‘Best Late Night Comedy’ by TV Guide, an American digital media company. Some of the features Craig created in the show were “Dance, Dance, Dance”, “Your Moment of Zen”, “5 Questions”, and “Moment of Us”.
Craig said in one of his interviews that he had a blast doing this show. He enjoyed it, but his dream job was to work as the host of the traditional late-night show. Craig’s final episode on “The Daily Show” aired on 17 December 1998, and on 11 January 1999, he was replaced by Jon Stewart.
Craig Kilborn Explains Why He Left 'SportsCenter' And 'The Daily Show' Earlier In His Career https://t.co/t0iLuoBmYL pic.twitter.com/eMsHN5kncB
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) July 29, 2022
From 1999 to 2004, Craig worked his dream job, hosting “The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn”, selected to replace Tom Snyder as host. Craig hosted 1914 episodes of this talk show, which included celebrity guests and sketch-comedy; it was nominated for two Teen Choice Awards for Choice TV – Late Night in 2003, and Choice TV Show – Late Night in 2004.
Craig stated after leaving the show that he ‘d achieved his career goals, and that he’d lost creative interest in that type of show. World Wide Pants executive Peter Lassally stated that Craig left because he didn’t receive the raise he desired – Craig hasn’t commented further.
Acting credits
Craig made his acting debut as Nurse in an episode of the hit series “The Bold and the Beautiful” in 1999, followed with his guest roles in “Martial Law” also in 1999, and in “JAG” in 2000. He played himself in an episode of the series “Yes, Dear” (2001) and “Resurrection Blvd.” in 2002.
Craig made his big-screen debut in the 2003 comedy “Pauly Shore Is Dead”, which won the Slamdunk Film Festival Audience Choice Award for Feature Film. Later that year, he was cast to play Mark in the movie “Old School”, also starring Will Ferrell, Luke Wilson and Vince Vaughn, which followed the story of three adult friends who open a fraternity near their alma mater, to relive their glory days.
Two years later, he was again seen as himself in the comedy horror “Cursed”, starring Christina Ricci, which was nominated for the Stinkers Bad Movie Award – Least Scary Horror Movie.
In 2006, Craig was seen in the movies “The Shaggy Dog” and “The Benchwarmers”, followed by his role as Mike Hanbo in the 2007 comedy-drama “Full of It”.
Craig was next cast to play Roger Bale in the 2011 series “Chuck”, and then had a small part in the 2014 comedy “The Extendables”, written, directed by, and starring Brian Thompson.
In the following year, Craig was seen as Heath Parker in the sports comedy-drama “The Bronze”, and also in 2015 made his debut as a voice actor in an episode of the series “BoJack Horseman”, voicing Michael Morgan.
He followed with his guest roles in “Workaholics” (2017) and “United We Fall” in 2020, which was his most recent role.
What is he doing now?
On 15 April 2022, Craig launched his YouTube channel entitled “The Craig Kilborn Podcast”, which is today subscribed to by nearly 3,000 people, and all of his videos combined have gained over a million views.
His channel features videos from his podcast “The Life Gorgeous”, and he uploads new videos monthly. Some of his guests have been Mike Gibbons, Ian Eagle, Michelle Beadle and Ryen Russillo, among many others.
In the description of the podcast’s intro, Craig wrote: ‘Join me on a journey to improve your life…’ adding that his podcast is all about deep breathing, great movies, feeding your soul good music, and unscripted drama of pro sports.
Love life, wife, and children
Rumors about this multi-talented man ranged from his sexual orientation to several marriages and children with different women, however, the truth is that Craig is straight, and that he was married once before he met his now-wife.
An actress and former model, Amber Smith gave birth to her and Craig’s son Jonathan in 1987 – the two married after more than a decade in 1998, but divorced in 2002, no reason given.
Soon after their divorce, Craig married Erin O’Brien, a personal trainer, and some rumors were saying that Erin was the reason for Craig’s and Amber’s divorce, which neither of them commented on. Erin and Craig have two children together, son Shepard and daughter Malin, whose birthdates haven’t been disclosed.
As of January 2023, Craig and his family live in their residence in Southern California.
Net worth
Although he tried his hand as an actor, Craig achieved his greatest popularity as a TV host, and many believe that this brought him his highest income. According to sources, as of early 2023, his net worth has been estimated at over $7 million.
