Conan O’Brien

Conan Christopher O'Brien is an American television host, comedian, writer, actor, and podcaster. He is best known for hosting several late-night talk shows, including Late Night with Conan O'Brien from 1993 to 2009 and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien from 2009 to 2010 on the NBC network, as well as Conan on TBS from 2010 to 2021. He has hosted the podcast Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend since 2018 and has starred in the HBO Max travel show Conan O'Brien Must Go since 2024.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, and raised in nearby Brookline, O'Brien grew up in an Irish Catholic family. His father was a physician and professor at Harvard Medical School, while his mother was an attorney. At Brookline High School, O'Brien served as managing editor of the school newspaper, worked as a congressional intern, and won a national writing contest. He entered Harvard University in 1981, where he majored in history and literature, served as president of the Harvard Lampoon, and graduated magna cum laude in 1985.

Following his graduation, O'Brien moved to Los Angeles to write for HBO's sketch comedy series Not Necessarily the News and later worked on The Wilton North Report. Executive producer Lorne Michaels hired him as a writer for Saturday Night Live in 1988. During his three years on the show, O'Brien wrote recurring comedy sketches, co-wrote the 1991 television pilot Lookwell, and shared a 1989 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series.

After leaving Saturday Night Live in 1991 due to burnout, O'Brien joined the animated sitcom The Simpsons as a writer and producer. Between 1991 and 1993, he wrote several acclaimed episodes, including "Marge vs. the Monorail" and "Homer Goes to College." In 1993, Lorne Michaels and NBC selected O'Brien to replace David Letterman as the host of Late Night.

Late Night with Conan O'Brien premiered in September 1993. Despite initially receiving unfavorable reviews and facing threats of cancellation, the show steadily earned critical and commercial praise, eventually winning a Primetime Emmy Award. O'Brien hosted Late Night for 16 years, becoming the longest-serving host in the franchise's history. In 2009, he moved to Los Angeles to host The Tonight Show for seven months until network politics led to a host change in 2010. He then embarked on a live comedy tour featured in the 2011 documentary Conan O'Brien Can't Stop and hosted Conan on TBS from 2010 until his retirement from late-night television in June 2021.

Throughout his career, O'Brien has hosted the Emmy Awards in 2002 and 2006, the White House Correspondents' Dinner in 1995 and 2013, and the Academy Awards in 2025, 2026, and 2027. He was named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People in 2010, entered the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2025, and received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2025.