Craig Kilborn

At 62 years old, Craig Kilborn has this physical status:

Craig Kilborn (born August 24, 1962) is an American comedian, sports, and political commentator, actor, and television host.

He was the first host of The Daily Show, a former anchor on ESPN's SportsCenter, and Tom Snyder's replacement on CBS' The Late Late Show.

After a six-year absence from television, he launched The Kilborn File on June 28, 2010.

During a six-week trial run, The Kilborn File appeared on some Fox stations.

He is best known for his deadpan delivery in comedy.

Early life

Craig Kilborn was born in Kansas City, the son of Shirley, a schoolteacher, and Hiram Kilborn, an insurance executive. He and his family immigrated to Hastings, Minnesota, where he was born, when he was four years old. Kilborn was taller than his peers from an early age, eventually rising to 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m), becoming a standout on the playground basketball court as he aged. Kilborn was recruited by the Northside Magicians, an all-star basketball team in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the ninth grade. He excelled with the Magicians and with the Hastings High School basketball team, eventually winning three letters and multiple all-state and all-state awards.

Kilborn earned a scholarship to attend Montana State University, where he earned dual bachelor's degrees in media and theater arts in 1985 and boasted he "led the Big Sky Conference in turnovers" and also bench pressed 240 lb (110 kg) while training.

Source

Career

Kilborn was born in radio as the CBA Savannah Spirits' play-by-play radio commentator in 1986 and 1987. He began his television appearance in California as the sports anchor for Monterey County's Fox affiliate KCBA in Salinas. Some of his early on-air duties included reporting the Gilroy Garlic Festival and playing bocce with the locals near Cannery Row. Kilborn was born in Carmel-by-the-Sea region.

Kilborn began as a small businessman before being hired as an ESPN SportsCenter anchor from 1993 to 1996. He was primarily the anchor of the late broadcast of SportsCenter, which he referred to as "The Feel Good Edition." "Release, Rotation, Splash," "Jumanji," and "Oh, Precious" were among his many catch phrases. On August 8, 2004, he co-hosted SportsCenter with Dan Patrick as part of ESPN's 25th Anniversary Celebration.

Kilborn became the host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central in 1996. According to the TV Guide, The Daily Show was voted "Best Late Night Comedian" during his three-year tenure. Kilborn was also selected for the Outstanding Entertainment Host award from CableACE. "5 Questions," "Moment for Us," "Dance, Dance, Dance," and "Your Moment of Zen" were among Kilborn's most popular features (later hosts would continue to use the latter feature).

Kilborn made a quip about Daily Show head writer Lizz Winstead, saying, "Because Lizz does find me very attractive." If she wanted her to bl-me, she'd do it." Kilborn apologised and pointed out that the remarks were "said in jest," but that he was suspended for a week.

After being late show host David Letterman, CBS and David Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants, selected Kilborn to replace Tom Snyder as host of The Late Late Show to run in 1998. On December 17, 1998, his last Daily Show episode appeared on television, bringing an end to a 386-episode tenure. Jon Stewart replaced Kilborn as host of The Daily Show on January 11, 1999.

Kilborn appeared on "Host Emeritus" on Jon Stewart's last Daily Show episode on August 6, 2015. It was his first appearance on the program after he had left as host.

Kilborn reflected on his time on The Daily Show in a tweet on Wednesday, saying he had a blast" attending the festival, and that he was "living in New York City, staging a comedy performance, and sipping martinis at the illustrious 21 Club." He also stated that he "wasn't hired at Comedy Central to produce a politics-heavy show" and that he "would never do one" because he had no desire." Kilborn praised The Daily Show for guiding him to his dream of hosting a late night show. "The Daily Show was innocently built in a new way," he said, "they didn't recruit the host first; we inherited each other." Thankfully, the majority of the participants were a good fit and helpful. But as much as I loved it, I was still a short-timer. It wasn't my show and I wanted to do a network traditional hour style rather than a half-hour news parody."

Kilborn hosted The Late Late Show for five years, reimagining the style to appeal to a younger audience. He starred segments such as "Yambo" and "5 Questions" on the program. Sebastian, the Asexual Icon, was one of Sebastian's many creations. At the beginning of his performance, he narrated his own introduction and would move to the music of the song "Play That Funky Music."

Kilborn did not renew his contract in August 2004. "I didn't leave to do something else, I didn't leave to do something else," Kilborn said in a Los Angeles Times interview in 2010. "I met my career aspirations, but it wasn't all it was cracked up to be," he said after saying that the late night timeslot was "cramming" and that "the formats were repetitive." "The main reason I left the Late Late Show was that I lost an interest in late night comedy," Kilborn later explained in a Philadelphia Inquirer interview in 2019. The other reason was that the company side of this particular display was overly stifled, so I avoided the silliness," the narrator said.

Kilborn left the show "because he didn't get the raise he wanted," World Wide Pants CEO Peter Lassally said in a 2009 interview with the Television Academy Foundation. However, Kilborn said in a 2004 interview with Daily Variety that "The Late Late Show] was certainly the best job I've had, and CBS was extremely generous in their offer to re-sign me."

Kilborn's last episode of The Late Late Show aired on August 27, 2004. Craig Ferguson, a Scottish-born American comedian, took over the show on January 3, 2005."

Craig Kilborn died on June 28, 2010, after six years off the air, when his latest half-hour documentary The Kilborn File debuted on select Fox stations. In most countries, the program aired for a six-week trial run on a 7:00 pm time slot, but it was not well received. Christine Lakin was his sidekick. Several of the show's most popular segments from his time on The Daily Show and The Late Late Show, such as "5 Questions" and a segment related to "Yambo" (with some minor rule changes and a name change to "Kilbo" and later to "Kilbyashi") were reprinted on the show. The program was not revived.

Kilborn played Mark, Ellen Pompeo's philandering boyfriend. Jerry, the bully to Jon Heder, David Spade, and Rob Schneider's nerdy roles, appeared in the 2006 film The Benchwarmers. In an episode of Chuck in 2011, Kilborn was the villain in an episode of Chuck.

On November 6–8, 2013, a Kilborn guest hosted The Artie Lange Show.

In a television commercial for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese in 2016, he appeared in a TV commercial.

Source