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{{Infobox Comedian
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He later served as managing editor of his ] and ]ed for Rep. ].<ref name="poonster">. [http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=101165
While attending Harvard, O'Brien was ] with ], who later became drummer for the ] ]. O'Brien had previously bought himself a ], but had only recently given up playing it and instead concentrated on playing the guitar. He lent his drumkit to Krukowski, who he knew would get more use out of it. O'Brien's drum kit can be heard on many of ]'s early recordings.

== Career ==
=== Television writer ===
O'Brien moved to ] after graduation to join the writing staff of ] '']''.<ref> from ]</ref> He spent two years with that show, and performed regularly with improvisational groups like ]. He also acted in corporate ]s to earn money during this period.

In January 1988, '']'''s executive producer ] hired O'Brien as a writer. During his 3 years on ''SNL'' he wrote such recurring sketches as "Mr. Short-Term Memory" and "The Girl Watchers," the latter of which was first performed by ] and ].<ref name="speakerbio"> </ref> O'Brien also co-wrote the sketch "Nude Beach" with ], a sketch in which the word "]" was said or sung at least 42 times.

While on a writers' strike from ''Saturday Night Live'' following the 1987-1988 season, O'Brien put on an ] revue in ] with fellow ''SNL'' writers ] and Robert Smigel called '']''. While living in Chicago O'Brien briefly was roommates with ] and lived a few blocks away from ].<ref>Jeff Garlin interview on Late Night 7 September 2007</ref>

In from ]</ref> As of ], O'Brien's office at ''The Simpsons'' was being used as storage.<ref>''The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season''. DVD commentary for episode 9F10, "Marge vs. the Monorail"</ref>

=== ''Late Night'' ===
]'' at NBC Burbank Studio 1]]
On ], ], ] suggested O'Brien try out to be ]'s successor as host of ''Late Night with David Letterman,'' with ] signed on to be his sidekick. O'Brien auditioned on the set of ''The Tonight Show'', where he interviewed ] and ].<ref name="Homer College">''The Simpsons: The Complete Fifth Season''. DVD commentary for episode 1F02, "Homer Goes to College"</ref> O'Brien resigned his position on ''The Simpsons'', despite the fact that his contract had not expired.<ref name="Homer College">''The Simpsons: The Complete Fifth Season''. DVD commentary for episode 1F02, "Homer Goes to College"</ref>

Premiering on ], '']'' received generally unfavorable critical reviews for the first 2 to 3 years after its debut. O'Brien himself, an almost total unknown among the general public before being named host, was seen by many as not being worthy of the program. NBC even poked fun at this perception in a radio ad which aired shortly before the show's debut and had O'Brien relaying an anecdote where someone recognized him on the street and said, "Look, honey, there's the guy who doesn't deserve his own show!" Another source The show remained on multi-week renewal cycles while NBC decided its fate. By 1996-97, O'Brien's writing and comedic style was thought to have improved, and he began to develop a growing fan base, especially with high school and college students, as well as the respect of critics and his peers. O'Brien would later poke fun at the first three years of the show when on his 10th Anniversary Special, ] appeared to give O'Brien a gold necklace with a giant "7" on it. When O'Brien tried to point out that he's actually been on the air for ten years, Mr. T responded, "I know that, fool...but you've only been funny for seven!"

Since then, O'Brien and the ''Late Night'' writing team have consistently been nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Writing in a Comedy or Variety Series, and finally won in 2007. In ], ], ], ], and ] he and the ''Late Night'' writing staff won the ] for Best Writing in a Comedy/Variety Series.

In ], he formed his own television production company, ], which has since shared in the production credits for ''Late Night''.

On the first episode after ], O'Brien went out of character and told a story of how he went to pray for the first time in eight years, the previous time was after he was announced as the host of Late Night. O'Brien was reported to have been In ], O'Brien was named as Jay Leno's replacement when he leaves the "Tonight Show" in ]. Leno stated on the show that he wanted to avoid a repeat of the controversy and hard feelings that resulted when he was chosen by NBC to host the Tonight Show over ].

In ], Conan O'Brien staged a mock fight against ]'s ] and ] over taking credit on giving ]'s campaign a "bump." This fight crossed over all three television shows and across two networks.

=== Other work ===
O'Brien and ] wrote the television pilot, '']'', starring ]. The pilot aired on NBC in 1991, but was not picked up as a series.

O'Brien appears as a character in the 1999 film, '']'', voiced by ]. O'Brien later appeared in ] in the episode "]". In ], he voiced himself in a short South Park scene as part of the opening of the 2006 ].

O'Brien is an avid ] and music listener. When ] and the Sessions Band appeared on the show as a musical guest, O'Brien joined the 17 piece band along with the Max Weinberg 7 and guests ] & ] and played ] and contributed backup vocals for the song, "]".

In ], O'Brien appeared in ] music video, "]". The band had previously been a week-long musical guest on ''Late Night'' when they were promoting their 2003 album, '']''.

He has appeared on another late-night talk show, '']'' (''SGC2C''), in Episode 77: ''Fire Ant'', in which he and Space Ghost argue about a number of topics, including whether or not anyone actually watches ''SGC2C''. ] later quips, "Well, that's very stupid, and you won't make it in television," an obvious parody of early reviews of O'Brien's show. A short time later, Space Ghost leaves the interview in order to follow a fire ant that bit him. As Space Ghost is crawling out of the studio, O'Brien gripes that "For all these people know, my show is a cop show on Fox or something!" Space Ghost replies, "Isn't it?"

O'Brien made an appearance on the ] Star Wars Special on ], ] as the voice of the bounty hunter ]. In a parody of Late Night, Zuckuss hosts a talk show called "Late Night with Zuckuss. O'Brien's "]" segment was even spoofed when Zuckuss did a "fake interview" with ]. (Typical of Conan's fake interviews, the fake Palpatine made a fool of himself; the implication was that the actual Palpatine was not pleased, as, in the final moments of the sketch, the ] can be seen approaching through a window in Zuckuss' studio, then aiming and firing--then there is a "Technical Difficulties" test pattern.) He also appeared in Season one on the show in two roles. First as a pizza delivery man who is not aware of his customer's sexy advances; and as a wrestling announcer with historical figures as pro wrestlers.

Conan was a guest star on the hit TV show, "]", in which he played himself. In the episode "Tracy Does Conan", Conan has the character ] on his show, despite having been assaulted in a previous attempt to have him on his show.

On ], ], NBC announced a new adventure/comedy series entitled '']''. O'Brien was executive producer and also co-wrote the pilot. The show starred O'Brien's former sidekick ]. After several episodes and low ratings, the show was canceled.

O'Brien also hosted the ] on ], ], to critical acclaim.<ref name="starledger">{{cite web
|url=http://www.nj.com/tv/ledger/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-0/1156744051272770.xml&coll=1&thispage=2
|title=A sorry sight
|work=New Jersey Star-Ledger
|first=Alan
|last=Sepinwall
|date=]
|accessdate=2006-09-03}}</ref><ref name="variety>"A valiant, near-heroic effort by Conan O'Brien..."
{{cite web
|url=http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117931393?categoryid=1264&cs=1
|title=The 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards
|work=Daily Variety
|first=Josef
|last=Adalian
|date=]
|accessdate=2006-09-03}}</ref> He had previously hosted the Primetime Emmys in 2002, and Co-Hosted in 2003.

== Personal life ==
]
On ], ], O'Brien married former advertising ] Elizabeth Ann 'Liza' Powel (b. ] ])<ref></ref> of ]. O'Brien met Powel, an ad executive, in 2000, when she helped create a comedic TV ad for the show in ].<ref></ref> The couple dated for nearly a year and a half.<ref></ref> Officiating at the wedding was O'Brien's long-time friend, Father Paul B. O' Brien, with whom he founded an anti-hunger organization based in ]. O'Brien has stated on air that he is ].<ref></ref>

O'Brien and Powel have a daughter, Neve, born ], ]<ref></ref> and a son, Beckett, born ], ], both born in ].<ref name="baby"></ref>

Politically, O'Brien supports the Democratic party, having donated $1000 to the Senate campaigns of Christopher Dodd in 1997 and 2004.<ref name="NewsMeat"></ref>

In December of 2007 a man was arrested for impersonating O'Brien outside a ] night club owned by ]. The man was said to have been charging for autographs and pictures. He was later released on bail.

In January 2008, after his show was put on hold for two months due to the ], he reemerged on late-night TV sporting a ], which guest ] later described as making him look like "a draft dodger from the Civil War."

Recently, O'Brien purchased a $10.5 million dollar mansion in ]. The reason for this is that he will be moving there in ] from ] to work at his new job, at ]. <ref></ref>

===Subject of stalking===
It was reported that since ] ] that O'Brien had allegedly been stalked by the Rev. David Ajemian of the Archdiocese of Boston, who, despite multiple warnings to stop, had been sending O'Brien letters signed as "your priest stalker" and coming in contact with O'Brien's parents. Ajemian sent a letter to O'Brien, frustrated that he had been denied a spot in the ''Late Night'' audience. He stated in his letter to O'Brien that he flew to New York, "in the dimming hope that you might finally acknowledge me." He also stated in another letter that, "Is this the way you treat your most dangerous fans??? You owe me big time pal." Ajemian also seemed to have made a death threat to O'Brien in another letter; saying, "Remember ] once dodged a bullet in your building and so can you." Ajemian then tried to forcefully enter a taping of ''Late Night'', but was caught and arrested. He was previously warned by the NBC security team to stay away from the studio. After a psychological evaluation, he was deemed fit to stand trial. He has since been bailed out of jail.<ref></ref> He was then reported missing by his father around 3:15 PM EST on ], ]. He was found and is currently undergoing evaluation at a hospital.<ref></ref>

== Comedy and mannerisms ==
On ''Late Night,'' O'Brien has become known for his more active and spontaneous hosting style. His stage habits include but are not limited to ], ], dramatic expressions, various impressions and use of awkward pauses or responses, and moving his hair and scalp back and forth. He frequently makes fun of the audience. He commonly makes light of his own appearance including his hairstyle, his pale skin and he jokes about his height (he stands 6'4" or 193cm) <!--If you can't provide some citation, don't add the actual height - way too many opinions on what it is-->.

One of his trademarks is to perform the "]." He also does impressions of celebrities; among the most common are ] (where he bites off a piece of sausage) and ]. His Donald impression often includes the phrase, "You're Fired."



== Partial list of film and TV appearances ==
* Guest appearance on '']'' 1993
* '']'' 1993 - Current
* '']'' - 1991, 2001
* ''] - 1994 (as himself)
* '']'' - 1994 (''as himself'')
* '']'' - 1995
* '']'' - 1996
* '']'' - 1996
* '']'' - 1999
* '']'' - 1999
* '']'' - 2001
* "]" - 2001
* '']'' - 2003
* ''] (as himself) - 2005
* ''] - 2005
* ''] (as himself) - 2007
* '']'' - 2006
* '']'' ''(])'' - 2006
* ''] - the movie (as himself) - 2006
* '']'' ('']'' special) - As ]) - 2007
* Guest appearance on '']'' - 2007, 2008
* Guest appearance on '']'' - 2007, 2008

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
* on ] '']'' (September 8, 2003)
* and of an interview with ]
* from ]
{{refend}}

==External links== <!-- Misplaced Pages is not a web directory; please add references to specific statements rather than adding a generic external link -->
{{commons|Conan O'Brien}}
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*{{imdb name|id=0005277}}
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{{incumbent box|title=Host of '']''|before=]| start=1993}}
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{{Simpsons writers}}

{{Persondata
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Revision as of 04:21, 21 February 2008