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Kilborn hosting an episode of The Daily Show in 1997

Craig Kilborn (born August 24, 1962) is an American comedian, actor, and former talk show host. He was the original host of The Daily Show, a former anchor on ESPN's SportsCenter, and Tom Snyder's successor on CBS' The Late Late Show. One of the tallest television personalities, he stands at 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m).

Early life

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

Career

Kilborn was the Savannah Spirits's play-by-play radio announcer in 1986–1987. At that time, he was chronically broke, according to Charley Rosen.^[2] He began his television career as the sports anchor for Monterey County's Fox affiliate KCBA.

ESPN

After several small jobs, Kilborn became 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.

The Daily Show

In 1996, Kilborn became host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central. In a 1997 interview with Esquire, Kilborn made comments regarding Daily Show creator and executive producer Lizz Winstead, saying that "She'd Monica Lewinsky me if I asked."^[3] Kilborn apologized publicly and insisted that the remarks were "said in jest," but was suspended for a week. His final Daily Show episode aired on December 17, 1998. On January 11, 1999 Jon Stewart replaced Kilborn as host.

Kilborn replaced Tom Snyder at CBS with a re-tooled 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.

The Late Late Show

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

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
• 1996–1998: Host of The Daily Show
• 1999–2004: Host of The Late Late Show

References

External links

• Craig Kilborn at the Internet Movie Database
• Craig Kilborn at NNDB