Howard Stern

Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American broadcaster and media personality.

Howard Allan Stern was born on January 12, 1954, the second child of Ben (1923–2022) and Ray (née Schiffman) Stern (b. 1927), in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens in New York City.

Stern's parents are Jewish, and their families are from Poland and Austria-Hungary.

Ray was an office clerk in New York City before she became a homemaker and later took up work as an inhalation therapist.

Ben served in the U.S. Army on Long Island and in California during the war.

He later worked as a radio engineer at WHOM in Manhattan and as a co-owner and operator at Aura Recording Inc., a Manhattan recording studio where cartoons and commercials were cut.

Stern described his older sister Ellen as the "complete opposite" of himself and "very quiet".

In 1955, the family moved to Roosevelt, New York, on Long Island, where Stern attended Washington-Rose Elementary School followed by Roosevelt Junior-Senior High School.

Stern also attended Hebrew school where he was given the name Tzvi.

As a youngster Stern took five years of piano lessons and took an interest in marionettes, using them to entertain his friends with explicit shows.

He formed a band with two school friends, the Electric Comicbook, on vocals and keyboards.

From the age of nine to his second year at university, Stern spent his summers at Camp Wel-Met, a youth camp in Narrowsburg, New York where he worked camper, kitchen, and counselor duties.

He recalled his time there as "the greatest experience".

Stern wished to be in radio at the age of five.

He was an infrequent listener in his youth, but names talk personalities Bob Grant and Brad Crandall as early influences.

His father set up a microphone, tape machine and turntable in the basement of his home which Stern used to record his make-believe radio shows, incorporating different characters and pre-recorded prank calls, sketches, and commercials.

He made several visits to his father's recording studio and witnessed "some of the great voice guys" work with him, including Don Adams and Larry Storch voice Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales, which began his desire to be on the air and "do a show", rather than play records.

In the late 1960s, Roosevelt became a predominantly black area; Stern remembered just "a handful of white kids" had remained in his school and repeated instances of bullying from black students.

In June 1969, the family moved to nearby Rockville Centre, and Stern, at age fifteen, transferred to South Side High School where he became "a total introvert".

He graduated from the school in 1972; his yearbook lists Stern's sole student activity, a membership of Key Club.

In 1972, Stern declined a place at Elmira College to instead pursue a communications degree at Boston University, but his average high school grades caused him to spend the first two years in its College of Basic Studies.

In his second year, he started work at the campus radio station WTBU, where he played records, read the news, and hosted interview programs.

With three fellow students, he later co-hosted a weekly comedy show named The King Schmaltz Bagel Hour, which was initially canceled during its first broadcast for a racial sketch named "Godzilla Goes to Harlem".

From 1976 to 1982, he developed his on-air personality through morning positions at WRNW in Briarcliff Manor, New York; WCCC in Hartford, Connecticut; WWWW in Detroit, Michigan; and WWDC in Washington, D.C. He worked afternoons at WNBC in New York City from 1982 until his firing in 1985.

In 1985, he began a 20-year run at WXRK in New York City; his morning show entered syndication in 1986 and aired in 60 markets and attracted 20 million listeners at its peak.

In recent years, Stern's photography has been featured in Hamptons and WHIRL magazines.

He is best known for his radio show, The Howard Stern Show, which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from 1986 to 2005.

Stern has described himself as the "King of All Media" since 1992 for his successes outside radio.

He hosted and produced numerous late-night television shows, pay-per-view events, and home videos.

Two of his books, Private Parts (1993) and Miss America (1995), entered The New York Times Best Seller list at number one and sold over one million copies.

The former was made into a biographical comedy film in 1997 that had Stern and his radio show staff star as themselves.

It topped the US box office in its opening week and grossed $41.2 million domestically.

Stern performs on its soundtrack, which charted the Billboard 200 at number one and was certified platinum for one million copies sold.

Stern became one of the highest-paid radio figures after signing a five-year deal with Sirius in 2004 worth $500 million.

He has broadcast on Sirius XM Radio since 2006.

Stern landed his first radio jobs while at Boston University.

From 2012 to 2015, he served as a judge on America's Got Talent.

Stern has won numerous industry awards, including Billboard's Nationally Syndicated Air Personality of the Year eight consecutive times, and he is the first to have the number one morning show in New York City and Los Angeles simultaneously.

He became the most fined radio host when the Federal Communications Commission issued fines totaling $2.5 million to station owners for content it deemed indecent.

Stern's third book, Howard Stern Comes Again, was released in 2019.