Howard Stern

Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954 in Roosevelt, Long Island, New York) is an American radio personality.

Biography

Howard Stern was born in New York City. His father Ben worked at a radio station and Howard developed an interest in broadcasting as a child when he would accompany his father to work. Stern often joked that his parents "abused" him as a child. He said that his mother ran her house with "the intensity of Hitler" and that his father often called him a moron. However, he admitted this was just part of his gimmick and that his parents were warm and loving and supportive. In 1976, Stern received his Bachelor's degree in communications from Boston University, where he had worked as a volunteer at the college radio station.

Related Topics:
Hitler - 1976 - Bachelor's degree - Boston University

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After graduation, he worked as a disc jockey for an obscure station in Westchester County, New York playing rock music. He discovered a talent for Lenny Bruce-type comedy, and developed a wide-ranging confrontational style. In 1978, Stern landed his first morning show job in Hartford, CT at WCCC-FM and WCCC-AM where he was hired by station owner Sy Dresner. The radio stations with a progressive rock format lend itself nicely to developing Howard's "free-form" personality. It was at the Hartford radio station where Howard also met his future show writer and producer, Fred Norris, who was working as an overnight DJ. After Dresner held-off on giving Stern a $25 raise, he migrated to FM radio station in Detroit (WWWW known as W4) and Washington, D.C. (putting in a year at DC101 and making it the #1 station in town in the process), and returned to New York in 1982 to work at NBC's flagship AM radio station WNBC-AM. Also working at NBC was David Letterman, who became a fan of Stern's radio show. Stern's guest appearance on Late Night with David Letterman on June 19, 1984, launched Stern into the national spotlight and gave his radio show unprecedented exposure. Stern would appear on Letterman's show many times thereafter.

Related Topics:
Disc jockey - Westchester County, New York - Rock music - Lenny Bruce - FM radio - Detroit - WWWW - Washington, D.C. - New York - 1982 - NBC - AM radio - WNBC-AM - David Letterman - Late Night with David Letterman - June 19 - 1984

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Stern and his crew were fired from NBC in 1985, ostensibly in response to a particularly outrageous sketch ? "Bestiality Dial-A-Date" ? although relations between station management and Stern were strained from the beginning. He quickly returned to the FM band by joining local rival station WXRK, premiering on November 18, 1985 and returning permanently to morning drive in February 1986. Stern's show was syndicated nationwide starting in 1986 by Infinity Broadcasting. The program made great sport of feuding with other cities' top-rated DJs, but soon enough, Stern's broadcast was #1 in such important markets as Philadelphia and Los Angeles, among several others. His Arbitron numbers remain strongest in the country's #1 radio market, New York, where his morning ratings more than triple his station's average numbers the rest of the day.

Related Topics:
1985 - Sketch - Bestiality - FM band - WXRK - November 18 - 1986 - Infinity Broadcasting - Philadelphia - Los Angeles - New York

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Although both his parents are Jewish, Stern has long claimed on his show to be "a half-Jew". His Hebrew name is Tzvi; his paternal grandparents, Froim and Anna (Gallar) Stern, and maternal grandparents, Sol and Esther (Reich) Schiffman, were Jews from Austria-Hungary who emigrated to America at about the same time.

Related Topics:
Jewish - Jew - Hebrew - Austria-Hungary

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On June 4, 1978, Stern married his college sweetheart, Alison Berns, at Temple Ohabei Shalom in Brookline, Massachusetts; they have three daughters: Emily Beth (b. 1984), Deborah Jennifer (b. 1987) and Ashley Jade (b. 1993). A hallmark of Stern's humor was that he often expressed how tempted he was by the strippers, porn stars, and lesbians who appeared on his show, but always insisted that he had to be faithful to his wife. In October of 1999, Stern announced that Alison was divorcing him, due to the fact that he is a workaholic. The couple's divorce proceeding resulted in a settlement, and Alison remarried in 2001 to David Simon. Since early 2000 Stern has been dating model Beth Ostrosky, who is 19 years younger than he. Ostrosky has appeared in the men's magazine FHM several times, and in early June of 2005, the editor-at-large of the magazine, Jake Bronstein, was fired after he commented that Ostrosky is only famous because she dates Stern. It has been alleged that Stern pressured FHM to fire him. Stern has vehemently denied these rumors, citing Bronstein's comments about FHM airbrushing many of its photographs as the true reason behind Bronstein's termination.

Related Topics:
June 4 - 1978 - College - Brookline, Massachusetts - Tempted - Strippers - Porn star - Lesbians - October - 1999 - Divorcing - 2001 - 2000 - Beth Ostrosky - Magazine - FHM - June - 2005 - Airbrushing

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