10 Things You Didn’t Know About Stephen Colbert

As Stephen Colbert ends his 10-year run on the award-winning Colbert Report to take over the Late Show, take a look back at some things you may not have known about the celebrated comedian.

He was once a “real” correspondent

Long before he played a fake correspondent, Stephen Colbert had a brief stint as an actual correspondent for Good Morning America. According to an interview with Mediabistro, he did exactly two reports—only one of which made it on air.

He was on the Daily Show before Jon Stewart

Colbert’s time on The Daily Show predates current host Jon Stewart, having joined as a correspondent in 1997 during the Craig Kilborn years. Stewart came on board as host in 1999.

He was once in a bank commercial

One of Colbert’s earliest gigs before he was famous was as the spokesperson for a commercial for FirsTier bank.

He is the Letter Z

In 2005, Colbert teamed up with Nicole Sullivan and Elmo to teach kids their ABCs in the Sesame Street: All-Star Alphabet.

The man can sing

Colbert is an entertainment triple threat, which means he’s able to act, sing and dance—skills that he will indubitably put a spotlight on on the Late Show. Until then check out a duet of the Star Spangled Banner he once sang with Steve Carell.

He has a Grammy

In 2010, Colbert won a Grammy for Best Comedy Album for A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!.

He graduated from Northwestern

Colbert graduated from Northwestern’s School of Communication in 1986 and returned to his alma mater in 2011 to give the commencement speech.

He was once on Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Colbert stretched his improv muscles as a guest star in two episodes of Whose Line Is It Anyway?.

He’s part of the International Space Station

A treadmill on the International Space Station known as the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill, or C.O.L.B.E.R.T. for short, was named for the comedian after winning a NASA naming contest.

The contest was originally intended to name a new module of the space station, however NASA decided to name the module Tranquility instead of Colbert, with the latter’s name used for the treadmill instead.

He broke The Daily Show‘s winning streak

The Colbert Report broke The Daily Show‘s 10–year Emmy winning streak for best Variety series in 2013 with its win at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards.