Steve Harvey

Broderick Stephen Harvey[3][4] (born January 17, 1957) is an American comedian, television host, producer, radio personality, actor and author. He hosts The Steve Harvey Morning Show, the Steve talk show, Family Feud, Celebrity Family Feud, Little Big Shots and its spinoff Little Big Shots: Forever Young, Steve Harvey's Funderdome, Showtime at the Apollo and since 2015, the Miss Universepageant.

Harvey is the author of Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, which was published in March 2009, and the book Straight Talk, No Chaser: How to Find and Keep a Man. He starred in The Steve Harvey Show, and was featured in The Original Kings of Comedy. He is a six-time Daytime Emmy Award winner, two-time Marconi Awardwinner, and a 14-time NAACP Image Award winner in various categories.

Early life
Harvey was born on January 17, 1957,[5][6] in Welch, West Virginia and is the son of Jesse Harvey, a coal miner, and Eloise Vera.[7][8][9] His first name is Broderick, named after actor Broderick Crawford of the TV series Highway Patrol.[3]Harvey's family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, living on East 111th Street, which would eventually be renamed Steve Harvey Way in 2015. He graduated from Glenville High School in 1974.[10][11][12]

Shortly after high school, he attended Kent State University and West Virginia University and is a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.[7][11] He has been a boxer, an autoworker, an insurance salesman, a carpet cleaner, and a mailman.[7][11][13][14]

Comedy
Harvey first performed stand-up comedy on October 8, 1985, at the Hilarities Comedy Club in Cleveland, Ohio. In the late 1980s Harvey was homeless for multiple years. He slept in his 1976 Ford when not performing gigs that provided a hotel, and he showered at gas stations or swimming pool showers.[15] Rich and Becky Liss helped Harvey during this time with a contract for carpet cleaning and credit at a travel agency.[16]

He was a finalist in the Second Annual Johnnie Walker National Comedy Search performing on April 16, 1990, eventually leading to a long stint as host of It's Showtime at the Apollo, succeeding Mark Curry in that role. His success as a stand-up comedian led to a starring role on the ABC show Me and the Boys in 1994. He would later star on the WB network show, The Steve Harvey Show, which ran from 1996 to 2002. While popular, the show never achieved critical acclaim outside of the African-American community.[17]

In 1997, Harvey continued his work in stand-up comedy, performing on the Kings of Comedy tour along with Cedric the Entertainer, D.L. Hughley, and Bernie Mac. The comedy act would later be put together into a film by Spike Lee called The Original Kings of Comedy. DVD sales of The Original Kings of Comedy and Don't Trip, He Ain't Through With Me Yet increased Harvey's popularity. He released a hip hop and R&B CD on a record label he founded, and authored the book Steve Harvey's Big Time. That title was also used as the name of his comedy and variety television show (later renamed Steve Harvey's Big Time Challenge), which aired on The WB network from 2003 until 2005. Harvey launched a clothing line which featured a line of dress wear. In 2005 he co-starred in the movie Racing Stripes. He had appeared in the 2003 movie The Fighting Temptations alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beyoncé Knowles.[18]

He achieved further critical and commercial success through his book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man and its subsequent cinematic follow-up Think Like a Man, an ensemble romantic comedy depicting characters taking advice on dating from the book.[19]

In 2008, Harvey hosted the Disney Dreamers Academy, a teen-focused personal and professional enrichment event that took place January 17–20, 2008, at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.[20]

On August 2, 2012, Harvey performed his final stand-up act at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, ending a 27-year career as a stand-up comedian. The two-hour performance was broadcast live on Pay-Per-View. “The road to this final show has been an amazing journey, doing stand-up for the past 27 years, and I can’t thank fans enough after reflecting on all those years on stage,” he said.[21][22]

Radio
Main article: The Steve Harvey Morning Show

Harvey is the host of a weekday-morning radio program, The Steve Harvey Morning Show, which was originally syndicated through Radio One, Inc. (from September 2000 until May 2005) and which continues to air to the present time.

Family Feud
Harvey began hosting Family Feud in August 2010.[7][23] The show has seen significantly improved ratings under Harvey. As of November 2012, it was the second most watched daytime syndicated show.[24]

Harvey also hosts Celebrity Family Feud, where celebrities compete for a chance to donate up to $25,000 to their favorite charity. The show airs during the summer on ABC.[25][26][27]

Daytime talk shows
Main article: Steve Harvey (TV series)

In September 2012, Harvey debuted a self-titled syndicated talk show, produced by Endemol and distributed by NBCUniversal Television Distribution, at the NBC Tower in Chicago.[28][29][30][31][32] The show was renewed through 2016.[33]

In November 2016, Steve Harvey was cancelled, and it was announced that Harvey had reached a deal with IMG to produce a new syndicated talk show in Los Angeles with NBCUniversal. The new series, Steve, premiered in September 2017, and was described as having more of a celebrity- and comedy-oriented format with a larger amount of creative control held by Harvey, as opposed to the previous program's larger focus on human interest subjects. To facilitate the new series, production of Harvey's radio show and Family Feud were re-located to LA as well.[34][35]

Dating website
In September 2014, Harvey launched a new dating website called Delightful to "help women become more dateable".[36]

Miss Universe pageant
In December 2015, Harvey hosted the Miss Universe 2015 pageant in Las Vegas. Upon announcing the final results, he mistakenly named the first runner-up, Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutiérrez, as the winner. A few minutes after she was crowned, Harvey announced that he had read the results incorrectly and that Miss Philippines, Pia Wurtzbach, was the new Miss Universe.[37] He apologized to Wurtzbach outside the venue and later tweeted an apology to both contestants.[38][39][40]

Harvey also hosted the Miss Universe 2016 pageant in the Philippines on January 30, 2017, telling the Miss Universe Organization that he wanted to personally apologize to the Filipinos for the incident that occurred in the last Miss Universe pageant he hosted.[41]

He returned as host for the Miss Universe 2017 pageant in Las Vegas on November 26, 2017.

Harvey is set to host the Miss Universe 2018 pageant in Thailand on December 16, 2018.[42]

Variety specials
In October 2016, it was announced that Harvey would host two revival specials of Showtime at the Apollo for Fox.[43]

In 2017, Harvey began hosting a New Year's Eve special from Times Square for Fox (which, like his talk show, would be produced in partnership with IMG).[44]Two days before the broadcast, Harvey was ordained in the state of New York so he could officiate an on-air wedding between Keven Undergaro and Maria Menounos during the special.[45] The special was Fox's most-watched New Year's Eve broadcast to date.[46]

Political commentary
In August 2011, on his radio show, Harvey called Cornel West and Tavis Smiley, "Uncle Toms", because of their criticism of President Barack Obama.[47] Harvey later apologized for using the slur but maintained his criticism of West and Smiley.[48][49] In January 2017, Harvey was met with backlash from some in the African-American community for his decision to meet with then-President-electDonald Trump. He defended his decision, citing that it would help spark positive changes,[50] but then later admitted on his talk show that he hopes to never run into Trump again.[51]

Comments about atheists
Harvey has received criticism for a May 30, 2009 book interview he gave on Larry King Live guest hosted by Joy Behar.[52] During that interview, he asserted that women should not date atheists who, he claimed, have no "moral barometer." He opined that atheists are "idiot[s]" and stated that his usual response to discussions with atheists is to walk away.[53][54]

Comments about Asian men
In January 2017, Steve Harvey made jokes on Steve Harvey about Asian men, ridiculing the idea that any white woman or black woman would want to date them. "Excuse me, do you like Asian men?", he said, "No, thank you." He went on to add, "I don’t even like Chinese food."[55] The remarks were met with criticism from members of the Asian American community, including New Yorkpoliticians and author Eddie Huang.[56][57] Harvey apologized on his talk show and Twitter, saying: "I offer my humblest apology for offending anyone, particularly those in the Asian community. ... "It was not my intention and the humor was not meant with any malice or disrespect whatsoever."[58]

Comments about Flint water crisis
In response to a caller from Flint, Michigan who insulted the Cleveland Cavaliers after their loss to the Golden State Warriors, Harvey, a Cavaliers fan, told the caller to "go have yourself a nice glass of brown water!" in reference to the city's water crisis. The joke was criticized by, among others, Amariyanna Copeny and Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, who demanded a public apology. Harvey responded by saying, "The caller and I were talking trash about our teams and cities. Simply trash talking about sports. I made a joke directed at him, as he is from Flint, a city for which I have great affection and respect. So much so that I devoted a full hour on my daytime talk show to raising awareness for the Flint water crisis. ... The caller laughed, as my joke was taken in the context it was offered."[59][60]

Personal life
Harvey has been married three times and has seven children (4 biological and 3 stepchildren). From his first marriage, to Marcia Harvey, he has two daughters (twins Brandi and Karli) and one son (Broderick Harvey Jr).[61][11][62] From his second marriage, to Mary Shackelford, Harvey has another son named Wynton.[63][64] The couple divorced in November 2005.[65]

In 2011, Collin County, Texas-based 199th District Court Judge Robert Dry expressed concern about Mary Harvey spreading false information about the divorce, with the judge suggesting that she had not been left materially destitute.[66][67]

In June 2007, he married Marjorie Bridges, who he says is responsible for making him a better man and changing his life. Marjorie Harvey is mother to three children (Morgan, Jason, and Lori). Steve raises them as his own. Steve and Marjorie have four grandchildren: two through Jason's marriage to his wife Amanda, one through Morgan's marriage to her husband Kareem and one through Karli's marriage to husband Ben.[68]

Harvey and his family divide their time between Atlanta, where his radio show is broadcast and Family Feud is recorded, and Chicago, where he hosts his talk show for NBCUniversal from the company's Chicago studios, although he will host his radio show there as well.[69]

Harvey is a Christian.[70]

Awards and honors

 * Four-time winner: NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002)
 * Three-time winner: NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Comedy Series (as executive producer/star of The Steve Harvey Show – 2000, 2001, 2002)
 * 2001: NAACP Image Awards Entertainer of the Year
 * 2007: Syndicated Personality/Show of the Year – Radio & Recordsmagazine[71]
 * 2011: BET Humanitarian Award – 2011 BET Awards[72]
 * 2013: Favorite New Talk Show Host – 39th People's Choice Awards[73]
 * 2013: Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame[7][74]
 * 2013: Marconi Award winner - Network/Syndicated Personality of the Year
 * Three-time winner: NAACP Image Awards Outstanding News/Talk/Info Series(as executive producer/host of Steve Harvey – 2014, 2015, 2017)[75]
 * 2014: Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host - Family Feud[76]
 * 2014: Daytime Emmy Award for Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Informative (as host/executive producer of Steve Harvey)[76]
 * 2014: NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame inductee (Radio)
 * 2015: East 112th Street in Cleveland renamed Steve Harvey Way[10]
 * 2015: NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Host – Talk/Reality/Variety/News/Information[75]
 * 2015: Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Informative (as host/executive producer of Steve Harvey)[77]
 * 2015: Marconi Award winner - Network/Syndicated Personality of the Year
 * 2016: NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Host - Talk/Reality/Variety/News/Information
 * 2016: NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Variety Series/Special (as host of Family Feud)
 * 2016: Honorary Doctorate Degree Received at Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama
 * 2017: Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Informative Talk Show Host - Steve Harvey[78]
 * 2017: Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host – Family Feud[78]
 * 2018: Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Informative Talk Show Host - Steve[79]