Stephen Colbert, the sharp-tongued satirist who turned political absurdity into prime-time gold, celebrates his 61st birthday on May 13, 2026 – but the milestone arrives under a cloud of uncertainty. Just months after CBS announced in July 2025 that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert would wrap after the 2025-26 season, fans are toasting the host’s legacy while speculating on what’s next for the man who’s roasted everyone from presidents to popes.

Born Stephen Tyrone Colbert on May 13, 1964, in Washington, D.C., and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, the future late-night icon grew up in a large Catholic family as the youngest of 11 children. His father, James William Colbert Jr., a respected doctor and dean at Yale and other medical schools, and mother Lorna Elizabeth (Tuck) instilled values of humor and faith that would later define his persona. Tragedy struck early: In 1974, a plane crash killed his father and two brothers, leaving young Stephen to cope through comedy. “Humor was my way of processing grief,” he later reflected in a 2015 interview with The New York Times. That resilience? It’s the backbone of a career that’s spanned improv stages, Emmy wins, and billions of YouTube views.

Colbert’s path to stardom was anything but linear. After studying theater at Northwestern’s prestigious program, he dove into Chicago’s improv scene with the famed Second City troupe and co-founded the Upright Citizens Brigade. Early gigs included writing for Saturday Night Live and MTV, but his big break came in 1997 as a correspondent on The Daily Show under Jon Stewart. Billed as “The New Guy,” Colbert’s deadpan delivery of fake news segments quickly made him indispensable. He filled in as host multiple times, honing the bombastic, right-wing pundit character that would launch his solo stardom.

In 2005, The Colbert Report premiered on Comedy Central as a Daily Show spin-off, transforming Colbert into a cultural force. For nine seasons, his “Stephen Colbert” alter ego – a parody of Fox News blowhards – skewered conservatives while subtly dismantling their logic. The show won multiple Emmys and Peabodys, and Colbert’s 2006 White House Correspondents’ Dinner roast of George W. Bush remains legendary for its unflinching patriotism critique. “I believe the government should stand up for what it believes in – even if what it believes in is wrong,” he quipped, leaving the room stunned.

Success bred expansion. Colbert hosted the 2014 Emmy Awards with razor wit, earning rave reviews, and launched The Late Show on CBS in 2015 after David Letterman’s retirement. Inheriting Ed Sullivan Theater, he blended monologue rants, celebrity interviews, and viral sketches – like his 2016 “Hunger Striker” bit protesting Trump’s Muslim ban. The show dominated ratings for nine straight seasons, pulling in 2.5 million viewers nightly and spawning hits like Stephen Colbert Presents: Tooning Out the News. Off-screen, he’s produced After Midnight (2024-2025) and joined the 2023 Strike Force Five podcast with fellow hosts Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, and John Oliver to support WGA strikers.

Colbert’s influence extends beyond laughs. A devout Catholic, he’s moderated fundraisers like the March 2024 Biden-Clinton-Obama event that raised $25 million for Democrats. In November 2025, he endorsed New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill. His comedy has shaped discourse: Post-2016 election, segments like “Meanwhile…” highlighted underreported stories, from climate change to immigrant rights. Yet, his Trump-era barbs – including a 2017 “cunnilingus” joke that sparked #FireColbert – drew conservative ire, with some crediting them for the show’s impending end. CBS insists it’s “purely financial,” citing declining ad revenue across late-night, but pundits point to Colbert’s second Trump administration critiques as a factor.

Awards pile high: 16 Emmys, three Grammys for spoken-word albums, and a 2025 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Ben & Jerry’s even named “Stephen Colbert’s AmeriCone Dream” ice cream after him in 2007 – a vanilla base with fudge-covered waffle cone pieces and blue/red sprinkles. Personally, Colbert married high school sweetheart Evelyn McGee in 1993; they have three children – daughters Madeline and Peter, and son William – and live quietly in Montclair, New Jersey. He’s open about his faith, once telling Wired in 2015, “I love the thing we can’t know,” crediting it for his optimism amid loss.

As The Late Show bows out in May 2026 after 33 years of the franchise, Colbert’s future buzzes with possibility. August 2025 reports peg him for a guest-hosting stint on CBS’s Elsbeth, reuniting with improv pal Amy Sedaris. He’s slated for the December 2025 Ripple of Hope Award from Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and became Honorary Patron of Trinity College Dublin’s Philosophical Society in March 2025. Whispers of a Netflix special or Broadway return – he originated You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown in 1992 – circulate, but Colbert stays mum, quipping in a recent Variety interview: “I’m like a bad magician – I reveal the trick too soon.”

On his birthday, tributes flood in. Jon Stewart tweeted: “61 looks great on you, Stephen – keep punching up.” President Biden called him “America’s conscience with a mic.” Fans trend #HappyBirthdayColbert, sharing clips from his 2019 Tony Awards hosting to his 2024 debate fallout monologue urging Biden to step aside.

Colbert’s career proves satire’s power: It entertains, educates, and endures. As he navigates this pivot, one thing’s certain – whatever comes next, it’ll be hilariously unmissable. Happy birthday, Stephen: May your next chapter be as bold as your best burns.