"My mother raised me in the church. I was not allowed to stay home on Sunday; there was no option. I sang in the choir all the way up until I went to college." -- Steve Harvey
Broderick Steven "Steve" Harvey (born January 17, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, entertainer, television & radio personality and best-selling author. He is best known as the star of the WB sitcom The Steve Harvey Show, and as one of the four comedians featured in the Spike Lee film The Original Kings of Comedy. Currently, he is the host of the nationally syndicated radio program The Steve Harvey Morning Show, and the sixth host of the television game show Family Feud. He is the author of What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy, and Commitment, which was published in March 2009.
"Comedians walk out, get a feel for the crowd. If it's not going good, we change directions. If we got to drag your momma into this thing, we will. Whatever we got to do.""God lets you be successful because he trusts you that you will do the right thing with it. Now, does he get disappointed often? All the time, because people get there and they forget how they got it.""Hollywood is run by people who sit up in their executive office, who are not connected to Mississippi, Alabama, Chicago, South Carolina. They know nothing about that, they don't go to church, and they make their decisions about what they think is right.""I don't want to be 60 years old standing on stage telling some jokes. I want my life to mean something.""I'm a comedian first. I've learned how to act. I just draw on life experiences and that's how I've learned. I didn't take classes or anything. I don't need no classroom."
Harvey was born in Welch, West Virginia, the son of Eloise and Jesse Harvey, a coal miner. His family moved to Cleveland, Ohio where he graduated from Glenville High School in 1974. Shortly after high school he attended Kent State University and the University of Virginia and was a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity]]. He has had previous occupations, including a boxer and an insurance salesman.
Comedy career
Steve Harvey first performed stand-up comedy on October 8, 1985 at the Hilarities Comedy Club in Cleveland, Ohio. He was a finalist in Second Annual Johnnie Walker National Comedy Search in 1989, 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 wildly popular in the African-American community (the show won multiple NAACP Image Awards), the show never achieved critical acclaim outside of the African-American community, a matter about which Harvey has often complained.
In 1997, Harvey continued his work in stand-up comedy, touring as one of the Kings of Comedy, 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. Harvey released a hip hop and R&B audio CD on a record label he founded, and authored a book, Steve Harvey's Big Time. That title was also used as the name of Harvey's comedy and variety television show (later renamed Steve Harvey's Big Time Challenge) which aired on The WB network from 2003 until 2005. Harvey also launched a clothing line which features the 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.
In 2008, Harvey hosted the Disney Dreamers Academy with Steve Harvey, 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. Harvey along with a team of judges chose 100 teens to attend the event.
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
On January 20, 2010, it was announced that Steve will begin hosting the game show Family Feud starting in September 2010, replacing host John O'Hurley.
Personal life
Harvey has been married three times and has four biological children. He has twin daughters, Karli and Brandi (born 1982) and a son, Broderick Jr. (born 1991), from his first marriage. Harvey also has another son, Wynton (born 1997), from his second marriage to Mary Lee Shackelford. The couple divorced in November 2005.
In June 2007 he married his current wife, Marjorie Bridges, who he says is responsible for making him a better man and changing his life. The Harveys live in Atlanta, Georgia with four of their youngest children as a "blended family".
Harvey is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc and is a born-again Christian.
In 2007, Harvey won the Syndicated Personality/Show of the Year award by Radio & Records magazine. Other finalists included: Delilah, Blair Garner, Kidd Kraddick, The Lia Show and John Tesh.
