Howard Allan Stern
Howard Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He was born on January 12, 1954 into a Jewish family who lived in Jackson Heights, Queens in New York City. His parents Ben and Ray are children of Austro-Hungarian immigrants, and his sister Ellen is four years older than he. The family moved to the hamlet of Roosevelt on Long Island in 1955, where Howard developed an interest in radio at five years of age. While Ray was a homemaker and later an inhalation therapist, Ben was a co-owner of Aura Recording, Inc., a recording studio in Manhattan where cartoons and commercials were produced. When he made occasional visits with his father, Howard witnessed actors Wally Cox, Don Adams and Larry Storch voice his favorite cartoon characters, which influenced him to later talk on the air rather than play records. Ben was also an engineer at WHOM, a radio station in Manhattan.
Howard spent the first two of four years at Boston University in the College of Basic Studies. In 1973, he started to work at WTBU, the campus radio station where he spun records, read the news, and hosted interviews. He also hosted a comedy program with three fellow students called The King Schmaltz Bagel Hour. Howard gained admission to the School of Public Communications in 1974 and earned a diploma in July 1975 at the Radio Engineering Institute of Electronics in Fredericksburg, Virginia which allowed him to apply for a first class FCC radio-telephone license. With the license, he made his professional debut at WNTN in Newton, Massachusetts, performing airshift, newscasting and production duties between August and December 1975. He graduated magna cum laude from Boston University in May 1976 with a degree in Communications and now funds a scholarship at the university.
After his graduation in 1976, Howard declined an offer to work evenings at WRNW, a progressive rock station in Briarcliff Manor, Westchester County, New York. He was unsure of his talent, and questioned his future in the professional industry. He took creative and media planning roles at Benton & Bowles, a New York advertising agency, followed by a job in selling radio time to advertisers. He realized the mistake of declining on-air work and contacted WRNW a second time where he agreed to work covering shifts over the Christmas holiday period.Stern was hired full time in 1977 and worked a four-hour midday shift, six days per week a $96 weekly salary. He subsequently worked as the station's production and program director for an increased salary of $250dIn 1979, Howard spotted an advertisement for a "wild, fun morning guy" at rock station WCCC in Hartford, Connecticut. He submitted a more outrageous audition tape with Robert Klein and Cheech and Chong records mixed with flatulence routines and one-liners. He was hired with no change in salary with a more intense schedule. After four hours on the air he voiced and produced commercials for another four. On Saturdays, following a six-hour show, he did production work for the next three. As the station's public affairs director he also hosted a Sunday morning talk show which he favoured. In the summer of the 1979 energy crisis, Howard held a two-day boycott of Shell Oil Company which attracted media attention. Stern left WCCC a year later after he was declined a pay increase. Fred Norris, the overnight disc jockey, has been Howard's producer and writer since 1981.
Management at rock outlet WWWW in Detroit, Michigan praised Howard's audition tape in their search for a new morning man. He was hired for the job which he started on April 21, 1980. He learned to become more open on the air and "decided to cut down the barriers...strip down all the ego...and be totally honest", he later told Newsday. His efforts earned him a Billboard award for "Album-Oriented Rock Personality of the Year For a Major Market" and the Drake-Chenault "Top Five Talent Search" title. The station however, ran into problems after Howard's quarterly Arbitron ratings had decreased while it struggled to compete with its stronger rock competitors. In January 1981, WWWW switched to a country music format much to Howard's dislike, who left the station soon after.
In 1981, he was paired with his current newscaster and co-host Robin Quivers at WWDC in Washington, D.C. Howard then moved to WNBC in New York City in 1982 to host afternoons until his firing in 1985. He re-emerged on WXRK that year, and became one of the most popular radio personalities during his 20-year tenure at the station. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style. His show is the most-fined radio program, after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued fines to station licensees for allegedly indecent material that totaled $2.5 million. Howard has won Billboard's Nationally Syndicated Air Personality of the Year award eight times, and is one of the highest-paid figures in radio.
Howard describes himself as the "King of All Media" for his ventures outside radio. Since 1987, he has hosted numerous late night television shows, pay-per-view events and home video releases. He embarked on a five-month political campaign for Governor of New York in 1994. His two books, Private Parts (1993) and Miss America (1995), spent 20 and 16 weeks respectively on The New York Times Best Seller list. The former was adapted into Private Parts (1997), a biographical comedy film that starred Stern and his radio show staff that earned $41.2 million in domestic revenue.
Howard married his first wife, Alison, on June 4, 1978 at Temple Ohabei Shalom in Brookline, Massachusetts. They have three daughters: Emily Beth, Debra Jennifer, and Ashley Jade. On October 22, 1999, Howard announced their decision to separate. The marriage ended in 2001 with an amicable divorce and settlement.
In 2000, Howard began to date model Beth Ostrosky, co-host of Casino Cinema from 2004 to 2007. She also frequently appeared in the American edition of FHM. On February 14, 2007 Howard announced their engagement. They married on October 3, 2008, at Le Cirque restaurant in New York City.
While attending Boston University, Howard developed an interest in Transcendental Meditation, which he practices to this day. He credits it with aiding him in quitting smoking and achieving his goals in radio. Stern has interviewed Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of the technique, twice.
So Howard was born and raised in a Jewish home, but in college he began practicing Transcendental Meditation -- demonic to the core. Please pray for Howard that God will show him the evil behind this practice and that He will send "sent ones" into Howard's life to show him the truth of the gospel. Pray that he will find eternal life at the foot of the cross!