The TV host was born in New York City on January 20, 1956. His father, William, was a network news editor and radio announcer, and his mother, Julie, was a nurse.
Bill was primarily raised as a Catholic, and when he was a teenager, he found out that his mother had a Jewish background. He stopped going to church at the age of 13 after his father disagreed with the Roman Catholic Church's belief about birth control.
Despite being born in New York City, Bill and his sister were raised in River Vale, New Jersey.
He graduated from Pascack Hills High School in 1974 and continued his education at Cornell University, double majoring in English and History.
After graduating from college in 1978, Bill began his career as a comedian and actor. In 1979, he was the host of Catch a Rising Star in New York City.
In 1982, he began appearing on shows like the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and David Letterman's Late Show.
His feature film debut came in 1983 in the movie D.C. Cab. From the mid-1980s, he began appearing on various television shows in limited roles, including
- Sara (1985)
- Max Headroom (1987)
- Murder, She Wrote (1989, 1990)
- Charlie Hoover (1991).
Other films he appeared in during this period are
- Ratboy (1986)
- House II: The Second Story (1987)
- Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death (1988)
- Newhart (1988)
- Pizza Man (1991)
He also hosted the famous talk show Midnight Hour on CBS in 1990. The role that put him on the map was his position as a host on the late-night political talk show Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, which ran on Comedy Central from 1993 to 1997 and on ABC from 1997 to 2002. When Politically Incorrect was canceled in 2002, Maher didn't let that deter him.
In 2003, he became the host, co-producer, and co-writer of the new HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher. The show follows a similar format to Politically Incorrect but features fewer celebrities and more experts on topical subjects, such as journalists, professors, and politicians.
Maher has never been married. However, in the year 2003, he began dating former Playboy Cyber Girl Coco Johnsen - the relationship lasted for 17 months. After the relationship ended, Johnsen sued Maher for $9 million, citing "pain and suffering" and alleged that he had promised to marry her. The lawsuit was dismissed in May 2005.
He has also been romantically involved with best-selling author and former model Karrine Steffans, science educator and journalist Cara Santa Maria, and singer Anjulie Persaud.
Maher identifies himself as an agnostic, apatheist, and atheist. He does not like to be labeled with one label and has been highly critical of religious beliefs and considers religion highly destructive. His beliefs won him the Richard Dawkins Award from the Atheist Alliance international in 2009.
Although controversial, Bill Maher has managed to become a successful TV host with many achievements, as evidenced in this breakdown of Bill Maher net worth.
READ ALSO: Ozzy Osbourne children: Who are the heavy metal legend’s kids?
Legit.ng recently published a detailed piece about the children of British musician Ozzy Osbourne.
Ozzy fronted the heavy metal band Black Sabbath before embarking on a successful solo career. He later became a reality TV star with The Osbournes, a reality television program featuring the life of his family. Through the series, fans of the singer got to see Ozzy Osbourne children grow up with their rockstar dad and celebrity mum.
How many children does Ozzy have? And who are their mothers?
Source: Legit.ng
