Stephanie Miller
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Stephanie Miller (born September 29, 1961) is an American comedian and host of The Stephanie Miller Show, a liberal talk radio program produced in Los Angeles and syndicated nationally by Jones Radio Networks. Talkers magazine ranked her as the 36th most important radio talk show host in America for 2007. [1] She is the daughter of former U.S. Representative William E. Miller, who was Barry Goldwater's running mate in the 1964 presidential election.
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[edit] Early life
Miller grew up in Lockport, New York (about 25 miles north-northeast, or "just up the Transit" as she says, from Buffalo). After completing her secondary education in private Catholic schools, she attended the University of Southern California, earning a degree in theater. [2]
After graduation, Miller performed stand-up comedy at the Laugh Factory, the legendary Hollywood comedy club. Later in her career, she performed at many comedy clubs around New York and Los Angeles. [3]
[edit] Acting roles
Early in her career, Miller had several small acting jobs in the early 80's, including roles in movies such as Hog Wild, Hard Feelings, and in the cult 1981 slasher film Happy Birthday To Me. She even appeared as a nun in the 1984 made-for-tv movie Shattered Vows. After gaining prominence as a radio and TV host, she had roles where she essentially played herself, as in the movie View from the Top and an episode of the TV show Diagnosis Murder. Her most significant acting role was in the 1997 comedy film Just Write. [4]
[edit] Radio and television career
Miller returned to Lockport for an on-air job at radio station WLVL. [5] In 1985 she went to WCMF in Rochester, New York to work as "Sister Sleaze" on the Brother Wease Show. [6] She progressed to larger markets as morning co-host at hit music radio stations WCKG in Chicago and WQHT in New York. In 1993, Miller was hired by talk station KFI in Los Angeles, where she achieved high ratings with her own weeknight radio show. [7]
In the fall of 1995, Miller became one of the few women to host her own late night television talk show, The Stephanie Miller Show syndicated by Buena Vista Television. [8] The show was cancelled after just 13 weeks.
Miller returned to Los Angeles radio in 1997, [9] first at KTZN and then at KABC. Later that year, she also began co-hosting the CNBC television show Equal Time, as the liberal counterpoint to conservative Bay Buchanan.
In 2000, the game show I've Got a Secret was revived on the Oxygen cable TV network with Miller as host. The following year, she began co-hosting Oxygen's weekday TV magazine show, Pure Oxygen.
[edit] Current show
In September 2004, The Stephanie Miller Show was launched by Democracy Radio and WYD Media Management. [10] The live show is broadcast weekdays from 9 AM to 12 PM Eastern Time in dozens of U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. It is also replayed in the evening on Sirius Satellite Radio.
In 2006, Miller had numerous appearances on several cable news shows, such as Larry King Live, to represent the progressive political point of view. After an October 13, 2006 appearance on the Fox News program Hannity and Colmes, where Miller defended peace activist Cindy Sheehan, a viewer mailed an ominous letter to Fox News, which was interpreted as a death threat and forwarded to Miller's agent. The incident was notable because the letter's author included his phone number, and Miller took the unusual step of calling him live on her October 30, 2006 show. [11]
[edit] Personal life
Miller has never been married. She often mentions her dogs on her radio show; she currently lives with two Great Pyrenees (Puff and Max). Her best friend wrote a children's book inspired by Miller's St. Bernard Chester, [12] though Chester died a few months before the book's release in mid-2006. Her Newfoundland, Poo Bear, lived for two years with bone cancer before dying on March 30, 2007; she devoted a portion of her April 2 show to discussing his life. Miller has done promotional events for animal welfare organizations.
Miller has talked about some interesting personal facts on her show, such as:
- at different times in her life, she had a nose job, a facelift, and liposuction
- she attends daily exercise classes at a gym in Hollywood, where she often sees minor celebrities
- she was once the victim of identity theft
- her first presidential vote was for Ronald Reagan
[edit] References
- "Heavy hundred 2007", Talkers magazine, February 2007. Retrieved on February 24, 2007.
- Netsky, Ron. "Stephanie Miller: From Sister Sleaze to progressive radio queen", Rochester City Newspaper, January 17, 2007. Retrieved on February 24, 2007.
- "Popular progressive voice returns to radio", WYD Media Management (press release), September 7, 2004. Retrieved on February 24, 2007.
- "Stephanie Miller (I)", The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on February 24, 2007.
- "Stephanie's back", Lockport-NY.com: Media Monitor, February 7, 2006. Retrieved on February 24, 2007.
- Alafi, Shireen. "Hear her purr, hear her roar", Los Angeles Radio Guide, vol 3 no 1, 1997. Retrieved on February 24, 2007.
- Bellafante, Gina. "Joining the boys club", Time Magazine, October 2, 1995. Retrieved on February 24, 2007.
- Richmond, Ray. "Miller signs on for Zone radio show", Variety, May 5, 1997. Retrieved on February 24, 2007.
- Friedman, Brad. "Unredacted death threat letter to Stephanie Miller" (this includes a link to the audio of the phone call), The Brad Blog, October 30, 2006. Retrieved on February 24, 2007.
