Stephanie Miller

Infobox Comedian
name = Stephanie Miller


imagesize = 225px
caption = Stephanie Miller
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birth_date = Birth date and age|1961|9|29
birth_place = USA
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medium = Stand-up comedian - Television - Radio
nationality = American
active =
genre = Political satire - Observational comedy - Wit - Word play
subject =
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website = [http://www.stephaniemiller.com The Stephanie Miller Show]
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emmyawards =

Stephanie Katherine Miller (born September 29 1961) is an American comedian and host of "The Stephanie Miller Show", a progressive 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. [ [http://www.talkers.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=44 TALKERS magazine - Heavy Hundred 2007 ] ] She is the daughter of former U.S. Representative William E. Miller, who was Barry Goldwater's running mate in the 1964 presidential election.

Miller's radio show was briefly televised live from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. Eastern Time on MSNBC from April 30, 2007 to May 2, 2007. During this period, the show originated from MSNBC's studio in Secaucus, New Jersey, the studios and time slot formerly used by the now-cancelled "Imus in the Morning". [ [http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-25-2007/0004573906&EDATE= MSNBC Selects the Stephanie Miller Show to Fill the Former Imus Early Morning Program Slot for Three Days Next Week ] ] After the stint, she said that she was not interested in the position full-time. [ [http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/entertainment/columns/article_1691930.php Entertainment: Radio: Elder calls MSNBC stint a 'blast' - OCRegister.com ] ]

Early life

Miller grew up on Willow Street in Lockport, New York. After completing her secondary education in private Catholic schools, she attended the University of Southern California, earning a degree in theater. [http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/news/profiles/Stephanie+Miller/ Stephanie Miller - News & Opinion - Rochester City Newspaper ] ]

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. [http://www.wydmedia.com/smiller.html Wyd Media Managemnt ] ]

Acting roles

Early in her career, Miller had several small acting jobs, such as appearing as a nun in the 1984 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". [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0589352/ Stephanie Miller (I) ] ]

Radio and television career

Miller returned to Lockport for an on-air job at radio station WLVL. [ [http://www.lockport-ny.com/media.htm Niagara Frontier Media Monitor ] ] In 1985 she went to WCMF in Rochester, New York to work as "Sister Sleaze" on the "Brother Wease Show". 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. [http://www.radioguide.com/magazine/vol3no1/stephy/steph.htm]

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. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,983512,00.html Joining The Boys' Club - Time ] ] The show was cancelled after just 13 weeks.

Miller returned to Los Angeles radio in 1997, [ [http://www.variety.com/vstory/VR1117341918.html?categoryid=38&cs=1 Miller signs on for Zone radio show - Entertainment News, VPage, Media - Variety ] ] 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". She also served as a frequent panelist on the PAX TV game show "Balderdash", which was hosted by Miller's personal friend, Elayne Boosler.

Current show

In September 2004, "The Stephanie Miller Show" was launched by Democracy Radio and WYD Media Management. The live show is broadcast weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon Eastern Time in dozens of U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

Miller is often referred to on the show as 'Mama' (or 'Jiggles') by both listeners and her co-hosts. These numerous references can be heard in free bits on her website or by purchasing a "Stephcast" subscription, whereby users can download all of her shows for a monthly or yearly fee. She, and listeners, call her two co-hosts 'the Mooks'. Her cohosts, impressionist Jim Ward and producer Chris Lavoie, often share their own opinions and arguments. Miller's program is widely popular (for example, she is ranked #2 in Los Angeles [ [http://www.wydmedia.com/index.php?page=press Wyd Media - Press ] ] She also stated that she beat the "Armstrong & Getty" radio program in San Francisco in her first ratings book. She often shares personal details about her life, from something as simple to a household appliance not working to much more intimate details, about sweat, insomnia, and even what she calls "shy pee syndrome", which is actually paruresis. She also covers a great deal of celebrity news/gossip and off-the-wall stories.

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 & 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. [ [http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3693 The BRAD BLOG : EXCLUSIVE: Unredacted Death Threat Letter to Stephanie Miller ] ]

On April 30, 2007 through May 2, 2007, Miller filled in for the recently fired Don Imus on MSNBC's 6AM - 9AM EDST time slot. Miller and her on-air staff received generally favorable reviews for their appearance. A fan petition was started to make the show the permanent replacement for the Imus MSNBC show. Joe Scarborough's show "Morning Joe" has now taken over this time slot. [ [http://www.millionphonemarch.com/keep_stephanie.php Keep Stephanie Miller on MSNBC ] ]

Sirius Satellite Radio, which had been running Miller during prime time hours (afternoon commute time) on their liberal "LEFT" channel canceled her show in November 2007. However, on November 30, 2007, Miller announced that Sirius Left will air one hour of the show at 8 PM Eastern beginning on December 3, 2007 [ [http://www.stephaniemiller.com/blog.php?Date=20071130 Stephanie Miller ] ] .

In late January 2008 her show on "Green 960," San Francisco's Air America outlet, was cut from three hours to one. She had been on from 6am to 9am PST but was replaced in the 7am to 9am "prime drive-time" slot with local talent. This decision has provoked controversy, however, as many listeners were upset by the decision. After only two weeks off the air in that time slot, Miller's show was reinstated to the full three hours due to the large volume of correspondence sent to Green 960 from its listeners. [ [http://www.green960.com GREEN 960AM, KKGN ] ]

Personal life

Miller has never been married, though she has compiled a long list of "future husbands". 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; [ [http://chesterthestbernard.com/index.html Chester, The Water-loving, Pool-hopping, Salad-eating, St. Bernard Dog ] ] 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 and how sad her life would be now that he was gone. Miller has done promotional events for animal welfare organizations. She recently shared with the audience that she has been ill with mercury poisoning and is down to a size zero as of October 15, 2007.

References

External links

* [http://www.stephaniemiller.com Stephanie Miller's official web site]
* [http://www.stephipedia.com Stephipedia, a Wiki dedicated to Stephanie Miller]