Mo Rocca
| Mo Rocca | |
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 Mo Rocca in 2008 |
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| Pseudonym | Mo Rocca |
| Birth name | Maurice Alberto Rocca |
| Born | January 28, 1969 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Medium | Television, Radio, Blog |
| Nationality | American |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Genres | Political satire |
| Notable works and roles | The Daily Show The Tonight Show Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! CBS News Sunday Morning |
Maurice Alberto "Mo" Rocca (born January 28, 1969) is an American writer, journalist, comedian, and political satirist.
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Early life and work [edit]
Rocca was born in Washington, D.C.; his mother was of Colombian descent and his father of Italian descent. He attended Georgetown Preparatory School, the Jesuit boys school in North Bethesda, Maryland. He graduated from Harvard University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in literature.[1] He served as president of Harvard's Hasty Pudding Theatricals, performing in four of the company's notorious burlesques and co-authoring one (Suede Expectations).[2] He is openly gay.[3][4]
Career [edit]
Writing and producing [edit]
Rocca began his career acting on stage in the Southeast Asia tour of the musical Grease (1993) and Paper Mill Playhouse's South Pacific (1994).
His first television work was as a writer and producer for the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning children's television series, Wishbone. He also wrote for The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss on Nickelodeon and ABC's Pepper Ann.
He served as a consulting editor to the men's magazine Perfect 10.[5][dead link]
Satire and journalism [edit]
From 1998 to 2003, Rocca was a regular contributor to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which gave him his start in television.[6] His work included campaign coverage for Indecision 2000 and a regular feature called "That's Quite Interesting".[7]
In 2004 he served as a convention floor correspondent for Larry King Live at both major party political conventions.
He was a regular correspondent for NBC's The Tonight Show from 2004 to 2008, and covered the 2008 election for NBC as well as for MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann.
Rocca is a regular correspondent to CBS News Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood. His work includes commentaries on politics and pop culture, cover stories, features and profiles (Loretta Lynn, Natalie Portman). He states,
“I loved doing television field pieces and I’ve done a lot of them. If you combine The Daily Show with The Tonight Show with my gig on Sunday Morning, I see them all as part of one continuum in a way. Three- to six-minute stories with my point of view...and participating in one degree or another in the story…I love doing that.”[8]
Rocca is a regular panelist on the NPR game show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
In 2011 Rocca did some straight reporting features for various CBS programs, including The Early Show and the CBS Evening News. In 2012 he became a regular contributor to the new CBS This Morning.
Author [edit]
Rocca's satirical novel, All the Presidents' Pets: The Story of One Reporter who Refused to Roll Over, deals with presidents and was published by Crown Books in 2004.[9]
Food and other television [edit]
Rocca hosts Food(ography) on the Cooking Channel cable network. He was a regular judge on the Food Network's Iron Chef America. He is currently hosting a program on the Cooking Channel called My Grandmother's Ravioli, in which he travels across the United States, "cooking with his elders".[6]
Rocca was a commentator on VH1's I Love the '70s and I Love the '80s. He was the host of Things I Hate About You on Bravo and was the host of Whoa! Sunday, which premiered in 2005 on Animal Planet. He also made a guest appearance on Law & Order.
Broadway [edit]
On Broadway, Rocca played the role of Vice Principal Douglas Panch in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
Film and other media [edit]
Rocca appeared in the 2005 film Bewitched. In 2007 he appeared in the indie family sci-fi comedy I'll Believe You with fellow Daily Show alum Ed Helms.
Rocca contributed to AOL Newsbloggers.[10] His blog was titled Mo Rocca 180°: Only Half as Tedious as the Regular News.
References [edit]
- ^ Mo Rocca, Celebrity College Flashback, US News
- ^ CAROLYN KLARECKI, "Mo Rocca: from TV-loving tyke to mass-media personality", Michigan Daily, 29 September 2009, accessed 22 March 2012
- ^ Kennedy, Ed (July 28, 2011). "Morning Meme: Dan Savage Calls Out Rick Santorum, "Glee" Needs Robots, and Tom Felton Talks Slashfic". AfterElton. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
- ^ "Back Sweat Index". The Six Pack. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
- ^ "Politics and Humor With Mo Rocca", Washington Post Chat, 17 April 2003
- ^ a b Als, Hilton (29 October 2012). "Critic's Notebook: Hear This". The New Yorker.
- ^ Mo Rocca page on Comedy Central
- ^ Mo Rocca: from TV-loving tyke to mass-media personality
- ^ Julie Hinds, "Mo Rocca Takes Satire To A Presidential Level", Detroit Free Press, carried at Orlando Sentinel, 15 October 2004, accessed 22 March 2012
- ^ "Mo Rocca 180°: Only Half as Tedious as the Regular News", Newsbloggers
External links [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mo Rocca |
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- 1969 births
- American comedians
- American people of Colombian descent
- American people of Italian descent
- American satirists
- American television personalities
- LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people
- Harvard University alumni
- LGBT broadcasters
- LGBT comedians
- Living people
- Writers from Washington, D.C.
- The Daily Show correspondents and contributors
- LGBT entertainers from the United States
