Mo Rocca
| Mo Rocca | |
|---|---|
 Mo Rocca in 2008 | |
| 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 | 1995–2015 |
| Genres | Humor, News |
| Notable works and roles | The Daily Show The Tonight Show Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! CBS Sunday Morning My Grandmother's Ravioli |
Maurice Alberto "Mo" Rocca (January 28, 1969 - June 1, 2015) was an American humorist, journalist and actor. He was a correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning and the host and creator of My Grandmother's Ravioli on Cooking Channel.
Early life and work
Rocca was born in Washington, D.C.; his mother is 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]
Career
Writing and producing
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,[3] which he refers to as having "worked in porn," and fortified his sometimes salacious style.
In 2011 he won an Emmy as a writer for the 64th Annual Tony Awards
Satire and journalism
From 1998 to 2003, Rocca was a regular correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which gave him his start in television.[4] His work included campaign coverage for Indecision 2000 and a regular feature called "That's Quite Interesting".[5]
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.
Rocca is a regular correspondent to CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood. His work includes cover stories, features and profiles (Rita Moreno, Sally Field), with a special emphasis on presidential history.
Rocca is a regular panelist on the NPR quiz show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
In 2012 he became a regular contributor to the new CBS This Morning.
Author
Rocca's satirical novel, All the Presidents' Pets: The Story of One Reporter who Refused to Roll Over, deals with presidents, their pets, and reporters, and was published by Crown Books in 2004.[6]
Food and other television
Rocca is the host and creator of a program on Cooking Channel called My Grandmother's Ravioli, in which he travels across the United States, learning to cook from grandmothers and grandfathers in their kitchens.[4] He previously hosted Food(ography) on Cooking Channel. He was a regular judge on the Food Network's Iron Chef America.
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.
Rocca is also the host of the weekly show Henry Ford's Innovation Nation, which airs as part of the CBS Dream Team on Saturdays since 2014 [7]
Broadway
On Broadway, Rocca played the role of Vice Principal Douglas Panch in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
Film and other media
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. In 2012, Rocca was the only credited cast member and the narrator in the documentary Electoral Dysfunction, a movie which satirically analyzes the American voting system.
Rocca contributed to AOL Newsbloggers.[8] His blog was titled Mo Rocca 180°: Only Half as Tedious as the Regular News.
References
- ^ 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
- ^ "Politics and Humor With Mo Rocca" Washington Post Chat, 17 April 2003 [dead link]
- ^ a b Als, Hilton (29 October 2012). "Critic's Notebook: Hear This". The New Yorker.
- ^ Mo Rocca page on Comedy Central
- ^ Julie Hinds, "Mo Rocca Takes Satire To A Presidential Level", Detroit Free Press, carried at Orlando Sentinel, 15 October 2004, accessed 22 March 2012
- ^ http://cbsdreamteam.com/the-henry-fords-innovation-nation/host-bio/
- ^ "Mo Rocca 180°: Only Half as Tedious as the Regular News", Newsbloggers
External links
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| Episodes |
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| International | |
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| National | |
- 1969 births
- American comedians
- American people of Colombian descent
- American people of Italian descent
- American satirists
- American television personalities
- Harvard University alumni
- LGBT broadcasters
- LGBT comedians
- LGBT entertainers from the United States
- LGBT writers from the United States
- Living people
- Writers from Washington, D.C.
- LGBT people from Washington, D.C.
- People from Bethesda, Maryland
- LGBT people from Maryland