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Stephanie Miller

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Stephanie Miller
Miller in 2006
Birth nameStephanie Catherine Miller
Born (1961-09-29) September 29, 1961 (age 63)
Washington, D.C., United States
MediumStand-up, television, radio
NationalityAmerican
GenresPolitical satire, observational comedy
WebsiteThe Stephanie Miller Show

Stephanie Catherine Miller (born September 29, 1961) is an American political commentator, comedian, and host of The Stephanie Miller Show, a liberal talk radio program produced in Los Angeles and syndicated nationally by Dial Global. In 2012, Talkers magazine ranked her the 11th most important radio talk show host out of 13 syndicated radio programs broadcast in America.[1]

Early life

Miller was born in Washington, D.C.[2] and grew up on Willow Street in Lockport, New York. She is the daughter of Stephanie (Wagner) and former U.S. Representative William E. Miller, who was Barry Goldwater's running mate in the 1964 presidential election and a Chairman of the Republican National Committee.[3] After completing her secondary education in private Catholic schools, she attended the University of Southern California, earning a degree in theatre.[4]

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.[5]

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 and as a nurse in the 1981 horror film Happy Birthday to Me. 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, a brief appearance as a nurse on General Hospital, and she was in an episode of the TV series Diagnosis: Murder. Her most significant acting role was in the 1997 comedy film Just Write.[6] Miller has made cameo appearances on Orange Is the New Black, Law & Order, Ray Donovan and Barbershop. Miller is good friends with Rosie O'Donnell and was a regular on The View during Ms. O'Donnell's tenure as show host.[citation needed]

Radio and television career

Miller returned to Lockport for an on-air job at radio station WLVL.[7] In 1985 she went to WCMF in Rochester, New York to work as "Sister Sleaze" on the Brother Wease Show.[4] 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.[8]

In the autumn 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.[9] The show was cancelled after 13 weeks.

Miller returned to Los Angeles radio in 1997,[10] 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 friend Elayne Boosler.

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-canceled Imus in the Morning.[11] After the stint, she said that she was not interested in the position full-time.[12]

Current show

Main article: The Stephanie Miller Show

In September 2004, The Stephanie Miller Show was launched by Democracy Radio and WYD Media Management.[5] The live show is broadcast weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon Eastern Time in U.S. cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Seattle and on XM Satellite Radio's Progress channel 127.[13]

Miller's program is widely popular; for example, she is ranked #2 in Los Angeles right behind "The Rush Limbaugh Program" [14] She also stated that she beat the "Armstrong & Getty" radio program in San Francisco in her first ratings book. The show's audience has grown substantially since its beginning, and had 2.5 million weekly listeners as of March 2010.[15][16]

Miller is often referred to on the show as 'Mama' (or 'Jiggles') by both listeners and her co-hosts. Her co-hosts, impressionist Jim Ward and producer Chris Lavoie, often share their own opinions and arguments. Miller often seems to jokingly call her co-hosts "mooks", or refers to them as "Voice deity Jim Ward and Boy-Toy Lavoie". Associate producer Rebekah Taylor (referred to by Miller as being surly) steps in to add some commentary early in the broadcast but is also utilized for her Ross Perot impression. Miller also has special guest co-hosts: Edie McClurg for "Mondays with McClurg", Aisha Tyler for "Tuesdays with Tyler", Hal Sparks on Wednesdays for "Hump Days with Hal", and John Fugelsang for "Fridays with Fugelsang."

She often shares personal details about her life, from something as simple as 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.

Sirius Satellite Radio, which had been running Miller during prime time hours (afternoon commute time) on their liberal "LEFT" channel 146, 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.[17] In August 2013, SiriusXM Left was renamed "SiriusXM Progress", and began airing Miller's entire show from 9 am to noon Eastern time.[18]

In late January 2008 her show on "Green 960" KKGN, 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.[19]

In November 2009, it was announced on the air that the show was soon to "go bi," meaning bicoastal. After an offhand remark by Miller on November 12, 2009 that she was having trouble packing up her house to move to New York elicited questions on her online blog,[20] it was formally announced that Miller would travel back and forth between New York City and Los Angeles.

On Friday, May 28, 2010, Stephanie announced on her radio show that "in July" she will be moving back to Los Angeles.[21] During the streaming coverage provided by Hal Sparks on the previous day, Stephanie mentioned off air (during a commercial break when the audio was only being broadcast via Sparks' streaming coverage) that she would be coming back to Los Angeles.

On March 5, 2012, Current TV announced that the show would be simulcast on the network's new morning block as Talking Liberally: The Stephanie Miller Show beginning March 26, 2012.[22] Her final Current TV broadcast was on August 15, 2013, as the channel became Al Jazeera America on August 20, 2013. The show moved to Free Speech TV on January 6, 2014 after a successful Indiegogo campaign by both Miller and Free Speech to raise the money needed to buy equipment and produce the TV side of the show.[23]

The 2014 Talkers Heavy Hundred list ranked Stephanie Miller as the 22nd most important radio talk show host in the United States.[24]

Other media appearances

In 2006, Miller had numerous appearances on several cable news shows, such as Larry King Live, to represent the progressive political point of view.

From April 30, 2007 to May 2, 2007, Miller filled in for the recently fired Don Imus on MSNBC's 6AM–9AM ET 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.[25]

More recently, Miller's Sexy Liberal Comedy Tour has toured the country to very high acclaim. Miller with regular cast members Hal Sparks, John Fugelsang, and other special guests brings together three “liberal comedians” for an evening of liberal humor and comment. A volume 1 (CD or MP3) of the tour is available online.

Personal life

Miller has never been married, though she has jokingly compiled a long list of "future husbands," most notably Keith Olbermann. She has recently come out as a practicing lesbian, although she says she is more pansexual and entertained the idea of marrying a man or transwoman for "procreative reasons" when she was younger.

She often mentions her dogs on her radio show and currently lives with two Great Pyrenees, Max & Fred. Oliver, a Tibetan Mastiff/Great Pyrenees mix, which Miller rescued in Spring of 2009, has new owners now due to a family crisis that had occurred and left Miller unable to train and care for him fully. She frequently had to travel from the West Coast to the East Coast, which left her little time to train Oliver. Her other Great Pyrenees, Puff, died on April 23, 2009.[26] Her best friend wrote a children's book inspired by Miller's St. Bernard Chester;[27] 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. In 1987, while she was a sophomore at USC, she partook in a hunger strike to bring attention to the immorality of neutering dogs and cats because sterilization was "anthropomorphic mutilation" that violated the intrinsic animal right of reproductive freedom. Miller has also used her radio show to highlight the plight of circus amd rodeo animals. Miller has done promotional events for animal welfare organizations and the international animal rights movement.

In October 2007, she shared with the audience that she had been ill with mercury poisoning as a result of eating sushi and sashimi several times a week and was down to a dress size zero.

On August 13, 2010 Miller announced on her radio show that she is a lesbian and credited country singer Chely Wright with helping her in coming out.[28]

References

  1. ^ TALKERS magazine – Heavy Hundred 2012. Talkers.com. Retrieved on 2012-06-11.
  2. ^ Stephanie Miller Show, March 4, 2009.
  3. ^ "GOLDWATER'S 1964 RUNNING MATE". The New York Times. 25 June 1983.
  4. ^ a b Ron Netsky, Stephanie Miller: From Sister Sleaze to progressive radio queen. Rochester City Newspaper. January 17, 2007. Retrieved on 2012-06-11.
  5. ^ a b STEPHANIE MILLER’S POPULAR PROGRESSIVE VOICE RETURNS TO RADIO WITH NATION’S FASTEST GROWING RADIO FORMAT. PR Newswire. September 7, 2004
  6. ^ Stephanie Miller (I). IMDb
  7. ^ Danny's Done; Stephanie's Back: KB Radio Changes Format. Niagara Frontier Media Monitor. 11/1/2005
  8. ^ roar head Stephanie's Roar is a Purr. Radio Guide Magazine, Vol. 3, No 1
  9. ^ Tynan, William. (1995-10-02) Joining The Boys' Club. Time. Retrieved on 2012-06-11.
  10. ^ Miller signs on for Zone radio show – Entertainment News, VPage, Media. Variety. Retrieved on 2012-06-11.
  11. ^ MSNBC Selects the Stephanie Miller Show to Fill the Former Imus Early Morning Program Slot for Three Days Next Week. Prnewswire.com. Retrieved on 2012-06-11.
  12. ^ Lycan, Gary. (2007-05-13) Entertainment: Radio: Elder calls MSNBC stint a 'blast'. OCRegister.com. Retrieved on 2012-06-11.
  13. ^ XM America Left Channel Program List. Xmradio.com. Retrieved on 2012-06-11.
  14. ^ Press. Wyd Media. Retrieved on 2012-06-11.
  15. ^ "The Top Talk Radio Audiences", Talkers Magazine, Fall 2005
  16. ^ "The Top Talk Radio Audiences" Archived July 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Talkers Magazine, March 2010
  17. ^ "STEPHANIE MILLER SHOW – Number #1 Radio Progressive Morning Show / Monday – Friday 9AM-12PM ET".
  18. ^ "SiriusXM Progress - Progressive talk radio - SiriusXM Radio".
  19. ^ GREEN 960AM, KKGN. Green960.com. Retrieved on 2012-06-11.
  20. ^ LiveBlog for Thursday, November 13, 2009 – STEPHANIE MILLER SHOW. Stephaniemiller.com (2009-11-12). Retrieved on 2012-06-11.
  21. ^ "Log into Facebook - Facebook". {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  22. ^ [David Lieberman (March 5, 2012 @ 8:32am EST). "Current TV To Enter AM News Competition With Radio’s Bill Press And Stephanie Miller". Deadline New York. http://www.deadline.com/2012/03/current-tv-to-enter-am-news-competition-with-radios-bill-press-and-stephanie-miller ]
  23. ^ "Stephanie Miller Show on Free Speech TV".
  24. ^ TALKERS magazine – Heavy Hundred 2014. Talkers.com. Retrieved on 2014-03-14.
  25. ^ Keep Stephanie Miller on MSNBC. Millionphonemarch.com. Retrieved on 2012-06-11.
  26. ^ LiveBlog for Thursday, April 23, 2009. Stephaniemiller.com (2009-04-23). Retrieved on 2012-06-11.
  27. ^ Chester, The Water-loving, Pool-hopping, Salad-eating, St. Bernard Dog. Chesterthestbernard.com. Retrieved on 2012-06-11.
  28. ^ Steve Weinstein, EDGE Boston: Radio Talkshow Host Stephanie Miller Comes Out. edgeboston.com. August 13, 2010
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