Humor Me (page 2 of 2)

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Fame and Family

He went on to study with the Groundlings improvisational comedy troupe in Los Angeles, then to writing gigs on The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live. But he was still searching for his niche. "I'd watch David Letterman and think, I'd like to do what he's doing; there are some skits, you get to improvise with guests, tell some jokes," O'Brien says. "But I'd do it differently. My show would have puppets and robots, and I'd be singing and dancing."

It was legendary SNL creator Lorne Michaels who recommended him as Letterman's replacement. Early reviews for Late Night With Conan O'Brien were scathing; ratings were low. NBC canceled the show, but with no ready replacement, O'Brien and company were allowed to limp along. Eventually, they found their rhythm -- and audience. These days, guests range from pop-culture icons (Bruce Springsteen, U2) to unlikely visitors, such as Tarja Halonen, the president of Finland. O'Brien's uncanny resemblance to her -- starting with his Irish setter mop -- is a running Late Night joke and prompted the show to travel to Finland, where O'Brien was greeted like a rock star and had a sit-down with Halonen.

Beyond the Halonen bit, O'Brien acknowledges that his hair is among his chief attributes. "It's pretty much taken over the show," he says. "It has separate representation. It has better publicity than I do."

For years, packed schedules and career demands had O'Brien convinced he didn't have time for a family.

"Being a performer is narcissistic," he says. "Being a performer with your own television show with your name in the title and your own theme song is the height of narcissism. I worried, I pour everything I have into this show -- how could I have a family? But then I thought, Test pilots have families. Heart surgeons have families. Nuclear physicists and Presidents of the United States have families. Get over yourself."

He met his wife, Liza Powel, a former advertising executive, while filming a sketch for Late Night on location in 2000. The couple have a daughter, Neve, who is two, and a son, Beckett, who will turn one soon.

"My son laughs at me, but he'd also laugh at a radiator," O'Brien says. "The other day I was making faces at my daughter and she said, 'Daddy, don't be silly. This isn't work!' She doesn't realize that I can't help it. My wife says, 'God help us the day you don't have a TV show.' "

With The Tonight Show and its bigger spotlight looming, she needn't worry for the foreseeable future. Those who enjoy his manic, brainy comedy needn't worry either.