PEOPLE KNOWN FOR: comedian
American director, writer, and actor
Woody Allen is an American motion-picture director, screenwriter, actor, comedian, playwright, and author who is best known for his bittersweet comic films containing elements of parody, slapstick, and...
British actor, producer, writer, and director
Charlie Chaplin was a British comedian, producer, writer, director, and composer who is widely regarded as the greatest comic artist of the screen and one of the most important figures in motion-picture...
American actor and comedian
Stephen Colbert is an American actor and comedian who was best known as the host of The Colbert Report (2005–14), an ironic send-up of television news programs, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015–26)....
American comedian, writer, and director
Jon Stewart is an American comedian, writer, and director who is best known for hosting (1999–2015, 2024– ) the satiric television news program The Daily Show. During his first stint on the show, which...
American comedian and actor
Chris Rock is an American comedian, actor, and director who broke into show business in the late 1980s with his electrifying stand-up routines, which often address racial matters with biting humor and...
American comedian
Bill Hicks was an American stand-up comedian who was considered a “comedian’s comedian” and who was a star in Britain, though he never experienced wide success in the United States during his career in...
American comedian
Robert Klein is an American comedian, actor, and singer who, along with Richard Pryor and George Carlin, transformed the art of stand-up comedy in the 1970s. The grandson of Hungarian Jewish immigrants...
American comedian and actor
Adam Sandler is an American comedian and actor who first gained fame by performing satiric songs as a cast member (1990–95) on Saturday Night Live and later became known for his portrayal of infantile...
American comedian, actor, and producer
Bill Cosby is an American comedian, actor, and producer who played a major role in the development of a more-positive portrayal of Black people on television but whose sterling reputation was tarnished...
American comedian and writer
Louis C.K. is an American comedian, writer, director, and producer known for his ribald confessional stand-up comedy and for his critically acclaimed television show Louie. C.K. began his career working...
American comedian and television personality
Theo Von is an American comedian, reality television star, and podcast host known for his Southern drawl and controversial commentary. Von is very popular on social media, with more than nine million followers....
American comedian
Flip Wilson was one of the most popular comedians in America, and his comedy variety show, The Flip Wilson Show, was one of the first television shows hosted by an African American to be a ratings success....
American comedian and actor
Dennis Miller is an American comedian and actor known for his work on Saturday Night Live (SNL), his brief run as a commentator on Monday Night Football, and his conservative political views. He is also...
British-born American entertainer and actor
Bob Hope was a British-born American entertainer and comic actor known for his rapid-fire delivery of jokes and one-liners and for his success in virtually all entertainment media. He was also known for...
American comedian and actor
Bernie Mac was an American comedian and actor who parlayed a stand-up comedy act of edgy, autobiographical humor into the popular television sitcom The Bernie Mac Show (2001–06). He also acted in films...
American comedian, writer, and actress
Ali Wong is a comedian, writer, and actress whose irreverent and incisive work explores themes of cultural identity, motherhood, and sexuality from a feminist perspective. In 2024 she won a Golden Globe...
American actor and writer
Steve Martin is an American comedian, writer, and producer who began his career as a stand-up comic and eventually achieved success in motion pictures, on television, on Broadway, and in literature. Martin...
British actor, writer, and comedian
Ben Elton is a multifaceted comic actor, novelist, stand-up comedian, screenwriter and dramatist. A prominent figure in the 1980s British comedy scene, Elton is perhaps best known for cowriting the 1980s...
American actor, writer, and comedian
Billy Crystal is an American actor, writer, director, and comedian, known for a highly expressive manner that lent itself to a wide range of comedic characters. Crystal, whose father was a jazz promoter...
American comedian, producer, and businessman
Byron Allen is an American comedian, television and film producer, and businessman who is the founding CEO and chair of Allen Media Group, a Los Angeles-based media empire encompassing television and film...
American comedian, musician, and actor
Jamie Foxx is an American comedian, musician, and actor who became known for his impersonations on the television sketch-comedy show In Living Color and later proved himself a versatile film actor, especially...
American comedian and musician
Fred Armisen is an American comedian and musician, best known for his many recurring characters and impersonations as a cast member (2002–13) on Saturday Night Live (SNL) and for cocreating and costarring...
American comedian and talk show host
Seth Meyers is an American comedian and host of the nightly talk show Late Night with Seth Meyers, a gig he has had since 2014. Meyers is known for his wry sense of humor and laid-back style. In late 2025...
American comedian and actor
Dave Chappelle is an American comedian and actor who was best known for cocreating, writing, and starring in the groundbreaking television sketch comedy program Chappelle’s Show (2003–06). Chappelle’s...
American comedian and actress
Leslie Jones is an American comedian and actress known for stand-up comedy specials and screen roles that showcase her gifts for physical comedy and crowd work, the latter comprising spontaneous engagement...
American writer, comedian, and actor
David Cross is an American writer, stand-up comedian, and actor who is best known for playing Tobias Fünke in the TV sitcom Arrested Development (2003–06, 2013, 2018–19) and for cocreating and costarring...
American comedian, actor, and podcaster
Joe Rogan is an American comedian, actor, television host, podcaster, and announcer for the competitive mixed martial arts organization Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He has become an extremely...
American actress
Melissa McCarthy is an American actress known for roles that highlight her gift for physical comedy and raunchy one-liners. McCarthy was brought up on an Illinois farm. After she graduated from high school,...
American comedian
Lenny Bruce was an American stand-up comic and social satirist during the 1950s and early ’60s. Although public authorities increasingly denounced his performances as dirty and sick and courts across the...
American writer, actor, and musician
Donald Glover is an American writer, comedian, actor, and musician who has won acclaim in all his disparate arts. He is perhaps best known for the TV series Atlanta (2016–22) and for the music he released...
Italian comedian and social critic
Beppe Grillo is an Italian comedian and social critic who cofounded the Five Star Movement, a political party in Italy that espoused a broadly populist, antiestablishment platform. Grillo grew up in working-class...
English-American comedian and writer
John Oliver is an English-American comedian, writer, and television host who has written and performed for various programs over a two-decade career but is perhaps best known as the host of Last Week Tonight...
Canadian American comedian
Jim Carrey is a Canadian American comedian who established himself as a leading comedic actor with a series of over-the-top performances and who won plaudits for his more-serious portrayals as his career...
American comedian and talk-show host
Bill Maher is an American comedian and talk-show host known for his acerbic political commentary, most notably on his long-running shows Politically Incorrect (1993–2002) and Real Time with Bill Maher...
American comedian and actor
Kevin James is an American comedian and actor best known for playing affable working-class characters, most notably Doug Heffernan in the CBS sitcom The King of Queens (1998–2007) and the title character...
Canadian actor and comedian
Norm Macdonald was a Canadian stand-up comedian and actor known for his acerbic wit and deadpan delivery. He was best known as a writer and cast member for the sketch comedy television series Saturday...
American comedian and actress
Kathy Griffin is an American comedian and actress known for her lacerating observations about celebrity culture. Griffin was the youngest of five children born to a stereo store manager and a hospital...
American comedian, actress, and writer
Sarah Silverman is an American comedian, actress, and writer known for her subversive pointed commentaries on the social construction of race, gender, and religion. Silverman’s father was a clothing store...
American comedian and actor
Robin Williams was an American comedian and actor known for his manic stand-up routines and his diverse film performances. He won an Academy Award for his role in Good Will Hunting (1997). Williams’s father,...
American television personality, producer, and comedian
David Letterman is an American late-night talk-show personality, producer, and comedian, best known as the host of the long-running Late Show with David Letterman. After graduating from Ball State University...
American actor, comedian, and producer
Arsenio Hall is an American actor, comedian, and producer who has appeared in several television shows and movies but is best known for being a popular late-night talk-show host. He was the first African...
American comedian
Rodney Dangerfield was a popular American comedian known for his wide-eyed, fidgety delivery style and his hapless, self-deprecating demeanor, expressed by his famous lamentation, “I don’t get no respect.”...
American comedian and television host
Taylor Tomlinson is an American comedian and television host known for stand-up that combines commentary on contemporary sexuality and dating with frank personal reflections on mental health, therapy,...
American writer, comedian, and actor
Ramy Youssef is an American writer, comedian, and actor best known for exploring his experience as the son of Egyptian immigrants and as an observant Muslim in stand-up comedy specials and the award-winning,...
American comedian and actress
Amy Schumer is an American comedian and actress whose pointed self-deprecating humor brought her success on stage and screen. Perhaps the most frequent topics of her often raunchy comedy are relationship...
American comedian and actor
George Lopez is an American comedian, actor, and talk show host known for his effusive stage persona and comically bleak depictions of the Mexican American experience. Lopez was raised by his maternal...
American comedian, actor, and writer
Pete Davidson is an American comedian, actor, and writer best known for his role on Saturday Night Live (SNL). He became known for his relatively young age among the cast, his self-effacing style, and...
American entertainer
Rosie O’Donnell is an American actress of film, television, and stage who was perhaps best known for her hosting duties on the talk shows The Rosie O’Donnell Show (1996–2002) and The View (2006–07; 2014–15)....
American actor and comedian
J.B. Smoove is an American actor and comedian best known for portraying the quick-witted and profane character Leon Black in the improvisation-based comedy television series Curb Your Enthusiasm (2007–...
Japanese actor and director
Kitano Takeshi is a Japanese actor, director, writer, and television personality who is known for his dexterity with both comedic and dramatic material. Kitano was born into a working-class family in Tokyo....