Broderick Stephen Harvey

HOTO OF STEVE HARVEY WHEN HE WAS 20-YEARS-OLD

Broderick Stephen Harvey, Sr. (born January 17, 1957) is an American television host, actor, writer, producer, and comedian. He hosts The Steve Harvey Morning Show, Family Feud, Celebrity Family Feud, the Miss Universe competition, Family Feud Africa, and the arbitration-based court comedy Judge Steve Harvey.

Harvey was born in Welch, West Virginia. His first name is Broderick, named after actor Broderick Crawford of the TV series Highway Patrol. Harvey had a severe stuttering problem as a child, which he eventually overcame. Harvey's family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, living on East 112th Street, which was renamed Steve Harvey Way in 2015. He graduated from Glenville High School in 1974. Shortly after high school, he attended Kent State University and West Virginia University and is a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity but never graduated.

Harvey has been a boxer, an autoworker, an insurance salesman, a carpet cleaner, and a mail carrier. He first performed stand-up comedy on October 8, 1985, at the Hilarities Comedy Club in Cleveland, Ohio. In the late 1980s, Harvey was homeless for three years. He slept in his 1976 Ford when not performing gigs that provided a hotel, and he showered at gas stations or swimming pool showers. Rich and Becky Liss helped Harvey during this time with a contract for carpet cleaning and credit at a travel agency.

Harvey began his career as a comedian. He performed stand-up comedy in the early 1980s and hosted Showtime at the Apollo. His success as a stand-up comedian led to a starring role on the short-lived ABC series Me and the Boys in 1994. He would later star on the WB network show The Steve Harvey Show, which ran from 1996 to 2002.

He was later featured in The Original Kings of Comedy after starring in the Kings of Comedy Tour. The tour became the highest grossing comedy tour in history, grossing $18 million its first year and $19 million its second. The comedy act would later be put together into a film by Spike Lee called The Original Kings of Comedy. His last standup show was in 2012.

Harvey is the host of The Steve Harvey Morning Show, a weekday morning radio program he has hosted since 2000. It was originally syndicated through Radio One Inc. from September 2000 until May 2005. As of 2019, the show is syndicated through the United States.

He appeared in the 2003 movie The Fighting Temptations alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beyoncé Knowles. The same year he played the role of Clarence Johnson in the film Love Don't Cost a Thing. In 2004 he had roles in the films Johnson Family Vacation and You Got Served; and, in 2005, he co-starred in the movie Racing Stripes as the voice of Buzz.

Harvey is the host of both Family Feud and Celebrity Family Feud, holding this role since 2010. He also hosted Little Big Shots, Little Big Shots Forever Young, and Steve Harvey’s Funderdome.

As an author, he has written four books, including his bestseller Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, which was published in March 2009. The book is about how men think about women and relationships. Based on the book, the 2012 film Think Like a Man is an ensemble romantic comedy depicting characters taking advice on dating from the book. The hardcover version spent 64 weeks on The New York Times best-seller list, 23 of those weeks at No. 1.

In 2017, Harvey founded Steve Harvey Global, an entertainment company that houses his production company East 112 and various other ventures. He launched an African version of Family Feud and also invested in the HDNet takeover along with Anthem Sports and Entertainment.

He and his wife Marjorie are the founders of The Steve and Marjorie Harvey Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on youth education and youth outreach services.The foundation hosts a yearly camp for fatherless children and also partnered with Kent State University to provide scholarships to the school. Harvey is also a partner with Walt Disney World Resort and Essence for the Disney Dreamers Academy, a yearly workshop at Walt Disney World for 100 students.