Tom Purcell is an American television writer and executive who is notable for his work with

Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program ''The Colbert Report'' from 2005 to ...

on ''

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late night television, late-night Late-night talk show, talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December ...

'' and ''

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night news satire, news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Stephen Colbert, Spartin ...

''. He is the winner of seven Primetime Emmy awards.

Early life and education

Tom Purcell grew up in St. Joseph, Michigan, just north of South Bend, Indiana, and graduated from St. Joseph High School. While attending St. Josephs', he started writing comedy at 15 years old, having his own comedy column and serving as features editor for his high school comedy newspaper called The Wind Up. In 1985, Purcell graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Loyola University in Chicago. After college, Purcell took a job at Loyola’s law library to pay the bills while working on his comedy routine and attending improvisation classes at

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise. It is the oldest improvisational theater troupe to be continuously based in Chicago, with training programs and live theaters in Toronto and New York. Since its debut in 1959, it has b ...

in Chicago. In the summer of 1987, Purcell wrote and performed with the resident theatre company New Age Vaudeville.

Career

In 1997 to 2000, while living in Los Angeles, Purcell served as story editor and writer for the '' Cosby'' TV series. He went on to write for such television shows as ''

Grounded for Life ''Grounded for Life'' is an American television sitcom that debuted on January 10, 2001, as a mid-season replacement on Fox. Created by Mike Schiff and Bill Martin, it ran for two seasons on Fox until being canceled only two episodes into its th ...

'', '' Run of the House'', and ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night talk and news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+ ...

''. In 2005, Purcell relocated to New York City, being hired as a writer for ''

'' on Comedy Central and then in 2015 followed his boss to CBS’s ''

''. Purcell currently serves as an executive producer of ''The Late Show'', where he oversees the show’s writers and helps write and polish Colbert’s material. Purcell has said that he often relies on his Catholic, Jesuit education from Loyola University while working for Colbert, who is known for using Catholic humor. As of 2021, he is the winner of 7 Primetime Emmy awards.

Awards

* 2013 Emmy, Nominee, Writing for a variety series (Colbert Report) * 2014 Emmy, Winner, Writing for a variety series (Colbert Report) * 2015 Writers Guild of America, Nominee, Comedy/variety (including talk) -- series:(Colbert Report) * 2015 Producers Guild of America, Nominee, Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment & Talk Television (The Colbert Report)

References

External links

Bio at IMDb
Living people American television writers American male television writers Year of birth missing (living people) Primetime Emmy Award winners {{US-tv-writer-stub