Trevor Noah

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Lore & Background

Trevor Noah was born on 20 February 1984 in Johannesburg, Transvaal (now Gauteng), South Africa. His father, Robert, is Swiss-German, and his mother, Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah, is Xhosa. Under apartheid legislation, Noah's mother was classified as Black, his father as White, and Noah himself as Coloured. At the time of his birth, his parents' interracial relationship was illegal, which Noah highlights in his autobiography Born a Crime. Interracial sexual relations and marriages were decriminalized a year after his birth, when the Immorality Act was amended in 1985. Patricia and her mother, Nomalizo Frances Noah, raised Trevor in the black township of Soweto. Noah began his schooling at Maryvale College, a private Roman Catholic primary and high school in Maryvale, Gauteng. Noah began his career in South Africa in 2008. He had several hosting roles with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and was the runner-up in the fourth season of South Africa's iteration of Strictly Come Dancing in 2008. From 2010 to 2011, he hosted the late-night talk show Tonight with Trevor Noah, which he created and aired on M-Net and DStv. In 2014, Noah became the Senior International Correspondent for The Daily Show, and in 2015 succeeded long-time host Jon Stewart. His tenure began on 28 September 2015. After Noah took over from Stewart, viewership dropped 37%, and its Nielsen ratings fell below those of several other shows hosted by Daily Show alumni; however, according to Comedy Central's president, the Daily Show under Noah was the number-one show for millennials. He has hosted the Grammy Awards for six consecutive years, from 2021 to 2026, as well as the 2022 White House Correspondents Dinner.

Reader's Guide

Trevor Noah's significance stems from his role as the successor to Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, a position he held from 2015 to 2022. His tenure was marked by a 37% drop in viewership, but the show remained the number-one program for millennials according to Comedy Central's president. Noah's background as a mixed-race South African under apartheid informed his comedic perspective, particularly in his bestselling autobiography Born a Crime, published in 2016, which became a No. 1 New York Times Bestseller. His hosting of the Grammy Awards for six consecutive years (2021–2026) and the 2022 White House Correspondents Dinner further cemented his status. Controversy followed his announcement as Stewart's successor, with attention drawn to jokes on his Twitter account criticized as misogynistic, antisemitic, or mocking the Holocaust; Noah responded that reducing his views to a handful of jokes was not a true reflection of his character, and Comedy Central stood behind him. Noah's legacy includes expanding the reach of The Daily Show to a younger audience and bringing a global, post-apartheid viewpoint to American late-night television.

Did You Know?

• Noah was the runner-up in the fourth season of South Africa's iteration of Strictly Come Dancing in 2008.
• He was named one of 'The 35 Most Powerful People in New York Media' by The Hollywood Reporter in both 2017 and 2018.
• Noah's parents' interracial relationship was illegal at the time of his birth; the Immorality Act was amended in 1985, a year after he was born.
• He became the first South African stand-up comedian to appear on The Tonight Show in January 2012 and on Late Show with David Letterman in May 2013.
• Noah has hosted the Grammy Awards for six consecutive years, from 2021 to 2026.