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| Birth Name(s) : Bill Maher |
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Full Bill Maher Biography
William Maher, Jr., (pronounced: /mɑɹ/) (born January 20, 1956) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He hosted the late-night television talk show Politically Incorrect on Comedy Central and ABC, and is currently the star of Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO. On June 1, 2006, he also began hosting an Internet-exclusive talk show on Amazon.com entitled Amazon Fishbowl.
Maher describes himself as a libertarian and a liberal and is a reliable proponent of the Minarchist school of libertarian thought, claiming, "government is really there to do the things that people absolutely can't do for themselves"; however, some have questioned the validity of Maher's self-proclaimed libertarianism.
Maher has been a frequent critic of 9/11 conspiracy theories, stating for instance on the September 14, 2007 edition of Real Time, "Crazy people who still think the government brought down the Twin Towers in a controlled explosion have to stop pretending that I'm the one who's being naïve. How big a lunatic do you have to be to watch two giant airliners packed with jet fuel slam into buildings on live TV, igniting a massive inferno that burned for two hours, and then think, 'well, if you believe that was the cause...' "
Maher is often critical of organized religion. He has described religion as a neurological disorder that spreads guilt and hatred among people while offering nothing in return. In two separate appearances on Real Time, atheist comedian George Carlin and Maher alleged that organized religion is a cause of many of society's problems and that the practices of organized religion are mired in hypocrisy. Maher credited Carlin's views as inspiration for him to speak out against organized religion.
Maher opposes religious monuments, such as The Ten Commandments, being placed in or near court houses, saying that this would violate the separation of church and state. He has countered the assertion of conservative Christians who claim that American law is based on the Ten Commandments by saying that of the ten, only two (the prohibitions on murder and theft) apply to American law. The other commandments, he argues, such as honoring no god before the Judeo-Christian God, keeping the Sabbath holy, or honoring thy mother and thy father, are not American laws at all. In answer to the suggestion that a divine moral authority is necessary, he suggests "Couldn't we just get together and agree on the few basic Commandments that are laws? Like 'I won't slaughter you, and don't take my shit.'"
On August 15, 2007, on Larry King Live, he stated that it was impossible to know what happenes after death. He compared Christian promises of an afterlife with the promises made by politicians trying to get elected.
Maher's comment about the cowardice of terrorists followed another controversial comment he made on Politically Incorrect earlier that year where he compared dogs to retarded children: "But I've often said that if I had — I have two dogs — if I had two retarded children, I'd be a hero. And yet the dogs, which are pretty much the same thing. What? They're sweet. They're loving. They're kind, but they don't mentally advance at all.... Dogs are like retarded children." In 2003, Maher became the host of Real Time with Bill Maher on the HBO cable television network, a debate show somewhat similar to Politically Incorrect, but with a narrower selection of guests. Maher told Terry Gross (on NPR's Fresh Air) in 2004 that he enjoys having more serious and well-informed guests on his current program, as opposed to the random celebrities that fleshed out his roundtable discussions on Politically Incorrect. Since May 2005, he has been a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post.
On June 1, 2006, Maher began hosting amazon.com's Amazon Fishbowl, the first ever episodic program on a major internet website. The show's first guests included Dean Koontz and Dixie Chicks. The show ran a preview episode earlier in the year from the Sundance Film Festival featuring guests Stephen King and Rob Thomas. Maher also produces and writes the show, which aired through August 17, eight days before the season premiere of Real Time.
In 1997, during filming of an episode of the game show Pictionary, Erik Estrada accidentally punched Maher in the face in a moment of exuberance, briefly knocking him out cold.
In November 2004 Maher was unsuccessfully sued for 9 million dollars by his ex-girlfriend, Coco Johnsen, for breach of a non-marital relationship contract. Johnson claims that Maher did not fulfill promises made to her and that he physically and verbally abused her. Maher publicly disputed her allegations on Larry King Live on November 23, 2004. His lawyer responded to the lawsuit with a claim that Maher is a "confirmed bachelor" and never promised to marry or support Johnson and that "California law doesn't allow for the palimony suit brought by Ms. Johnson." On May 2, 2005, a superior court judge dismissed the lawsuit.
In addition to the controversy over Politically Incorrect, Maher's has come under fire at times for various other things. Maher received widespread criticism for wearing a crocodile hunter Halloween costume with an object protruding from the chest in October of 2006, less than two months after Steve Irwin, television's "Crocodile Hunter", was killed by a stingray barb that punctured his heart. |
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