Trevor Noah, Comedian and Media Host born

Trevor Noah was born on this date in 1984. He is a Black South African comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host.

Trevor Noah was born in Johannesburg, Transvaal (now Gauteng), South Africa. His father, Robert, is of Swiss-German ancestry, and his mother, Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah, is a Black Xhosa woman. Under apartheid legislation, Noah was classified as Coloured. At his birth, his parents’ interracial relationship was illegal. Interracial sexual relations and marriages were banned until 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 schooling at Maryvale College, a private Roman Catholic primary and high school in Maryvale, Gauteng, a suburb of Johannesburg. Career He had several hosting roles with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).  In 2002, Noah had a small role in the South African soap opera Isidingo. He later hosted his radio show Noah’s Ark on Gauteng’s leading youth radio station, YFM. He dropped his radio show and acting to focus on comedy and has performed with many South African and international comedians. He opened for American comedian Gabriel Iglesias in November 2007 and Canadian comedian Russell Peters on his South African tour.   Noah hosted an educational TV program, Run the Adventure (2004–2006).

In 2007, he hosted The Real Goboza, a gossip-themed show, and Siyadlala, a sports show on the SABC. In 2008, Noah co-hosted, alongside Pabi Moloi, The Amazing Date (a dating gameshow) and was a Strictly Come Dancing contestant in the fourth series. In 2009, he hosted the 3rd Annual South Africa Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) and co-hosted alongside Eugene Khoza on The Axe Sweet Life, a reality competition series. In 2010, Noah hosted the 16th annual South African Music Awards and Tonight with Trevor Noah. He was a spokesperson and consumer protection agent for Cell C, a South African mobile phone network provider.

Noah performed in The Blacks Only Comedy Show, the Heavyweight Comedy Jam, the Vodacom Campus Comedy Tour, the Cape Town International Comedy Festival, the Jozi Comedy Festival, and Bafunny Bafunny (2010). His stand-up comedy specials in South Africa include The Daywalker (2009), Crazy Normal (2011), That’s Racist (2012), and It’s My Culture (2013).

In 2011, he moved to the United States. In 2012, Noah became the first South African stand-up comedian to appear on The Tonight Show; in May 2013, he became the first to appear on Late Show with David Letterman. Noah was the subject of the 2012 documentary You Laugh, But It’s True. The same year, he starred in the one-person comedy show Trevor Noah: The Racist.  In September 2012, Noah was the Roastmaster in a Comedy Central Roast of South African Afrikaans singer Steve Hofmeyr. In 2013, he performed the comedy special Trevor Noah: African American. In October 2013, he was a guest on BBC Two’s comedy panel show QI.

In November 2013, he was a panelist on Channel 4 game show 8 Out of 10 Cats and appeared on Sean Lock’s team in 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown in September 2014. In 2014, Noah became the Senior International Correspondent for The Daily Show, and in 2015 succeeded long-time host Jon Stewart. His autobiographical comedy book Born a Crime was published in 2016. He hosted the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2021, the 64th Annual Grammy Awards edition in 2022, and the 2022 White House Correspondents Dinner.