Lewis Black

Lewis Black is an American stand-up comedian and actor.

After earning his Masters at Yale School of Drama in 1977, Black wrote hundreds of one-act plays with composer Rusty Magee. In 1990, they premiered the musical The Czar of Rock and Roll at the Alley Theatre in Houston.

Before his plays, Black would do stand-up comedy to get the audience warmed up. After acting in a few TV shows like Law and Order and Homicide: Life on the Street in the mid-1990s, Black pursued comedy full-time.

He occasionally appears as his on-stage persona in some films like Accepted and Man of the Year.

Black's on-stage persona is that of a man who is at the edge of his sanity, often ranting sardonically about politics, news, religion, history and other things he finds absurd. His performances at Carnegie Hall in 2006 were recorded for a live comedy album, which won him his first Grammy.

Black also has a recurring three-minute segment on Comedy Central's The Daily Show called "Back in Black," which has since become the longest-running segment on the program. The network eventually gave Black his own show, The Root of All Evil, in 2008.

As an author, he has written his autobiography, Nothing's Sacred, in 2005, and Me of Little Faith in 2008.

• Note: The IMDb links in this timeline have pop-ups.

• 1948: Born August 30 in Washington, DC

• 1986: Hannah and Her Sisters - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews

• 1990-1991: The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd - IMDb Listing

• 2000-Present: The Daily Show - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews

• 2002: Lewis Black: Taxed Beyond Belief - IMDb Listing

• 2004: Lewis Black: Black on Broadway - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews

• 2006: Lewis Black: Red, White and Screwed - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews

• 2006: Unaccompanied Minors - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews

• 2006: Man of the Year - IMDb Listing

• 2005-2007: Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews

• 2008: Dark as Day - IMDb Listing

• 2008: Root of All Evil - IMDb Listing