The character arc of Steve Harvey
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 17 January 1957 in Welch, West Virginia, the son of a coal miner and the youngest of five. Between then and now sit a severe childhood stutter, a sixth grade essay saying he wanted to be on television and a teacher who called him a smart aleck for it, a father who believed him, two years at Kent State and flunking out, jobs as a boxer, an autoworker, an insurance salesman, a carpet cleaner and a postman, a first stand-up set on 8 October 1985, three years living in his car, a national comedy final in 1990, and everything after. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Steve Harvey?
His teacher called him a smart aleck. He sent her a TV every year.
He was born in a coal mining town in West Virginia, the youngest of five, and named Broderick after an actor. He had a severe stutter as a child and got past it. In the sixth grade a teacher asked the class to write down what they wanted to be, and he wrote that he wanted to be on television. The teacher told his father he was being a smart aleck. His father believed him. Years later, when it had happened, he sent that teacher a television every Christmas for the rest of her life.
It did not go smoothly. He went to Kent State, spent two years as an advertising major and flunked out, which he has said threw his life into a downward spiral and which he still regrets. He was a boxer, an autoworker, an insurance salesman, a carpet cleaner and a postman. He did his first stand-up set on 8 October 1985 at a comedy club in Cleveland, at twenty eight.
Then came the three years nobody would choose. In the late 1980s he was homeless. He slept in his car whenever a show did not come with a hotel, and washed at petrol stations and swimming pools. Two people, Rich and Becky Liss, kept him going with a carpet cleaning contract and credit at a travel agency.
In April 1990 he was a finalist in a national comedy search, and that led to a long run hosting Showtime at the Apollo. A sitcom on ABC followed, then The Steve Harvey Show on The WB from 1996 to 2002. In 1997 he joined the Kings of Comedy tour with Cedric the Entertainer, D L Hughley and Bernie Mac, which became the highest grossing comedy tour in history and which Spike Lee filmed. He has hosted a weekday morning radio show since 2000.
The second half is a business. He published Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man in 2009, which spent sixty four weeks on the bestseller list, twenty three of them at number one, and became a film. He took over Family Feud in September 2010 and has the longest tenure of any host of it. He hosted Miss Universe from 2015, where he announced the wrong winner live, apologised to both women that night and went back to host the pageant five more times. He gave a speech to a studio audience in January 2016 about using the gifts you were born with, and turned it into a book. He founded Steve Harvey Global in 2017, took Family Feud to Africa, and runs a foundation with his wife Marjorie for young people without fathers. He has seven Daytime Emmys, two Marconi Awards and fourteen NAACP Image Awards, and the street he grew up on in Cleveland was renamed after him in 2015.
The moments
Steve Harvey's timeline.
The 1950s
Born in Welch
Everyday. A coal mining town, and the youngest of five.
The 1960s
A severe stutter
Setback, and it changed everything. The man who talks for a living could not get a word out.
He writes it down
Milestone, and it changed everything. One adult laughed and one believed him.
The 1970s
He flunks out
Setback, and it changed everything. His own words for it, and he still means them.
The 1980s
Five jobs
Everyday, and it changed his direction. Five jobs before the one that stuck.
His first set
Milestone, and it changed everything. Twenty eight years old, and the first five minutes.
Get a job, or keep the gigs
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: stay on the road, taken, or take the steady work. A national final in April 1990 led to Showtime at the Apollo, and everything else followed from it.
Three years in a car
Setback, and it changed everything. Three years, washing in petrol stations, still doing the gigs.
Two people who helped
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Two people gave him work and credit, and it was enough.
The 1990s
A national final
Milestone, and it changed everything. One night, and the car years were over.
The Steve Harvey Show
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Six years, with his name on it.
The Kings of Comedy
Milestone, and it changed everything. The biggest comedy tour there had ever been.
The 2000s
The morning show
Milestone, and it changed everything. Twenty five years of mornings.
A number one bestseller
Milestone, and it changed everything. Sixty four weeks on the list, twenty three at number one.
The 2010s
Family Feud
Milestone, and it changed everything. The job everybody now knows him for.
The wrong name
Setback, and it changed everything. Live, in front of the world, and he went back and did it again.
The speech about the parachute
Milestone, and it changed everything. An unplanned speech to a studio audience, and then a book.
Steve Harvey Global
Milestone, and it changed his direction. The companies, and the camp for children without fathers.
He hosts, he broadcasts, he runs the companies, and the foundation runs a camp every year for children without fathers. What he set moving started with a boy who could not get a sentence out writing down that he was going to be on television, and then spending thirty years, three of them in a car, proving it.
Your turn
Every line draws a unique story.
His turned on a sixth grade essay that one adult laughed at and another one believed. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Steve Harvey: frequently asked questions
What people ask about his line.
What is Steve Harvey's character arc?
Was Steve Harvey homeless?
What did Steve Harvey teacher say about him?
How long has Steve Harvey hosted Family Feud?
What book did Steve Harvey write?
What happened when Steve Harvey hosted Miss Universe?
Where does this timeline of Steve Harvey's life come from?
More character arcs
Lives that rhyme with his.
Sources
- Steve Harvey, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, 2009, and Jump, 2016.
- His award record, as that biography lists it.
- The Steve and Marjorie Harvey Foundation.