Steve Harvey is an American comedian, actor, radio and TV show host, producer and an author of different relationship advice books.
Steve Harvey’s Early Life
Born in Welch, West Virginia, on January 17, 1957, as Broderick Stephen Harvey, Steve was the last of five children. His family relocated to Cleveland when he was young and there, he attended Glenville High School from where he graduated in 1974. Continuing his academic pursuit, he moved back to his home state, West Virginia, where he attended the state’s university.
Upon graduation in his early twenties, Steve Harvey tried his hands at different jobs in an attempt to find his true calling -even wannabe professional boxing- but found fulfilment in all of them. He eventually switched over to standup comedy, performing his very first show in 1985 (Hilarities Comedy Club, Cleveland, Ohio) and in doing so, he found satisfaction. His debut into the industry as a comedian earned him as low as $50 a week.
After several years of perfecting his act by performing in small clubs, Steve eventually got his breakthrough when he became one of the finalists in the annual Johnnie Walker National Comedy Search in 1990. Meanwhile, life before his big breakthrough was hard as he was practically homeless and flat out broke for the most part of that period. He slept in his car most times when hotel accommodations were not made available by show organizers and had his bath at gas stations or swimming pool showers.
After Harvey’s career took off, he became the host of the prestigious Showtime at the Apollo from 1993 to 2000. Within the period he hosted the iconic show he had other things on his plate, such as getting a starring role on Me and the Boys, a 1994 show on ABC. Subsequently, he also starred on the fledgling WB network show, The Steve Harvey Show, which stayed on air from 1996 to 2002. Even though the show was popular, it only gained a devoted following among mostly African-Americans. The show also marked the beginning of a productive professional partnership between Steve Harvey and Cedric the Entertainer, a younger comedian.
In 1997, Steve performed on the Kings of Comedy tour, which became a surprise nationwide hit, together with Cedric the Entertainer, late Bernie Mac, as well as D.L Hughley. Two years later, the Kings of Comedy had raked in over $19 million, making it the highest-grossing comedy tour in the US to date. Later on, Spike Lee released a documentary film adaptation of the comedy act named The Original Kings of Comedy (2000), which took the celebrity and financial status of Harvey and his close associates a notch higher as it made over $38 million at the box office, far above the $3 million it cost to make.
His career in stand-up comedy which lasted for 27 years reached its climax at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas where he performed live on pay-per-view for 2hours, wrapping up his illustrious career in stand-up comedy.
Steve Harvey has hosted different TV shows including Family Feud, Celebrity Family Feud, Little Big Shots, Little Big Shots: Forever Young and Steve Harvey’s Funderdome. He is also the host of a weekday morning radio program, The Steve Harvey Morning Show which earned him Radio & Records magazine’s national Syndicated Personality/Show of the Year award in 2007.
As an actor, Harvey made his big-screen debut in a minor role in The Fighting Temptations (2003). Other of his movies are Love Don’t Cost a Thing (2003), You Got Served (2004), Johnson Family Vacation (2004), Racing Stripes (2005), Madea Goes to Jail (2009) and Think Like a Man (2012). He was also a voice actor in the 2005 animated Racing Stripes.
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Finally, Steve Harvey’s debut relationship advice books, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man (2009), and its sequel, Straight Talk, No Chaser: How to find, keep and understand a man. (2010), registered his name in the list of bestselling authors. Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man has been adapted into a blockbuster movie and a sequel with an interesting soundtrack done by Jenifer Hudson, Neyo and Rick Ross.
In addition to making people’s relationship better through books, he also launched a dating website called “Delightful” in 2014.
Having worked so hard to get to where he is today, Steve Harvey gives back to the society through his Steve and Marjorie Harvey Foundation.
His Net Worth and Salary
As is expected, this hard-working man who managed to work his way to the peak of his career through thick and thin is surely reaping the fruits of his labour. His has an estimated net worth of over $110 million. Reportedly, Harvey earns a salary of $30 million annually though a report by Forbes in 2017 revealed that he made more than $42.5miliion in a year.
Details Of His Wife, Kids, and Grandchildren
Steve Harvey is the last child among the five children of Eloise and Jesse Harvey. His father, a coal miner, died in 2000 of black lung disease.
Being the son of a coal miner, Steve was obviously not born with the silver spoon in his mouth. Funny he was named after an acting super-star in those days known as Broderick Crawford.
The popular TV host has been married three times. First, to Marcia Harvey (1980-1994) and Mary Shackelford (1996-2005). Although both marriages ended up in divorce, Harvey’s divorce from Mary Shackelford was particularly nasty and very public.
In June 2007, he got married to Marjorie Bridges and the couple marked their 10 years of marital bliss in June 2017. Harvey’s third marriage seems to have provided him everything he had ever wanted in a union. According to him, Marjorie has helped him become a better man and is the reason for his recent success.
Harvey has seven children- 4 biological and 3 stepchildren (Morgan, Jason, and Lori) who Marjorie had with her ex-husband. He has twin daughters-Brandi and Karli, and a son, Broderick Harvey Jr., from his first marriage, while his second marriage produced another son, Wynton.
Steve also has four grandchildren with Marjorie- two through Jason, one through Morgan and one through Karli.
Steve Harvey House
It is normal for a celebrity of Steve Harvey’s status to invest in a couple of luxurious houses. He owns a home in Atlanta which features a waterfall, a mini-golf course, an in-house grill, a cigar cabinet containing his private cigar collection and an exquisite closet where he keeps shoes he designs himself. His Chicago studio is so popular for its comfort that it has been termed “a home away from home”.
Height
Steve looks very much younger than his age with his trademark long mustache and 1,000 watts white grin. He measures 6 feet 2inches tall (188 cm), has broad shoulders and weighs 104kg (229 pounds). The Born-again Christian celebrity comedian also has a bald head and dark brown eyes.
It is nice to know that a man who lived for 3 years in his car is now an indomitable entertainer with over $100 million net worth.
With the testimonies of our stars, we can’t argue the fact that things will turn out for the best if we trust, believe and persevere.
