Bill Maher

He received his Bachelor of Arts in English from Cornell University in 1978

Bill played Bob on an episode of "Roseanne" (1988). Ten years prior to the start of that show, he played a character named Bob in the movie D.C. Cab (1983) when he was an up-and-coming comedian.

Received a great deal of bad press for his comments after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center when he criticized the United States government. Subsequently, advertisers such as Sears and Federal Express pulled their ads and some television stations stop showing his program "Politically Incorrect" (1994). This eventually led to ABC canceling the show the following year. Commentators such as Rush Limbaugh, Arianna Huffington, and David Horowitz defended his right to free speech and said that his program should not be canceled.

22 June 2002 - Received the Los Angeles Press Club's highest honor, the President's Award, for "championing free speech." The award was given six days after the final episode of "Politically Incorrect" (1994), Bill's social-satire show from which he was dismissed for politically incorrect statements about the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center.

Supported Ralph Nader during the 2000 presidential election.

Was a major supporter of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry during the 2004 presidential election. Though he traditionally supports Democrats, in 2000 he threw his support behind Green Party candidate Ralph Nader.