Who Is Stephen Colbert's Wife? All About Evelyn McGee-Colbert

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo: Noam Galai/Getty

Stephen Colbertimmediately knew Evelyn McGee-Colbert was the womanhe was meant to marry.

The pair first met at a showing of a musical and wed in October 1993 — well before the talk show host became a household name. Stephen and Evelyn have since welcomed three children and collaborated on several projects, as Evelyn is a talented producer.

Stephen has credited his wife as one of the reasonsThe Late Showwas still filming during theCOVID-19 pandemic. Whileaccepting an Emmy Awardfor outstanding variety special in 2021, he said, “I’m going to call my wife to celebrate as soon as I get through all this because she was a huge part of this past year and this night, too.”

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Evelyn and Stephen saw each other again in a food line at the show’s afterparty. Stephen recalled thinking, “You will kick yourself for the rest of your life if you do not turn around and say hello to her.”

She and Stephen grew up near each other

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Once Stephen got the nerve to introduce himself, the two realized thatthey had actually grown together. Their families knew each other when they were children, and Stephen later said he thought Evelyn was “just being nice to me because our families know each other.”

She first noticed Stephen because of the way he treated his mother

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In May 2021, Evelyn revealed toMontclair Localthat Stephen caught her eye on the night they met because of how he treated his mother. “He walked in with his mother on his arm. I was thinking, ‘That man loves his mother,’ " Evelyn said.

She has worked as an actress

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She works at the production company Stephen started

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She madeThe Late Showpossible during the pandemic

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Stephen was honored at the 2021Emmy Awardsfor his 2020 special, “Stephen Colbert’s Election Night 2020.” While accepting the award for outstanding variety special, Stephengave Evelyn a lot of creditfor helping produce the show during the pandemic.

“I’m going to call my wife to celebrate as soon as I get through all this because she was a huge part of this past year and this night, too,” Stephen said. “You know, she’s an absolute rock and I couldn’t do this without her and I’m so glad — the only good thing that came out of COVID is that she got to be part of the show.”

She and Stephen have three children together

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Stephen and Evelyn havethree children together: daughter Madeline and sons Peter and John. “Stephen and his family are very happily entrenched,” a neighborhood source told PEOPLE of the Colbert family in 2015. “You can always see him with his family. Family and community have always been important to him.”

She is very active in their New Jersey community

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The couple are very active in their local community of Montclair, New Jersey. Evelyn has been involved with the Montclair Film Festival since its conception, with founder Bob Feinberg telling theMontclair Localthat she was his “first call” when he had the idea to start a film festival. In the years since, both Stephen and Evelyn have played significant parts in garnering publicity and raising money for the annual event.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the couple also raised funds for theNew Jersey Arts and Culture Recovery Fund, which benefitted the state’s economically devastated arts and cultural sector.

“Stephen and I know the value of a creative outlet — for ourselves, for our families, and for our community — and we can’t take for granted that this industry will survive without our help. Every contribution makes a difference,” Evelyn said in a statement.

She and Stephen wrote a cookbook

Evelyn McGee-Colbert and Stephen Colbert.Eric Wolfinger

Eric Wolfinger

The couple released their joint cookbookDoes This Taste Funny?in September 2024.

“It’s a little peek into our family,” Evelyn told PEOPLE. “It’s just a teeny little bit of hanging out with us in the kitchen.”

The cookbook celebrates the tastes of coastal South Carolina, where Stephen and Evelyn are both from, and includes recipes for dishes such as red rice andcrab cakes.

source: people.com