What Is Steven Wright's Net Worth?
Steven Wright is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, director, and producer who has a net worth of $2 million. In 2017, "Rolling Stone" magazine ranked Wright #15 in its "50 Greatest Stand-up Comics" list, and he came in at #23 on Comedy Central's "100 Greatest Stand Up Comics of All Time" list in 2004. Steven has released the Grammy-nominated comedy albums "I Have a Pony" (1985) and "I Still Have a Pony" (2007) and the specials "A Steven Wright Special" (1985), "Wicker Chairs and Gravity" (1990), and "When the Leaves Blow Away" (2006), and he wrote, produced, and starred in the Oscar-winning short film "The Appointments of Dennis Jennings" (1988).
Wright has more than 40 acting credits to his name, including the films "Desperately Seeking Susan" (1985), "So I Married an Axe Murderer" (1993), "Natural Born Killers" (1994), "Canadian Bacon" (1995), and "Loser" (2000), the television series "Mad About You" (1993) and "The Larry Sanders Show" (1993–1998), and the web series "Horace and Pete" (2016). He has lent his voice to the films "Reservoir Dogs" (1992), "The Swan Princess" (1994), "Babe: Pig in the City" (1998), and "The Emoji Movie" (2017) and the TV shows "Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist" (1995–1997), "Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child" (1997), "The Simpsons" (1998), "Hercules" (1998–1999), "Codename: Kids Next Door" (2001), "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" (2011), as well as the "Conan" segment "The Flaming C" (2015). Steven wrote, directed, and produced the 1999 short film "One Soldier," and he produced two of his comedy specials and the FX series "Louie" (2014–2015). He also appeared in two episodes of "Louie" and wrote the 2015 episode "The Road: Part 2."
Early Life
Steven Wright was born Steven Alexander Wright on December 6, 1955, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He grew up in a Catholic household in Burlington, Massachusetts, with mother Lucille (better known as "Dolly"), father Alexander, and three siblings. Steven's heritage is Scottish on his father's side and Italian-American on his mother's side. Alexander was an electronics technician for NASA during Project Apollo, and after the program ended, he found work as a truck driver. Wright earned an associate degree from Middlesex Community College in Bedford, then he enrolled at Emerson College in Boston, graduating in 1978. The following year, Steven started performing stand-up comedy at Boston's Comedy Connection. He has said that George Carlin and Woody Allen were some of his comedic influences. In 1982, Peter Lassally, executive producer of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," saw Wright perform at Cambridge's Ding Ho comedy club and booked him on the show. Carson was so impressed by his first "Tonight Show" performance that he invited Steven back less than a week later.
Career
Wright released his first comedy album, "I Have a Pony," in 1985, and it earned a Grammy nomination and landed him an episode of HBO's "On Location." The performance he recorded for "On Location" was also released as "A Steven Wright Special," which received a CableACE Award nomination. Steven appeared on "Saturday Night Live" five times between 1983 and 1985, and he hosted the show in 1986. His second comedy special, "Wicker Chairs and Gravity," aired on HBO in 1990, and it was followed by the 2006 Comedy Central special "When the Leaves Blow Away." In 2007, Wright released the material from "When The Leaves Blow Away" as the album "I Still Have a Pony." The album was released on Comedy Central Records and earned Steven his second Grammy nomination.
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Wright made his acting debut in 1979 with an uncredited role as a security guard on "WKRP in Cincinnati" and an appearance in the film "The Last Word." In 1985, he co-starred with Madonna and Rosanna Arquette in "Desperately Seeking Susan," then he appeared in the 1986 short film "Coffee and Cigarettes," which he also wrote. In 1989, he won an Academy Award for the half-hour film "The Appointments of Dennis Jennings." While accepting the Oscar for Best Short Film, Live Action, Steven stated, "We're really glad that we cut out the other sixty minutes." In 1990, he appeared in the film "Men of Respect," and in 1992, he voiced the K-Billy DJ in Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs." In 1993, he appeared in "So I Married an Axe Murderer" alongside Mike Myers and Nancy Travis and had a recurring role as Warren Mermelman on the NBC sitcom "Mad About You."
In 1994, Wright co-starred with Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis in Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers" and with Lewis, Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Rob Reiner, and Adam Sandler in "Mixed Nuts." He guest-starred on "The Larry Sanders Show" (1993–1998), "Almost Perfect" (1998), "Becker" (1999), and "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" (1999), and he appeared in the films "For Better or Worse" (1995), "Canadian Bacon" (1995), "Half Baked" (1998), "Goatman" (1999), "The Muse" (1999), and "Loser" (2000). In 2005, he appeared in "The Mask" sequel "Son of the Mask" and the documentaries "The Aristocrats" and "When Stand Up Stood Out." He guest-starred on Louis C.K.'s series "Louie" in 2011 and 2015, and he played Leon on Louis' 2016 web series "Horace and Pete," which won a Peabody Award. In 2021, Wright began narrating the unscripted HBO series "Chillin Island."
Personal Life
Steven is interested in painting and has shared some of his artwork on his official website. He is also a musician, and he has recorded music with his friend Mark Wuerthner.
Wright is a fan of the baseball team the Boston Red Sox, and during a 2015 appearance on "Late Night with Seth Meyers," he said that he ended a relationship over his girlfriend jinxing the 1986 World Series. He stated, "It gets to be the seventh inning and she congratulates me…and then they lose the game, they lose the World Series. So I broke up with her. If she could jinx the World Series, what else could she jinx?"
Awards and Nominations
In 1989, Wright and Dean Parisot won an Academy Award for Best Short Film, Live Action for "The Appointments of Dennis Jennings." He earned Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series for "Louie" in 2014 and 2015, and he received a PGA Award nomination for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy for the show in 2015. Steven has earned two Grammy nominations, Best Comedy Recording for "I Have a Pony" (1987) and Best Comedy Album for "I Still Have a Pony" (2008). In 1987, he received a CableACE Award nomination for Writing a Comedy Special for "A Steven Wright Special." In 2008, Wright became the first person to be inducted into the Boston Comedy Hall of Fame.
