Stephen Colbert knew right away that Evelyn McGee-Colbert was the woman he was meant to marry.
The couple first met at a screening of the musical and married in October 1993 – long before the talk show host became a household name. Stephen and Evelyn have since had three children and collaborated on several projects, as Evelyn is a talented producer.
Stephen cited his wife as one of the reasons Late show was still filming during the COVID-19 pandemic. While accepting the Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special in 2021, he said, “I’m going to call my wife to celebrate as soon as I get through all of this because she was a big part of this last year and this night, too.”
From their first meeting in a theater lobby to raising three children, here’s everything you need to know about Stephen Colbert’s wife, Evelyn McGee-Colbert, and her relationship with the late-night host.
She and Stephen met in the lobby of the theater
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Stephen was at a showing of a musical Hydrogen Jukebox when he saw Evelyn in the lobby of the theater. Late show The presenter later revealed that he immediately knew Evelyn was the one, saying to himself: “She. That’s your wife. You’re going to marry her.”
Evelyn and Stephen saw each other again in the food line at the after-show party. Stephen recalled thinking, “You’re going to be kicking yourself for the rest of your life if you don’t turn around and say hello to her.”
She and Stephen grew up close to each other
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After Stephen worked up the courage to introduce himself, the two realized that they actually grew up 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 Montclair Local that Stephen had caught her eye the night they met because of how he treated his mother. “He walked in with his mother on his arm. I thought, ‘That man loves his mother,'” Evelyn said.
She worked as an actress
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Like her husband, Evelyn has also worked in the entertainment industry, earning several small acting accolades over the years. She acted in a comedy series Strangers with sweets, which Stephen co-produced, and appeared in Alpha house.
She works at a production company that Stephen started
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Evelyn is currently the Vice President of Spartina Productions, a production company started by Stephen. She also works as an independent film producer for the company. Evelyn is also the president of the Montclair Film Board of Trustees.
She did Late show possible during a pandemic
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Stephen was honored at the 2021 Emmy Awards for his 2020 special, “Stephen Colbert’s 2020 Election Night.” Accepting the award for Outstanding Special, Stephen gave huge credit to Evelyn for helping to produce the series during the pandemic.
“I’m going to call my wife to celebrate as soon as I get through all of this because she was a big part of this last year and this night,” Stephen said. “You know, she’s an absolute rock and I couldn’t have done this without her and I’m so glad – the only good thing that came out of COVID was that she was able to be a part of the show.”
She and Stephen have three children together
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Stephen and Evelyn have three children together: daughter Madeline and sons Peter and John. “Stephen and his family are very happily rooted,” 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 is very active in their local community of Montclair, New Jersey. Evelyn has been involved with the Montclair Film Festival since its inception, founder Bob Feinberg said Montclair Local that she was his “first call” when he had the idea of starting a film festival. In the years that followed, both Stephen and Evelyn played significant roles in generating publicity and raising money for the annual event.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the couple also raised funds for the New Jersey Arts and Culture Recovery Fund, benefiting the state’s economically devastated arts and culture 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
The couple published a joint cookbook Is this funny? in September 2024.
“It’s a little look at our family,” Evelyn told PEOPLE. “It’s just a little hanging out with us in the kitchen.”
The cookbook celebrates the flavors of coastal South Carolina, where both Stephen and Evelyn are from, and includes recipes for dishes such as red rice and crab cakes.
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