Matt Stone
Matthew Richard Stone[2] (born May 26, 1971)[3] is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, and musician. He is best known for co-creating South Park (since 1997) and The Book of Mormon (2011) with his creative partner Trey Parker. Intrigued by a career in entertainment at a young age, he studied film and mathematics at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he met Parker. During their attendance, the two worked on various short films and starred in the feature-length musical Cannibal! The Musical (1993).
For the Arkansas politician, see Matt Stone (politician).
Matt Stone
Stone and Parker moved to Los Angeles and wrote their second film, Orgazmo (1997). Before its premiere, South Park aired on Comedy Central in August 1997 and was met with widespread praise. Following its success, the two directed a film based on the series, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999), which was met with positive critical reception. Outside of South Park, Stone has written, produced, and starred in the satirical action film Team America: World Police (2004), as well as the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon (2011), which, after long-tenured delays and years of development, was met with positive reviews.
Stone is the recipient of numerous accolades, including five Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on South Park, as well as three Tony Awards and one Grammy Award for The Book of Mormon.
Early life
Stone was born in Houston, Texas, to economics professor Gerald Whitney Stone and Sheila Lois (Belasco). He is of Irish-American heritage from his father's side and Jewish heritage from his mother's side.[4][5] The South Park characters Gerald and Sheila Broflovski were named after them. Stone and his younger sister Rachel were raised in Littleton, Colorado, a suburb of Denver, where they attended Heritage High School.[6] He attended the University of Colorado Boulder. His father was worried he would "become a musician and a bum", so he insisted that his son major in something "practical". They compromised on Matt's majoring in both mathematics and film. Stone graduated with a double-major Bachelor of Arts degree in 1993.[7]
Personal life
Stone met Comedy Central executive Angela Howard in 2001, and they began a relationship shortly after.[13] They got married in 2008 and have two children together.[1][92] Stone and his family live in Venice, Los Angeles.[93]
Stone has described himself as ethnically Jewish due to his mother being Jewish.[94][95] He is an atheist.[96][97]
Stone said in 2001, regarding his political views, "I hate conservatives, but I really fucking hate liberals."[98] When asked about the quote during a 2010 interview, Stone seemingly retracted his previous take, stating, "We don't want you to come to it thinking, 'These guys are going to bash liberals,' … It’s so much more fun for us to rip on liberals only because nobody else does it, and not because we think liberals are worse than Republicans."[99] In 2006, Stone described himself as libertarian.[100]