Mo Rocca Biography

Mo Rocca was born Maurice Alberto Rocca, on January 28, 1969, in Washington D.C, to an Italian-American father Marcel Rocca and a Colombian mother. He grew up with two brothers, Larry and Frank.

Mo grew up in Washington D.C. watching a lot of television and aspiring to become a television star. He was also interested in music and played the trumpet. He played the instrument for a few years in his teen years but gave it up eventually. He picked the instrument again in his 50s.

As a kid, he spent a lot of time watching television and reading books. After his initial education, he moved to Maryland, where he got enrolled into the Georgetown Preparatory School, an all-boys’ school. He was good in academics and aspired to become a writer.

He was also a big fan of the musical Cats and self-admittedly watched it 40 times as a teenager.

Following his high school graduation, Mo Rocca enrolled at Harvard University and earned a bachelor’s degree in literature. He graduated from college in 1991.

In college, he also became interested in drama and joined Harvard’s popular Hasty Pudding Theatricals, where he participated in burlesque shows. Burlesque shows were notorious in the artistic community for being crass, full of dirty jokes and female nudity. Mo also happened to write one such show, titled Suede Expectations.

Following his college graduation in 1991, Mo Rocca kept doing theatrical shows. One of his most popular early productions was titled Grease, a musical. He followed it with another musical, titled South Pacific.

He began his writing career in the mid-1990s when he was credited as a writer on two episodes of the children’s series titled Wishbone. He also served as a staff writer on two other episodes of the Emmy Award-winning TV series.

In 1996, Mo Rocca was hired as a writer for another television series, titled The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss. He followed it with writing three episodes of the series titled Pepper Ann.

Mo Rocca made his television debut as a journalist and satirist on The Daily Show in 1998. It was a popular late-night talk show that premiered in 1996. The multiple Emmy award-winning show turned out to be his big career breakthrough, as since Mo joined the show in 1998, its popularity skyrocketed.

At that time the show was hosted by Jon Stewart and in the early 2000s, the show enjoyed great popularity, pulling about a million viewers per episode, along with massive critical acclaim. Mo primarily featured on a special segment of the show titled That’s Quite Interesting. He remained associated with the show until 2003. He also featured as host in television specials such as The Road to Washington and Never Mind the Buzzcocks.

In 2003, he appeared in the mini-documentary series titled I Love the ‘70s, and featured in six episodes of the series. The critically acclaimed series had many celebrities talking about growing up in the 1970s while discussing the pop-culture impact of the decade.

Previously in 2002, Mo had hosted the mini-documentary series titled I Love the ‘80s, which was aired only for two episodes. In 2003, four more episodes were released. The show’s format was the same as I Love the ‘70s.

In 2004, he had yet another major career breakthrough when he appeared in the show titled Larry King Live as a correspondent, where Mo covered the Republican and Democratic Party conventions before the elections.

In the same year, he further hosted the TV show titled Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins and appeared in 33 episodes of the show. Further in the mid-2000s, he appeared hosting the TV documentary titled Whoa! Sunday with Mo Rocca and two episodes of the series titled Things I Hate About You.

In 2004 he also began hosting The Tonight Show on NBC. For the network, he also covered the 2008 Presidential election campaigns. Around the same time, he also made several guest appearances on TV shows such as Tom Green’s House Tonight, Drinks with LX and The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet.

In 2008, he made his first appearance on the morning news show titled CBS News Sunday Morning and since then he has appeared on 106 episodes of the show. Further in 2012, he became a regular on another CBS show titled CBS This Morning. He has also maintained his association with The Daily Show and has appeared as a correspondent and co-host on the show in 196 episodes.

In 2014, he began hosting the documentary series titled The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation with Mo Rocca. The critically acclaimed show features Mo as he talks about great inventors to inspire his viewers.

In addition to appearing as a host on television shows, he has also acted as fictional characters. In 2003, he made his debut as an actor for the musical comedy film titled Death of a Dynasty. Since then, he has appeared on many television series’ such as Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Ugly Betty and Royal Pains. More recently he was seen playing fictional characters in series’ such as The Good Wife and The Good Fight.

In 2012, he began hosting the television show titled My Grandmother’s Ravioli. In the critically and commercially acclaimed show, Mo is seen travelling around the USA learning cooking recipes from elderly women and men.

In 2015, he also appeared on a few episodes of the popular game show Jeopardy!, where he served as a clue-giver, and a celebrity contestant in separate episodes.

In 2019, he began a podcast named Mobituaries. In the podcast, which was based on the book of the same name, also written by Mo, he writes endearing obituaries for the people he believed needed more respect while they were alive. Some of the obituaries in the book, and in the podcast, are of his father Marcel Rocca, Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Jennings Graham.

In 2004, he wrote his first book, titled All the Presidents’ Pets. The book is a well-researched satirical piece of writing featuring American presidents and the pets they owned.

He has also worked briefly as an editor of the Perfect 10 magazine that featured female models that did not have breast implants.

He wrote the script for the 2011 Tony Awards and won an Emmy Award for it.

Mo Rocca never married. There had been speculations about his sexuality and in July 2011, he finally came out as gay on a podcast. He has since embraced his sexual identity and was praised by the gay community for appearing in the 2015 Mass of Pope Francis.

Mo also revealed in the same podcast that he was struggling with identity issues most of his life and only in his 40s did he become comfortable with being gay.

He mentioned having a boyfriend in another one of his interviews in 2017 but kept his identity a secret.

In 2013, he was named as one of OUT Magazine’s 100 most influential people from the LGBT community.

Mo Rocca is a talented singer and has performed with several renowned musical groups, showcasing his diverse range of talents beyond comedy and broadcasting.

In addition to his work in entertainment, Mo Rocca is also a published author, with a book titled "All the Presidents' Pets" that explores the history of presidential pets in the White House.

Mo Rocca is a dedicated advocate for historic preservation and has been involved in campaigns to save and restore important landmarks and buildings across the United States.

Despite his busy schedule, Mo Rocca finds time to volunteer at animal shelters and has a soft spot for rescue animals, often using his platform to raise awareness about pet adoption.

Mo Rocca is a passionate food enthusiast and has hosted several cooking and food-related shows, showcasing his culinary knowledge and love for exploring different cuisines.