What is David Sedaris's Net Worth?
David Sedaris is an American comedian, author and radio personality who has a net worth of $8 million. David Sedaris is known for his self-deprecating and semi-autobiographical essays and books. His works, including the acclaimed essay collections "Naked" and "Me Talk Pretty One Day," focus on his middle-class North Carolina upbringing, homosexuality, and substance use, among other personal topics. Many of his books have been New York Times Best Sellers.
Early Life and Education
David Sedaris was born on December 26, 1956 in Johnson City, New York as the second oldest of six children of Sharon and IBM engineer Louis. He is of Greek heritage on his father's side, and was raised Greek Orthodox. His siblings are Lisa, Gretchen, Amy, Tiffany, and Paul. When Sedaris was young, the family moved to Raleigh, North Carolina. There, he went to Jesse O. Sanderson High School. After graduating, Sedaris briefly attended Western Carolina University in Cullowhee before transferring to Kent State University in Ohio. He ultimately dropped out of the latter school in 1977. Later, in 1983, Sedaris moved to Chicago, Illinois and attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He graduated from SAIC in 1987.
Career Beginnings
At a club in Chicago, Sedaris met radio host Ira Glass. Taken by Sedaris's wit, Glass invited him to appear on his weekly program "The Wild Room." Sedaris was very successful on the show, leading him to appear on National Public Radio for the first time in late 1992. During that broadcast, he read his essay "Santaland Diaries," a comedic account of his stint working as a Christmas elf at Macy's in New York. The essay was a hit among listeners, giving Sedaris his big break. He went on to record a monthly segment for NPR based on his diary entries, and signed a two-book deal with the publisher Little, Brown and Company.
Books and Essays
In 1994, Sedaris released his first book, the short-story and essay collection "Barrel Fever." It contains the "Santaland Diaries" essay that made him famous. Around this time, Sedaris began penning essays for the New Yorker and Esquire. In 1997, he published his second essay collection, "Naked," which became a New York Times Best Seller. Prior to the publication, Sedaris read several of the book's essays on the radio program "This American Life," to which he became a regular contributor. He released another essay collection in 1997 entitled "Holidays on Ice," focused on Christmas; it too became a New York Times Best Seller. Sedaris had further consecutive New York Times Best Sellers with 2000's "Me Talk Pretty One Day," 2004's "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim," and 2008's "When You Are Engulfed in Flames." The first of those titles was a particularly big hit, earning Sedaris the Thurber Prize for American Humor. He earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Spoken Word Album for his audiobook of "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim."
In 2010, Sedaris went on BBC Radio 4 to read essays before a live audience in a series called "Meet David Sedaris." The series continued for many years, with the sixth and final installment airing in 2017. During that time, Sedaris released the animal-themed short-story collection "Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk" and the essay collection "Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls," the latter of which debuted atop the New York Times Best Seller list. Sedaris also published "Theft by Finding," a collection of his diary entries written from 1977 to 2002. His other books have included "Calypso," released in 2018; the diary collection "A Carnival of Snackery," published in 2021; and "Happy-Go-Lucky," released in 2022.
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Television and Film
Sedaris has made a number of appearances on television and film over the years. On the small screen, he was a frequent guest on the CBS talk show "The Late Late Show" when it was hosted by Craig Ferguson. Sedaris later appeared as a special guest judge alongside his sister Amy Sedaris in a 2016 episode of "RuPaul's Drag Race," and was a guest on the Adult Swim talk show "FishCenter Live." He worked alongside his sister again on the Netflix animated series "BoJack Horseman," voicing the mother of her character Princess Carolyn. Meanwhile, on film, Sedaris appeared in the 2014 documentary "Do I Sound Gay?"
Plays
With his sister Amy, Sedaris has written plays under the name the Talent Family. Their plays include "Stump the Host," "Stitches," "One-Woman Shoe," and "The Little Frieda Mysteries," all of which were performed in the 90s at the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York City. Sedaris and his sister also wrote "The Book of Liz," which was performed at the Greenwich Theater in the early 2000s.
Personal Life
Openly gay, Sedaris lives with his longtime boyfriend Hugh Hamrick, a painter and set designer.
Real Estate
David and Hugh primarily reside in a 16th-century farmhouse in Rackham, West Sussex, England. In Rackham, Sedaris is known for spending hours picking up litter from the roads.
The couple also own a home in Emerald Isle, North Carolina. They bought their 2,600 square foot home in 2013 for $825,000.
They also own THREE apartments in Paris and an apartment in London.
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