Becoming a MTV VJ was the last thing on Carson Daly's mind. In fact, Daly aspired to become a priest or a professional golfer, not a MTV icon.
Born in Santa Monica, California, Daly grew up with strong Christian beliefs. He was a lover of golf and was part of the Santa Monica High School Vikings golf team. His hard work on the course paid off when he was awarded a partial golf scholarship to Loyola Marymount University where he opted to major in Theology.
By the end of his first semester, Daly dropped out of Loyola Marymount University and relocated to Palm Springs, California. He had given up his dreams of becoming a priest and decided to put his full focus on playing golf professionally. While in Palm Springs, Daly reunited with an old friend who offered him an internship at KCMJ. Daly made such an impression on the staff at the radio station that he began producing the station's morning show. He then began working part time at LIVE 105 and shortly after, Daly became one of their popular on air dee jays.
Daly has been credited as the first person in the United States to interview singer Alanis Morissette. He also played a big part in the success of the group Smashmouth. In 1996, Daly relocated to the popular KROCK station in California. It was as a DJ for KROCK that he was discovered by MTV. In 1997, Daly became the host of MTV LIVE. He then went on to host the ever-popular MTV TRL (1998). In 2002, Daly was seen not only during the day, but began hosting the night show, "Last Call with Carson Daly."
- Also Credited As:
Carson Jones Daly
- Born:
Carson Jones Daly on June 22, 1973 in Santa Monica, California, United States
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Job Titles:
Tv host, Disc jockey, Radio host, Veejay, Actor
Family
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Father: J D Daly. Died of bladder cancer in 1979
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Mother: Patty Caruso. Remarried after Daly s father died; hosted local cable TV show in Southern CA
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Sister: Quinn K Daly. Born in 1970
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Son: Jackson James Daly. Born March 15, 2009; mother, Siri Pinter
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Step-father: Richard Caruso.
Significant Others
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Companion: Siri Pinter. Mother of his son, Jackson
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Companion: Jaime Pressly. met on New Year s Eve 2001
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Companion: Jennifer Love Hewitt. broke up with Daly through her publicist. Daly heared that he and Hewitt were no longer together on the radio; together 1997-99
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Companion: Tara Reid. became engaged in 2000; separated in 2001
Education
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Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, theology
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Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica, CA
Milestones
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1996 Began working at Krock/KROQ
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1997 Was recruited by MTV to be a guest VJ; hosted MTV LIVE
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1998 Began hosting Total Request Live (TRL) on MTV
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2000 Hosted the MTV reality show Making The Band
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2002 Hosted NBC s late night talk show Last Call with Carson Daly
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Began working as a disk-jockey for an alternative station in San Diego, CA
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Considered becoming a Roman Catholic Priest; entered Theology school at LMU
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Moved to Palm Springs and interned at KCMJ and later became a Morning show producer
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Obtained a partial golf scholarship to Loyola Marymount University
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Ranked in the top ten high school golfers