Stephen Colbert's Ear

Comedian Stephen Colbert was born on this day (May 13) in 1964.

image: Montclair Film

What many people do not know about the comedian is that he is deaf in one ear. When he was young it was discovered that a tumor had damaged his eardrum. Surgery to remove the tumor left him without an eardrum in his right ear. He explains:

"I always wanted to be a marine biologist but then I had this ear problem. I have no eardrum. So I had this operation at the Medical University when I was a kid. Now I can't get my head wet. I mean, I can, but I can't really scuba dive or anything like that. So that killed my marine biology hopes."

Some people notice that his right ear looks different from the left one as well. That's because the right one is not real and doesn't work.