Stephen Colbert’s brothers’ plane crash shaped his life

Stephen Colbert grew up with 10 siblings, but his family’s story is marked by loss: brothers Paul and Peter and his father, Dr. James Colbert Jr., died in a 1974 plane crash. Colbert has spoken about how grief changed the way he thinks about pain—and he’s also

When Stephen Colbert talks about grief, he doesn’t keep it at a distance. He frames it as something he had to learn to live with—something that stayed sharp even as it became usable. In 2019. during an interview with Anderson Cooper. the comedian returned to the moment that taught him what that kind of pain can do.

Colbert said, “I was struck with this realization that I had a gratitude for the pain of that grief.” He continued, “It doesn’t take the pain away. It doesn’t make the grief less profound. In some ways, it makes it more profound because it allows you to look at it.”

He described how grief can still be examined rather than avoided: “It allows you to examine your grief in a way that is not like holding a red. hot ember in your hands. but rather seeing that pain as something that can warm you and light your knowledge of what other people might be going through.” Colbert tied it back to empathy. saying it offered “another way of saying there is a value to having experienced it.”.

That reflection lands with extra weight because his family’s history includes a loss that reached beyond his personal life and into the story of who he became.

Colbert grew up with a big set of siblings—10 in total: James III, Edward, Mary, William, Margaret, Thomas, John, Elizabeth, and two brothers, Paul and Peter, who died later. The late brothers were Paul and Peter.

The deaths were tied to the same tragedy that took their father. Stephen’s brothers Paul and Peter died on September 11, 1974, along with their father, Dr. James Colbert Jr., in a plane crash. The crash happened after the trio was flying on flight 212 on Eastern Air Lines. when a flight error caused the plane to crash near the airport in Charlotte. North Carolina. Seventy-two people died in total, including Paul, Peter and James. Colbert was 10 years old at the time.

Even with that history, the Colbert siblings kept moving forward together in their own ways. Colbert has said he stayed close with them, and he credited his sister Mary for playing a role in steering his career at a turning point.

In May 2026, Colbert told People that when David Letterman stepped down in 2015, his family helped shape what came next. He recalled saying. “Well. Dave is stepping down.” Then. he said. Mary “just burst into a huge smile. ” and he answered. “OK. OK. Mary. if this show works out. CBS should send you a bouquet of flowers because I’m going to take the job because you just smiled.” He said Mary’s “happiness for me getting the gig is the thing that really sealed it for me.”.

For all the public focus on Stephen Colbert, most of his brothers and sisters have kept their lives private. One exception stands out: his sister Elizabeth ran for South Carolina’s 1st congressional district in 2013 as a Democrat. She lost the race to Republican Mark Sanford.

The sequence of Colbert’s family life is hard to miss: a childhood defined by the plane crash that killed his father and two brothers. and a career built later with the support of siblings who were there for him through change. In between. his words to Anderson Cooper show the long work grief can do—pain that doesn’t vanish. but somehow becomes something he can hold up to the world without flinching.

Stephen Colbert Anderson Cooper The Late Show David Letterman plane crash Eastern Air Lines flight 212 Dr. James Colbert Jr. Paul Colbert Peter Colbert grief Mary Colbert Elizabeth Colbert Mark Sanford South Carolina 1st congressional district