Peter Sagal

Peter Sagal
Peter Sagal in 2012
Born	(1965-01-31) January 31, 1965 (age 52) Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, United States
Occupation	Playwright, screenwriter, actor, radio host
Known for	Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! (NPR/WBEZ Chicago, IL)
Notable work	Denial (play), The Book of Vice
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Edna (Beth) Albrecht (divorced)
Children	3 daughters, Rose, Grace, and Willa

Peter Daniel Sagal (born January 31, 1965) is an American playwright, screenwriter, actor, humorist, essayist, journalist and host of the National Public Radio game show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! and the PBS special Constitution USA with Peter Sagal.

He is also an avid long distance runner, who has completed 13 marathons including four Boston Marathons and four Chicago Marathons. Under the sponsorship of Team With a Vision he served as a guide to partially sighted runner William Greer at the 2013 Boston Marathon. They crossed the finish line at 4:05 on the marathon clock, Sagal's slowest marathon time. The bombs went off at 4:09 with Sagal and Greer a mere 100 yards beyond.

Sagal was born in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, to Matthew and Reeva Sagal on January 31, 1965. Matthew was a telecommunications executive and Reeva was a school teacher but became a stay-at-home mom. He has an older brother, Douglas, and a younger brother, Roger. The Sagal family attended Summit Jewish Community Center in Berkeley Heights. He attended and graduated from Governor Livingston Regional High School (now Governor Livingston High School). In high school he gravitated toward theater.

Reeva Sagal has a master's from Harvard University and began encouraging him toward Harvard from a very early age. Sagal started there in the fall of 1983. His college roommate at Harvard was Jess M. Bravin. Together they entered a competition to write the Hasty Pudding production. They were selected to develop their script "Between the Sheiks". The production received rave reviews in The Harvard Crimson. Sagal has remained a lifelong friend with Bravin who later became the US Supreme Court correspondent for The Wall Street Journal. Peter studied English Literature at Harvard. While there he wrote and directed other student theater productions. He also spent a summer as a journalist for Cycle, a now defunct, motorcycle magazine. He graduated magna cum laude in 1987.