Stuttering John
| John Melendez | |
|---|---|
| Born |
John Edward Melendez October 4, 1965 Massapequa, New York, United States |
| Occupation | Radio personality Writer Musician Actor Politician |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Spouse(s) | Suzanna Keller (m. 1997–2012) |
John Edward Melendez (born October 4, 1965), commonly known as "Stuttering John," is an American television writer, radio personality, and politician. Prior to his work on television as a writer and announcer, Melendez was a regular on-air personality on The Howard Stern Show. He became known for asking impertinent questions of celebrities on the red carpet and at press conferences with his stuttering.
Melendez grew up in Massapequa, Long Island and attended Plainedge High School. Melendez was born to a Puerto Rican father and a Danish mother. According to Melendez, he began to stutter when he was in the second grade as a result of the psychological mistreatment from his father when he witnessed an argument between his parents. He attended Plainedge High School, where he was picked on by the neighborhood bullies because of his stuttering.
In 1988, Melendez attended New York University's film school, and belonged to a band called "Rock Slide." His college roommate, comedian Mitch Fatel, was on the verge of quitting his internship with The Howard Stern Show, when Melendez asked him for a recommendation for an internship there. The show's producer, Gary Dell'Abate, mentioned Melendez's stuttering to Howard Stern who, without seeing him and even before he was interviewed, told the producer to hire him.
On Stern's show, Melendez's primary role was answering phones and screening listener calls before they were allowed on the air. That often entailed intentionally "stirring the pot" by putting through callers willing to say something outrageous or to bring up something that would get a reaction from the guest that's on the air.
Melendez is best known for segments in which he asked celebrities confronting questions at red carpet events, functions, promotional appearances, and press conferences. The puerile questions, written by Stern, Fred Norris, and Jackie Martling, centered around a given celebrity's private life and were premised on the idea that a celebrity would not want to look bad by refusing an interview from a stutterer. Melendez sported long hair and metal T-shirts and asked questions by reading them from a sheet of paper. As he became better known, he occasionally wore a disguise consisting of an overcoat, fedora and fake mustache. His interviews were characterized by punchline-free "joke" questions, such as asking actress Melanie Griffith how her father, Andy, was.
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