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."