What to know about Oscars host Conan O'Brien and his family
Comedian Conan O'Brien wears many hats and chief among them is that of a proud father of two children, whom he shares with his wife, Liza.
O'Brien attended the 2026 Oscars with Liza on Sunday, March 15 at the Dolby Theatre. The pair walked the red carpet together before O'Brien hosted the show for the second year in a row.
As a dad of two, O'Brien has opened up over the years about how fatherhood changed him.
In a 2022 episode of his "Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend" podcast, he shared advice to his co-host Matt Gourley, who was expecting a child with his wife at the time.
"[Parenthood is] such a profound change in your life. Everything goes from black and white to color. Everything goes from one dimension to nine dimensions," O'Brien said. "And nothing anybody says is going to mean anything to you, but it is going to be the best thing you ever do in your life. It's absolutely transformative and great and you're going to be a great dad."
O'Brien, the son of a doctor and an attorney, grew up in the Boston area as one of six children. He told ABC News' Lara Spencer in an interview just before last year's Oscars that as a child, he never could have dreamed of hosting Hollywood's biggest night.
"I grew up watching the Oscars, and it is something it's imprinted on my memory," he told Spencer in a Feb. 26, 2025 interview. "I dreamed of, like, being a seat filler at the Oscars. I never thought, 'Oh, I'll host the Oscars.' I always kept my dreams very attainable."
Ahead of this year's ceremony, O'Brien told Spencer that he has been "working really hard" to make it a great show.
"I'm chill, because we've been working really hard. We have a lot of fun ideas," O'Brien said in an interview that aired March 12 on "Good Morning America," adding that preparing to host is, "always a running battle up until the moment the Oscars begins, and then things can still change."
Get to know the funnyman and his family.
Liza Powel O'Brien
Conan O'Brien and his wife, Liza Powel O'Brien, a playwright and podcast host, married in 2002.
Liza Powel O'Brien is the narrator and writer behind the "Significant Others" podcast and in an appearance on her husband's podcast "Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend," she described the nonfiction series as a deeper dive into the stories of "people who are just outside the spotlight of history," such as the spouses of famous figures and celebrities.
"I'm really interested, even before I was married to Conan, about what it was like for people who were married to the people we read about in history books," Liza Powel O'Brien said of the inspiration behind "Significant Others." "And as I started collecting more and more of [their stories] and asking people, 'Is this anything that anyone else would be interested in besides me,' Conan was one of the first people to say, 'Absolutely, I would absolutely listen to that.'"
Neve O'Brien
The O'Briens welcomed their first child, a daughter named Neve, in 2003.
Conan O'Brien opened up about going to the music festival Coachella with his daughter Neve in a March 2023 episode of his "Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend" podcast featuring vocalist and songwriter Michelle Zauner and her band Japanese Breakfast and how she introduced him to Zauner.
"We started driving and my daughter did a really cool thing. She didn't tell me who the bands were but she started playing me, on the long drive, she started playing me all this different music and said, 'You tell me who you think we should go see when we're there,'" he recalled. "And then I singled out – she played me a couple songs – and then I said, 'This is the band we have to see.' … And she said, 'Correct. That is Japanese Breakfast.'"
Beckett O'Brien
The couple's youngest child, son Beckett, was born in 2005.
In a February 2020 episode of "Dads: The Podcast," Conan O'Brien opened up about his two children and described them both as "very smart" and "very good people."
"My son is incredibly talented at tech and computer stuff and he just always has been," he added of his son Beckett. "I mean, he was literally, reprogramming my phone when he was 3. He could reach over and hit a few buttons and then suddenly, it wasn't a phone anymore. It was a blender."
