Does the busiest man in Hollywood even have time to celebrate his birthday?
Ryan Seacrest is turning 38 on Monday, and he’s still filling his plate with project after project. Among his accomplishments, Seacreast is a radio personality, the host of American Idol, a wildly successful TV producer and the new Dick Clark.
But he wasn’t always sitting on top of Tinseltown’s pedestal — he climbed the ladder of success step-by-step…at a record pace, of course.
Before he landed his breakout gig on American Idol, Seacrest hosted ESPN’s Radical Outdoor Challenge, plus two kids’ game shows: Gladiators 2000 and Click. He even made a cameo appearance on the original Beverly Hills 90210 as the host of the fictional game show Lover’s Lane.
But it wasn’t until 2002 that he landed the hosting job that would change his career for, well, forever. American Idol put Seacrest in the national spotlight, and he didn’t plan on leaving anytime soon. After the success of Season 1, he became the singing competition’s sole host after his cohort, comedian Brian Dunkleman, was dropped from the show. Now, 12 seasons later, Seacrest is the highest-paid reality television host in history. In fact, he recently signed a $30 million deal to continue his Idol hosting duties.
Yet that’s only the tip of the Seacrest-success iceberg. The star rang in 2004 as the new host of the hit radio program American Top 40. A month later, he picked up another project: On Air With Ryan Seacrest. Today, he’s the host and executive producer of the national syndicated daily radio show.
But the crowning moment of Seacrest’s career came in 2005 when it was announced that he would become the executive producer and co-host of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. After rocking, literally, the New Year’s spectacular for four years, the program was officially renamed to Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rocking Eve With Ryan Seacrest to reflect his role in the show. And on top of it all, he still finds time to hit the beach with girlfriend and former hoofer on Dancing With the Stars, Julianne Hough
Seacrest didn’t stop there, though — he continued to climb the ladder of success, taking on more and more projects. In 2006, he signed a three-year contract with E! to host and produce several programs, including E! Newsand its red carpet award show coverage.
That same year, he launched his production company, Ryan Seacrest Products, which produces the hit series Keeping Up with the Kardashians, its three spin-offs (Khloe and Lamar, Kourtney and Kim Take New York, and Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami), and the new hit reality series, Shahs of Sunset.
With all this on his plate, and way more to come, our only question is, when does he find time to sleep?
To celebrate Seacrest’s big 3-8, we’re looking back at his rise to super-stardom. Click through our gallery to see Seacrest grow from American Idol host to TV personality king.
