Biography: Trey Parker and Matt Stone

By Cynthia Baber

Trey Parker and Matt Stone have an extensive career in writing, producing and acting. Parker born in 1969 and Stone born in 1971 were both raised in Colorado. They met while attending college at The University of Colorado at Boulder. They quickly became friends due to their similar and unapologetic sense of humor. Their work highlights extremely controversial or challenging topics facing the world, which they poke fun at with no reservation.

Their first collaboration together was an animated short film titled The Spirit of Christmas (Jesus vs. Frosty), that they created in 1992. This was the start of their next collaboration that was based on the characters featured in this first short film. In 1997, an executive at Comedy Central saw this short film and wanted Stone and Parker to create a series, which led to the beginning of their long running show South Park. While it is a cartoon featuring children characters, the show is intended for an adult audience.  This is due to the offensive nature, violence and humor that the show is best known for.  No topic is off limits or considered sacred to Stone and Parker.  They find humor in pretty much everything, including natural disasters, world events, movies, celebrities, religion and politics. After 19 seasons of South Park, they continue to write for the show and voice many of the characters. 

In 1996 they formed a band called DVDA, in which Parker is lead vocals and keyboards, while Stone is on drums, bass guitar or vocals. Their music includes parodies of popular music and has been used in their various projects throughout the years. Growing up, Parker loved theater and participated in various musical theater productions. This led him to enjoy music and writing lyrics. Parker has written many songs for South Park that are catchy, humorous and inappropriate. Throughout their work on South Park, they also participated in many other endeavors.  In 1998, they co-starred in the comedy BASEketball.  In 2001 they created a TV show called That’s my Bush! based on President George W. Bush and his administration. The series makes many jabs at President Bush’s often-mocked idiotic tendencies or errors. 

 In 2003, Parker and Stone wrote and voiced characters in Team America: World Police,  which was released in 2004. Like their other projects, the movie echoes world events and the issues that were happening during the time of its release, including terrorism and politics. They were no strangers to this sort of offensive and irreverent humor involving a topic that is usually taken very seriously. Their lack of special effects and use of string-puppets further reinforces their humor, much like their use of animation in South Park. 

While working on their script for Team America: World Police, they began to discuss the idea of a Broadway musical collaborating with Robert Lopez. The Book of Mormon opened in 2011, and has since received many awards including multiple Tony Awards. It has however also been met with opposition due to its offensive nature regarding the Mormon religion.  Despite any opposition, the musical has been extremely successful since it’s debut.

Trey Parker married Emma Sugiyama in 2006, however, this marriage ended in divorce in 2008. He is now dating Boogie Tillmon, and lives in California. Matt Stone married Angela Howard in 2008 and they have 2 children together. He also resides in California.