Hank Azaria
Encyclopedia
Henry Albert "Hank" Azaria (icon ; born April 25, 1964) is an American film, television and stage actor
, director, voice actor, and comedian
. He is noted for being one of the principal voice actors on the animated television series The Simpsons
(1989–present), on which he performs the voices of Moe Szyslak
, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy
, Carl Carlson and numerous others. Azaria, who attended Tufts University
, joined the show with little voice acting experience, but became a regular in its second season
. Many of his performances on the show are based on famous actors and characters; Moe's voice, for example, is based on actor Al Pacino
.
Alongside his continued voice acting on The Simpsons, Azaria became more widely known through his live-action appearances in films such as The Birdcage
(1996), Anastasia
(1997) and Godzilla
(1998). He has continued to star in numerous films including Mystery Men
(1999), America's Sweethearts
(2001), Shattered Glass (2003), Along Came Polly
(2004), Run Fatboy Run
(2007), Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
(2009) and The Smurfs
(2011). He also had recurring roles on the television series Mad About You
and Friends
and starred in the drama Huff
(2004–2006), playing the titular character, as well as appearing in the popular stage musical Spamalot
. Originally primarily a comic actor, in recent years Azaria has taken on more dramatic roles including the TV films Tuesdays With Morrie
(1999) and Uprising
(2001). He has won four Emmys
and a Screen Actors Guild
Award. Azaria was married to the actress Helen Hunt
from 1999 to 2000.
, New York, the son of Sephardic Jewish
parents from Thessaloniki
, Greece. His father, Albert, ran several dress-manufacturing businesses, while his mother raised him and his two older sisters, Stephanie and Elise. Before marrying his father, Azaria's mother had been a publicist for Columbia Pictures
, promoting films in Latin American countries, as she was fluent in both English and Spanish. Throughout his childhood, Azaria often "memorize[d] and mimic[ked]" the scripts of the films, shows and stand-up comedy routines that he enjoyed.
Azaria attended The Kew-Forest School
in Forest Hills. He did not consciously decide to become an actor until he performed in a school play at the age of 16, becoming, at the expense of his academic studies, "obsessed with acting." Both of his parents loved all forms of show business, which further spurred him to become an actor. He studied drama at Tufts University
until 1985, before training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
. At Tufts he met Oliver Platt
, with whom he became best friends; Azaria noted that "Oliver was a better actor than I was in college, and he really inspired me." Together the pair starred in various college stage productions including The Merchant of Venice
.
Although he did not expect the endeavor to be successful, Azaria decided to become a professional actor so that he would not regret not trying later in his life. Azaria's first acting job was an advertisement for Italian
television when he was seventeen years old. He also worked as a busboy. Azaria originally intended to work predominantly as a theatrical actor and he and Platt set up their own company, named Big Theatre, although Harold Pinter
's The Dumb Waiter
was the only thing they ever performed. He decided that television was a better calling and offered a greater chance of work, and, after being offered the opportunity to work with talent agent Harry Gold, moved to Los Angeles, California
.
. For a time, in between acting jobs, he performed as a stand-up comedian, and worked as a bartender for a catering firm.
Upon meeting him, Gold was lukewarm about Azaria, but a woman Azaria had "worked with in New York got really furious with him because he said he'd work with me and then didn't," so Gold began sending Azaria out for auditions. He made his first television appearance with a role in the pilot episode of the 1986 ABC
comedy-drama series Joe Bash
, which starred Peter Boyle
. His part - a one-line role as the police officer Maldonado - was edited out before the show's broadcast, although the role secured him admission to the Screen Actors Guild
. Azaria went on to appear in the TV film Nitti: The Enforcer, about the gangster Frank Nitti
, and played Joe in an episode of the sitcom Family Ties
in 1988, in which he had one line, and the following year played Steve Stevenson in an episode of Growing Pains
.
work on the animated television show The Simpsons
, a show that continues to the present. He joined the show having previously performed only one voice over: as the titular animated dog in the failed Fox pilot Hollywood Dog, a show he described as "sort of Roger Rabbit-esque, where the dog was animated but everybody else was real." The first voice he performed on The Simpsons was that of town bartender Moe Szyslak
, replacing Christopher Collins
who had initially recorded the character's voice. Having known him from Hollywood Dog, casting director Bonita Pietila called Azaria and asked him to audition for the voice of Moe. At the time he was performing the role of a drug dealer in a play, utilizing a voice based on the actor Al Pacino
's performance in the film Dog Day Afternoon
. He used the voice in his audition for The Simpsons and, on the request of the show's executive producers Matt Groening
and Sam Simon
, made the voice more gravelly. Groening and Simon thought the resultant voice was ideal for Moe and took Azaria over to the Fox recording studio. Before he had even seen a script, he recorded several lines of dialogue as Moe for the episode "Some Enchanted Evening
", dubbing
Collins' voice. Azaria did not expect to hear from the show again but they continued to call him back, first to perform the voice of Chief Wiggum, and then Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
. By the show's second season
he was performing multiple recurring voices and so was given a contract and made a permanent member of the main cast. As he joined later than the rest of the cast, Groening still considers Azaria the "new guy." In addition to Moe, Wiggum and Apu, Azaria provides the voices of the Comic Book Guy
, Carl Carlson, Cletus Spuckler
, Professor Frink
, Dr. Nick Riviera, Lou, Snake, Kirk Van Houten, the Sea Captain, Superintendent Chalmers, Disco Stu, Duffman, the Wiseguy and numerous other one-time characters.
In addition to Moe's voice being based on Al Pacino, many of Azaria's other recurring characters are based on an existing source. He took Apu's voice from the many Indian and Pakistani convenience store workers in Los Angeles that he had interacted with when he first moved to the area, and also loosely based it on Peter Sellers
' character Hrundi V. Bakshi from the film The Party
. Originally, it was thought that Apu being Indian was too offensive and stereotypical, but due to Azaria's reading of the line "Hello, Mr. Homer", which the show's producers thought was hilarious, his character stayed. Azaria, however, disputed this on LateNet with Ray Ellin, claiming that Apu was always intended to be stereotypical. Chief Wiggum's voice was originally a parody of David Brinkley
but when Azaria was told it was too slow he switched it to that of Edward G. Robinson
. Officer Lou is based on Sylvester Stallone
, and Dr. Nick is "a bad Ricky Ricardo
impression." The "Wise Guy" voice is "basically Charles Bronson
," while Carl is "a silly voice [Azaria] always did." Two of the voices come from his time at college: Snake's is based on Azaria's old college roommate, while Comic Book Guy's voice is based on a student who lived in the room next door to Azaria's, who went by the name "F". Professor Frink is based on Jerry Lewis
's performance in the original The Nutty Professor
, and the Sea Captain's is based on English actor Robert Newton
's portrayal of many pirates. Azaria based his performance for the one-time character Frank Grimes
, from the episode "Homer's Enemy
", on actor William H. Macy
. He counts Grimes as the hardest, most emotional performance he has ever had to give in the history of The Simpsons.
Azaria's work on the show has won him three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
, in 1998, 2001 and 2003. He was also nominated for the award in 2009 and 2010, but lost to co-star Dan Castellaneta
and guest star Anne Hathaway
respectively. Azaria, with the rest of the principal cast, reprised all of his voice roles from The Simpsons, for the 2007 film The Simpsons Movie
. Azaria notes that he spends "an embarrassingly small amount of time working on The Simpsons." He works for "an hour on Thursdays when we read through the script, then four hours on Monday when we record it, and I'll pop in again once or twice." He concludes it is "the best job in the world, as far as I'm concerned."
Up until 1998, Azaria was paid US$30,000 per episode. Azaria and the five other main The Simpsons voice actors were then involved in a pay dispute in which Fox threatened to replace them with new actors and went as far as preparing for casting of new voices. However, the issue was soon resolved and from 1998 to 2004, they received $125,000 per episode. In 2004, the voice actors intentionally skipped several table reads, demanding they be paid $360,000 per episode. The strike was resolved a month later, with Azaria's pay increasing to something between $250,000 and $360,000 per episode. In 2008, production for the twentieth season was put on hold due to new contract negotiations with the voice actors, who wanted a "healthy bump" in salary. The dispute was later resolved and Azaria and the rest of the cast received their requested pay raise; they now earn approximately $400,000 per episode.
Once The Simpsons was "going steadily" and Azaria had enough money to live on, he stopped working on commercials as he found them "so demoralizing" and he always sounded sarcastic whenever he read for them. When recording the part of "Jell-O Man" for a Jell-O
commercial, he was told to make the voice he offered "more likeable and friendly so that children like him." After pointing out that "Jell-O Man" was a fictional character, he left and never recorded for an advertisement again.
wrote that: "The thing about Hank that I most remember is that he started out so unassuming and then, little by little, his abilities were revealed and his contributions to the show escalated. I realized Hank was going to be our breakaway star." He was a main cast member on the show Herman's Head
(1991–1994) playing Jay Nichols, alongside The Simpsons co-star Yeardley Smith
. He regularly recorded for The Simpsons and filmed Herman's Head during the same day. In 1994 he made his first appearance on the sitcom Friends
, playing the recurring character David, one of Phoebe Buffay
's boyfriends. His first appearance was in the show's tenth episode, before the character left for Minsk
. He came back in the show's seventh season
(2001), before making several appearances in the ninth
(2003), which culminated in David proposing to Phoebe. She rejected him, and David left the show for good. From 1995 to 1999, Azaria had a recurring role in the sitcom Mad About You
as Nat Ostertag, the dog walker. Azaria was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his roles in both Mad About You (in 1998) and Friends (in 2003). Azaria had the lead role in the short-lived sitcom If Not For You in 1995, playing record producer Craig Schaeffer.
His first theatrically released feature film appearance was in the 1990 film Pretty Woman
, where he played a police detective investigating the murder of a prostitute. He played television producer Albert Freedman in the 1994 Academy Award-nominated film Quiz Show. In 1996, Azaria played gay Guatemalan housekeeper Agador Spartacus in the film The Birdcage
. He was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, and critically branded "the most hilarious performance in the film," by Alison Macor of The Austin Chronicle, while Empire
wrote that he "[stole] the show." For the role he used a Guatemalan accent, and made himself sound as effeminate as possible. He had chosen two possible voices, an effeminate one and a tougher one. After advice from a drag queen, he chose the effeminate voice. Three weeks into production, he realized he sounded exactly like his grandmother, which aided his performance. Azaria appeared in numerous other films in the late 1990s, including Heat (1995), Grosse Pointe Blank
(1997) and Celebrity
(1998), as well as playing photographer Victor "Animal" Palotti in the 1998 film Godzilla
. He went on to appear opposite Gwyneth Paltrow
, as Walter Plane, in the 1998 adaptation of Great Expectations
. In 1999, he starred in Disney
's Mystery, Alaska
as Charles Danner, and Universal Pictures
's Mystery Men
, as the superhero The Blue Raja. Other film roles included Hector Gorgonzolas in America's Sweethearts
(2001), Claude in Along Came Polly
(2004), and the young Patches O'Houlihan in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
(2004), the latter two with Ben Stiller
. For his role of Claude, a French scuba instructor, in Along Came Polly, Azaria donned a wig and worked out "for seven or eight weeks," to get into the physical shape the part required. He also appeared as Professor Groteschele in Fail Safe (2000), a production that was broadcast live.
Azaria played composer Marc Blitzstein
in Tim Robbins
' film Cradle Will Rock
in 1999. Paul Clinton
wrote that Azaria was "brilliant as the tortured (is there any other kind) artist Blitzstein." The same year he appeared as author and journalist Mitch Albom
alongside Jack Lemmon
in the television film Tuesdays with Morrie
, winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for the role. Azaria described the latter as the "best work [he has] done." These were two of the first dramatic roles Azaria had taken; throughout his career Azaria has primarily worked in comedy, but tries to balance the two. Azaria commented: "all the roles I got were in comedy at first, and I was certainly happy to get those, so I never felt the lack of being considered a dramatic actor because I was so happy to get what I got. And then I became surprised later on when I got dramatic roles. But I never went, 'OK, now it's time to get a dramatic role.'" His next dramatic role was in the television film Uprising
in 2001. The film was based on the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
and Azaria played Mordechaj Anielewicz
, one of the revolt's leaders. Azaria was confused by his casting in Uprising and frequently asked the film's producer and director Jon Avnet
as to why he was selected. "I know [Avnet] liked the fact I was Jewish, and he knew I could do accents well. He cast me and David Schwimmer
in [Uprising], and we were both sort of mystified. He had some instinct that he wanted people who were more known for being funny. He never explained it satisfactorily to me; I don't understand why." His parts in Tuesdays With Morrie and Uprising affected him, causing a depressive state which he countered with DVDs of the comedy series Monty Python
. Azaria found Uprising to be "very difficult very depressing very emotionally challenging," material. In 2003, Azaria played journalist Michael Kelly
, the former editor of The New Republic
, in the drama film Shattered Glass. Kelly died a few months before the film was released and Azaria said the film "has become a weird kind of eulogy to him."
Azaria also continued with voice-over work, appearing as Venom/Eddie Brock
in Spider-Man: The Animated Series
for four years between 1994 and 1996, and in the animated feature Anastasia
(1997), as Bartok the bat, reprising the role in the direct-to-video sequel Bartok the Magnificent
(1999). He also voiced Eric in the American dub of the series Stressed Eric
, and Harold Zoid in the 2001 Futurama
episode "That's Lobstertainment!
". Azaria noted in 2005: "I started doing other voiceovers for cartoons for a couple of years, but I didn't really love it. I was spoiled by The Simpsons."
Craig "Huff" Huffstodt in the television series Huff
, which ran for two seasons between 2004 and 2006, airing 24 episodes. Azaria enjoyed working on the show and by the second season began "to extend [his] character emotionally," and "he really is beginning to unravel." Azaria served as an executive producer on the show and directed an episode of its second season. After reading the pilot script he sent it to Platt, who took the role of Huff's friend, Russell Tupper. Gillian Flynn of Entertainment Weekly
called Azaria "impressively subtle" in the role, while John Leonard of New York
said he was a "shrewd bit of casting." The show garnered seven Emmy nominations in 2005 including a nomination for Azaria for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Despite the awards, the show continually received low ratings and Showtime chose not to commission it for a third season. Previously, Azaria created and starred in the sitcom Imagine That in 2002, replacing Emeril mid-season in the NBC
lineup. He played Josh Miller, a comedy writer, who "transformed" each episode into a character Miller has imagined, "provid[ing] a humorous outlet for his frustrations at home and work". Production closed after five episodes and it was canceled after just two aired, due to poor critical reaction and ratings. Azaria later commented on the show "I wanted to do something really truthful and interesting and impactful. We had a bunch of executives sitting in the room, all agreeing that The Larry Sanders Show
was our favorite thing on television, but we couldn't do it on NBC, and nor would we want to from a business standpoint; it simply wouldn't make enough money. By the time it aired, the writing was sort of on the wall, and I don't blame them at all. It was apparent it wasn't working."
Azaria has made multiple film appearances since Huff ended. He appeared as a smooth-talking American named Whit in David Schwimmer
's directorial debut Run Fatboy Run
. During production he became good friends with co-star Simon Pegg
, performing The Simpsons voices on request, frequently distracting Pegg when he was supposed to be filming. He worked with Stiller again on 2009's Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
in which Azaria played the villainous pharaoh Kah Mun Rah, utilizing a Boris Karloff
accent. Although the film received mixed reviews, critics praised Azaria's performance. Perry Seibert of TV Guide
wrote that "thanks to Azaria, a master of comic timing. His grandiose, yet slightly fey bad guy is equally funny when he's chewing out minions as he is when deliberating if Oscar the Grouch
and Darth Vader
are evil enough to join his team." He appeared as Abraham
in Year One, and as Dr. Knight in 2010's Love and Other Drugs
.
Azaria provided the voices for the characters Carlos and Phil in Hop (2011). The response to the film was mostly negative, but many reviewers praised Azaria's performance. For example, Sandie Chen of The Washington Post
said "Azaria has been honing his over-the-top Spanish accent since The Birdcage, so anything he says grabs some laughs," while Emma Simmonds of Time Out called him an "unflappable presence, voicing two characters with style." Azaria starred as Gargamel
in the live-action adaptation of The Smurfs
in 2011. Azaria wore a prosthetic nose, ears, buck teeth, eyebrows and a wig, as well as shaving his head; spent approximately 130 hours in the make-up chair over the course of the production. Azaria considered Gargamel's voice to be the most important part of his performance. The producers wanted an "old, failed, Shakespearean actor" voice, but Azaria felt this would lack energy and wanted something more Eastern European. He eventually selected a voice similar to that of Paul Winchell
's from the cartoon. Azaria disliked the cartoon when it first aired, and considered Gargamel too one-dimensional a character and "just this straight villain"; he opted to make Gargamel "more sarcastic" than in the cartoon, but "discovered that there's no way to play Gargamel without screaming your head off at certain points — ramping him up and getting him very upset over Smurfs." He interpreted him as "very lonely", adding that "he hates the Smurfs because they're such a happy family. He wants in really badly. I think he wants to be embraced as a Smurf." Azaria worked with the writers to "infuse" the script with some of his ideas about the character, "particularly with the 'married' relationship between Gargamel and [his cat] Azreal [sic]" which Azaria conceived. Scott Bowles of USA Today
called Azaria the "human standout"; Betsy Sharkey of The Los Angeles Times felt he suffered the "greatest disservice" of the film's cast due to a poor script. He will appear in Happy Feet 2
(2011).
Azaria returned to live-action television in 2011, starring in the NBC sitcom Free Agents
, a remake of the British series of the same name
. He plays Alex, a recently divorced public relations executive "who is missing his kids and trying to keep himself together," and ends up sleeping with a co-worker (Kathryn Hahn
). Azaria was apprehensive about the project, disliking the lengthy schedule required of a lead actor in a single-camera series, and favoring the "sensibility" of cable shows. However, he liked the script and executive producer John Enbom's previous series Party Down
and decided to accept the part. Despite Azaria mounting a campaign on Twitter
to save it, the series was canceled after four episodes due to low ratings.
. However, in 2009, Azaria told Empire
he was now focusing on making a documentary about fatherhood. Two years later he told The Los Angeles Times that the project was "half-complete" and is "forever looking for financing to finish it."
Azaria has appeared in several theatre productions. In 2003 he appeared as Bernard in a run of David Mamet
's play Sexual Perversity in Chicago
, along with Matthew Perry
and Minnie Driver
, in London's West End
. In 2004, Azaria began appearing as Sir Lancelot
, the French Taunter, and four other characters in Spamalot
, the musical version of Monty Python and the Holy Grail
, which opened in Chicago
in December 2004 before moving to the Shubert Theatre
on Broadway
. The show was met with critical acclaim, receiving fourteen Tony Award
nominations in 2005, with Azaria being nominated for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
. Azaria described it as "the most fun that I've ever had in my entire life." Reuniting with The Birdcage director Mike Nichols
and being a huge Monty Python fan, he saw it as an opportunity he could not pass up, describing it as "so much fun that I haven't realized how tiring it is." He took a break from the show in June 2005, with Alan Tudyk
filling in for him, to work on Huff, but returned in December 2005. Continuing his theater roles, in late 2007 he starred in Aaron Sorkin
's The Farnsworth Invention
, playing RCA head David Sarnoff
.
Azaria often plays characters where the much of their humor is derived from a "funny voice", such as The Birdcage and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. He stated that "being funny with a funny voice is more my comfort zone, a broader character that I try to humanize, a kind of silly or wacky persona that I try to fill in," although he finds it "much easier to be someone much closer to myself," as it requires "less energy...than playing characters that are so out there and high strung."
The Simpsons creator Matt Groening
has stated that Azaria possesses the ability to turn unfunny lines into some of the best in an episode, while former writer Jay Kogen
stated: "Just when I think I know [Azaria's] bag of tricks, he's always got a new thing he does to surprise me." Throughout the run of The Simpsons, Azaria has had to sing in character several times, a task which he describes as easier than singing normally. The Smurfs writer David N. Weiss
says Azaria "has a beautiful treasure trove of talent," and "became what you wished you were writing." Playwright Jenelle Riley wrote in 2005 that Azaria was "by far" her favorite actor, praising his "versatility" and "tendency to take small roles that would normally fade into the background and to consistently create characters people care about, noting his roles in Shattered Glass, Mystery, Alaska and especially DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story.
since 2007, and the two have one son together, Hal, who was born on June 6, 2009. They live in a four-bedroom house in Pacific Palisades, which Azaria bought from his The Simpsons co-star Dan Castellaneta
and his wife Deb Lacusta
in 2011 for $5.5 million. Several weeks previously, Azaria sold his $10 million home in Bel-Air for $11.065 million. In the early 1990s, Azaria was engaged to actress Julie Warner
. In 1994, Azaria began a relationship with actress Helen Hunt
, and they married in a traditional Jewish ceremony at the couple's home in Southern California on July 17, 1999. The two had appeared together in Mad About You and the episode of The Simpsons "Dumbbell Indemnity
". After a year of marriage, Azaria moved out of the couple's home, and after a six month separation, Hunt filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences". The divorce was finalized on December 18, 2000.
Azaria is the godfather
of Oliver Platt
's son, George. He is also a regular poker
player, appearing twice on Celebrity Poker Showdown
and competing at other events, finishing a few places short of the bubble in the main event of the 2010 World Series of Poker
. Politically, Azaria has made contributions that support the Democratic Party
, enjoys the music of Elvis Costello
, and would be a therapist
if he were not an actor. He considers The Godfather trilogy
to be what inspired him to become an actor, and counts Peter Sellers
and Walt Frazier
as his heroes.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, director, voice actor, and comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
. He is noted for being one of the principal voice actors on the animated television series The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
(1989–present), on which he performs the voices of Moe Szyslak
Moe Szyslak
Momar / Morris "Moe" Szyslak is a fictional character in the American animated television series, The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"...
, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is a character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Apu is the proprietor of the Kwik-E-Mart, a popular convenience store in Springfield, and a friend of Homer Simpson. He is also...
, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy
Comic Book Guy
Comic Book Guy is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the second-season episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", which originally aired on May 9, 1991. He is the proprietor of a comic book store, The...
, Carl Carlson and numerous others. Azaria, who attended Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
, joined the show with little voice acting experience, but became a regular in its second season
The Simpsons (season 2)
The Simpsons second season originally aired between October 11, 1990 and May 9, 1991, and contained 22 episodes, beginning with "Bart Gets an F". Another episode, "Blood Feud" aired during the summer after the official season finale. The show runners for the second production season were Matt...
. Many of his performances on the show are based on famous actors and characters; Moe's voice, for example, is based on actor Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
.
Alongside his continued voice acting on The Simpsons, Azaria became more widely known through his live-action appearances in films such as The Birdcage
The Birdcage
The Birdcage is a 1996 American comedy film directed by Mike Nichols, and stars Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest, Dan Futterman, Calista Flockhart, Hank Azaria, and Christine Baranski. The script was written by Elaine May...
(1996), Anastasia
Anastasia (1997 film)
Anastasia is a 1997 American animated musical film produced and directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. It was the first feature film to be released by Fox Animation Studios....
(1997) and Godzilla
Godzilla (1998 film)
Godzilla is a 1998 science fiction monster disaster film film co-written and directed by Roland Emmerich. It is a loose remake of the 1954 giant monster classic Godzilla. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The film relates a tale of a nuclear incident...
(1998). He has continued to star in numerous films including Mystery Men
Mystery Men
Mystery Men is a 1999 comedy film based on a Dark Horse comic book series feature in Flaming Carrot Comics by Bob Burden, directed by TV commercial director Kinka Usher. It stars William H. Macy, Ben Stiller, and Hank Azaria as a trio of lesser superheroes with fairly unimpressive superpowers who...
(1999), America's Sweethearts
America's Sweethearts
America's Sweethearts is a 2001 romantic comedy film, directed by Joe Roth, starring Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal, John Cusack, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The film also stars Keri Lynn Pratt, Hank Azaria, Stanley Tucci, Seth Green, Alan Arkin, and Christopher Walken, and features a cameo appearance...
(2001), Shattered Glass (2003), Along Came Polly
Along Came Polly
Along Came Polly is a 2004 American romantic comedy film written and directed by John Hamburg, starring Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston in the lead roles.-Plot:...
(2004), Run Fatboy Run
Run Fatboy Run
Run Fatboy Run is a 2007 British comedy film directed by David Schwimmer, written by Michael Ian Black and Simon Pegg, and starring Pegg, Dylan Moran, Thandie Newton, Harish Patel, India de Beaufort, and Hank Azaria...
(2007), Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is an American adventure comedy film directed by Shawn Levy, and starring Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, and Steve Coogan. The film is a sequel to Night at the Museum...
(2009) and The Smurfs
The Smurfs (film)
The Smurfs is a 2011 American 3D family film based on The Smurfs comic book series created by Peyo and the 1980s animated TV series it spawned. It was directed by Raja Gosnell and stars Neil Patrick Harris, Hank Azaria, Jayma Mays, and Sofía Vergara. It is the first CGI/live-action hybrid film to...
(2011). He also had recurring roles on the television series Mad About You
Mad About You
Mad About You is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 23, 1992 to May 24, 1999. The show starred Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a newly married couple in New York City. Reiser played Paul Buchman, a documentary film maker. Hunt played Jamie Stemple Buchman, a public relations specialist...
and Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
and starred in the drama Huff
Huff (TV series)
Huff is an American television dramedy series produced by Sony Pictures Television for Showtime. The series was created by Bob Lowry and features Hank Azaria as Dr. Craig "Huff" Huffstodt, a psychiatrist whose life changes abruptly when a 15-year-old client commits suicide in his office...
(2004–2006), playing the titular character, as well as appearing in the popular stage musical Spamalot
Spamalot
Monty Python's Spamalot is a musical comedy "lovingly ripped off from" the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like the film, it is a highly irreverent parody of the Arthurian Legend, but it differs from the film in many ways, especially in its parodies of Broadway theatre...
. Originally primarily a comic actor, in recent years Azaria has taken on more dramatic roles including the TV films Tuesdays With Morrie
Tuesdays with Morrie (film)
Tuesdays with Morrie is a 1999 television film adaptation of the Mitch Albom's book of the same title. It features Jack Lemmon in a role for which he won an Emmy award.-Cast and characters:* Jack Lemmon – Morrie Schwartz* Hank Azaria – Mitch Albom...
(1999) and Uprising
Uprising (film)
Uprising is a 2001 war/drama television movie about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The film was directed by Jon Avnet and written by Avnet and Paul Brickman...
(2001). He has won four Emmys
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
and a Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
Award. Azaria was married to the actress Helen Hunt
Helen Hunt
Helen Elizabeth Hunt is an American actress, film director, and screenwriter. She starred in the sitcom Mad About You for seven years, before being cast in the romantic comedy As Good as It Gets...
from 1999 to 2000.
Early life
Azaria was born Henry Albert Azaria on April 25, 1964 in Forest Hills, QueensForest Hills, Queens
Forest Hills is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York, United States.-Neighborhood:The neighborhood is home to upper-middle class residents, of whom the wealthier residents often live in the neighborhood's Forest Hills Gardens area...
, New York, the son of Sephardic Jewish
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
parents from Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
, Greece. His father, Albert, ran several dress-manufacturing businesses, while his mother raised him and his two older sisters, Stephanie and Elise. Before marrying his father, Azaria's mother had been a publicist for Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
, promoting films in Latin American countries, as she was fluent in both English and Spanish. Throughout his childhood, Azaria often "memorize[d] and mimic[ked]" the scripts of the films, shows and stand-up comedy routines that he enjoyed.
Azaria attended The Kew-Forest School
The Kew-Forest School
The Kew-Forest School is an independent, co-ed, college preparatory school for students in grades PreK-12. The school was established in 1918 strictly for residents of Forest Hills and Kew Gardens, hence the name...
in Forest Hills. He did not consciously decide to become an actor until he performed in a school play at the age of 16, becoming, at the expense of his academic studies, "obsessed with acting." Both of his parents loved all forms of show business, which further spurred him to become an actor. He studied drama at Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
until 1985, before training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts is a fully accredited two-year conservatory with facilities located in Manhattan, New York City – at 120 Madison Avenue, in a landmark building designed by noted architect Stanford White as the original Colony Club – and in Hollywood, California...
. At Tufts he met Oliver Platt
Oliver Platt
Oliver James Platt is a Canadian-American actor. He is currently starring in the Showtime original series, The Big C with Laura Linney.-Early life:...
, with whom he became best friends; Azaria noted that "Oliver was a better actor than I was in college, and he really inspired me." Together the pair starred in various college stage productions including The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
.
Although he did not expect the endeavor to be successful, Azaria decided to become a professional actor so that he would not regret not trying later in his life. Azaria's first acting job was an advertisement for Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
television when he was seventeen years old. He also worked as a busboy. Azaria originally intended to work predominantly as a theatrical actor and he and Platt set up their own company, named Big Theatre, although Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
's The Dumb Waiter
The Dumb Waiter
The Dumb Waiter is a one-act play by 2005 Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter written in 1957; it premiered at the Hampstead Theatre Club, on 21 January 1960...
was the only thing they ever performed. He decided that television was a better calling and offered a greater chance of work, and, after being offered the opportunity to work with talent agent Harry Gold, moved to Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
Early career (1986-1989)
Azaria has described his career progression as being gradual, in that he did not achieve overnight recognition or fame. After moving to Los Angeles, Azaria got an agent, and was trained by acting coach Roy LondonRoy London
Roy London was an American actor and acting coach and teacher.-Early life:London was born and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. A math prodigy at age five, London was on the radio show, Quiz Kids, and educated at the experimental elementary school at Hunter College, NYC...
. For a time, in between acting jobs, he performed as a stand-up comedian, and worked as a bartender for a catering firm.
Upon meeting him, Gold was lukewarm about Azaria, but a woman Azaria had "worked with in New York got really furious with him because he said he'd work with me and then didn't," so Gold began sending Azaria out for auditions. He made his first television appearance with a role in the pilot episode of the 1986 ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
comedy-drama series Joe Bash
Joe Bash
Joe Bash is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on ABC from March 28 to May 10, 1986. Starring Peter Boyle as a weary and embittered New York City Police Department beat cop, it was created by veteran TV producer Danny Arnold following his successful New York City police detective...
, which starred Peter Boyle
Peter Boyle
Peter Lawrence Boyle, Jr. was an American actor, best known for his role as Frank Barone on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, and as a comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof Young Frankenstein ....
. His part - a one-line role as the police officer Maldonado - was edited out before the show's broadcast, although the role secured him admission to the Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
. Azaria went on to appear in the TV film Nitti: The Enforcer, about the gangster Frank Nitti
Frank Nitti
Francesco Raffaele Nitto , also known as Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti, was an Italian American gangster. One of Al Capone's top henchmen, Nitti was in charge of all strong-arm and 'muscle' operations...
, and played Joe in an episode of the sitcom Family Ties
Family Ties
Family Ties is an American sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989. The sitcom reflected the move in the United States from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s to the conservatism of the 1980s. This was particularly expressed through the relationship between young...
in 1988, in which he had one line, and the following year played Steve Stevenson in an episode of Growing Pains
Growing Pains
Growing Pains is an American television sitcom about an affluent family, residing in Huntington, New York, with a working mother and a stay-at-home psychiatrist father raising three children together, which aired on ABC from September 24, 1985 to April 25, 1992.-Synopsis:The show's premise is based...
.
The Simpsons (1989-present)
He became most famous for his voiceVoice acting
Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called...
work on the animated television show The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, a show that continues to the present. He joined the show having previously performed only one voice over: as the titular animated dog in the failed Fox pilot Hollywood Dog, a show he described as "sort of Roger Rabbit-esque, where the dog was animated but everybody else was real." The first voice he performed on The Simpsons was that of town bartender Moe Szyslak
Moe Szyslak
Momar / Morris "Moe" Szyslak is a fictional character in the American animated television series, The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"...
, replacing Christopher Collins
Christopher Collins
Christopher Charles Collins , also known as Chris Latta, was an American actor, voice artist and comedian, perhaps best known as the voice of Cobra Commander on the G.I. Joe animated series and as the voice of Starscream in the first Transformers animated series...
who had initially recorded the character's voice. Having known him from Hollywood Dog, casting director Bonita Pietila called Azaria and asked him to audition for the voice of Moe. At the time he was performing the role of a drug dealer in a play, utilizing a voice based on the actor Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
's performance in the film Dog Day Afternoon
Dog Day Afternoon
Dog Day Afternoon is a 1975 drama film directed by Sidney Lumet, written by Frank Pierson, and produced by Martin Bregman. The film stars Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, Chris Sarandon, Penny Allen, James Broderick, and Carol Kane. The title refers to the "dog days of summer".The film was...
. He used the voice in his audition for The Simpsons and, on the request of the show's executive producers Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
and Sam Simon
Sam Simon
Samuel "Sam" Simon is an American director, producer, writer, boxing manager and philanthropist. While at Stanford University, Simon worked as a newspaper cartoonist and after graduating became a storyboard artist at Filmation Studios. He submitted a spec script for the sitcom Taxi, which was...
, made the voice more gravelly. Groening and Simon thought the resultant voice was ideal for Moe and took Azaria over to the Fox recording studio. Before he had even seen a script, he recorded several lines of dialogue as Moe for the episode "Some Enchanted Evening
Some Enchanted Evening (The Simpsons)
"Some Enchanted Evening" is the thirteenth, final aired, and first produced episode of The Simpsons first season and originally aired on the Fox network on May 13, 1990. Although it was the first episode produced, it aired as the season finale due to significant animation problems. The episode...
", dubbing
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
Collins' voice. Azaria did not expect to hear from the show again but they continued to call him back, first to perform the voice of Chief Wiggum, and then Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is a character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Apu is the proprietor of the Kwik-E-Mart, a popular convenience store in Springfield, and a friend of Homer Simpson. He is also...
. By the show's second season
The Simpsons (season 2)
The Simpsons second season originally aired between October 11, 1990 and May 9, 1991, and contained 22 episodes, beginning with "Bart Gets an F". Another episode, "Blood Feud" aired during the summer after the official season finale. The show runners for the second production season were Matt...
he was performing multiple recurring voices and so was given a contract and made a permanent member of the main cast. As he joined later than the rest of the cast, Groening still considers Azaria the "new guy." In addition to Moe, Wiggum and Apu, Azaria provides the voices of the Comic Book Guy
Comic Book Guy
Comic Book Guy is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the second-season episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", which originally aired on May 9, 1991. He is the proprietor of a comic book store, The...
, Carl Carlson, Cletus Spuckler
Cletus Spuckler
Cletus Delroy Spuckler is a recurring character in the Fox animated series, The Simpsons, and is voiced by Hank Azaria. Cletus is Springfield's resident hillbilly stereotype. He is very messy and is usually portrayed wearing a white sleeveless shirt and pair of blue jeans.- Biography :Cletus was...
, Professor Frink
Professor Frink
Professor John Nerdelbaum Frink, Jr., or simply Professor Frink, is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the 1991 episode "Old Money". Frink is Springfield's nerdy scientist and professor and is extremely...
, Dr. Nick Riviera, Lou, Snake, Kirk Van Houten, the Sea Captain, Superintendent Chalmers, Disco Stu, Duffman, the Wiseguy and numerous other one-time characters.
In addition to Moe's voice being based on Al Pacino, many of Azaria's other recurring characters are based on an existing source. He took Apu's voice from the many Indian and Pakistani convenience store workers in Los Angeles that he had interacted with when he first moved to the area, and also loosely based it on Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
' character Hrundi V. Bakshi from the film The Party
The Party (film)
The Party is a 1968 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards, starring Peter Sellers and Claudine Longet. The film has a very loose structure, and essentially serves as a series of set pieces for Sellers's improvisational comedy talents...
. Originally, it was thought that Apu being Indian was too offensive and stereotypical, but due to Azaria's reading of the line "Hello, Mr. Homer", which the show's producers thought was hilarious, his character stayed. Azaria, however, disputed this on LateNet with Ray Ellin, claiming that Apu was always intended to be stereotypical. Chief Wiggum's voice was originally a parody of David Brinkley
David Brinkley
David McClure Brinkley was an American newscaster for NBC and ABC in a career lasting from 1943 to 1997....
but when Azaria was told it was too slow he switched it to that of Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
. Officer Lou is based on Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
, and Dr. Nick is "a bad Ricky Ricardo
Ricky Ricardo
Enrique Alberto Fernando Ricardo y de Acha, III, a.k.a. Ricky Ricardo is a main character in the television show I Love Lucy, played by Desi Arnaz...
impression." The "Wise Guy" voice is "basically Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson , born Charles Dennis Buchinsky was an American actor, best-known for such films as Once Upon a Time in the West, The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape, Rider on the Rain, The Mechanic, and the popular Death Wish series...
," while Carl is "a silly voice [Azaria] always did." Two of the voices come from his time at college: Snake's is based on Azaria's old college roommate, while Comic Book Guy's voice is based on a student who lived in the room next door to Azaria's, who went by the name "F". Professor Frink is based on Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
's performance in the original The Nutty Professor
The Nutty Professor
The Nutty Professor is a 1963 Paramount Pictures science fiction comedy feature film produced, directed, co-written and starring Jerry Lewis...
, and the Sea Captain's is based on English actor Robert Newton
Robert Newton
Robert Newton was an English stage and film actor. Along with Errol Flynn, Newton was one of the most popular actors among the male juvenile audience of the 1940s and early 1950s, especially with British boys...
's portrayal of many pirates. Azaria based his performance for the one-time character Frank Grimes
Homer's Enemy
"Homer's Enemy" is the twenty-third episode of the eighth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It was first broadcast on the Fox network in the United States on May 4, 1997. The episode's plot centers on the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant's hiring a new employee named...
, from the episode "Homer's Enemy
Homer's Enemy
"Homer's Enemy" is the twenty-third episode of the eighth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It was first broadcast on the Fox network in the United States on May 4, 1997. The episode's plot centers on the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant's hiring a new employee named...
", on actor William H. Macy
William H. Macy
William Hall Macy, Jr. is an American actor and writer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo. He is also a teacher and director in theater, film and television. His film career has been built mostly on his appearances in small, independent films, though...
. He counts Grimes as the hardest, most emotional performance he has ever had to give in the history of The Simpsons.
Azaria's work on the show has won him three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance is a creative arts Emmy Award given out by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. It is awarded to a performer for an outstanding "continuing or single voice-over performance in a series or a special." Prior to 1992, voice-actors...
, in 1998, 2001 and 2003. He was also nominated for the award in 2009 and 2010, but lost to co-star Dan Castellaneta
Dan Castellaneta
Daniel Louis "Dan" Castellaneta is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Noted for his long-running role as Homer Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, he voices many other characters on The Simpsons, including Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble,...
and guest star Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway (actress)
Anne Jacqueline Hathaway is an American actress. After several stage roles, she appeared in the 1999 television series Get Real. She played Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries...
respectively. Azaria, with the rest of the principal cast, reprised all of his voice roles from The Simpsons, for the 2007 film The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The film was directed by David Silverman, and stars the regular television cast of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress...
. Azaria notes that he spends "an embarrassingly small amount of time working on The Simpsons." He works for "an hour on Thursdays when we read through the script, then four hours on Monday when we record it, and I'll pop in again once or twice." He concludes it is "the best job in the world, as far as I'm concerned."
Up until 1998, Azaria was paid US$30,000 per episode. Azaria and the five other main The Simpsons voice actors were then involved in a pay dispute in which Fox threatened to replace them with new actors and went as far as preparing for casting of new voices. However, the issue was soon resolved and from 1998 to 2004, they received $125,000 per episode. In 2004, the voice actors intentionally skipped several table reads, demanding they be paid $360,000 per episode. The strike was resolved a month later, with Azaria's pay increasing to something between $250,000 and $360,000 per episode. In 2008, production for the twentieth season was put on hold due to new contract negotiations with the voice actors, who wanted a "healthy bump" in salary. The dispute was later resolved and Azaria and the rest of the cast received their requested pay raise; they now earn approximately $400,000 per episode.
Once The Simpsons was "going steadily" and Azaria had enough money to live on, he stopped working on commercials as he found them "so demoralizing" and he always sounded sarcastic whenever he read for them. When recording the part of "Jell-O Man" for a Jell-O
Jell-O
Jell-O is a brand name belonging to U.S.-based Kraft Foods for a number of gelatin desserts, including fruit gels, puddings and no-bake cream pies. The brand's popularity has led to it being used as a generic term for gelatin dessert across the U.S. and Canada....
commercial, he was told to make the voice he offered "more likeable and friendly so that children like him." After pointing out that "Jell-O Man" was a fictional character, he left and never recorded for an advertisement again.
Further career (1991-2004)
With the continuing success of The Simpsons, Azaria began taking on other, principally live-action, roles. His The Simpsons co-star Nancy CartwrightNancy Cartwright
Nancy Campbell Cartwright is an American film and television actress, comedian and voice artist. She is best known for her long-running role as Bart Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons...
wrote that: "The thing about Hank that I most remember is that he started out so unassuming and then, little by little, his abilities were revealed and his contributions to the show escalated. I realized Hank was going to be our breakaway star." He was a main cast member on the show Herman's Head
Herman's Head
Herman's Head is an American sitcom that aired on the Fox network from 1991 to 1994. The series stars William Ragsdale as the titular character, Herman Brooks.-Synopsis:...
(1991–1994) playing Jay Nichols, alongside The Simpsons co-star Yeardley Smith
Yeardley Smith
Yeardley Smith is a French-born American actress, voice actress, writer and painter. She is best known for her long-running role as Lisa Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons....
. He regularly recorded for The Simpsons and filmed Herman's Head during the same day. In 1994 he made his first appearance on the sitcom Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, playing the recurring character David, one of Phoebe Buffay
Phoebe Buffay
Phoebe Buffay-Hannigan is a fictional character on the U.S. television sitcom Friends , portrayed by Lisa Kudrow...
's boyfriends. His first appearance was in the show's tenth episode, before the character left for Minsk
Minsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
. He came back in the show's seventh season
Friends (season 7)
The seventh season of Friends, an American situation comedy created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, premiered on NBC on October 12, 2000. Friends was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
(2001), before making several appearances in the ninth
Friends (season 9)
The ninth season of Friends, an American situation comedy created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, premiered on NBC on September 26, 2002. Friends was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
(2003), which culminated in David proposing to Phoebe. She rejected him, and David left the show for good. From 1995 to 1999, Azaria had a recurring role in the sitcom Mad About You
Mad About You
Mad About You is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 23, 1992 to May 24, 1999. The show starred Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a newly married couple in New York City. Reiser played Paul Buchman, a documentary film maker. Hunt played Jamie Stemple Buchman, a public relations specialist...
as Nat Ostertag, the dog walker. Azaria was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his roles in both Mad About You (in 1998) and Friends (in 2003). Azaria had the lead role in the short-lived sitcom If Not For You in 1995, playing record producer Craig Schaeffer.
His first theatrically released feature film appearance was in the 1990 film Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman is a 1990 romantic comedy film set in Los Angeles, California. Written by J.F. Lawton and directed by Garry Marshall, this motion picture features Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and also Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy, and Jason Alexander in supporting roles. Roberts played the only...
, where he played a police detective investigating the murder of a prostitute. He played television producer Albert Freedman in the 1994 Academy Award-nominated film Quiz Show. In 1996, Azaria played gay Guatemalan housekeeper Agador Spartacus in the film The Birdcage
The Birdcage
The Birdcage is a 1996 American comedy film directed by Mike Nichols, and stars Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest, Dan Futterman, Calista Flockhart, Hank Azaria, and Christine Baranski. The script was written by Elaine May...
. He was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, and critically branded "the most hilarious performance in the film," by Alison Macor of The Austin Chronicle, while Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
wrote that he "[stole] the show." For the role he used a Guatemalan accent, and made himself sound as effeminate as possible. He had chosen two possible voices, an effeminate one and a tougher one. After advice from a drag queen, he chose the effeminate voice. Three weeks into production, he realized he sounded exactly like his grandmother, which aided his performance. Azaria appeared in numerous other films in the late 1990s, including Heat (1995), Grosse Pointe Blank
Grosse Pointe Blank
Grosse Pointe Blank is a 1997 American Black comedy film, directed by George Armitage, and starring John Cusack and Minnie Driver.In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Grosse Pointe Blank the 21st greatest comedy film of all time. The film's soundtrack features mainly independent music hits...
(1997) and Celebrity
Celebrity (film)
Celebrity is a 1998 comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. The screenplay focuses on the divergent paths a couple takes following their divorce.-Plot:...
(1998), as well as playing photographer Victor "Animal" Palotti in the 1998 film Godzilla
Godzilla (1998 film)
Godzilla is a 1998 science fiction monster disaster film film co-written and directed by Roland Emmerich. It is a loose remake of the 1954 giant monster classic Godzilla. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The film relates a tale of a nuclear incident...
. He went on to appear opposite Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut on stage in 1990 and started appearing in films in 1991. After appearing in several films throughout the decade, Paltrow gained early notice for her work in films such as Se7en and Emma...
, as Walter Plane, in the 1998 adaptation of Great Expectations
Great Expectations (1998 film)
Great Expectations is a 1998 contemporary film adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel of the same name, directed by Alfonso Cuarón and starring Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert De Niro, Anne Bancroft and Chris Cooper. It is known for having moved the setting of the original novel from 1861...
. In 1999, he starred in Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
's Mystery, Alaska
Mystery, Alaska
Mystery, Alaska is a 1999 drama directed by Jay Roach about a fictional small-town ice hockey team that plays a game against the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. It was shot in Banff National Park and Canmore, Alberta.-Plot:...
as Charles Danner, and Universal Pictures
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
's Mystery Men
Mystery Men
Mystery Men is a 1999 comedy film based on a Dark Horse comic book series feature in Flaming Carrot Comics by Bob Burden, directed by TV commercial director Kinka Usher. It stars William H. Macy, Ben Stiller, and Hank Azaria as a trio of lesser superheroes with fairly unimpressive superpowers who...
, as the superhero The Blue Raja. Other film roles included Hector Gorgonzolas in America's Sweethearts
America's Sweethearts
America's Sweethearts is a 2001 romantic comedy film, directed by Joe Roth, starring Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal, John Cusack, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The film also stars Keri Lynn Pratt, Hank Azaria, Stanley Tucci, Seth Green, Alan Arkin, and Christopher Walken, and features a cameo appearance...
(2001), Claude in Along Came Polly
Along Came Polly
Along Came Polly is a 2004 American romantic comedy film written and directed by John Hamburg, starring Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston in the lead roles.-Plot:...
(2004), and the young Patches O'Houlihan in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story, commonly referred to as simply DodgeBall, is a 2004 American sports comedy film produced by 20th Century Fox and Red Hour Productions, written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber and starring Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, and Rip Torn...
(2004), the latter two with Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....
. For his role of Claude, a French scuba instructor, in Along Came Polly, Azaria donned a wig and worked out "for seven or eight weeks," to get into the physical shape the part required. He also appeared as Professor Groteschele in Fail Safe (2000), a production that was broadcast live.
Azaria played composer Marc Blitzstein
Marc Blitzstein
Marcus Samuel Blitzstein, better known as Marc Blitzstein , was an American composer. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-union musical The Cradle Will Rock, directed by Orson Welles, was shut down by the Works Progress Administration...
in Tim Robbins
Tim Robbins
Timothy Francis "Tim" Robbins is an American actor, screenwriter, director, producer, activist and musician. He is the former longtime partner of actress Susan Sarandon...
' film Cradle Will Rock
Cradle Will Rock
Cradle Will Rock is a 1999 drama film which chronicles the process and events that surrounded the production of the original 1937 musical The Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein...
in 1999. Paul Clinton
Paul Clinton
Paul Clinton was an American film critic. He served as CNN.com film critic for 20 years. He was the co-founder of the Broadcast Film Critics Association ....
wrote that Azaria was "brilliant as the tortured (is there any other kind) artist Blitzstein." The same year he appeared as author and journalist Mitch Albom
Mitch Albom
Mitchell David "Mitch" Albom is an American best-selling author, journalist, screenwriter, dramatist, radio and television broadcaster and musician. His books have sold over 30 million copies worldwide...
alongside Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...
in the television film Tuesdays with Morrie
Tuesdays With Morrie
Tuesdays with Morrie is a 1997 non-fiction novel by American writer Mitch Albom. The story was later adapted by Thomas Rickman into a TV movie of the same name directed by Mick Jackson, which aired on 5 December 1999 and starred Jack Lemmon and Hank Azaria...
, winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for the role. Azaria described the latter as the "best work [he has] done." These were two of the first dramatic roles Azaria had taken; throughout his career Azaria has primarily worked in comedy, but tries to balance the two. Azaria commented: "all the roles I got were in comedy at first, and I was certainly happy to get those, so I never felt the lack of being considered a dramatic actor because I was so happy to get what I got. And then I became surprised later on when I got dramatic roles. But I never went, 'OK, now it's time to get a dramatic role.'" His next dramatic role was in the television film Uprising
Uprising (film)
Uprising is a 2001 war/drama television movie about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The film was directed by Jon Avnet and written by Avnet and Paul Brickman...
in 2001. The film was based on the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the Jewish resistance that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto in German occupied Poland during World War II, and which opposed Nazi Germany's effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to Treblinka extermination camp....
and Azaria played Mordechaj Anielewicz
Mordechaj Anielewicz
Mordechaj Anielewicz was the leader of Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa , also known as ŻOB, during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising from January to May 1943.-Biography:Anielewicz was born into a poor family in the small town of Wyszków near Warsaw...
, one of the revolt's leaders. Azaria was confused by his casting in Uprising and frequently asked the film's producer and director Jon Avnet
Jon Avnet
Jonathan Michael "Jon" Avnet is an American director, writer and producer.-Early life:Avnet was born in Brooklyn, the son of Joan Bertha and Lester Francis Avnet, a corporate executive and electronics distributor. He attended Great Neck North High School in Great Neck, New York...
as to why he was selected. "I know [Avnet] liked the fact I was Jewish, and he knew I could do accents well. He cast me and David Schwimmer
David Schwimmer
David Lawrence Schwimmer is an American actor and director of television and film. He was born in New York City, and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was two. He began his acting career performing in school plays at Beverly Hills High School. In 1988, he graduated from Northwestern...
in [Uprising], and we were both sort of mystified. He had some instinct that he wanted people who were more known for being funny. He never explained it satisfactorily to me; I don't understand why." His parts in Tuesdays With Morrie and Uprising affected him, causing a depressive state which he countered with DVDs of the comedy series Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
. Azaria found Uprising to be "very difficult very depressing very emotionally challenging," material. In 2003, Azaria played journalist Michael Kelly
Michael Kelly (editor)
Michael Thomas Kelly was an American journalist, a columnist for The Washington Post, and an editor at The New Republic, National Journal, and The Atlantic. He came to prominence via his reporting on the first Gulf War, but suffered professional embarrassment for his role in the Stephen Glass...
, the former editor of The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
, in the drama film Shattered Glass. Kelly died a few months before the film was released and Azaria said the film "has become a weird kind of eulogy to him."
Azaria also continued with voice-over work, appearing as Venom/Eddie Brock
Eddie Brock
Eddie Brock is a fictional character created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane. A comic book supervillain, Brock's earliest appearance is a cameo in Web of Spider-Man #18 before making his first full appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #299 as Venom...
in Spider-Man: The Animated Series
Spider-Man (1994 TV series)
Spider-Man, also known as Spider-Man: The Animated Series, is an American animated series starring the Marvel Comics superhero, Spider-Man. The show ran on Fox Kids from November 19, 1994, to January 31, 1998. The producer/story editor was John Semper, Jr. and production company was Marvel Films...
for four years between 1994 and 1996, and in the animated feature Anastasia
Anastasia (1997 film)
Anastasia is a 1997 American animated musical film produced and directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. It was the first feature film to be released by Fox Animation Studios....
(1997), as Bartok the bat, reprising the role in the direct-to-video sequel Bartok the Magnificent
Bartok the Magnificent
Bartok the Magnificent, also known as Bartok the Great, is a spin-off to the 1997 film Anastasia, which features Hank Azaria as the voice of Bartok. This film was released on VHS and DVD by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on November 16, 1999, and was re-released in 2005 along with Anastasia...
(1999). He also voiced Eric in the American dub of the series Stressed Eric
Stressed Eric
Stressed Eric is a British/American/New Zealand cartoon series that was produced by Absolutely Productions for the BBC Two television channel in the United Kingdom and the Television New Zealand. The series revolves around Eric Feeble, a middle class man who is always stressed, because of his...
, and Harold Zoid in the 2001 Futurama
Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
episode "That's Lobstertainment!
That's Lobstertainment!
"That's Lobstertainment!" is the eighth episode in season three of Futurama. It originally aired February 25, 2001.-Plot:After a disastrous attempt at stand-up comedy, Dr. Zoidberg informs the crew that his uncle, Harold Zoid, was a star in the silent hologram era. Zoidberg writes to his uncle,...
". Azaria noted in 2005: "I started doing other voiceovers for cartoons for a couple of years, but I didn't really love it. I was spoiled by The Simpsons."
Huff and further film roles (2004-present)
Azaria starred as psychiatristPsychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
Craig "Huff" Huffstodt in the television series Huff
Huff (TV series)
Huff is an American television dramedy series produced by Sony Pictures Television for Showtime. The series was created by Bob Lowry and features Hank Azaria as Dr. Craig "Huff" Huffstodt, a psychiatrist whose life changes abruptly when a 15-year-old client commits suicide in his office...
, which ran for two seasons between 2004 and 2006, airing 24 episodes. Azaria enjoyed working on the show and by the second season began "to extend [his] character emotionally," and "he really is beginning to unravel." Azaria served as an executive producer on the show and directed an episode of its second season. After reading the pilot script he sent it to Platt, who took the role of Huff's friend, Russell Tupper. Gillian Flynn of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
called Azaria "impressively subtle" in the role, while John Leonard of New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
said he was a "shrewd bit of casting." The show garnered seven Emmy nominations in 2005 including a nomination for Azaria for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Despite the awards, the show continually received low ratings and Showtime chose not to commission it for a third season. Previously, Azaria created and starred in the sitcom Imagine That in 2002, replacing Emeril mid-season in the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
lineup. He played Josh Miller, a comedy writer, who "transformed" each episode into a character Miller has imagined, "provid[ing] a humorous outlet for his frustrations at home and work". Production closed after five episodes and it was canceled after just two aired, due to poor critical reaction and ratings. Azaria later commented on the show "I wanted to do something really truthful and interesting and impactful. We had a bunch of executives sitting in the room, all agreeing that The Larry Sanders Show
The Larry Sanders Show
The Larry Sanders Show is a satirical television sitcom that aired from August 1992 to May 1998 on the HBO cable television network in the United States. It starred stand-up comedian Garry Shandling as vain, neurotic talk show host Larry Sanders, and centered on the running of his TV show, and the...
was our favorite thing on television, but we couldn't do it on NBC, and nor would we want to from a business standpoint; it simply wouldn't make enough money. By the time it aired, the writing was sort of on the wall, and I don't blame them at all. It was apparent it wasn't working."
Azaria has made multiple film appearances since Huff ended. He appeared as a smooth-talking American named Whit in David Schwimmer
David Schwimmer
David Lawrence Schwimmer is an American actor and director of television and film. He was born in New York City, and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was two. He began his acting career performing in school plays at Beverly Hills High School. In 1988, he graduated from Northwestern...
's directorial debut Run Fatboy Run
Run Fatboy Run
Run Fatboy Run is a 2007 British comedy film directed by David Schwimmer, written by Michael Ian Black and Simon Pegg, and starring Pegg, Dylan Moran, Thandie Newton, Harish Patel, India de Beaufort, and Hank Azaria...
. During production he became good friends with co-star Simon Pegg
Simon Pegg
Simon Pegg is an English actor, comedian, writer, film producer, and director. He is best known for having co-written and stared in various Edgar Wright features, mainly Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and the comedy series Spaced.He also portrayed Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the 2009 Star Trek film...
, performing The Simpsons voices on request, frequently distracting Pegg when he was supposed to be filming. He worked with Stiller again on 2009's Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is an American adventure comedy film directed by Shawn Levy, and starring Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, and Steve Coogan. The film is a sequel to Night at the Museum...
in which Azaria played the villainous pharaoh Kah Mun Rah, utilizing a Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
accent. Although the film received mixed reviews, critics praised Azaria's performance. Perry Seibert of TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
wrote that "thanks to Azaria, a master of comic timing. His grandiose, yet slightly fey bad guy is equally funny when he's chewing out minions as he is when deliberating if Oscar the Grouch
Oscar the Grouch
Oscar the Grouch is a Muppet character on the television program Sesame Street. He has a green body , has no nose , and lives in a trash can. His favorite thing in life is trash; evidence for this is the song "I Love Trash". A running theme is his compulsive hoarding of seemingly useless items...
and Darth Vader
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
are evil enough to join his team." He appeared as Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
in Year One, and as Dr. Knight in 2010's Love and Other Drugs
Love and Other Drugs
Love and Other Drugs is a 2010 romantic comedy film co-written and directed by Edward Zwick and based on the non-fiction book Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman by Jamie Reidy...
.
Azaria provided the voices for the characters Carlos and Phil in Hop (2011). The response to the film was mostly negative, but many reviewers praised Azaria's performance. For example, Sandie Chen of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
said "Azaria has been honing his over-the-top Spanish accent since The Birdcage, so anything he says grabs some laughs," while Emma Simmonds of Time Out called him an "unflappable presence, voicing two characters with style." Azaria starred as Gargamel
Gargamel
In the fictional world of The Smurfs, Gargamel the sorcerer is the sworn enemy of the Smurfs and the main antagonist in the show and comic books. While described as a wizard in the narration, Gargamel is not depicted as possessing real magical powers to speak of...
in the live-action adaptation of The Smurfs
The Smurfs (film)
The Smurfs is a 2011 American 3D family film based on The Smurfs comic book series created by Peyo and the 1980s animated TV series it spawned. It was directed by Raja Gosnell and stars Neil Patrick Harris, Hank Azaria, Jayma Mays, and Sofía Vergara. It is the first CGI/live-action hybrid film to...
in 2011. Azaria wore a prosthetic nose, ears, buck teeth, eyebrows and a wig, as well as shaving his head; spent approximately 130 hours in the make-up chair over the course of the production. Azaria considered Gargamel's voice to be the most important part of his performance. The producers wanted an "old, failed, Shakespearean actor" voice, but Azaria felt this would lack energy and wanted something more Eastern European. He eventually selected a voice similar to that of Paul Winchell
Paul Winchell
Paul Winchell was an American ventriloquist, voice actor and comedian, whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s...
's from the cartoon. Azaria disliked the cartoon when it first aired, and considered Gargamel too one-dimensional a character and "just this straight villain"; he opted to make Gargamel "more sarcastic" than in the cartoon, but "discovered that there's no way to play Gargamel without screaming your head off at certain points — ramping him up and getting him very upset over Smurfs." He interpreted him as "very lonely", adding that "he hates the Smurfs because they're such a happy family. He wants in really badly. I think he wants to be embraced as a Smurf." Azaria worked with the writers to "infuse" the script with some of his ideas about the character, "particularly with the 'married' relationship between Gargamel and [his cat] Azreal [sic]" which Azaria conceived. Scott Bowles of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
called Azaria the "human standout"; Betsy Sharkey of The Los Angeles Times felt he suffered the "greatest disservice" of the film's cast due to a poor script. He will appear in Happy Feet 2
Happy Feet 2
Happy Feet Two is a 3D computer-animated family film film directed by George Miller, who co-directed the original film Happy Feet. The film is a sequel to Happy Feet and stars Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Pink, E.G. Daily, Sofía Vergara and Common. Dr...
(2011).
Azaria returned to live-action television in 2011, starring in the NBC sitcom Free Agents
Free Agents (U.S. TV series)
Free Agents is an American re-make of a British workplace sitcom that premiered on NBC September 14, 2011, in the 10:30 pm Eastern/9:30 pm Central time slot, before assuming its regular time slot on September 21, 2011, where it aired at 8:30 pm Eastern/7:30 pm Central on Wednesday nights...
, a remake of the British series of the same name
Free Agents
Free Agents is a romantic black comedy starring Stephen Mangan, Sharon Horgan and Anthony Head. Originally a pilot for Channel 4 in November 2007, the series began on 13 February 2009. It spawned a short lived US remake, which was cancelled after just 4 episodes aired.-Plot:Alex works for CMA, a...
. He plays Alex, a recently divorced public relations executive "who is missing his kids and trying to keep himself together," and ends up sleeping with a co-worker (Kathryn Hahn
Kathryn Hahn
Kathryn Hahn is an American actress best known for her role as Lily Lebowski on the television series Crossing Jordan.-Personal life:...
). Azaria was apprehensive about the project, disliking the lengthy schedule required of a lead actor in a single-camera series, and favoring the "sensibility" of cable shows. However, he liked the script and executive producer John Enbom's previous series Party Down
Party Down
Party Down is an American comedy television series created and primarily written by John Enbom, Rob Thomas, Dan Etheridge, and Paul Rudd that aired on the Starz network in the United States.-Conception:...
and decided to accept the part. Despite Azaria mounting a campaign on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
to save it, the series was canceled after four episodes due to low ratings.
Directing and theatrical work
Azaria wrote and directed the 2004 short film Nobody's Perfect, which won the Film Discovery Jury Award for Best Short at the US Comedy Arts Festival. In January 2007, he was confirmed to be directing Outsourced, a film about two American workers who journey to get their jobs back, after their factory is moved to MexicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. However, in 2009, Azaria told Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
he was now focusing on making a documentary about fatherhood. Two years later he told The Los Angeles Times that the project was "half-complete" and is "forever looking for financing to finish it."
Azaria has appeared in several theatre productions. In 2003 he appeared as Bernard in a run of David Mamet
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...
's play Sexual Perversity in Chicago
Sexual Perversity in Chicago
Sexual Perversity in Chicago is a play written by David Mamet that examines the sex lives of two men and two women in the 1970's. The play is filled with profanity and regional jargon that reflects the working-class language of Chicago. The characters' relationships become hindered by the caustic...
, along with Matthew Perry
Matthew Perry
Matthew Perry is Canadian-American television and film actor.Matthew Perry or Matt Perry may also refer to:*Matthew C. Perry , American naval officer who forcibly opened Japan to trade with the West...
and Minnie Driver
Minnie Driver
Minnie Driver is an English actress and singer-songwriter. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, as well as for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe for her work in the television series The Riches.- Early life...
, in London's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
. In 2004, Azaria began appearing as Sir Lancelot
Lancelot
Sir Lancelot du Lac is one of the Knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. He is the most trusted of King Arthur's knights and plays a part in many of Arthur's victories...
, the French Taunter, and four other characters in Spamalot
Spamalot
Monty Python's Spamalot is a musical comedy "lovingly ripped off from" the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like the film, it is a highly irreverent parody of the Arthurian Legend, but it differs from the film in many ways, especially in its parodies of Broadway theatre...
, the musical version of Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1974 British comedy film written and performed by the comedy group Monty Python , and directed by Gilliam and Jones...
, which opened in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in December 2004 before moving to the Shubert Theatre
Shubert Theatre (Broadway)
The Shubert Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 225 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan, New York, United States.Designed by architect Henry Beaumont Herts, it was named after Sam S. Shubert, the second oldest of the three brothers of the theatrical producing family...
on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
. The show was met with critical acclaim, receiving fourteen Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nominations in 2005, with Azaria being nominated for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical is awarded to the actor who was voted as the best actor in a musical play, whether a new production or a revival...
. Azaria described it as "the most fun that I've ever had in my entire life." Reuniting with The Birdcage director Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols is a German-born American television, stage and film director, writer, producer and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s as one half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, along with Elaine May. In 1968 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film The Graduate...
and being a huge Monty Python fan, he saw it as an opportunity he could not pass up, describing it as "so much fun that I haven't realized how tiring it is." He took a break from the show in June 2005, with Alan Tudyk
Alan Tudyk
Alan Wray Tudyk is an American actor known for his roles as Simon in the British comedy Death at a Funeral, as Steve the Pirate in DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story, as Sonny in the science fiction drama I, Robot, as Doc Potter in 3:10 to Yuma, as Tucker in the Tucker & Dale vs Evil and as Hoban...
filling in for him, to work on Huff, but returned in December 2005. Continuing his theater roles, in late 2007 he starred in Aaron Sorkin
Aaron Sorkin
Aaron Benjamin Sorkin is an Academy and Emmy award winning American screenwriter, producer, and playwright, whose works include A Few Good Men, The American President, The West Wing, Sports Night, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The Social Network, and Moneyball.After graduating from Syracuse...
's The Farnsworth Invention
The Farnsworth Invention
The Farnsworth Invention is a stage play by Aaron Sorkin adapted from an unproduced screenplay about Philo Farnsworth's invention of the television and David Sarnoff, the RCA president who stole the design.- Screenplay :...
, playing RCA head David Sarnoff
David Sarnoff
David Sarnoff was an American businessman and pioneer of American commercial radio and television. He founded the National Broadcasting Company and throughout most of his career he led the Radio Corporation of America in various capacities from shortly after its founding in 1919 until his...
.
Acting style and vocal range
Azaria's friends refer to him as "the freakish mimic" due to his ability to copy almost anybody's voice instantly after he has heard it. As a child he believed that everyone could do this, but later realized that it was not a common talent. Azaria was glad to have found the "ultimate outlet" for this skill, in The Simpsons. He "didn't realize it [when he joined the show], but it became like a lab for a character actor. I had to do so many voices." In the early 2000s, Azaria felt he had reached the maximum amount of voices he was capable of: "For the first 10 years of The Simpsons, I would develop a bunch of voices. And then...I hit a point when I was tapped out. Every noise I can make, I have made. Even characters like Gargamel, I've done. Even if it was only two or three lines, at some point I've done something similar on The Simpsons, at least somewhere along the line."Azaria often plays characters where the much of their humor is derived from a "funny voice", such as The Birdcage and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. He stated that "being funny with a funny voice is more my comfort zone, a broader character that I try to humanize, a kind of silly or wacky persona that I try to fill in," although he finds it "much easier to be someone much closer to myself," as it requires "less energy...than playing characters that are so out there and high strung."
The Simpsons creator Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
has stated that Azaria possesses the ability to turn unfunny lines into some of the best in an episode, while former writer Jay Kogen
Jay Kogen
-Early life:Jay Steven Kogen was born on May 3rd, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York. He is the son of Mad writer Arnie Kogen, and Sue Kogen . His paternal grandparents, Samuel Kogen and Pauline Gorin, were Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire , while his maternal grandparents, Harold Hirsch and Ida...
stated: "Just when I think I know [Azaria's] bag of tricks, he's always got a new thing he does to surprise me." Throughout the run of The Simpsons, Azaria has had to sing in character several times, a task which he describes as easier than singing normally. The Smurfs writer David N. Weiss
David N. Weiss
David N. Weiss is an American writer and labor leader. He is a screenwriter of films, including All Dogs go to Heaven, The Rugrats Movie, Shrek 2, Clockstoppers, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie and The Smurfs and has also written for television shows such as Mission Hill...
says Azaria "has a beautiful treasure trove of talent," and "became what you wished you were writing." Playwright Jenelle Riley wrote in 2005 that Azaria was "by far" her favorite actor, praising his "versatility" and "tendency to take small roles that would normally fade into the background and to consistently create characters people care about, noting his roles in Shattered Glass, Mystery, Alaska and especially DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story.
Personal life
Azaria has been dating former actress Katie WrightKatie Wright
Katie Wright is a former American actress. She was born Katherine Wright in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-Biography:...
since 2007, and the two have one son together, Hal, who was born on June 6, 2009. They live in a four-bedroom house in Pacific Palisades, which Azaria bought from his The Simpsons co-star Dan Castellaneta
Dan Castellaneta
Daniel Louis "Dan" Castellaneta is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Noted for his long-running role as Homer Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, he voices many other characters on The Simpsons, including Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble,...
and his wife Deb Lacusta
Deb Lacusta
-Personal life:Lacusta is the wife of The Simpsons star Dan Castellaneta...
in 2011 for $5.5 million. Several weeks previously, Azaria sold his $10 million home in Bel-Air for $11.065 million. In the early 1990s, Azaria was engaged to actress Julie Warner
Julie Warner
Juliet Mia "Julie" Warner is an American actress.-Early life:Warner was born in Manhattan, New York. Her mother, Naomi, is a literary agent, an independent marketing consultant, and a licensing director. Her father, Neil Warner, is a jingle composer, a pianist, and an arranger...
. In 1994, Azaria began a relationship with actress Helen Hunt
Helen Hunt
Helen Elizabeth Hunt is an American actress, film director, and screenwriter. She starred in the sitcom Mad About You for seven years, before being cast in the romantic comedy As Good as It Gets...
, and they married in a traditional Jewish ceremony at the couple's home in Southern California on July 17, 1999. The two had appeared together in Mad About You and the episode of The Simpsons "Dumbbell Indemnity
Dumbbell Indemnity
"Dumbbell Indemnity" is the sixteenth episode of the ninth season of the animated television series The Simpsons, which originally aired March 1, 1998. It was written by Ron Hauge and directed by Dominic Polcino. The episode sees Moe trying to keep his girlfriend by using a large amount of money,...
". After a year of marriage, Azaria moved out of the couple's home, and after a six month separation, Hunt filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences". The divorce was finalized on December 18, 2000.
Azaria is the godfather
Godparent
A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...
of Oliver Platt
Oliver Platt
Oliver James Platt is a Canadian-American actor. He is currently starring in the Showtime original series, The Big C with Laura Linney.-Early life:...
's son, George. He is also a regular poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
player, appearing twice on Celebrity Poker Showdown
Celebrity Poker Showdown
Celebrity Poker Showdown was a celebrity game show on the cable network Bravo. It was a limited-run series in which celebrities played poker, and ran eight tournaments during its five-season run....
and competing at other events, finishing a few places short of the bubble in the main event of the 2010 World Series of Poker
2010 World Series of Poker
The 2010 World Series of Poker was the 41st annual World Series of Poker , held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and ran from May 28 to July 17. There were 57 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Championship that began on July 5...
. Politically, Azaria has made contributions that support the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, enjoys the music of Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, and would be a therapist
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
if he were not an actor. He considers The Godfather trilogy
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
to be what inspired him to become an actor, and counts Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
and Walt Frazier
Walt Frazier
Walter "Clyde" Frazier is a retired American basketball player in the National Basketball Association . He was blessed with a unique combination of court vision, quickness, and size for a guard...
as his heroes.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Medium | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Joe Bash Joe Bash Joe Bash is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on ABC from March 28 to May 10, 1986. Starring Peter Boyle as a weary and embittered New York City Police Department beat cop, it was created by veteran TV producer Danny Arnold following his successful New York City police detective... |
TV series | Maldonado | Episode 1.1: "Pilot" Scene deleted |
| 1988 | Nitti: The Enforcer | TV film | Agent | |
| 1988 | Family Ties Family Ties Family Ties is an American sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989. The sitcom reflected the move in the United States from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s to the conservatism of the 1980s. This was particularly expressed through the relationship between young... |
TV series | Joe | Episode 7.2: "Designing Woman" |
| 1989 | Growing Pains Growing Pains Growing Pains is an American television sitcom about an affluent family, residing in Huntington, New York, with a working mother and a stay-at-home psychiatrist father raising three children together, which aired on ABC from September 24, 1985 to April 25, 1992.-Synopsis:The show's premise is based... |
TV series | Steve Stevenson | Episode 5.9: "The New Deal: Part 2" |
| TV series | Various characters | |||
| 1990 | Cool Blue Cool Blue Cool Blue is a 1990 English language romantic comedy starring Woody Harrelson, Ely Pouget, and Hank Azaria and directed by Mark Mullin and Richard Shepard. The film received an R rating by the MPAA.- Plot summary :... |
Direct-to-video Direct-to-video Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television... film |
Buzz | |
| 1990 | Pretty Woman Pretty Woman Pretty Woman is a 1990 romantic comedy film set in Los Angeles, California. Written by J.F. Lawton and directed by Garry Marshall, this motion picture features Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and also Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy, and Jason Alexander in supporting roles. Roberts played the only... |
Feature film | Detective | |
| 1990 | Hollywood Dog | TV pilot | Hollywood Dog | Voice |
| 1990 | TV series | Jerry | Episode 1.6: "Mistaken Identity" | |
| 1990 | Babes Babes Babes is an American situation comedy series that ran for one season on the Fox Television Network from September 13, 1990 to August 10, 1991. It was created by Gail Parent and executive produced by Dolly Parton and Sandy Gallin's Sandollar Productions for Twentieth Century Fox Television... |
TV series | Tony | Episode 1.11: "Rent Strike" |
| 1991–1994 | Herman's Head Herman's Head Herman's Head is an American sitcom that aired on the Fox network from 1991 to 1994. The series stars William Ragsdale as the titular character, Herman Brooks.-Synopsis:... |
TV series | Jay Nichols | Main cast member; appeared in 72 episodes |
| 1994 | Beethoven Beethoven (TV series) Beethoven is an animated sitcom, loosely based on the 1992 motion picture of the same name. The series was produced by Northern Lights Entertainment Universal Animation Studios and Universal Media Studios, and aired for one season on CBS, with 24 half-hour episodes produced.-Premise:Unlike the... |
TV series | Voice | |
| 1994 | Quiz Show | Feature film | Albert Freedman | |
| 1994–1996 | Spider-Man: The Animated Series Spider-Man (1994 TV series) Spider-Man, also known as Spider-Man: The Animated Series, is an American animated series starring the Marvel Comics superhero, Spider-Man. The show ran on Fox Kids from November 19, 1994, to January 31, 1998. The producer/story editor was John Semper, Jr. and production company was Marvel Films... |
TV series | Eddie Brock/Venom Eddie Brock Eddie Brock is a fictional character created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane. A comic book supervillain, Brock's earliest appearance is a cameo in Web of Spider-Man #18 before making his first full appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #299 as Venom... |
Appeared in eight episodes |
| 1994–2003 | Friends Friends Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television... |
TV series | David | |
| 1995 | Tales from the Crypt Tales from the Crypt (TV series) Tales from the Crypt, sometimes titled HBO's Tales from the Crypt, is an American horror anthology television series that ran from 1989 to 1996 on the premium cable channel HBO... |
TV series | Richard | Episode: "Doctor of Horror" |
| 1995 | Street Sharks Street Sharks Street Sharks is an American animated television series about crime-fighting half-man/half-sharks. It was produced by DIC Entertainment and aired from 1994 to 1995, originally as a part of the Amazin' Adventures lineup. Later, in 1996, the Street Sharks teamed up with the Dino Vengers and the... |
TV series | Various characters | Voice |
| 1995 | Now and Then | Feature film | Bud Kent | |
| 1995 | If Not for You | TV series | Craig Schaeffer | Lead role; appeared in eight episodes |
| 1995 | Heat | Feature film | Alan Marciano | |
| 1995–1999 | Mad About You Mad About You Mad About You is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 23, 1992 to May 24, 1999. The show starred Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a newly married couple in New York City. Reiser played Paul Buchman, a documentary film maker. Hunt played Jamie Stemple Buchman, a public relations specialist... |
TV series | Nat Ostertag | |
| 1996 | Feature film | Agador Spartacus | ||
| 1997 | Grosse Pointe Blank Grosse Pointe Blank Grosse Pointe Blank is a 1997 American Black comedy film, directed by George Armitage, and starring John Cusack and Minnie Driver.In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Grosse Pointe Blank the 21st greatest comedy film of all time. The film's soundtrack features mainly independent music hits... |
Feature film | Steven Lardner | |
| 1997 | Anastasia Anastasia (1997 film) Anastasia is a 1997 American animated musical film produced and directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. It was the first feature film to be released by Fox Animation Studios.... |
Feature film | Bartok | |
| 1998 | Chicken Little | Short film | Voice | |
| 1998 | Great Expectations Great Expectations (1998 film) Great Expectations is a 1998 contemporary film adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel of the same name, directed by Alfonso Cuarón and starring Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert De Niro, Anne Bancroft and Chris Cooper. It is known for having moved the setting of the original novel from 1861... |
Feature film | Walter Plane | |
| 1998 | Homegrown Homegrown (film) Homegrown is a 1998 comedy / thriller film. It was directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal and starred Billy Bob Thornton, John Lithgow, and Hank Azaria.-Plot:... |
Feature film | Carter | |
| 1998 | Stressed Eric Stressed Eric Stressed Eric is a British/American/New Zealand cartoon series that was produced by Absolutely Productions for the BBC Two television channel in the United Kingdom and the Television New Zealand. The series revolves around Eric Feeble, a middle class man who is always stressed, because of his... |
TV series | Eric | Re-dubbed Mark Heap Mark Heap Mark Heap is an English actor. He began his acting career in the 1980s as a member of the Medieval Players, a touring company performing medieval and early modern theatre, and featuring stilt-walking, juggling and puppetry... 's dialogue from the UK version of the series for the US airing |
| 1998 | Godzilla Godzilla (1998 film) Godzilla is a 1998 science fiction monster disaster film film co-written and directed by Roland Emmerich. It is a loose remake of the 1954 giant monster classic Godzilla. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The film relates a tale of a nuclear incident... |
Feature film | Victor 'Animal' Palotti | |
| 1998 | Celebrity Celebrity (film) Celebrity is a 1998 comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. The screenplay focuses on the divergent paths a couple takes following their divorce.-Plot:... |
Feature film | David | |
| 1999 | Cradle Will Rock Cradle Will Rock Cradle Will Rock is a 1999 drama film which chronicles the process and events that surrounded the production of the original 1937 musical The Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein... |
Feature film | Marc Blitzstein Marc Blitzstein Marcus Samuel Blitzstein, better known as Marc Blitzstein , was an American composer. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-union musical The Cradle Will Rock, directed by Orson Welles, was shut down by the Works Progress Administration... |
|
| 1999 | Mystery Men Mystery Men Mystery Men is a 1999 comedy film based on a Dark Horse comic book series feature in Flaming Carrot Comics by Bob Burden, directed by TV commercial director Kinka Usher. It stars William H. Macy, Ben Stiller, and Hank Azaria as a trio of lesser superheroes with fairly unimpressive superpowers who... |
Feature film | The Blue Raja | |
| 1999 | Mystery, Alaska Mystery, Alaska Mystery, Alaska is a 1999 drama directed by Jay Roach about a fictional small-town ice hockey team that plays a game against the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. It was shot in Banff National Park and Canmore, Alberta.-Plot:... |
Feature film | Charles Danner | |
| 1999 | Bartok the Magnificent Bartok the Magnificent Bartok the Magnificent, also known as Bartok the Great, is a spin-off to the 1997 film Anastasia, which features Hank Azaria as the voice of Bartok. This film was released on VHS and DVD by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on November 16, 1999, and was re-released in 2005 along with Anastasia... |
Direct-to-video film | Bartok | Voice; also producer |
| 1999 | Tuesdays with Morrie Tuesdays with Morrie (film) Tuesdays with Morrie is a 1999 television film adaptation of the Mitch Albom's book of the same title. It features Jack Lemmon in a role for which he won an Emmy award.-Cast and characters:* Jack Lemmon – Morrie Schwartz* Hank Azaria – Mitch Albom... |
TV film | Mitch Albom Mitch Albom Mitchell David "Mitch" Albom is an American best-selling author, journalist, screenwriter, dramatist, radio and television broadcaster and musician. His books have sold over 30 million copies worldwide... |
|
| 2000 | Fail Safe | TV play | Prof. Groeteschele | Live dramatic broadcast |
| 2001 | Futurama Futurama Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J... |
TV series | Harold Zoid | Voice, episode 3.8: "That's Lobstertainment! That's Lobstertainment! "That's Lobstertainment!" is the eighth episode in season three of Futurama. It originally aired February 25, 2001.-Plot:After a disastrous attempt at stand-up comedy, Dr. Zoidberg informs the crew that his uncle, Harold Zoid, was a star in the silent hologram era. Zoidberg writes to his uncle,... " |
| 2001 | America's Sweethearts America's Sweethearts America's Sweethearts is a 2001 romantic comedy film, directed by Joe Roth, starring Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal, John Cusack, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The film also stars Keri Lynn Pratt, Hank Azaria, Stanley Tucci, Seth Green, Alan Arkin, and Christopher Walken, and features a cameo appearance... |
Feature film | Hector Gorgonzolas | |
| 2001 | Uprising Uprising (film) Uprising is a 2001 war/drama television movie about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The film was directed by Jon Avnet and written by Avnet and Paul Brickman... |
TV film | Mordechaj Anielewicz Mordechaj Anielewicz Mordechaj Anielewicz was the leader of Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa , also known as ŻOB, during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising from January to May 1943.-Biography:Anielewicz was born into a poor family in the small town of Wyszków near Warsaw... |
Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards for Best Actor in a TV Film Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards The Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, commonly called the Critics' Choice Awards, are bestowed annually by the Broadcast Film Critics Association to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Nominees are selected by written ballots in a week-long voting period, and are announced in... |
| 2002 | Bark! Bark! Bark! is a 2002 film written by Heather Morgan, directed by Kasia Adamik and starring Morgan, Lee Tergesen, and Lisa Kudrow... |
Feature film | Sam | |
| 2002 | Imagine That | TV series | John Miller | Appeared in five episodes; also executive producer |
| 2003 | Shattered Glass | Feature film | Michael Kelly Michael Kelly (editor) Michael Thomas Kelly was an American journalist, a columnist for The Washington Post, and an editor at The New Republic, National Journal, and The Atlantic. He came to prominence via his reporting on the first Gulf War, but suffered professional embarrassment for his role in the Stephen Glass... |
|
| 2004 | Nobody's Perfect | Short film | Ray | |
| 2004 | Along Came Polly Along Came Polly Along Came Polly is a 2004 American romantic comedy film written and directed by John Hamburg, starring Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston in the lead roles.-Plot:... |
Feature film | Claude | |
| 2004 | Eulogy Eulogy (film) -Plot:The film opens with Kate Collins walking up to a house. She knocks and a woman answers the door. Kate explains that although she doesn't know her she has a long story to explain.... |
Feature film | Daniel Collins | |
| 2004 | Feature film | Young Patches O'Houlihan | ||
| 2004–2006 | Huff Huff (TV series) Huff is an American television dramedy series produced by Sony Pictures Television for Showtime. The series was created by Bob Lowry and features Hank Azaria as Dr. Craig "Huff" Huffstodt, a psychiatrist whose life changes abruptly when a 15-year-old client commits suicide in his office... |
TV series | ||
| 2005 | Himself | |||
| 2007 | Chicago 10 Chicago 10 (film) Chicago 10: Speak Your Peace is a partially animated film written and directed by Brett Morgen that tells the story of the Chicago Eight... |
Documentary | ||
| 2007 | Feature film | Mike 'The Bike' Heslov | ||
| 2007 | Feature film | Various characters | Voice | |
| 2007 | Run Fatboy Run Run Fatboy Run Run Fatboy Run is a 2007 British comedy film directed by David Schwimmer, written by Michael Ian Black and Simon Pegg, and starring Pegg, Dylan Moran, Thandie Newton, Harish Patel, India de Beaufort, and Hank Azaria... |
Feature film | Whit | |
| 2007 | TV series | Vertigo Goon | Episode 5.3: "Vertigo"; uncredited | |
| 2008 | Immigrants (L.A. Dolce Vita) Immigrants (2008 film) Immigrants, also known as L.A. Dolce Vita or Immigrants: L.A. Dolce Vita is a Hungarian-American animated film directed by Gábor Csupó. The Hungarian release date was October 30, 2008... |
Feature film | Jóska | Dub of Hungarian film |
| 2009 | Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is an American adventure comedy film directed by Shawn Levy, and starring Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, and Steve Coogan. The film is a sequel to Night at the Museum... |
Feature film | ||
| 2009 | Year One | Feature film | Abraham Abraham Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam... |
|
| 2010 | Love and Other Drugs Love and Other Drugs Love and Other Drugs is a 2010 romantic comedy film co-written and directed by Edward Zwick and based on the non-fiction book Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman by Jamie Reidy... |
Feature film | Dr. Stan Knight | |
| 2010 | Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story | Documentary film | Himself | |
| 2011 | Hop | Feature film | ||
| 2011 | The Cleveland Show The Cleveland Show The Cleveland Show is an American animated television series that premiered on September 27, 2009, as a part of the "Animation Domination" lineup on Fox in the United States... |
TV series | Comic Book Guy Comic Book Guy Comic Book Guy is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the second-season episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", which originally aired on May 9, 1991. He is the proprietor of a comic book store, The... |
Episode 2.22: "Hot Cocoa Bang Bang" |
| 2011 | Feature film | Gargamel Gargamel In the fictional world of The Smurfs, Gargamel the sorcerer is the sworn enemy of the Smurfs and the main antagonist in the show and comic books. While described as a wizard in the narration, Gargamel is not depicted as possessing real magical powers to speak of... |
||
| 2011 | Free Agents Free Agents (U.S. TV series) Free Agents is an American re-make of a British workplace sitcom that premiered on NBC September 14, 2011, in the 10:30 pm Eastern/9:30 pm Central time slot, before assuming its regular time slot on September 21, 2011, where it aired at 8:30 pm Eastern/7:30 pm Central on Wednesday nights... |
TV series | Alex | Lead role |
| 2011 | Happy Feet Two | Feature film | The Mighty Sven | Voice; post production |
| 2013 | Maniac | Feature film | Michael | Filming |
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Various characters | |
| 1997 | Various characters | |
| 2001 | Various characters | |
| 2001 | Various characters | |
| 2002 | Various characters | |
| 2003 | Various characters | |
| 2005 | Friends: The One With All The Trivia | David |
| 2007 | Various characters | |
| 2009 | Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (video game) Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is an action video game developed by Amaze Entertainment and Pipeworks Software and published by Majesco Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, Wii, Nintendo DS and Xbox 360. The video game is based on the film of the same name. It was released on May... |
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Sexual Perversity in Chicago Sexual Perversity in Chicago Sexual Perversity in Chicago is a play written by David Mamet that examines the sex lives of two men and two women in the 1970's. The play is filled with profanity and regional jargon that reflects the working-class language of Chicago. The characters' relationships become hindered by the caustic... |
Bernard |
| 2004–2005 | Spamalot Spamalot Monty Python's Spamalot is a musical comedy "lovingly ripped off from" the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like the film, it is a highly irreverent parody of the Arthurian Legend, but it differs from the film in many ways, especially in its parodies of Broadway theatre... |
|
| 2007 | David Sarnoff David Sarnoff David Sarnoff was an American businessman and pioneer of American commercial radio and television. He founded the National Broadcasting Company and throughout most of his career he led the Radio Corporation of America in various capacities from shortly after its founding in 1919 until his... |