Hank Azaria

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hank Azaria
Birth name	Henry Albert Azaria
Born	April 25, 1964(Age 43) Queens, New York
Notable roles	Voiced more than 160 characters on The Simpsons (1989-present)

Henry Albert Azaria (born April 25, 1964) is a four-time Emmy Award-winning American actor, comedian and voice artist.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Career 1.3 Personal life 1.4 Awards 1.5 Emmy awards 2 List of characters voiced in The Simpsons 3 Partial filmography 4 Footnotes 5 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Azaria was born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City to Ladino-speaking Sephardic Jewish^[1] parents from Thessaloniki, Greece.^{[citation needed]} He graduated from The Kew Forest School in Forest Hills, New York and studied drama at Tufts University.

[edit] Career

Azaria is perhaps best known for his voice work on the animated television show The Simpsons. He has provided the voices for over 160 characters on the show including those of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Moe Szyslak, Police Chief Clancy Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel, Duffman, Professor Frink, Dr. Nick Riviera, Lou and Snake. Azaria says he based Moe Szyslak's voice on Al Pacino, who has the same birthday as Azaria. Officer Lou sounds like Sylvester Stallone, Chief Wiggum is based on Edward G. Robinson, Apu is based on Peter Sellers' character Hrundi V Bakshi in The Party, and Dr. Nick Riviera is "a bad Ricky Ricardo impression". The voice of Snake Jailbird is based on an old roommate from college who would speak in the same style as the character (integrating "woah" and "like" into every sentence) when describing his drug experiences. Hank based one of his geekier characters, Comic Book Guy, on another college roommate who was called F and spoke a manner similar to Comic Book Guy. It's been speculated the roommate was in fact actor Oliver Platt. Professor Frink is based on Jerry Lewis' performance in the original The Nutty Professor.

He also provided the voice of Eddie Brock/Venom in the Spider-Man animated series of the mid-1990s.

He has also appeared in movies such as Godzilla, The Birdcage, Mystery Men, America's Sweethearts and Heat and on television starring as psychiatrist Craig "Huff" Huffstodt in Huff, which was broadcast on Showtime in the US and FX in the UK. Earlier in his career, he appeared in Herman's Head as Jay Nichols, in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, where he appeared in a season one episode as cop Jerry and on Friends where he played the recurring character David, one of Phoebe's boyfriends. He also had a recurring role on Mad About You as Nat, the dogwalker. In 2002, he was given his own sitcom, Imagine That. It was cancelled after only two episodes had aired.

Azaria has also shown his talents on stage. In 2003 he appeared in London's West End as Bernard in Sexual Perversity in Chicago. Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing in Friends) and Minnie Driver also starred. Other movies he has played minor characters in include Along Came Polly and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.

He also appeared as Sir Lancelot, the French Taunter, and other characters in the musical version of Monty Python and the Holy Grail entitled Spamalot which opened in Chicago in December 2004 and has since moved to Broadway. He took a break from the show in June of 2005 to work on Huff and The Simpsons (his role was filled by Alan Tudyk), and returned in December 2005. In 2005, he was nominated for the Tony Award for "Best Actor in a Musical" for his work in Spamalot. In a news interview, Azaria admitted that, during his performances of Spamalot, he has a hard time holding in laughter on stage throughout the show. His secret is to carry keys in his costume and painfully jab himself (unnoticeable to the audience) to stop from breaking character mid-performance. "It really hurts..." he jokes in the interview.

[edit] Personal life

After several years of living together, Azaria married actress Helen Hunt on July 18, 1999. The couple divorced on December 18, 2000. It was rumored that he was dating Rock Star: INXS contestant Suzie McNeil. Azaria has volunteered as an actor with the Young Storytellers Program. Currently it is rumored that he and Sheryl Crow are dating.

[edit] Awards

Hank Azaria has been nominated for numerous awards during his career including Emmys and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

[edit] Emmy awards

Year	Award	Result
1998	Outstanding Voice-Over Performance	Won - for Apu in The Simpsons
1998	Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series	Nomination - Nat in Mad About You
2000	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie	Won - for Tuesdays with Morrie
2001	Outstanding Voice-Over Performance	Won - for characters in The Simpsons (Worst Episode Ever)
2003	Outstanding Voice-Over Performance	Won - for characters in The Simpsons (Moe Baby Blues)
2003	Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series	Nomination - David in Friends
2005	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	Nomination - Dr. Craig 'Huff' Huffstodt in Huff

[edit] List of characters voiced in The Simpsons

• Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
• Moe Szyslak
• Clancy Wiggum
• Comic Book Guy
• Lou
• Carl Carlson
• Dr. Nick Riviera
• Snake Jailbird
• Bumblebee Man
• Superintendent Chalmers
• Professor Johnathan I. Q. Frink, Jr.
• Cletus Del Roy/Spuckler, the slack-jawed yokel
• Luigi Risotto
• Frank "Grimey" Grimes
• Old Jewish Man
• Akira (first voiced by Star Trek's George Takei, but from then on voiced by Azaria)
• Drederick Tatum
• Kirk Van Houten
• Johnny Tightlips
• Legs
• Frank Grimes, Jr.
• Knightboat
• Congressman Bob Arnold from the episode "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington"
• Fritz from "Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk"
• Vet from "Dog of Death" and "So It's Come To This: A Simpsons Clip Show"
• 'House of Evil' Shopkeeper from "Treehouse of Horror III"
• Gabbo from "Krusty Gets Kancelled"
• Dean Bobby Peterson from "Homer Goes to College"
• Doug the nerd from "Homer Goes to College"
• G. I Joe from "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy"
• Malfunctioning Malibu Stacy Voice from "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy"
• Don Vittorio from "Homie the Clown"
• Bruno Drundridge from "Bart vs. Australia"
• Pet Store Man from "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds"
• Jericho from "The Springfield Connection"
• Shelbyville Milhouse from "Lemon of Troy"
• Ox from "Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish""
• Iggy Wiggum from "Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish""
• Rick from "Summer of 4 Ft. 2"
• Jimbo's Father from "The Homer They Fall"
• Dr. Foster from "Hurricane Neddy"
• Ranger from "Mountain of Madness"
• Hippie from "The Old Man and the Lisa"
• Auction man from "Homer's Enemy"
• Azaria also has numerous generic voices which he uses for multiple characters, including a surly New Jersey accent (used on the balding, mustached clerk-about-town, later named Raphael). This voice, however, has been lent to more than just this character (for example, one of Springfield's bowling store owning Nicks has this voice).

[edit] Partial filmography

• The Simpsons (TV series) (1989-present)
• Pretty Woman (1990)
• Herman's Head (TV series) (1991)
• Cool Blue (1993)
• Quiz Show (1994)
• Friends (TV series, appearances in 1994, 2001, 2002 & 2003)
• Spider-Man: The Animated Series (voice) (1994-1998)
• Heat (1995)
• The Birdcage (1996)
• Mad About You (TV series, joined cast in 1996)
• Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
• Anastasia (voice) (1997)
• Godzilla (1998)
• Homegrown (1998)
• Celebrity (1998)
• Cradle Will Rock (1999)
• Mystery Men (1999)
• Mystery, Alaska (1999)
• Tuesdays With Morrie (made for TV) (1999)
• Fail Safe (made for TV) (2000)
• Uprising (2002)
• America's Sweethearts (2001)
• Shattered Glass (2003)
• Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)
• Eulogy (2004)
• Along Came Polly (2004)
• Nobody's Perfect (2004)
• The Aristocrats (2005)
• The Simpsons Movie (in progress) (voice) (2007)

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• Hank Azaria at the Internet Movie Database
• Hank Azaria at the Internet Broadway Database
• Hank Azaria at the Voice Chasers Database
• Fresh Air interview with Terry Gross
• Hank Azaria 1999 Interview on Sidewalks Entertainment