Hank Azaria biography, high resolution photos and videos by Americola 
Hank Azaria
[edit] Americola's celebrity biographies are provided by AmericolaWiki, a celebrity wiki. You can help contribute to Americola and edit this article.
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
|
Biography
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.
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.
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.
An uncited account was posted 30 March 2007 on Wikipedia purporting his purchase of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch for approximately $1.8 million dollars, that "he would use it to launch his bid for the democratic party nomination". Numerous internet sources allege a sale price of Neverland Ranch in the range of US$35 million.
Awards
Hank Azaria has been nominated for numerous awards during his career including Emmys and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Emmy awards
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).
Partial filmography
Footnotes
