This article is about the comedian. For the football player, see
Darryl Hammond.
Darrell Hammond (born October 8, 1955) is an American actor, stand-up comedian and impressionist. He was a regular on Saturday Night Live (SNL) from 1995 until 2009, and holds the record for longest tenure as an SNL cast member, having earned the distinction in 2004-2005. At his departure in 2009, Hammond was 53 years of age, making him the oldest active cast member in the show's history. Hammond has made more SNL appearances, by far, than any other cast member in its entire 35-year run, and by 2009 had impersonated more than 105 celebrities (with former President Bill Clinton as his most frequent impression).[1] As of November 15, 2009, he has appeared on the show five times since leaving the cast.
Biography
Personal life
Hammond was born in Melbourne, Florida. Darrell graduated from Melbourne High School in 1973 where he was a star athlete who lettered in both football and baseball. He then attended Brevard Community College and the University of Florida where he majored in broadcasting. After completing college, Hammond moved to New York City where he lived for several years before joining the cast of SNL. He married his wife, Elizabeth, in 1986. The death of a close personal friend of his in 1991 led to a relapse of drug and alcohol abuse.[2] They divorced in the early 1990s and remarried in 1997. They have a daughter named Mia who was born in 1998.
Saturday Night Live
During the 2004–2005 season, Hammond set the record for the longest consecutive tenure of any SNL cast member in the show's history. He also holds SNL records for the most impressions by a single cast member (105, as of the Zac Efron/Yeah Yeah Yeahs episode) and for the most times saying the show's catch phrase "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" to start the show (beating out Dana Carvey).
He is probably best known on the show for impersonating former President Bill Clinton (also one of his longest-running impersonations on the show), Al Gore, Donald Trump, Dick Cheney, and Sean Connery in the recurring Celebrity Jeopardy! skits. He often uses crude and sex-oriented insults against Alex Trebek (played by Will Ferrell), primarily about how he slept with Trebek's mother the night before the show.
Hammond also impersonated SNL announcer Don Pardo, filling in for Pardo on occasions when the announcer was sick or otherwise unavailable.
After the end of the 34th season, Hammond retired from the show after a record-breaking 14 years as a repertory player. Hammond is now the last SNL cast member from the 1990s to leave the show.
Other work
In the late 1980s, Hammond gained fame for his impersonations of Elmer Fudd and other Looney Tunes characters in the comedy single "Wappin'." The song was so popular with Dr. Demento listeners, it was included on the show's 20th Anniversary compilation.
Hammond is a frequent guest on The Howard Stern Show. He has also guest starred in episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. He had his own stand-up comedy special on Comedy Central: Comedy Central Presents Darrell Hammond. Hammond can frequently be seen at The Comedy Cellar in New York City.
In the summer of 2007, Hammond made his Broadway theatre debut, playing the role of Vice Principal Douglas Panch in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
In 2009, Hammond had a guest starring role on the FX drama Damages. The same summer, Hammond played a role with Donald Trump in the Oreos DSRL commercial, where he does an impression of Trump. Darrell and Donald are shown against football players Eli Manning and Peyton Manning to see who can win the lick-off.
Filmography
See also
References
External links
