Hank Albert Azaria (born April 25, 1964 in
Forest Hills, Queens, New York, United States) is an American actor,
director, comedian and voice artist. He is most famous
for his long-running career as one of the main voice actors on the animated television series The Simpsons. He performs the voices of Moe Szyslak,
Chief Wiggum, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon and
numerous other characters. He became better known for starring in the one off drama Tuesdays With Morrie, and through his appearances in films including The Birdcage and Godzilla. He starred in the drama
Huff, playing the titular character, to critical acclaim, as well as appearing
in the popular stage musical Spamalot. Married to Helen
Hunt for a year, he has won three Emmys and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Early life
Azaria was born in Forest Hills, Queens, New
York,[1] to Sephardic Jewish parents from Thessaloniki, Greece.[2] His father Albert ran several
dress-manufacturing businesses, while his mother raised him and his two older sisters, Stephanie and Elise.[3][1] 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.[3] Both of his
parents loved all forms of show business, which spurred him on to become an actor.[3] Azaria graduated from The Kew
Forest School in Forest Hills, and later studied drama at Tufts
University.[1] There he met
Oliver Platt, with whom he became good friends; Azaria noted that "Oliver was a better
actor than I was in college, and he really inspired me."[4] He got his first job when he was seventeen, on a commercial advertising Italian
television.[3] Before leaving New York,
Azaria worked for several years as a bartender, as well as appearing in a stage production of Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter.[1]
Career
Early career and The Simpsons
Azaria's first role on
The Simpsons was
Moe Szyslak. Alongside him in this image is
Moe's one-time girlfriend Reneé. She was voiced by
Helen Hunt, whom Azaria was married to for
a time.
Azaria has described his career as being very gradual, and that he has not skipped any of the usual "career steps".[3] He moved to Los Angeles, where he was trained by acting teacher Roy
London.[5] He began working as a
stand-up comedian,[1] becoming popular at local
comedy clubs.[5] He made his first television
appearance with a one-line role in an episode of the 1986 Peter Boyle series
Joe Bash, though his part was edited out before the show's broadcast. Still, the role
won him admission to the Screen Actors Guild.[1]
He became most famous for his voice work on the animated television show
The Simpsons, a show that continues to the present. He joined the show aged 22,
having previously performed only one voice over, as an animated dog in a failed Fox "Roger
Rabbit type pilot."[3] The first
voice he performed was that of town bartender Moe Szyslak, replacing Christopher Collins who had voiced the character in several previous episodes. Having known him from
the failed pilot, Azaria was called and asked to audition for the voice of Moe. At the time he was doing a play, in which he
performed the role of a drug dealer, basing his voice on Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon. He used that voice in the audition, and was told by Matt Groening and Sam Simon to make it more gravelly, with it becoming
the voice of Moe. Groening and Simon thought it was perfect 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".[3][6] Azaria
had expected to not hear from the show again but kept being called back, firstly to perform the voice of Chief Wiggum, and then Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, until
eventually during the second season he was doing "five or ten" voices. At that
point he was given a contract and made a permanent member of the cast.[3] As well as Moe, Wiggum and Apu, Azaria provides the voices of Comic Book Guy, Carl Carlson, Cletus Spuckler, Professor Frink, Dr. Nick Riviera, Lou,
Snake, Kirk Van Houten, the Sea Captain, Superintendent
Chalmers, Duffman, the "Wise Guy" and numerous other one-time
characters.[7]
In addition to Moe's voice being based on Al Pacino, many of Azaria's other recurring characters are based on other people. 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. He also loosely based it on Peter Sellers' character Hrundi V
Bakshi from the film The Party, who Azaria thinks has a similar personality to
Apu.[3] Originally, Apu being Indian was
thought to be too offensive and stereotypical and was going to be changed, but due to Azaria's reading of the line "Hello, Mr.
Homer" it stayed.[8] 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.[8] Officer Lou is based on Sylvester
Stallone,[6] and Dr. Nick is "a bad
Ricky Ricardo impression."[9] The "Wise Guy" voice is "basically Charles Bronson,"[6] while Carl is "a silly voice [Azaria] always
did."[10] 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".[6] 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.[8] Azaria based his performance as
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.[10]
His 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 such a thing, until he realised that it was a rare talent. Azaria was
glad to have found the "ultimate outlet" for his skill, in The Simpsons.[3] Matt Groening has stated that Azaria possesses the ability to turn unfunny
lines into some of the best in an episode.[6]
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.[3] Azaria's work on
the show has won him several awards, including three Emmys for "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance".[5] Azaria, with rest of the principal cast, reprised all of his voice
roles from The Simpsons, for the 2007 film The Simpsons Movie.[11]
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 advert, 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 advert
again.[3]
Further career
After the continuing success of The Simpsons, Azaria began taking other roles, featuring in the 1990 film
Pretty Woman.[5] He then became a regular on the show Herman's Head
playing Jay Nichols, alongside The Simpsons co-star Yeardley Smith.[12] He next won praise as television producer Albert Freedman in
the 1994 Academy Award nominated film Quiz Show.[13] In the same year, he made his first appearance on Friends, playing the recurring character David, one of Phoebe Buffay's boyfriends.
His first appearance was in the series tenth episode, before the character left for Minsk. He came
back in one episode of the show's seventh season, before making several appearances in the ninth, that culminated in him
proposing to Phoebe. She rejected him, and David left the show for good.[5] From 1996, he also had a recurring role in Mad About
You as Nat, the dog walker.[13]
Azaria earned an Emmy nomination for both roles.[5] He continued his voice-over work as Venom/Eddie
Brock in Spider-Man: The Animated Series for four
years.[14] He also lent his voice to the animated feature
Anastasia as Bartok the bat, reprising the role in the direct-to-video
sequel Bartok the Magnificent.[5]
In 1996, Azaria took on the role of gay Guatemalan housekeeper Agador Spartacus in the film The Birdcage, being nominated for a Screen Actors Guild
Award, and often being critically described as "scene stealing."[5] For the role, he put on the best Guatemalan accent he could, and made himself sound as
effeminate as possible. He had chosen two possible voices for the role, a "fruity" one and another tougher voice. After advice
from a drag queen, he chose the fruity voice. Three weeks into production, he realised he sounded exactly like his grandmother,
which aided his performance.[3] Azaria
appeared in several films, often as minor characters. After appearing in Heat and
Grosse Pointe Blank, he was featured in the 1998 film Godzilla as photographer Victor "Animal" Palotti.[5] He went on to appear opposite Gwyneth
Paltrow, as Walter Plane in the 1998 adaptation of Great
Expectations,[13] and co-starred
in Tim Robbins' Cradle Will Rock.[15] He next starred in both Disney's Mystery, Alaska, and Universal's Mystery Men, in 1999.[15]
Azaria became more well known for his performance as Mitch Albom alongside
Jack Lemmon in the 1999 television film Tuesdays
With Morrie,[13] winning an Emmy
for the role.[16] Azaria described it as the "best work [he
has] done."[13] After Tuesdays with
Morrie, Azaria appeared as Professor Groteschele in Fail Safe, a show
that was broadcast live.[15] He also appeared in
the films America's Sweethearts, Along Came Polly and Dodgeball: A True
Underdog Story,[5] as well as the
television film Uprising.[15] For his role as Claude in Along Came Polly, Azaria donned a wig and had to work out "for
seven or eight weeks," to get into the physical shape the role required.[17] He took the role of smooth talking American Whit in David
Schwimmer's directorial deubt Run, Fat Boy, 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.[18]
Azaria starred as psychiatrist Craig "Huff" Huffstodt in the television series
Huff, on which he also served as a producer. Azaria loved the role, and was
pleased how the show turned out, and by the second season began "to extend [the] character emotionally," and "he really is
beginning to unravel."[4] The show ran for two
seasons from 2004-2006, garnering seven Emmy nominations in 2005 including a nomination for Azaria for "Best Actor in a Drama
Series". Despite the awards, the show received low ratings and Showtime chose not to commission
it for a third season.[19] Azaria directed an episode of
the show's second season, and expressed his wish to move into directing in the latter half of his career.[4] 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.[20] In January 2007, he was confirmed to be directing Outsourced,[21] a film
about two American workers who journey to get their jobs back, after their factory is moved to Mexico.[22]
Azaria has also appeared in several theater productions. In 2003 he appeared in London's West
End as Bernard in Sexual Perversity in Chicago, along with
Matthew Perry and Minnie Driver.[5] In 2004, Azaria began appearing as
Sir Lancelot, the French Taunter, and other characters in
Spamalot the musical version of
Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which opened in Chicago in December 2004 before moving to Broadway. The show was met with critical acclaim, receiving fourteen Tony
Award nominations, including a "Best Actor in a Musical" nomination for Azaria. Azaria described it as "the most fun that
I've ever had in my entire life."[23]
He took a break from the show in June 2005, with Alan Tudyk filling in for him,[24] to work on Huff, but returned in December
2005.[23] Continuing his theater roles,
in late 2007 he will star in Aaron Sorkin's The Farnsworth Invention, playing RCA head David
Sarnoff.[25]
Personal life
In the early 1990s, Azaria was in a relationship with Julie Warner and for a time was
reportedly engaged to her.[1] In 1994, Azaria
began a relationship with actress Helen Hunt, and married her in a traditional Jewish
ceremony at the couple's home in Southern California on July 17 1999.[26] Azaria had appeared in Mad About You with Hunt, as well the Simpsons episode
"Dumbbell Indemnity" when Hunt played Moe's girlfriend Renée.[13] After a year of marriage, Azaria moved out of
their home and began staying in a Bel-Air hotel, using a false
name.[27] After being separated for six months, citing
"irreconcilable differences" Hunt filed for divorce, which went through on December 18
2000.[28]
Awards
Azaria has been nominated for numerous awards during his career.[29] He has been nominated for seven Emmys and won four. He has won one Screen Actors Guild Award and
nominated three other times, and has been nominated once for a Tony Award.[5]
Emmy awards
Filmography
References
- ^ a b c d e f g
- ^ Nancy Basile. Hank Azaria. About.com.
Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m
- ^ a b c
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l
- ^ a b c d e
- ^ McCann, Jesse L.; Matt Groening (2002). The Simpsons Beyond Forever!: A
Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family ...Still Continued. Harper Collins Publishers, p. 116. ISBN
0-06-050592-3.
- ^ a b c Joe Rhodes.
"Flash! 24 Simpsons Stars Reveal Themselves", TV Guide, 2000-10-21. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
- ^ Azaria, Hank. (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD
commentary for the episode "Homer's Triple Bypass" [DVD]. 20th Century
Fox.
- ^ a b
- ^ Michael Fleming. "Homer going to bat
in '07", Variety, 2006-04-02. Retrieved on
2007-08-16.
- ^ Mark Lewisohn. Herman's
Head. BBC. Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
- ^ a b c d e f
- ^ Venom. Marvel Animation Age. Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
- ^ a b c d Hank Azaria. The Simpsons.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
- ^ "'West Wing' sets Emmy record", CNN, 2000-09-11. Retrieved on
2007-08-16.
- ^ Rebecca Murray. Interview with "Along Came
Polly" Co-Stars, Hank Azaria and Debra Messing. About.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
- ^ Run, Fat
Boy, Run - Simon Pegg interview. IndieLondon. Retrieved on 2007-09-11.
- ^ "Showtime Stops 'Huff'-ing", Zap2it, 2006-06-23. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
- ^ Hank Azaria bio: The Simpsons Movie Actor. Tribute. Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
- ^ Nick Hershey. "The Weekly Ketchup:
"Indiana Jones" Is Back, "National Treasure 2" Gets A Name, "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" To TV, And More!", Rotten Tomatoes, 2007-01-25. Retrieved on 2007-08-29.
- ^ Tatiana Siegel and Borys Kit. "Azaria's job 'Outsourced' for Col", The Hollywood Reporter,
2007-01-03. Retrieved on 2007-08-29.
- ^ a b Robert Diamond (2005-05-27). 2005 Tony Awards Q&A: Hank
Azaria. Broadway World. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
- ^ Miranda Shen. "Alan Tudyk
replaces Hank Azaria in 'Spamalot'", USA Today, 2005-05-23. Retrieved on 2007-08-29.
- ^ Andrew Gans. "Azaria and Simpson to Star in Sorkin's Farnsworth Invention on Broadway",
Playbill, 2007-07-25. Retrieved on 2007-08-29.
- ^ Stephen M. Silverman. "Hunt Files for Divorce",
People, 1998-06-17. Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
- ^ Don Chareunsy. "Hunt, Azaria on the
Rocks", Hollywood.com, 2000-08-04. Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
- ^ "Hunt files for divorce", BBC News, 2000-12-20. Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
- ^ Awards for Hank Azaria. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on
2007-08-16.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
| Persondata |
| NAME |
Azaria, Hank |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES |
|
| SHORT DESCRIPTION |
Actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH |
April 25, 1964 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH |
New York, United States |
| DATE OF DEATH |
|
| PLACE OF DEATH |
|
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