Hank Azaria
Henry Albert "Hank" Azaria (/əˈzɛəriə/ ə-ZAIR-ee-ə; born April 25, 1964) is an American actor. He is known for voicing many characters in the long-running animated sitcom The Simpsons since 1989, including Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, Snake Jailbird, Professor Frink, and formerly Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Lou, Carl Carlson, among others. Azaria joined the show with little voice acting experience, but became a regular in its second season. For his work on the show, he has won four Primetime Emmy Awards.
Hank Azaria
- Actor
- producer
1986–present
1
Alongside his continued voice acting on The Simpsons, Azaria became more widely known through his live-action supporting appearances in films such as Quiz Show (1994), Heat, The Birdcage (1996) (for which he won a Screen Actors Guild Award) and Godzilla (1998). He has also appeared 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) and The Smurfs 2 (2013). Further voice roles include Anastasia (1997), for which he won an Annie Award.
His live-action television work includes recurring roles on the sitcoms Mad About You and Friends, as well as dramatic roles in the TV films Tuesdays With Morrie (1999) as writer Mitch Albom and Uprising (2001) as Jewish resistance leader Mordechai Anielewicz. For the former, Azaria received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. He starred in the title roles in the Showtime drama series Huff (2004–2006) and the IFC sitcom Brockmire (2017–2020). His recurring role on the drama Ray Donovan earned him a sixth Primetime Emmy Award in 2016.
Azaria made his Broadway debut as Lancelot in Spamalot, for which he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He returned to Broadway in 2007, playing David Sarnoff in The Farnsworth Invention.
Early life[edit]
Henry Albert Azaria was born in the Manhattan borough of New York City on April 25, 1964 to Ruth and Albert Azaria.[1][2] He began going by the name "Hank" as a child, after a pediatrician he visited said he felt it was a more suitable name for a child than "Henry".[1] His grandparents on both sides were Sephardic Thessalonian Jews (i.e. from the Greek city of Thessaloniki). His family spoke Ladino, also known as Judaeo-Spanish, which he described as "a strange, antiquated Spanish dialect written in Hebrew characters."[3][4] Azaria's father ran several dress-manufacturing businesses while his mother raised him and his two older sisters, Stephanie and Elise.[5][6][7] 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.[5] During his childhood, Azaria would often "memorize and mimic" the scripts of films, shows, and stand-up comedy routines he enjoyed.[8]
Azaria attended The Kew-Forest School in Queens' Forest Hills neighborhood.[9] He decided to become an actor after performing in a school play at the age of 16, becoming "obsessed with acting" at the expense of his academic studies.[8] Both of his parents loved all forms of show business, which further spurred him to become an actor.[5] He studied drama at Tufts University from 1981 to 1985,[9] where he met and befriended actor Oliver Platt and noted that Platt was a "better actor" than he was and inspired him.[10] Together they starred in various college stage productions, including The Merchant of Venice,[11] before Azaria went to train at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.[2][12] Although he did not expect the endeavor to be successful, he decided to become a professional actor so that he would not regret not having tried later in life.[8] His first acting job was an advertisement for Italian television when he was 17 years old.[5] He also worked as a busboy.[13] He originally intended to work predominantly as a theatrical actor, and he and Platt set up a company called Big Theatre, although Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter was the only show they ever performed.[12] Azaria decided that television was a better arena and offered more opportunity, and moved to Los Angeles after being offered work with talent agent Harry Gold.[8][12]
Career[edit]
Early career (1986–1988)[edit]
Azaria got along with talent agent Harry Gold, who was lukewarm about working with him but still sent him out for auditions after a woman Azaria had worked with in New York "got really furious with [Gold]" for breaking his promise to work with Azaria.[8] He made his television debut with a role in the pilot episode of the 1986 ABC comedy-drama series Joe Bash.[6][12] His part—a one-line role as the police officer Maldonado—was edited out before the show was broadcast, although the role secured him admission to the Screen Actors Guild.[8] Azaria appeared in the TV film Nitti: The Enforcer, about the gangster Frank Nitti, and appeared in the failed pilot Morning Maggie alongside Matthew Perry, with whom he became good friends.[8] He played Joe in an episode of the sitcom Family Ties in 1988 in which he had one line, and the following year he played Steve Stevenson in an episode of Growing Pains.[8] Azaria has described his career progression as being gradual; he did not achieve overnight recognition or fame.[5] In Los Angeles, Azaria was trained by acting coach Roy London.[14] Between acting jobs he performed as a stand-up comedian,[12] and worked as a bartender for a catering firm.[6]
The Simpsons (since 1989)[edit]
Azaria became famous for his voice work in the ongoing animated television series The Simpsons. 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."[12] 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.[12] At the time he was performing the role of a drug dealer in a play, utilizing a voice based on Al Pacino's performance in the film Dog Day Afternoon. He used the voice in his audition for The Simpsons and, at 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.[5][8][15][16]
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.[5] He felt that, initially, "[the producers] didn't seem too pleased with what I had done...[Simon] was very exacting...[and] was kind of impatiently directing me on the ABCs of comedy. But then, much to my surprise, he would still keep having me back every week. But each week, I thought it was going to be my last week because I really didn't think I had done that well."[8] Nevertheless, 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.[5] Since he joined later than the rest of the cast, Groening still considered Azaria the "new guy".[17] In addition to Moe, Wiggum and Apu, Azaria provides the voices of Comic Book Guy, Carl Carlson (until season 32, now voiced by Alex Désert), Cletus Spuckler, Professor Frink, Dr. Nick Riviera, Lou, Snake Jailbird, Kirk Van Houten, Bumblebee Man, the Sea Captain, Superintendent Chalmers, Disco Stu, Duffman, the Wiseguy and numerous one-time characters.[18] His co-star in The Simpsons, Nancy Cartwright, 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."[19]
As Moe's voice is based on Al Pacino's, likewise many of Azaria's other recurring characters are based on existing sources. 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.[5] Originally, it was thought that Apu being Indian was too offensive and stereotyped, but after Azaria's reading of the line "Hello, Mr. Homer", which the show's producers thought was hilarious, the character stayed.[12][20] Azaria, however, disputed this on LateNet with Ray Ellin, claiming that Apu was always intended to be stereotypical.[21] 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.[20] Officer Lou is based on Sylvester Stallone,[15] and Dr. Nick is "a bad Ricky Ricardo impression."[22] The "Wise Guy" voice is "basically Charles Bronson,"[15] while Carl is "a silly voice [Azaria] always did."[23] 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 and went by the name "F".[15] Professor Frink is based on Jerry Lewis' performance in the original The Nutty Professor, and the Sea Captain is based on English actor Robert Newton's portrayal of many pirates.[20] 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.[23]
Azaria's work on the show has won him four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance, in 1998, 2001, 2003 and 2015. He was also nominated for the award in 2009 and 2010, but lost to co-star Dan Castellaneta and guest star Anne Hathaway respectively. He was nominated again in 2012.[24] Azaria, with the rest of the principal cast, reprised all of his voice roles from The Simpsons for the 2007 film The Simpsons Movie.[25] Azaria notes that he spends "an embarrassingly small amount of time working on The Simpsons."[13] 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."[13] He concludes it is "the best job in the world, as far as I'm concerned."[13]
Up until 1998, Azaria was paid $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 the 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 script read-throughs, demanding they be paid $360,000 per episode.[26] The strike was resolved a month later,[27] with Azaria's pay increasing to something between $250,000[28] and $360,000 per episode.[29] 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.[29] The dispute was later resolved, and Azaria and the rest of the cast received their requested pay raise, approximately $400,000 per episode.[30] Three years later, with Fox threatening to cancel the series unless production costs were cut, Azaria and the other cast members accepted a 30 percent pay cut, down to just over $300,000 per episode.[31]
In an April 24, 2018 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Azaria discussed his reaction to The Problem with Apu, a 2017 documentary by Hari Kondabolu that examined Azaria and other white actors who had played South Asian roles as stereotypes.[32] During the interview, Azaria described how watching the documentary had changed his perspective on the issue: "The idea that anyone, young or old, past or present, was bullied or teased based on the character of Apu, it just really makes me sad."[32] Azaria also offered to stop voicing the character: "I'm perfectly willing and happy to step aside, or help transition it into something new."[32] In response, Kondabolu tweeted his appreciation for Azaria's statement: "Thank you, @HankAzaria. I appreciate what you said & how you said it." In early 2020, Azaria announced that he was stepping away from the Apu character, primarily because of the stereotypes and bias it perpetuated.[33] Later in the year he would retire from voicing Carl for similar reasons.[34] In April 2021, Azaria formally apologized for voicing the Apu character, on Dax Shepherd's podcast.[35]
Acting style and vocal range[edit]
Azaria's friends refer to him as "the freakish mimic" due to his ability to copy almost anyone'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.[5] Azaria has said, "I can remember every voice I hear, famous or otherwise ... they kind of remain in the memory banks, so I'm ready to trot them out."[8] Azaria was glad to have found the "ultimate outlet" for this skill, in The Simpsons.[5] He "didn't realize it [when he joined the show], but it became like a lab for a character actor. [He] had to do so many voices."[12] In the early 2000s, Azaria felt he had reached the maximum number 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."[82][83]
For many of Azaria's characters, 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."[48]
The Simpsons creator Matt Groening has stated that Azaria possesses the ability to turn unfunny lines into some of the best in an episode,[15] 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."[12] 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.[5] The Smurfs writer David N. Weiss says Azaria "has a beautiful treasure trove of talent," and "became what you wished you were writing."[111] 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.[12]
Personal life[edit]
In the early 1990s, Azaria was in a relationship with actress Julie Warner.[9][112] His relationship with actress Helen Hunt began in 1994; they married in a traditional Jewish ceremony at the couple's home in Southern California on July 17, 1999.[113] The two had appeared together in Mad About You and the Simpsons episode "Dumbbell Indemnity".[37] After a year of marriage, Azaria moved out of the couple's home,[114] and Hunt filed for divorce after a six-month separation, citing irreconcilable differences. The divorce was finalized on December 18, 2000.[115]
Azaria began dating former actress Katie Wright in 2007,[116] and the two married later that year.[117][118] They have a son named Hal (b. 2009).[119] The family has one dog, Truman, and two rescue cats, Mookie and Wilson. In 2013, the family began renting a home on 80th Street in Manhattan, with plans to make a final decision on where to live in two years.[118] They previously lived in a four-bedroom house in Pacific Palisades, which Azaria bought from his Simpsons co-star Dan Castellaneta in 2011. Several weeks earlier, Azaria had sold his home in Bel Air.[118][120][121] Azaria previously owned the fifth-floor co-op loft on Mercer Street in Manhattan's Soho neighborhood, which he bought from photographer Cindy Sherman in 2005, before selling it in 2013.[122]
Azaria suffered from alcoholism for several years. He credited his longtime friend Matthew Perry for encouraging him to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and has been sober since about 2006.[123]
Azaria is the godfather of Oliver Platt's son, George.[11] 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.[124][125][126] Azaria is a supporter of the Democratic Party.[127] He enjoys the music of Elvis Costello and has stated that he would have been a therapist if he were not an actor.[128] Azaria co-founded the educational support charity, "Determined to Succeed".[129]
On May 22, 2016, he was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL) from Tufts University.[130][131]