Hank Azaria
Hank Azaria (Role) : Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, Lou, and others
Birthday : April-25-1964
Birthplace : Queens, New York
Recent Role : Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum,
Comic Book Guy, Lou, and others on ‘The Simpsons’
Gender : Male
Hank Azaria was born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York. His parents were Sephardic Jewish. His father ran several dress manufacturing businesses. He has two siblings, both brothers, namely Stephanie and Elise. His parents liked all forms of show business and it incited him to become an actor. He graduated from ‘The Kew Forest School’ in Forest Hills. Hank next joined Tufts University and studied drama there. He later enrolled in the ‘American Academy of Dramatic Arts’. There, he met Oliver Platt and became friends with him. The both appeared together in various college stage productions, namely ‘The Merchant of Venice’. Soon, he and Oliver Platter set up their own company ‘Big Theatre’, recognizing Azaria’s original hopes to become an actor. Their first production was ‘The Dumb Waiter’.
At 17, Hank Azaria served for the commercial advertising Italian television for some time. At New York, Azaria worked as a bartender and he next moved to Los Angeles.
After moving to Los Angeles, he received acting-training from Roy London, a very popular acting teacher. Hank soon started working as a stand-up comedian, and it was more than enough to make him popular at the local comedy clubs.
He made his television debut with an appearance in an episode of the 1986 series ‘Joe Bash’. This role won him admission to the Screen Actors Guild, and also made him enable to appear in an episode of ‘Family Ties’.
Azaria first voiced Moe Szyslak on ‘The Simpsons’. His work for ‘The Simpsons’ made him a very popular voiceover actor. He was given a contract and was made a permanent member of the cast by the creators. The most notable characters Hank Azaria voiced over are Moe, Wiggum and Apu, ‘Comic Book Guy’, ‘Carl Carlson’, ‘Cletus Spuckler’, ‘Professor Frink’, ‘Dr. Nick Riviera’, ‘Lou’, ‘Snake’, ‘Kirk Van Houten’, ‘The Sea Captain’, ‘Superintendent Chalmers’, ‘Disco Stu’, ‘Duffman’, the “Wise Guy” and numerous other one-time characters. As per his self statement, Grimes is the hardest and most emotional performance he ever had to give in the history of ‘The Simpsons’.
Hank has the ability to copy almost anybody’s voice instantly after he has heard it, so that’s why his friends used to call him “the freakish mimic”. During his childhood, Hank was of thinking that it’s not special and everyone could do such a thing. He later realized that it was a rare talent and was not a trait of everyone’s personality. Throughout the run of The Simpsons, Azaria has had to sing in character several times.
Azaria’s excellent work on the ‘The Simpsons’ has won him several awards. He has received three Emmys for “Outstanding Voice-Over Performance”. Azaria reprised his roles on the 2007 movie ‘The Simpsons Movie’, along with the rest of the principal cast. Initially, Azaria received $30,000 per episode of series but considering the huge popularity and earnings of ‘The Simpsons’, cast members are given pay rises time to time. As of now, he’s earning $500,000 per episode approximately.
In 1990, Azaria made an appearance in the 1990 film ‘Pretty Woman’. He later joined show ‘Herman’s Head’ and portrayed the character of Jay Nichols. In the 1994 film ‘Quiz Show’, Hank was seen portraying television producer Albert Freedman. In the very same year, he portrayed David, one of Phoebe’s boyfriends on ‘Friends’. He joined ‘Mad about You’ in 1996 portraying Nat, the dog walker. His next voice-over work was on ‘Spider-Man: the Animated Series’ as Venom/Eddie Brock. On ‘Anastasia’, an animated feature, Hank gave his voice to Bartok, the bat and reprised the same role on the direct-to-video sequel ‘Bartok the Magnificent’.
During 1996, Hank appeared as gay Guatemalan housekeeper Agador Spartacus on ‘The Birdcage’. For his performance, he received nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award and was critically branded ‘the most hilarious performance in the film’.
He next appeared in several films, such as ‘Heat’ and ‘Grosse Pointe Blank’ etc. In the 1998 film ‘Godzilla’, he portrayed photographer Victor “Animal” Palotti. In same year, he was seen portraying Walter Plane on ‘Great Expectations’. Hank next co-starred in ‘Cradle Will Rock’. In 1999, he starred in ‘Mystery, Alaska’ and ‘Mystery Men’, both Disney productions. On ‘Fail Safe’, Hank portrayed Professor Groteschele.
Among his next appearances are the films ‘America’s Sweethearts’, ‘Along Came Polly’, and ‘Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story’. In David Schwimmer’s directorial debut ‘Run, Fat Boy, Run’, Hank portrayed the character of an American named Whit. In the 1999 television movie ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’, he was seen portraying Mitch Albom and this role earned him am Emmy. His next role was on ‘Uprising’, a television movie where he portrayed the character of Mordechaj Anielewicz.
For the television series ‘Huff’, Azaria starred as psychiatrist Craig “Huff” Huffstodt and also served as a producer. Oliver Platt portrayed Russell Tupper, Huff’s best friend on series. Huff’s role earned Azaria a nomination for “Best Actor in a Drama Series”.
2004 short film ‘Nobody’s Perfect’, which Hank wrote and directed, won the “Film Discovery Jury Award for Best Short” at the US Comedy Arts Festival. Hank is a very well known theatre actor as well and has appeared in several theatre productions. In 2003, Hank played Bernard in ‘Sexual Perversity in Chicago’
In 2004, Azaria portrayed several characters on, ‘Spamalot’, the musical version of ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ such as Sir Lancelot, the French Taunter, and various other characters. Hank Azaria received a Tony Award nomination, as a “Best Actor in a Musical”. In late 2007, Hank starred in Aaron Sorkin’s The Farnsworth Invention, playing RCA head David Sarnoff.
In the early 1990s, Azaria got engaged to actress Julie Warner. In 1994, he started dating Helen Hunt, an actress and married her on July 17, 1999 in a traditional Jewish ceremony. The couple divorced on December 18, 2000.
He himself has admitted that he’d be a therapist, if were not an actor. ‘The Godfather Trilogy’ inspired him to become an actor and he likes Peter Sellers and Walt Frazier. Hank is fond of the music of Elvis Costello and is a supporter of Democratic Party.
His video games projects include ‘The Simpsons Cartoon Studio’, ‘Virtual Springfield’, ‘The Simpsons Wrestling’, ‘The Simpsons Road Rage’, The Simpsons Skateboarding’, ‘The Simpsons Hit & Run’ and ‘The Simpsons Game’ etc.
