Difference between revisions of "Hank Azaria"

Latest revision as of 15:43, November 5, 2024

This article is about the voice actor. For the character, see Hank Azaria (character).

Hank Azaria

Crew Information

Gender:	Male ♂
Job:	Voice actor
Birth date:	April 25, 1964 (1964-04-25) (age 60)
Status:	Active
Number of episodes:	765
Seasons active:	Season 1 - Present
First short:	Plusaversary
Most recent short:	Rogue Not Quite One
First episode:	"Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"
Most recent episode:	"Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes"
First album:	Songs in the Key of Springfield
Latest album:	The Simpsons: Testify

Hank Azaria (born April 25, 1964) is an American actor, comedian and producer. He voices Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Comic Book Guy and numerous other characters on The Simpsons. He was also interviewed in The Simpsons: Access All Areas, The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice!, and The Simpsons: America's First Family.

The Simpsons[edit]

He is most famous for his voice work on The Simpsons. He joined the show aged 25, having previously performed only one voice over as an animated dog in the Fox pilot Hollywood Dog. The first voice he performed was that of town bartender Moe Szyslak, redubbing Christopher Collins who had voiced the character in the original track. Having known him from the failed pilot, casting director Bonnie Pietila called Azaria 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".^[1]^[2]^[3] 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, until eventually during the second season he was doing numerous voices. At that point he was given a contract and made a permanent member of the cast and has remained ever since.^[1]

He also voices Carl Carlson (until the end of Season 31), Comic Book Guy, Lou, Dr. Nick, Snake, Professor Frink, Horatio McCallister, Raphael, Superintendent Chalmers, Cletus Spuckler, Kirk Van Houten and others.

Many of his character's voices were loosely based on other people:

As said, Moe is based on Al Pacino.
Apu is loosely based on Peter Sellers's character Hrundi V. Bakshi from the film The Party.^[1]
Wiggum was initially based on David Brinkley but Azaria later sped the voice up to sound like Edward G. Robinson.^[4]
Lou is based on Sylvester Stallone.^[2]
Dr. Nick is a bad impression of Ricky Ricardo.^[5]
Raphael is based on Charles Bronson.^[2]
Snake's is based on Azaria's old college roommate.^[2]
Comic Book Guy's voice is based on a student who lived in the room next door to Azaria at college, who went by the name "F".^[2]
Professor Frink is based on Jerry Lewis's performance in the original The Nutty Professor.^[4]
Sea Captain's is based on Robert Newton's portrayal of many pirates.^[4]
Azaria based his performance for Frank Grimes 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.^[6]

Awards[edit]

Award	Year	Episode	Result
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance	1998^[7]	N/A for Apu Nahasapeemapetilon	Won
2001^[8]	"Worst Episode Ever" for Comic Book Guy, Apu, Carl Carlson, Lou, Chief Wiggum and Moe Szyslak
2003^[9]	"Moe Baby Blues" for Moe Szyslak, Carl Carlson, Chief Wiggum, Apu, Johnny Tightlips, Bumblebee Man and Cletus
2009^[10]	"Eeny Teeny Maya, Moe" for Moe Szyslak	Nominated
2010^[11]	"Moe Letter Blues" for Moe Szyslak and Apu
2012^[12]	"Moe Goes from Rags to Riches" for Moe, Duffman, Mexican Duffman, Carl, Comic Book Guy, and Chief Wiggum
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance	2015^[13]	"The Princess Guide" for Moe and Kevin	Won
2019^[14]	"From Russia Without Love" for Moe Szyslak, Carl Carlson, Duffman, Kirk Van Houten	Nominated
2020^[15]	"Frinkcoin" for Professor Frink, Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Carl Carlson, Cletus Spuckler, Kirk Van Houten and Sea Captain
2024^[16]	"Cremains of the Day" for Moe Szyslak

Credits[edit]

Trivia[edit]

Hank Azaria's favorite The Simpsons episode is "Cape Feare".^[17]

References[edit]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Azaria, Hank interview with Terry Gross. Fresh Air. National Public Radio, WHYY-FM, Philadelphia, 2004-12-06}}
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 Azaria, Hank. The Simpsons The Complete Fifth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Homer's Barbershop Quartet" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
↑ Silverman, David. The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Some Enchanted Evening" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 Joe Rhodes. "Flash! 24 Simpsons Stars Reveal Themselves", TV Guide. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
↑ Azaria, Hank. The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Homer's Triple Bypass" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
↑ Azaria, Hank. The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Homer's Enemy" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
↑ Television Academy - "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance - 1998"
↑ Television Academy - "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance - 2001"
↑ Television Academy - "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance - 2003"
↑ Television Academy - "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance - 2009"
↑ Television Academy - "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance - 2010"
↑ Television Academy - "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance - 2012"
↑ Television Academy - "Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance - 2015"
↑ Television Academy - "Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance - 2019"
↑ Television Academy - "Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance - 2020"
↑ Television Academy - "Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance - 2024"
↑ Hank Azaria's Facebook post 9th January, 2013

External links[edit]

Hank Azaria at the Internet Movie Database
Hank Azaria at Wikipedia
Hank Azaria at the Infosphere
Hank Azaria at Twitter
Hank Azaria at Facebook
Hank Azaria at MobyGames

Cast

view • talk • edit • past Starring
Hank Azaria • Nancy Cartwright • Dan Castellaneta • Julie Kavner • Harry Shearer • Yeardley Smith

view • talk • edit • past Also starring
Susan Blu • Albert Brooks • Kimberly Brooks • Michael Carrington • Christopher Collins • Grey DeLisle • Alex Désert • Robin Atkin Downes • Chris Edgerly • Marcia Mitzman Gaven • Brian George • Dana Gould • Doris Grau • Terry Greene • Jo Ann Harris • Pamela Hayden • John Kassir • Denice Kumagai • Dawnn Lewis • Jonathan Lipow • Eric Lopez • Tress MacNeille • Karen Maruyama • Cesar Mazariegos • Melanie Minichino • Christine Nangle • Kevin Michael Richardson • Renee Ridgeley • Tony Rodríguez • Maggie Roswell • James Sie • David Silverman • Russi Taylor • Frank Welker • Karl Wiedergott • Lona Williams • Marc Wilmore • Jenny Yokobori

view • talk • edit • past Special Guest Voices
Albert Brooks • Glenn Close • Kelsey Grammer • Valerie Harper • Phil Hartman • Jan Hooks • Jane Kaczmarek • Maurice LaMarche • Jon Lovitz • Joe Mantegna • Jackie Mason • Kevin Michael Richardson • Marcia Wallace • Frank Welker

view • talk • edit • past One-time cast members
Larina Jean Adamson • Elisabeth Kiernan Averick • Sunkrish Bala • Jim Beanz • Greg Berg • Gregg Berger • Rosalie Chiang • Joe Clabby • Christian Coffinet • Daryl Coley • Henry Corden • Jim Cummings • Juan Carlos Enriquez • Miriam Flynn • June Foray • Jorge R. Gutierrez • Jess Harnell • Montse Hernandez • Mario Jose • Brian J. Kaufman • Phil LaMarr • Jim Lau • Rob LaZebnik • Sang Am Lee • Kipp Lennon • Ken Levine • Kelly Macleod • Dima Malanitchev • Aron Michael Manderosian • Robert J. Manderosian • Ping Marshall • Paul McGuinness • Larry McKay • Sam McMurray • Mike Mitchell • Joey Miyashima • Jason Nash • Carolyn Omine • Jack Ong • Bill Plympton • Susie Smith • Eli Steele • Matthew Sweet • Diana Tanaka • Meher Tatna • Ron Taylor • David Turley • Joey Vieira • Gedde Watanabe • Paul Willson • Tim Yoon • Keone Young

view • talk • edit • past The Simpsons: America's First Family interviewees
Hank Azaria • James L. Brooks • Nancy Cartwright • Dan Castellaneta • Alf Clausen • Mel Gibson • Matt Groening • Al Jean • Tom Jones • Julie Kavner • Steven Dean Moore • Mike Scully • Yeardley Smith • Joseph Wack

Interviewees in The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice!

view • talk • edit • past Host
Morgan Spurlock

view • talk • edit • past Cast and crew
Hank Azaria • Brad Bird • James L. Brooks • Nancy Cartwright • Dan Castellaneta • Dana Gould • Matt Groening • Al Jean • Julie Kavner • David Mirkin • Conan O'Brien • Mike Reiss • Mike Scully • Matt Selman • David Silverman • Sam Simon • Yeardley Smith • Matt Warburton

view • talk • edit • past Guest stars
Hugh Hefner • Mike Judge • Joe Mantegna • Dan Rather • Jerry Springer • Sting • Tracey Ullman • John Waters

view • talk • edit • past Opening music montage
Bellowhead • Chicha Libre • Jimmy Fallon • Flea • Eric Fraser • Sameer Gupta • Adam Lintz • Neel Murgai • The Bill Murray Experience • O.A.R. • People Under the Stairs (Double K • Thes One) • The Roots • Michael Sherman • Jonathan Stein • Andrew W.K. • ZZ Top (Billy Gibbons • Dusty Hill)

view • talk • edit • past Interviewees
Noel Bankhead* • Bruce Bryant • George H. W. Bush* • Liz Cameron • Scott Choate • David Cross • William Anthony Donohue* • Ariel Filosa • Bjarni Gautur* • Paula Gobbi • Paul Halpern • Marc Horne • Jensen • Jimmy Kimmel • Seth MacFarlane • Mark McGhee • Seth Meyers • Moby • Rusty Nails • Gavin Newsom • Trey Parker • J. Scott Peterson • Kenneth Pogson • Lucas Pouyau • Rashad Robinson • Chad Rowland • Matt Stone • Richard Sumrall • Ruth Westheimer* • Jeremy Wilcox* • Andrena Williams • Brian Williams • Glynne Williams

view • talk • edit • past The Simpsons Take the Bowl performers
Hank Azaria • Nancy Cartwright • Beverly D'Angelo • Matt Groening • Chris Ledesma • Kipp Lennon • Jon Lovitz • Conan O'Brien • Yeardley Smith • "Weird Al" Yankovic • Hans Zimmer

view • talk • edit • past Guest stars in "The Simpsons Guy"
Hank Azaria • Nancy Cartwright • Dan Castellaneta • Julie Kavner • Yeardley Smith • H. Jon Benjamin • Jeff Bergman • Julie Bowen • Alexandra Breckenridge • Johnny Brennan • Christine Lakin • Rachael MacFarlane • Patrick Meighan • Kevin Michael Richardson • Alec Sulkin • John Viener • Patrick Warburton • Adam West • James Woods

[freshair-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Azaria, Hank interview with Terry Gross. Fresh Air. National Public Radio, WHYY-FM, Philadelphia, 2004-12-06}}

[barber-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 Azaria, Hank. The Simpsons The Complete Fifth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Homer's Barbershop Quartet" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

[3] Silverman, David. The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Some Enchanted Evening" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

[tvguide-4] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 Joe Rhodes. "Flash! 24 Simpsons Stars Reveal Themselves", TV Guide. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.

[5] Azaria, Hank. The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Homer's Triple Bypass" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

[enemy-6] Azaria, Hank. The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Homer's Enemy" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

[7] Television Academy - "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance - 1998"

[8] Television Academy - "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance - 2001"

[9] Television Academy - "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance - 2003"

[10] Television Academy - "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance - 2009"

[11] Television Academy - "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance - 2010"

[12] Television Academy - "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance - 2012"

[13] Television Academy - "Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance - 2015"

[14] Television Academy - "Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance - 2019"

[15] Television Academy - "Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance - 2020"

[16] Television Academy - "Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance - 2024"

[17] Hank Azaria's Facebook post 9th January, 2013

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Difference between revisions of "Hank Azaria"

Latest revision as of 15:43, November 5, 2024

Contents

The Simpsons[edit]

Awards[edit]

Credits[edit]

Also Starring[edit]

Starring[edit]

Voice[edit]

A big special thank you[edit]

Interviewee[edit]

Trivia[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]