Full Name: Hank Albert Azaria (Proud to be the only site to have it!)
Birthdate: April 25, 1964
Place: Forest Hills, New York
Height: 6'0"
Family: Grandmother, named Esther (Which he realized sounded much like "Agador") and a sister, Stephanie. Hank is the youngest of three kids. Other than that, unknown.
Marital Status:
Married
Helen Hunt on July 17th,
1999
Fun Fact: Hank was once
engaged to actress Julie Warner, who was in Mr. Saturday Night, which also
starred Helen Hunt, whom Hank is now engaged to.
Schooling: Attended Kew Forest School (small private highschool) Tufts University drama major (Info from the June 1998 issue of US). Also studied acting at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. Studied Psychology.
Other known jobs: Waiter; Bartender at a New York restaurant, ARCADIA. One night, he left the day's cash intake on the counter and the front door open and the gate up. In the June 1998 issue of US Magazine, he says: "The owner said I did everything but construct a sign that flashed ROBBERS WELCOME. I took it as a sign I shouldn't be in New York."
• He won a DramaLogue Award for his work
in the play, "Conspicuous Consumption."
• Won a SAG for best ensemble in a comedy,
for "The Birdcage."
• Won the 1998 Emmy for outstanding voiceover
performance in the role of convenience store operator Apu on “The
Simpsons.”
• Won an Annie Award in 1998 for his voice
work in "Anastasia," as "Bartok."
• Nominated for a SAG Award in 1997, for best actor in a supporting
role, for his work in "The Birdcage."
• Nominated for a SAG award in 1998, for
his guest appearence on "Mad About You."
• Received a 1998 Emmy nomination for his
guest appearences on "Mad About You."
Tidbits: Moved to L.A. in 1986, where he tried stand-up comedy, but decided it wasn't for him.
1989 - Landed his many roles on the then new TV show, "The Simpsons".
His recurring role on the NBC series "Mad About You" as Nat, the idiosyncratic dog walker started out as a one-episode commitment, but the response to Nat was so incredible that he became a permanent character.
At Tufts University he appeared in productions of such plays as "Uncle Vanya," "The Merchant of Venice," "The Ballad of the Sad Caf" and "The Dumb Waiter."
He co-wrote "An Evening on Thin Ice," which was presented at The Comedy Store.
As a kid, Hank would always watch the Godzilla movies on TV on Saturday morning, and took them all rather seriously. "I would actually worry about who was going to win", He admits.
Hank says he would gladly do another Godzilla, though he'd rather a change in weather. Godzilla took 5 months to film, and if you've seen the film, you would notice that it was all filmed while raining. Matthew Broderick and Hank have signed to do atleast 2 sequels, but there is no telling if they will actually be made.
When asked if he acted as a kid in a recent Leno interview, Hank said at camo, he would, but only because they made you. He said he played Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady" when he was 9. Kenickie from "Grease" when he was 11. Where he had to sing "Greased Lightning", his line was, "You know that ain't no ka-ka, we'll be gettin' lots of wa-wa, greased lightning." When he was a toddler, he was in a production of "Oklahoma", before he went on stage, he asked his english drama teacher (who would for some unknown reason call them by their full names) but he didn't let him go. His part was coming up, where he was going to sing "Kansas City", but he had to go, so he ran off the stage. Unfortunately, he didn't make it, yes, he had an accident. (mind you, he was very young!) So he changed into wardrobe, and made it back in time to sing Kansas City.
Started doing voices as a child, from watching television. His favorite shows were The Brady Bunch, and The Partridge family (which he had a lunchbox from as a child, lost it, but Jay Leno gave him one during this interview.). He was also a big Star Trek fan. When he was 6 years old, he was a Laugh-In freak. His very first impression was Arty Johnson, as the old man, and he would just go "MMMM." [sound]
When he was young, he was obsessed with William Shatner. In his stand-up act, he would do impressions of William Shatner going to the bathroom. [image]
About his voice work on "The Simpsons": Most of the voices Hank does are bad impressions of celebrities. Dr. Nick Riviera is a bad impression of "Ricky Ricardo". Moe the bartender, bad Al Pacino.
In the scene in "Godzilla" where Jean Reno's character does an impression of Elvis, it's actually a computer-blended combination of Jean Reno's impression AND Hank's. (Hank's was better!) [hear it]
Here's a glimpse at the action figure
of Hank's character "Animal" from "Godzilla."
