Jon Lovitz

Jonathan Michael Lovitz ( ; born July 21, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990 for which he was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards.

Outside of ''SNL'', he starred as Jay Sherman in ''The Critic'' (1994–1995), has played various roles on ''The Simpsons'' (1991–), and has acted in numerous television shows such as ''Seinfeld'', ''Friends'', and ''NewsRadio''. From 2012 to 2015 he starred in the sitcom '' Mr. Box Office''.

He played a baseball scout in the film '' A League of Their Own'' (1992) and acted in other films such as '' Three Amigos'' (1986), ''Big'' (1988), ''Happiness'' (1998), '' Small Time Crooks'' (2000), '' Rat Race'' (2001), and '' The Producers'' (2005) and '' Bula Quo!'' (2013). He also voiced roles in '' The Brave Little Toaster'' (1987), '' Hotel Transylvania'' (2012) and ''Hotel Transylvania 2'' (2015). He played Alan Dershowitz on ''Saturday Night Live'' and George Santos on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon''.

Early life and education

Lovitz was born on July 21, 1957, in the Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles, to Harold and Barbara Lovitz. His family is Jewish and emigrated from Romania, Hungary, and Russia. His paternal grandfather Feivel Ianculovici left Romania around 1914 and Anglicized his name to Phillip Lovitz after arriving in the United States.

Lovitz is a friend of David Kudrow, brother of Lisa Kudrow, since childhood. While in college, Lovitz went on a backpacking trip across Europe and Israel with him in 1978. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in drama from UC Irvine in 1979, then studied acting with Tony Barr at the Film Actors Workshop. He became a member of the Groundlings comedy troupe, where he befriended his future ''SNL'' castmate Phil Hartman.

Career

1985–1992: ''Saturday Night Live''

Lovitzs first stint as a regular in a situation comedy was that of Mole, an investigator for a New York City district attorneys office, in the short-lived 1985–86 series '' Foley Square'', starring Margaret Colin. Lovitz was a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990. He later said in an interview for the book ''Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live'' that his time on ''SNL'' was the most memorable in his career. He went from having no money to being offered a $500,000 film contract. He was nominated for an Emmy Award his first two years on ''Saturday Night Live''. One of his most notable ''SNL'' characters was " Tommy Flanagan, The Pathological Liar" who used an old Humphrey Bogart line "Yeah! That's the ticket!" as a catchphrase to punctuate painfully elaborated implausible lies. His other recurring characters and impersonations included Annoying Man, Master Thespian, Tonto, Mephistopheles, David Crosby, Harvey Fierstein, and Michael Dukakis. In a 1986 ''SNL'' episode, he portrayed a virgin Trekkie, who was scripted to hang his head when asked by William Shatner if he had ever kissed a girl.

Hanukkah Harry, one of Lovitz's most memorable roles, cast him in 1989 as a Jewish contemporary of Santa Claus who lives on Mount Sinai and travels the globe with a cart flown by three donkeys to give bland gifts to Jewish boys and girls. He is asked to fill in when Santa falls ill on Christmas Eve.

On February 15, 2015, on the '' Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special'', he was named by Bill Murray as one of the many ''SNL'' cast members who had died over the years, with the camera cutting to show Lovitz's reaction. Later, his image was seen in a montage of deceased ''SNL'' members, with the camera once again cutting to his now "outraged" reaction.

1993–2008: Post-SNL, ''The Critic''

From 1998 to 1999, he was cast to replace Phil Hartman on ''NewsRadio'' upon the latter's death. Lovitz has lent his voice to several cartoons and films. In ''The Critic'', he played the title character Jay Sherman (using his regular speaking voice). He has made several appearances on ''The Simpsons—''as Marge's prom date Artie Ziff in " The Way We Was", the art teacher in " Brush with Greatness", theater director Llewellyn Sinclair and his sister who owned a daycare center in " A Streetcar Named Marge", and numerous other appearances, including the character of Jay Sherman in the episode " A Star Is Burns", a crossover with ''The Critic''. He was also the voice of Radio in the Hyperion-produced, Disney-distributed animated film '' The Brave Little Toaster'', and that of T.R. Chula the tarantula in Amblimation's '' An American Tail: Fievel Goes West''.

In the 1990s, Lovitz voiced the Red M&M in commercials for M&M's. Between 1999 and 2000 Lovitz appeared in a $33 million advertising campaign that featured a series of television commercials promoting the Yellow Pages. The comic premise was to present Lovitz as the Yellow Pages' author. One of them featured Lovitz saying, "The hardest thing to do is to come up with a simple idea that is also great. And I just thought, 'Oh, the alphabet!'"

Lovitz performed a duet with Robbie Williams on Williams' album '' Swing When You're Winning'' (2001), in the song " Well, Did You Evah!". On October 10, 2001, Lovitz sang the song at the Royal Albert Hall. He also performed on the TV series ''Two and a Half Men'' singing "Save the Orphans" and beating Charlie (Charlie Sheen) out of the award for best jingle writer. He has appeared on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre in Neil Simon's play '' The Dinner Party'', taking over the lead role from Henry Winkler. He sang at Carnegie Hall three times (including Great Performances' ''Ira Gershwin at 100: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall'') and sang the national anthem at Dodger Stadium and the U.S. Open.

Lovitz began his stand-up career in 2003 at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles. In 2006, he became the spokesman in an advertising campaign for the Subway restaurant chain.

2009–present: Standup

In 2009, The Jon Lovitz Comedy Club location on Universal CityWalk in Universal Studios Hollywood opened. A comic short film starring Ken Davitian and featuring Lovitz was filmed there, directed by Brent Roske and written by Aaron Davitian. The Jon Lovitz Comedy Club in Universal Studios Hollywood was home to the first MMA Roasted standup comedy show in 2009. On May 29, 2011, the name was changed to the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club & Podcast Theatre. A premiere event called ''Podammit'' was held, in which Kevin Smith hosted a variety of six podcasts, including ''Plus One 3D'' with his wife, Jennifer Schwalbach; '' Hollywood Babble-On'' with Ralph Garman; and '' Jay & Silent Bob Get Old'' with Jason Mewes; as well as ''The ABCs of SNL'' with Lovitz himself, a six-episode '' This Is Your Life''-style biographical interview about Lovitz's life and career. The Club periodically hosted other podcasts such as Rob Paulsen's ''Talkin' Toons'' (which subsequently left in October 2013). The Jon Lovitz Comedy Club & Podcast Theater closed on November 5, 2014.

In 2020, Lovitz starred in commercials for Playology, a brand of toys for aging dogs. They featured him with disparaging puppies, asking for senior dogs to get their due. That same year he portrayed lawyer Alan Dershowitz on season 45 of ''Saturday Night Live'' with Adam Driver as the host playing Jeffrey Epstein. In 2023 he portrayed U.S. Congressman George Santos on '' The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon''.

Comedic influences

In a 2011 interview, Lovitz described his comedic influences, "When I was 13, I saw Woody Allen's movie '' Take The Money and Run'', and I wanted to be a comedian. Then when I was 16, I saw the movie '' Lenny'', about Lenny Bruce, starring Dustin Hoffman. I thought the movie was so great, and I'd never heard of Lenny, so I went to the record store because I wanted to hear the real guy. Then I saw that Woody Allen had a record. I didn't know he had been a standup. So, I bought '' Woody Allen: The Nightclub Years, '64-'68''. I learned their routines and performed them at my college dorm. That was at U.C. Irvine. I was a drama major there. In imitating their routines, I learned a lot about writing. You learn how to write a joke. I was influenced by them a lot, the way I say something, the timing or whatever. Or Jack Benny, sometimes I'll go, 'Well....'"

Personal life

Lovitz resides in Beverly Hills, California. He is friends with Adam Sandler. He was also friends with Penny Marshall and Phil Hartman. He has described Hartman as "the big brother I always wanted".

Charity

Lovitz was a contestant on '' The New Celebrity Apprentice'' (also known as Celebrity Apprentice 8), playing for the charity St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. He was the sixth contestant fired, finishing in 11th place and raising $50,000 for his charity.

Feud with Andy Dick

Lovitz was involved in an intense feud with former ''NewsRadio'' costar Andy Dick concerning the death of their mutual friend Phil Hartman. According to Lovitz, Dick gave Hartman's wife Brynn cocaine at a Christmas party at Hartman's house in 1997. Brynn, a recovering addict, began using drugs again, culminating in her killing Hartman and herself on May 28, 1998. When Lovitz joined the cast of ''NewsRadio'' as Hartman's replacement, he and Dick got into a heated argument in which Lovitz reportedly shouted "I wouldn't be here if you hadn't given Brynn coke in the first place." Lovitz later apologized to Dick for the remark.

In early 2007, Dick approached Lovitz at a restaurant and said "I put the Phil Hartman hex on you—you're the next to die." On July 10, 2007, Lovitz got into a physical altercation with Dick at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles. Lovitz demanded an apology from Dick, who refused and accused Lovitz of blaming him for Hartman's death. Lovitz then smashed Dick's head into the bar.

Political beliefs

Politically, Lovitz is a supporter of the Democratic Party. However, he was an outspoken critic of former President Barack Obama. He called Obama a "fucking asshole" and criticized him for claiming the rich did not pay their share of taxes. Lovitz said: "He had nothing … and the guy ends up being at Harvard. He's the president of the United States. And now he's like, 'Fuck me and everyone who made it like me'."

In June 2021, Lovitz criticized cancel culture and compared it to McCarthyism. He opined that it makes comedians' jobs increasingly difficult, saying, "If you don't have the ability to laugh at yourself, don't go to a comedy club," and "If you're watching TV and you don't like the show, change the channel. It's very simple."

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Podcasts

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovitz, Jon
1957 births
Living people
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American male actors
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Romanian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American sketch comedians
American stand-up comedians
Comedians from Los Angeles
Jewish American male actors
Jewish American comedians
Jewish male comedians
Male actors from Beverly Hills, California
Male actors from Los Angeles
Participants in American reality television series
People from Tarzana, Los Angeles
University of California, Irvine alumni
Jews from California
American Zionists