Jon Lovitz

Infobox actor
name = Jon Lovitz


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birthname = Jonathan M. Lovitz
birthdate = birth date and age|1957|7|21
birthplace = Los Angeles, California
deathdate =
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occupation = Actor, Comedian
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awards = NBR Award for Best Ensemble
1998 "Happiness"

Jonathan M. "Jon" Lovitz (born July 21, 1957) is an American actor and comedian perhaps best known as a cast member of "Saturday Night Live" and the voice of Jay Sherman in "The Critic".

Early life

Lovitz was born in Los Angeles, California. His father was a doctor in Encino, California. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/59/Jon-Lovitz.html Jon Lovitz Biography (1957-) ] ] His father's parents settled in Jacksonville, Florida.Fact|date=June 2008 His mother's mother was born in Hungary.Fact|date=June 2008 His mother's father was born in Chicago, but his family were Jewish immigrants from Russia.Fact|date=June 2008

He attended Harvard School and studied theater at the University of California at Irvine and graduated in 1979. He studied acting with Tony Barr at the Film Actors Workshop. He became a member of The Groundlings comedy troupe where he befriended Phil Hartman.

Career

"Saturday Night Live"

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 movie contract. He was nominated for an Emmy his first two years on "Saturday Night Live". One of his most notable "SNL" characters was "Tommy Flanagan, The Pathological Liar" who used the old catch phrase, "Yeah! That's the ticket!" Some of his other recurring characters included Master Thespian, Tonto, Mephistopheles, Hanukkah Harry, and Michael Dukakis. In a 1986 episode of "Saturday Night Live" he played a virgin Trekkie, who was scripted to hang his head when asked by William Shatner if he had ever kissed a girl.

Voiceover work

Lovitz has lent his voice to several cartoons and films. In the series "The Critic" he played the title character of Jay Sherman. On "The Simpsons" he played Marge's ex-prom date Artie Ziff, theater director Llewellyn Sinclair (and his sister, who runs a daycare center) on the season four episode "A Streetcar Named Marge", Jay Sherman from "The Critic" in the Season 6 crossover episode "A Star Is Burns", and paparazzo Enrico Irritazio in the season eighteen episode "Homerazzi". He played a brief role as Cheapo, the worlds cheapest bad guy, as well as Professor Lombardo and Aristotle Amadopolous, in the short lived series "Stripperella". He is also the voice of the radio, in the Disney movie, "The Brave Little Toaster".

Movie cameos and television guest appearances

In the late 1990s, Lovitz was "the man who wrote the Yellow Pages", in a series of commercials and print ads for the American Yellow Pages industry. He has also appeared for ads for Subway and in a cameo in the movie Matilda, asMillion Dollar Sticky Man.

He also had an uncredited cameo as a rival crooner to Adam Sandler in the movie "The Wedding Singer", and had a small role in another of Sandler's movies, "Little Nicky". He also was a supporting character in "Mr. Destiny" with James Belushi.

Lovitz has also appeared on "Friends" twice. He first appeared in the Season 1 episode "The One with the Stoned Guy" as a restaurateur who gets stoned on marijuana trip just prior to interviewing Monica Geller for a job. He reappeared years later in the Season 9 episode "The One with the Blind Dates", where it is revealed that he lost his restaurant due to a drug problem.

He also appeared on "Seinfeld" as Gary Fogel, a man who lies about having cancer ("The Scofflaw") and later dies in a car accident.

In 1991, Lovitz appeared in the season seven episode of "Married With Children" entitled "Kelly Does Hollywood part 2" as sleazy hollywood producer Mr. Littlehead. In 1998, Lovitz made a dramatic turn when he appeared in a small but pivotal role in Todd Solondz's film "Happiness" as a depressed man who attacks his date for thinking of him as nothing. His insults set the tone for her character throughout the film. Lovitz guest-starred twice on "Newsradio" as two separate characters before becoming a cast member in the show's final season (playing a third character).

In 2003, appeared on an episode of Just Shoot Me as a man married to a Nina. He appeared on Two and a Half Men in 2006 as a jingle writer named Archie and has also had multiple guest appearances on the TV show Las Vegas.

Broadway theatre

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.

On October 10, 2001, Lovitz sang a duet (with Robbie Williams) of the song "Well, Did You Evah!" [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af6TYmIXBcQ] at the Royal Albert Hall in the UK. The recording can be found on the "Swing When You're Winning" album.

tand-up comedy

In 2005, Lovitz entered stand-up comedy for the first time in his career. He also appeared in the film "The Producers" as the strict accounting firm chairman, Mr. Marx. In 2006, he became the spokesperson in an advertising campaign for the Subway restaurant chain. Fact|date=October 2007

The Jon Lovitz Comedy Club

On November 8, 2007 Jon Lovitz had the grand opening for his new comedy club "The Jon Lovitz Comedy Club at Aubergine" in the Downtown Gaslamp District in San Diego, CA, sponsored by RR-Ex. It currently presents one show a night at 9pm every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Already, the top comedians in the country have played and been booked for the club, such as David Spade, Ralphie May, Carlos Mencia, Dana Carvey, Jo Koy, Eric Schwartz, Craig Shoemaker, Russell Peters, Kevin Nealon, Dennis Miller, Ryan Robinson etc.

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0001484
* [http://www.myspace.com/JonLovitz Jon Lovitz] On MySpace.com