Jon Lovitz

Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Jonathan Michael Lovitz (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell; born July 21, 1957)<ref name=filmref /> 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)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name="serious">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=filmref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His family is Jewish and emigrated from Romania, Hungary, and Russia.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His paternal grandfather Feivel Ianculovici left Romania around 1914 and Anglicized his name to Phillip Lovitz after arriving in the United States.<ref name="serious"/>

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.<ref name="serious"/> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He became a member of the Groundlings comedy troupe, where he befriended his future SNL castmate Phil Hartman.<ref name="PopCultureClassics"/>

Career

1985–1992: Saturday Night Live

LovitzTemplate:'s first stint as a regular in a situation comedy was that of Mole, an investigator for a New York City district attorneyTemplate:'s 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.<ref name=Zuckerman>Template:Cite news</ref>

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!'"<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2006, he became the spokesman in an advertising campaign for the Subway restaurant chain.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

2009–present: Standup

In 2009, The Jon Lovitz Comedy Club location on Universal CityWalk in Universal Studios Hollywood opened.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in 2009.Template:Citation needed 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name=iuclosed2014>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> That same year he portrayed lawyer Alan Dershowitz on season 45 of Saturday Night Live with Adam Driver as the host playing Jeffrey Epstein.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2023 he portrayed U.S. Congressman George Santos on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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....'"<ref name="PopCultureClassics">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personal life

Lovitz resides in Beverly Hills, California. He is friends with Adam Sandler.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was also friends with Penny Marshall and Phil Hartman. He has described Hartman as "the big brother I always wanted".<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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."<ref name="cbsnews">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="cbsnews"/>

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'."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In June 2021, Lovitz criticized cancel culture and compared it to McCarthyism.<ref name="CC 1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="CC 2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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."<ref name="CC 1" />

Filmography

Film

Film performances

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Hamburger: The Motion Picture	Security guard
	Last Resort	Bartender
	Jumpin' Jack Flash	Doug
	Ratboy	Party guest
	Three Amigos	Morty
1987	The Brave Little Toaster	Radio	citation	CitationClass=web }} A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.</ref>
1988	Big	Scotty Brennen
	My Stepmother Is an Alien	Ron Mills
1990	Mr. Destiny	Clip Metzler
1991	Template:Sortname	T.R. Chula	Voice<ref name="btva" />
1992	Template:Sortname	Ernie Capadino
	Mom and Dad Save the World	Emperor Tod Spengo
	Template:Sortname	Template:Unknown
1993	Loaded Weapon 1	Becker
	Coneheads	Dr. Rudolph	Uncredited
1994	City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold	Glen Robbins
	North	Arthur Belt
	Trapped in Paradise	Dave Firpo
1996	For Goodness Sake II	Template:Unknown
	Template:Sortname	Sol
	Matilda	Mickey	Uncredited
	High School High	Richard Clark
1998	Template:Sortname	Jimmie Moore	Uncredited
	Happiness	Andy Kornbluth
1999	Lost & Found	Uncle Harry
2000	Small Time Crooks	Benny
	Little Nicky	Peeper
	Sand	Kirby
2001	3000 Miles to Graceland	Jay Peterson
	Cats & Dogs	Calico	Voice<ref name="btva" />
	Rat Race	Randall "Randy" Pear
	Good Advice	Barry Sherman
2002	Eight Crazy Nights	Tom Baltezor	Voice<ref name="btva" />
2003	Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star	Sidney Wernick
2004	Template:Sortname	Dave Markowitz
2005	Bailey's Billion$	Bailey	Voice<ref name="btva" />
	Pancho's Pizza	Template:Unknown	Short film
	Template:Sortname	Mr. Marks
2006	Template:Sortname	Mel
	Southland Tales	Bart Bookman
	Farce of the Penguins	"My eyes are up here" Penguin	Voice; Direct-to-DVD release
2007	I Could Never Be Your Woman	Rob	Direct-to-DVD release
2010	Casino Jack	Adam Kidan
2012	Jewtopia	Dennis Lipschitz
	Hotel Transylvania	Quasimodo	Voice<ref name="btva" />
	A Mouse Tale	Mouse King	Voice<ref name="btva" />
2013	Jungle Master	Mulla	Voice<ref name="btva" />
	Jay & Silent Bob's Super Groovy Cartoon Movie!	The Mad Scientist	Voice
	Bula Quo!	Wilson
	Grown Ups 2	Squats Fitness Janitor
	Almost Sharkproof	Max	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2014	Birds of Paradise	Skeeter	Voice<ref name="btva" />
	Coffee Shop	Frank Miller
2015	Hotel Transylvania 2	The Phantom of the Opera	Voice<ref name="btva" />
	The Ridiculous 6	Ezekiel Grant
	Bark Ranger	Ranger	Voice
2016	Mother's Day	Wally Burn
2017	Sandy Wexler	Testimonial
	Killing Hasselhoff	Barry
	Chasing the Blues	Lincoln Groome
2018	Bachelor Lions	Alfred Brownberry
	Paws P.I.	Jackson	Voice
2019	Benchwarmers 2: Breaking Balls	Mel Carmichael
	Hooked	Mr. Campbell
2020	Influence	Gregg Anderson
	Agent Toby Barks	Toby	Voice
	The Swing of Things	Jon Johnston
2021	Extinct	Conch	Voice<ref name="btva" />
	Tales of a Fifth Grade Robin Hood	John Prince
	Love on the Rock	Alex Wingrave
	Lacy's Christmas Do-Over	Santa's Elf	Voice
	Ace & the Christmas Miracle	Ace	Voice
2024	Lost & Found in Cleveland	TBA	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	Template:Sortname	Levitz	Episode: "Billy Pierce"
1985–1986	Foley Square	Mole	Regular cast member
1985–1992	Saturday Night Live	Various characters	Main cast (92 episodes)
1991	Tales from the Crypt	Barry Blye	Episode: "Top Billing"
	Married... with Children	Jeff Littlehead	Episode: "Kelly Does Hollywood: Part 2"
1991–present	Template:Sortname	Artie Ziff, Jay Sherman, Aristotle Amadopolis, Prof. Lombardo	Voice, 21 episodes
1992, 1994	The Larry Sanders Show	Himself	2 episodes
1993	A League of Their Own	Ernie Capadino	Episode: "Dottie's Back"
1994–1995	Template:Sortname	Jay Sherman	Voice, main role (23 episodes)
1995	Seinfeld	Gary Fogel	Episode: "The Scofflaw"
1995, 2003	Friends	Steve	2 episodes
1997	Template:Sortname	Acer Predburn	Episode: "The Scoop"
1997–1999	NewsRadio	Ulysses S. Grant Mike Johnson Max Lewis	2 episodes; Main cast member in fifth season
1997	Saturday Night Live	Host	Episode: "Jon Lovitz/Jane's Addiction"
2000	Bette	Himself	Episode: "Polterguest"
2000–2001	The Critic (webisodes)	Jay Sherman	Voice
2002	Son of the Beach	Father of B.J.'s Baby	Episode: "Bad News, Mr. Johnson"
2003	Just Shoot Me!	Roland Devereaux	Episode: "A Simple Kiss of Fate"
2004–2005	Las Vegas	Fred Puterbaugh	3 episodes
2006	Two and a Half Men	Archie Baldwin	Episode: "The Unfortunate Little Schnauzer"
2008	Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget	Himself	Television special
2010	WWE Raw	Himself	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2011	Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen	Himself	Television special
2011	Saturday Night Live	Himself (cameo)	Episode: "Dana Carvey/Linkin Park"
2011–2012	Hot in Cleveland	Homeless man/Artie	4 episodes
2012–2015	Mr. Box Office	Bobby Gold	Main cast member
2013–2014	New Girl	Rabbi Feiglin	2 episodes
2014	Sing Your Face Off	Himself	Contestant
2015	Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja	Queen Gabnidine	Voice, episode: "To Smell and Back"
	Hawaii Five-O	Barry Burns	2 episodes
2016–2018	Animals.	Himself / Old Ben	Voice, 3 episodes<ref name="btva" />
2016, 2018	The $100,000 Pyramid	Himself/Celebrity Guest	2 episodes
2017	The New Celebrity Apprentice	Himself/Contestant	11th place
	Justice League Action	Sid Sharp	Voice, episode: "Superman's Pal, Sid Sharp"<ref name="btva" />
2017–2020	Funny You Should Ask	Himself/Celebrity Comic	257 episodes
2018	Insatiable	Father Schwartz	Episode 1.09 "Bad Kitty"
	Mogulettes	Amnon	Television film
2019	The Goldbergs	Jimmie Moore	Episode: "The Wedding Singer"
	The Cool Kids	Kip Samgood	Episode: "Kip Samgood's Biggest Fan"
	Jackie and the Next-Neighbor Girls	Johnny Bodine	41 episodes
	Historical Roasts	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Episode: "Anne Frank"
	Anything but A..Man..Da!	Michael Stein	Episode: "Pilot"
2020	Saturday Night Live	Alan Dershowitz	Episode: "Adam Driver/Halsey"
	Bitmoji TV	Justin Bieber	Voice, episode: "Demon Bear"
	Holey Moley	Himself/Captain Long Jon Lovitz	3 episodes
	A.P. Bio	Robin Schwonk	Episode 3.02 "Disgraced"
2021	The Potwins	Henry	Episode: "Blue Collar"
	Paper Empire	Stan Katz	Episode: "The Anderson Files"
2023	The Tonight Show	George Santos	Episode: "Colin Jost/Kenya Barris"
	The Masked Singer	Himself	Episode: "Comedy Roast Night"
	Human Resources	Schmitty from Pity	Voice, episode: "Pity Party"
	Magnum P.I.	Pierre	Episode: "Consciousness of Guilt"
2024	SpongeBob SquarePants	Acceleration T. Greenlight	Episode: "Student Driver Survivor"

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Venue
2000	The Dinner Party	Albert Donay (replacement)	Music Box Theatre, Broadway

Podcasts

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Kevin Pollak's Chat Show	Himself/Guest	Episode: "178"
2020	GPS Distress	Manager, NavTerrain	Season 5, Episode 10
2024	Bill Burr's Monday Morning	Himself	February 1, 2024

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Project	Result	Ref.
1986	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety Program	Saturday Night Live	Template:Nom
1987				Template:Nom
1993	American Comedy Awards	Funniest Supporting Actor in a Movie	A League of Their Own	Template:Nom
1998	National Board of Review	Best Acting in an Ensemble	Happiness	Template:Won
2013	Behind the Voice Awards	Best Vocal Performance in a Film	Hotel Transylvania	Template:Nom

External links

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