Editing Jon Lovitz (section)

==Career==

===1985–1992: ''Saturday Night Live''===
Lovitz{{'}}s first stint as a regular in a situation comedy was that of Mole, an investigator for a New York City district attorney{{'}}s office, in the short-lived 1985–86 series ''[[Foley Square (TV 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>{{cite news|last1=Zuckerman|first1=Esther|title=SNL includes still-living Jon Lovitz in its 'In Memoriam' segment|url=http://www.ew.com/article/2015/02/15/snl-included-jon-lovitz-their-memoriam-segment|access-date=February 16, 2015|publisher=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=February 15, 2015|archive-date=February 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216132516/http://www.ew.com/article/2015/02/15/snl-included-jon-lovitz-their-memoriam-segment|url-status=live}}</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 [[List of The Critic characters#Jay Prescott Sherman|Jay Sherman]] (using his regular speaking voice). He has made several appearances on ''[[The Simpsons]]—''as [[Marge Simpson|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 [[M&M's#M&M's characters|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|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>{{cite news |title=Lovitz returns as the face of the Yellow Pages |first=Rebecca |last=Landwehr |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2000/02/14/newscolumn1.html |newspaper=Denver Business Journal |date=February 13, 2000 |access-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-date=January 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113043015/http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2000/02/14/newscolumn1.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Jon Lovitz's Yellow Pages |url=http://www.demko.com/cb981222.htm |website=Youth'n Up! |access-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-date=January 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113050414/http://www.demko.com/cb981222.htm |url-status=live }}</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 theatre|Broadway]] at the [[Music Box Theatre]] in [[Neil Simon]]'s play ''[[The Dinner Party (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 [[The Star-Spangled Banner|national anthem]] at [[Dodger Stadium]] and the [[US Open (tennis)|U.S. Open]].

Lovitz began his stand-up career in 2003 at the [[Laugh Factory]] in Los Angeles.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Renner|first=Michael|title=Jon Lovitz – Biography, Movies, Life Story|date=April 9, 2021 |url=https://successtitan.com/jon-lovitz/|url-status=live|access-date=April 13, 2021|archive-date=April 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413201825/https://successtitan.com/jon-lovitz/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Rotter|first=Joshua|date=July 6, 2015|title=Jon Lovitz Loves Stand-Up, Acting, and Singing — But Not in That Order|newspaper=SF Weekly|url=http://archives.sfweekly.com/exhibitionist/2015/07/06/jon-lovitz-loves-stand-up-acting-and-singing-but-not-in-that-order|url-status=live|access-date=October 16, 2016|archive-date=October 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018201828/http://archives.sfweekly.com/exhibitionist/2015/07/06/jon-lovitz-loves-stand-up-acting-and-singing-but-not-in-that-order}}</ref> In 2006, he became the spokesman in an advertising campaign for the [[Subway (restaurant)|Subway]] restaurant chain.<ref>{{cite news |title=Lovitz Makes His Subway Debut in MMB Effort |first=David |last=Gianatasio |url=http://www.tv.com/saturday-night-live/jon-lovitz-subway-spokesman/topic/455-233291/msgs.html |newspaper=[[Adweek]] |issn=0199-2864 |date=March 31, 2006 |access-date=February 12, 2011 |archive-date=June 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628221851/http://www.tv.com/saturday-night-live/jon-lovitz-subway-spokesman/topic/455-233291/msgs.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===2009–present: Standup ===
In 2009, The Jon Lovitz Comedy Club location on [[Universal CityWalk]] in [[Universal Studios Hollywood]] opened.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Siegemund-Broka|first=Austin|date=November 19, 2014|title=Hollywood Docket: Jon Lovitz's Dispute With Comedy Club Manager Ends|newspaper=The Hollywood Reporter|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/hollywood-docket-jon-lovitzs-dispute-750428|url-status=live|access-date=October 16, 2016|archive-date=October 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019025938/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/hollywood-docket-jon-lovitzs-dispute-750428}}</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>{{Cite web|last=Arredondo|first=Steven|title=History|url=http://www.mmaroast.com/about-us/history.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018215619/http://www.mmaroast.com/about-us/history.html|archive-date=October 18, 2016|access-date=October 16, 2016|website=MMA Roast}}</ref> in 2009.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}} 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 Smith|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 (American franchise)|This Is Your Life]]''-style biographical interview about Lovitz's life and career.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Kevin|date=April 15, 2011|title=SModcastle Pulls Up The Drawbridge|url=http://silentbobspeaks.com/?p=415|url-status=live|website=silentbobspeaks.com|access-date=June 11, 2011|archive-date=June 21, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110621064411/http://silentbobspeaks.com/?p=415}}</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>{{cite news|last1=Tillman|first1=Christopher|title=The Jon Lovitz Comedy Club Has Closed|url=http://insideuniversal.net/2014/11/the-jon-lovitz-comedy-club-has-closed/|access-date=November 6, 2014|work=Inside Universal|date=November 5, 2014|archive-date=November 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106224749/http://insideuniversal.net/2014/11/the-jon-lovitz-comedy-club-has-closed/|url-status=live}}</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>{{cite news|last=Neff|first=Jack|date=September 11, 2020|title=Jon Lovitz is Getting Paid to Hate Puppies and Pitch Senior Dog Toys|newspaper=[[Advertising Age]]|url=https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/jon-lovitz-getting-paid-hate-puppies-and-pitch-senior-dog-toys/2279951|url-status=live|access-date=December 8, 2020|archive-date=November 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124063025/https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/jon-lovitz-getting-paid-hate-puppies-and-pitch-senior-dog-toys/2279951}}</ref> That same year he portrayed lawyer [[Alan Dershowitz]] on [[Saturday Night Live (season 45)|season 45]] of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' with [[Adam Driver]] as the host playing [[Jeffrey Epstein]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.vox.com/culture/2020/1/26/21082268/snl-cold-open-trump-legal-team-alan-dershowitz|title= In SNL's cold open, Trump lawyer Alan Dershowitz meets his biggest fan in hell|website= Vox|date= January 26, 2020|accessdate= February 9, 2024}}</ref> In 2023 he portrayed U.S. Congressman [[George Santos]] on ''[[The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.vulture.com/2023/01/jon-lovitz-harvey-guillen-nelson-franklin-george-santos-late-night.html|title= The Many George Santoses of Late Night|website= Vulture|date= January 22, 2023|accessdate= February 9, 2024}}</ref>