EMMY AWARD-WINNING ‘SIMPSONS’ VOICE
ACTOR HANK AZARIA HAILS FROM QUEENS
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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | APRIL 24-APRIL 30, 2020 15
In conjunction with
the Greater Astoria
Historical Society,
TimesLedger Newspapers
presents noteworthy
events in the borough’s
history.
Born Henry Albert
Azaria on April 25, 1964, in
Queens, Hank Azaria is an
American actor, voice actor,
comedian and producer
best known as the voice for
a variety of characters in
the long-running animated
sitcom “The Simpsons.”
Over a career spanning
more than 30 years, the
Queens native has also appeared
in nearly 40 movies
and just as many television
shows. The highly acclaimed
talent has earned
six Emmy Awards throughout
his career, among other
awards and nominations.
Azaria was born the
youngest of three siblings
into a Sephardic Jewish
family in Queens. As a
child, his family spoke Ladino
at home, a language
that the future actor described
as “a strange, antiquated
Spanish dialect,
written in Hebrew characters.”
As a child, Azaria recalls
memorizing and acting
scripts of films, shows
and stand-up comedy that
he liked.
While a student at The
Kew-Forest School in Forest
Hills, the future star
decided to become an actor,
claiming he was “obsessed
with acting.” While in college
at Tufts University,
he befriended future actor
Oliver Platt and starred in
various stage productions
while an undergraduate.
Azaria decided that television
offered more opportunity,
however, so he signed
with a talent agent and
moved to Los Angeles.
In the late 1980s, the
young man from Queens
found bit parts on the TV
shows “Family Ties” and
“Growing Pains,” and
worked as a stand-up comic
and bartender between
acting gigs. Azaria gained
fame with his comical voice
work with “The Simpsons,”
starting in 1989.
From a young age, the
voice actor had a unique
talent for his impeccable
recall and mimicking of
other people’s voices. He
utilized this gift creating
voices for the characters
on the animated sitcom, for
example basing the voice
of the bartender Moe on Al
Pacino’s voice in the film
“Dog Day Afternoon.”
In the 1990s, “Moe the
bartender” landed roles
in popular sitcoms “The
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,”
“Friends” and “Mad About
You.” He also appeared in
Hollywood movies including
“Pretty Woman,” his
first screen appearance,
“Heat” and “The Birdcage.”
He continued to lend
his comical voices to the
screen in “Along Came Polly,”
“Night at the Museum:
Battle of the Smithsonian”
and “The Smurfs,” and
voiced various characters
on the animated sitcom
“Family Guy.”
Although considered by
many a comic actor, Azaria
also earned a Primetime
Emmy Award for Outstanding
Supporting Actor in
the 1999 television film
“Tuesdays with Morrie.”
Presently he plays alcoholic
baseball playby
play announcer Jim
Brockmire in the TV series
“Brockmire.”
While not acting, Hank
Azaria is an avid poker
player. He has appeared
twice on “Celebrity Poker
Showdown,” and competed
in the 2010 World Series of
Poker.
Reflecting on his lifelong
love of entertaining
people, he states, “I was
a huge fan of comedy and
movies and TV growing up,
and I was able to memorize
and mimic a lot of things. I
just really, really amused
myself and my friends with
memorizing entire George
Carlin or Steve Martin albums
… not realizing that
kind of obsessive ability to
mimic things meant that
I probably had an affinity
for acting.”
For further info, call the
Greater Astoria Historical
Society at 718-278-0700 or
www.astorialic.org.
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