Gilbert Gottfried
(born February 28, 1955) is an American stand-up comedian and actor whose trademark is a distinctively loud, obnoxious, rasping, [1] grating voice. [2] He has played numerous roles in film and television, perhaps most notably voicing the parrot Iago in Disney's Aladdin
(1992), as well as co-starring in the Problem Child
movies.
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GILBERT GOTTFRIED TICKETS
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Education and career
Category:Wikipedia articles needing style editing {{#if:January 2009
At age fifteen, Gilbert Gottfried began doing amateur stand-up in
New York City and, after a few years, became known as "the comedian's comedian."
[3] In 1980 the popular
NBC late-night comedy show
Saturday Night Live
was being retooled with a new staff and new comedians; the producers noticed Gottfried and hired him as a cast member. During the 1980–1981 season, Gottfried's
persona in
SNL
sketches was very different from his later characterization; he spoke in a low, mellow voice. During his 12-episode stint, he was seldom used.
Although not a regular, he also appeared in the short-lived 1992 TV series
The Amazing Live Sea Monkeys
and voiced a crazed dentist "Dr. Bender" on the show
The Fairly OddParents
and the voice of Jerry the Belly Button Elf on
Ren and Stimpy
. He is notably known for his voice-overs as ducks or other birds -- when asked how he prepared for his role of Iago in
Aladdin
, he said "I did the whole
DeNiro thing. I moved to
South America! I lived in the trees!" In 1993 he was interviewed by Chris Aable at the "B Minus Movie Awards" along with
David Cassidy and
Gary Coleman. Gottfried's interview aired on Chris Aable's cable TV show "Hollywood Today" in 1994 and is now part of his video "America's Craziest Home Videos". He was a co-host of the Saturday edition of
USA Up All Night with
Rhonda Shear.
Since 2000, he has also been the voice of the
duck in the
AFLAC commercials and
Digit
in the math-mystery cartoon
Cyberchase
on
PBS Kids GO!
, as well as the magical imp
Mr. Mxyzptlk on
Superman: The Animated Series
.
He also played a nasty wisecracking criminal genius named "Nick-Nack" who used toys to commit crimes on two episodes of the TV series
Superboy
(he also co-wrote an issue of the tie-in
Superboy: The Comic Book
which featured the origin of his character, Nick-Nack). Gottfried made regular appearances on
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
.
He shocked the audience in a
Jeopardy!
parody portraying
Eminem repeating "biatch" many times.
He also appeared as a semi-regular in the most recent version of
The Hollywood Squares
. He is best remembered for a 1999 episode in which a single round of play took up the entire half-hour. The contestants had each won four stars/squares, leaving Gottfried as the last square available. Because either player could win upon capturing Gottfried's square, they could not win on their competitor's wrong response and had to win it themselves. The contestants alternated agreeing or disagreeing about whether Gottfried was bluffing an answer—and missed six consecutive tries. Five of those times he admonished the contestant with an increasingly incredulous "YOU FOOL!" The seventh time he and the contestant agreed, and that contestant finally won the square and the game. This segment has been featured on game show blooper programs.
Gottfried is also a notorious favorite of
Howard Stern, appearing on his radio show many times a year;
Gottfried has made more appearances than any other celebrity guest. Most famous for his impersonation of "Dracula Gottfried" he is also well known for his numerous, and often raunchy/racial, parodies of public figures including 1950s
B-movie stars and a particularly accurate impersonation of the aged
Groucho Marx. Gottfried also does an impersonation of
Jerry Seinfeld, which he has showcased on the Stern show as well as
Clerks: The Animated Series
. Coming on the Stern show immediately after
David Brenner years ago, Gottfried proceeded to parody Brenner's lengthy child custody problems and Brenner's former girl friend's drug addiction and her adequacy as custodial parent: "Sure she uses heroin, but she still takes vitamin C!" Gilbert was censored on the
Sirius satellite version of the Stern show after making an off-color joke about
Steve Irwin's daughter
Bindi Irwin.
[4]
He frequently parodies
rabbis and
cantors, making up
atonal gibberish prayers and compositions on the spot. Gilbert is known for his impression of
Andrew Dice Clay...or "Dice Gottfried".
Gottfried famously told the venerable
Aristocrats joke at a
Friars Club roast of
Hugh Hefner just three weeks after the
September 11 terrorist attacks. Gottfried's quick wit saved what could have been a notorious disaster. He began his monologue joking that he had intended to catch a plane, but couldn't get a direct flight because "they said they have to connect with the
Empire State Building first." Audience members nervously responded with gasps and cries of "Too soon!". Gottfried first thought this was relating to the speed of his joke. Gottfried then abandoned his prepared remarks and launched into the Aristocrats joke, effectively winning back the audience and having roaster
Rob Schneider literally falling out of his chair laughing. When the laughter and applause had subsided, Gottfried commented, "They might have to clean this up for TV," to more laughter and applause.
Penn Jillette and
Paul Provenza used Gottfried's monologue as a segment in their 2005 film,
The Aristocrats
.
Gottfried was part of an online advertising campaign for
Microsoft's Office XP software, showing, in a series of
Flash-animated cartoons, that the
Clippy office assistant would be removed. In 2006, Gottfried topped the
Boston Phoenix
's tongue-in-cheek list of the world's 100 Unsexiest Men.
[5] In April 2006, Gottfried performed with the
University of Pennsylvania's
Mask and Wig Club in their annual Intercollegiate Comedy Festival. Also in 2006, he made an appearance on the
Let's Make a Deal
portion of
Gameshow Marathon
(as a baby in a large
high chair, he says "Hey
Ricki, I think I need my diaper changed!"), and in the
Dodge Viper in the big deal (where he tells the contestants "What were you thinking?!" because neither one picked it). He also guest-starred in
The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy
as
Santa Claus in the one-hour Christmas Special. He voiced Rick Platypus in an episode of
My Gym Partner's a Monkey
entitled
"That Darn Platypus". Furthermore, Gottfried appeared as Peter's horse in an episode of
Family Guy
entitled
"Boys Do Cry". He also guest-starred in
Hannah Montana as Barny Bittmen. In January 2009, Gottfried worked again with
David Faustino (Bud Bundy from
Married with Children
) for an episode of Faustino's show
Star-ving.
[6]
Personal life
On
December 6,
2006, Gottfried announced on
The Howard Stern Show
that he was engaged and that his fiancée, longtime girlfriend Dara Kravitz, was pregnant. Gottfried and Kravitz were married under a
chuppah on
February 3,
2007. They have two children. Their daughter Lily Aster Gottfried was born on
June 12,
2007. Their son Max Aaron Gottfried was born on May 18, 2009.
Filmography
[7] [8]
- Saturday Night Live
: various sketches (1980–1981)
- Beverly Hills Cop II
: Sidney Bernstein (1987)
- Hot to Trot
: Dentist (1988)
- The Adventures of Ford Fairlane
: Johnny Crunch (1990)
- Look Who's Talking Too
: Joey (1990)
- Problem Child
: Mr. Peabody (1990)
- Problem Child 2
: Mr. Peabody (1991)
- Night Court (TV series)
: as Oscar Brown (1991)
- Aladdin
: Iago (1992)
- Highway to Hell
: Hitler (1992)
- Bonkers
: Two-Bits (1993–1995)
- Return of Jafar
: Iago (1994)
- Thumbelina
: Berkeley Beetle (1994)
- Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas
: Burt Banner (1994)
- Duckman
: (recurring role) Art DeSalvo (1994–1997)
- Married...with Children
: Ship Happens: Part 2 (1995)
- Problem Child 3: Junior in Love
: Mr. Peabody (1995)
- The Cosby Show
patient (1987)
- Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat
: Additional Characters (1995–1996)
- Aladdin (TV series)
: Iago (1994-1995)
- Aladdin and the King of Thieves
: Iago (1996)
- Are You Afraid of the Dark?
: Roy (1996)
- In the House
: Mr. Comstock (1996)
- Superman: The Animated Series
: Mr Mxyzptlk (1996–2000)
- ''Def Jam's How to Be a Player (1997)
- Bear in the Big Blue House
: Large Possum (1997)
- Dr. Dolittle
: Compulsive Dog (1998)
- Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist (TV series)
: As himself in episodes 503 and 506 (1999)
- Clerks: The Animated Series
: the voice of Jerry Seinfeld and Patrick Swayze (2000)
- Mad TV
: special appearance, one episode (1997)
- Timon & Pumbaa (TV series)
: Woodpecker
- Fairly Odd Parents
: Dr. Bender/Wendel (2001-2005)
- Disney's House of Mouse
: Iago
- Kingdom Hearts
: Iago (2002)
- Kingdom Hearts II
: Iago (2006)
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Season Two, Episode: Last Laugh
:Comic (2003)
- Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
: Duck (2004)
- Celebrity Deathmatch :As himself in episode
Gottfried in America''
- Cyberchase
: Digit and Widget (2002–present)
- The Aristocrats
(2005)
- Back by Midnight
(2002): Security Guard
- Becker
: A plastic surgeon
- Meet Wally Sparks
: Harry Karp
- Ren & Stimpy
: Jerry the BellyButton Elf
- The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
: various sketches
- Son of the Beach:
Noccus Johnstein in both "Chip's A Goy" and Hamm Stroker's Suck My Blood
:(2002)
- VH1's Celebrity Paranormal Project
and I Love Toys
- Billy and Mandy Save Christmas
: Santa Claus
- Farce of the Penguins
: "I'm Freezing My Nuts Off" penguin (2007)
- Family Guy
: Peter's horse while in Texas
- My Gym Partner's a Monkey
: Rick Platypus
- El Tigre:The Adventures of Manny Rivera
: El Cerdo
- Hannah Montana
Season 2 Episode "(We're So Sorry) Uncle Earl": Barney Bitman (2008)
- VH1's I Love the New Millennium
4 Episodes (2008)
- The Emperor's New School
2.season 11 Episodes (12.03.2007)
- The Comedy Central Roast
: Bob Saget
(2008)
- The Replacements
: Himself (2008)
- Gilbert Gottfried: Dirty Jokes
(1 hour Showtime Special) (2008) - live stand-up performance in Manhattan, NY. Gottfried promises 'the dirtiest joke ever told'
- The Lindabury Story
(2009)
- The View
- Horny the Dwarf (Joy's Month in ReView)
- The Weird Al Show
: Gilbert Gottfried
- Pyramid
: Himself (Celebrity Guest)
- Hollywood Squares
: Himself (Celebrity Guest)
- The Comedy Central Roast
: Joan Rivers
(2009)
References
- Internet Movie Database. ''Biography for Gilbert Gottfried''
- Rotten Tomatoes. Review of ''Gilbert Gottfried: Dirty Jokes (2005)''
- Gilbert Gottfried official website. ''Bio''
- Gilbert Gottfried official website. Blog. February 13, 2007. ''Bleeped on Stern''
- Archived web page of The Phoenix. REC ROOM, Feature stories. Bill Jensen and Ryan Stewart. April 4, 2006. ''The 100 unsexiest men in the world. Who would Scarlett least like to be with?''
- Let’s Talk Internet With Star-ving’s David Faustino and Corin Nemec
- Internet Movie Database. ''Gilbert Gottfried''
- Gilbert Gottfried official website. ''Credits''