Jon Lovitz

Jon Lovitz is an American actor, comedian, and performer born on July 21, 1957, in the Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles. His parents were Harold and Barbara Lovitz, and his family, which is Jewish, has roots in Romania, Hungary, and Russia. His paternal grandfather, Feivel Ianculovici, departed Romania around 1914 and adopted the name Phillip Lovitz upon settling in the United States. Lovitz graduated from the Harvard-Westlake School in 1975 and subsequently earned a bachelor's degree in drama from UC Irvine in 1979, where he studied under Robert Cohen. He later trained with Tony Barr at Tony Barr's Film Actors Workshop and became a member of the Groundlings comedy troupe, where he performed alongside Lisa Kudrow and formed a friendship with Phil Hartman, who would later become his castmate on Saturday Night Live. Lovitz's childhood best friend was David Kudrow, Lisa Kudrow's brother, and the two traveled together on a backpacking trip through Europe and Israel in 1978.

His television career began with a recurring role as Mole, an investigator for a New York City district attorney's office, on the short-lived 1985–86 series Foley Square. That same year, he joined the cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live, where he remained until 1990. His first two seasons on the program earned him Emmy Award nominations. Among his most recognized SNL characters was Tommy Flanagan, the Pathological Liar, whose catchphrase "Yeah! That's the ticket!" became widely associated with Lovitz. He also portrayed recurring characters including Annoying Man, Master Thespian, Mephistopheles, and impersonations of figures such as David Crosby, Harvey Fierstein, and Michael Dukakis. In 1989, he originated the character Hanukkah Harry, a Jewish counterpart to Santa Claus who lives on Mount Sinai and delivers gifts to Jewish children via a cart pulled by three donkeys. Lovitz has described his time on SNL as the most memorable period of his career. He appeared on the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special on February 15, 2015, where he was mistakenly listed among deceased cast members by Bill Murray and subsequently shown in a montage of departed SNL alumni, with the camera cutting to his visibly outraged reaction.

His film work spans several decades. He appeared in Three Amigos in 1986, Big in 1988, and voiced Radio in the Disney-distributed animated film The Brave Little Toaster in 1987, as well as T.R. Chula the tarantula in An American Tail: Fievel Goes West. He played a baseball scout in A League of Their Own in 1992 and appeared in Mom and Dad Save the World that same year. Additional film credits include Happiness (1998), Small Time Crooks (2000), Rat Race (2001), The Producers (2005), and Bula Quo! (2013). He provided voice work for Hotel Transylvania in 2012 and Hotel Transylvania 2 in 2015.

On television, Lovitz starred as the animated critic Jay Sherman in The Critic from 1994 to 1995, using his natural speaking voice for the role. He made multiple appearances on The Simpsons beginning in 1991, voicing characters including Marge's prom date Artie Ziff, an art teacher, theater director Llewellyn Sinclair, and reprising Jay Sherman in a crossover episode. From 1998 to 1999, he joined the cast of NewsRadio as a replacement for Phil Hartman following Hartman's death. He has also appeared in episodes of Seinfeld, Friends, and Two and a Half Men, the latter of which featured him performing the song "Save the Orphans." From 2012 to 2015, he starred in the sitcom Mr. Box Office. In 2020, he portrayed attorney Alan Dershowitz on season 45 of Saturday Night Live, and in 2023 he played U.S. Congressman George Santos on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Lovitz's Broadway appearance came in 2000, when he performed at the Music Box Theatre in Neil Simon's play The Dinner Party, taking over the lead role from Henry Winkler. His musical performances have extended to Carnegie Hall, where he sang on three occasions, including at Great Performances' Ira Gershwin at 100: A Celebration. He has also performed the national anthem at Dodger Stadium and the U.S. Open. In 2001, he recorded a duet with Robbie Williams on the song "Well, Did You Evah!" for Williams' album Swing When You're Winning, and performed the song live at the Royal Albert Hall on October 10, 2001.

Lovitz launched his stand-up career in 2003 at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles. In 2009, the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club opened at Universal CityWalk in Universal Studios Hollywood, later renamed the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club and Podcast Theatre on May 29, 2011. The venue hosted a premiere event called Podammit, featuring podcasts by Kevin Smith and others, as well as The ABCs of SNL with Lovitz. The club closed on November 5, 2014. Lovitz resides in Beverly Hills, California, and was a contestant on The New Celebrity Apprentice, where he raised $50,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital before being eliminated in eleventh place.