American actor
Jonathan Katz
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Jonathan_Katz_1.jpg/220px-Jonathan_Katz_1.jpg) Katz in 2006
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Born
| Jonathan Paul Katz
(
1946-12-01
)
December 1, 1946
(age 77)
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Occupations
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Website
| www
.jonathankatz
.com
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Jonathan Paul Katz
(born December 1, 1946)
[1]
is an American actor and comedian best known for his starring role in the animated
sitcom
Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist
as Dr. Katz.
[2]
He also is known for voicing Erik Robbins in the
UPN
/
Adult Swim
series
Home Movies
. He produces a podcast titled
Hey, We're Back
[3]
and can be heard on
Explosion Bus
.
[4]
Life
[
edit
]
Katz was born to a
Jewish
family,
[5]
although he has said that he is not devout. His father, Sidney Roosevelt Katz, was a secretary-treasurer for the
AFL-CIO
, and his mother, Julia, died at a relatively young age. Katz has said that his father was not a particularly comedic man, but did tell a couple of jokes on occasion, which Katz has adapted into his comedy routine.
[6]
As a young man, Katz dated
Valerie Velardi
, who later became the first wife of
Robin Williams
.
[7]
Katz went on to marry his current wife, Susan (born 1955), with whom he has two daughters: Julia (born 1983) and Miranda (born 1992).
[6]
His paternal grandfather, Bernath Katz, immigrated from Budapest, Hungary.
[8]
He is a close friend of playwright
David Mamet
,
[9]
with whom he attended
Goddard College
.
[10]
Katz co-wrote
House of Games
with Mamet and had small roles in the Mamet-directed films
Things Change
,
Homicide
,
The Spanish Prisoner
and
State and Main
.
[10]
Originally a musician and songwriter, Katz fronted a
rhythm and blues
group called "Katz and Jammers"
[11]
before serving as the musical director for Robin Williams' 1979 standup tour.
[12]
In 1998, he released
Brandon Project
, a blues album.
[13]
Multiple sclerosis
[
edit
]
In 1996, Katz was diagnosed with
multiple sclerosis
.
[14]
The initial symptoms began in 1996: "I was working on a TV show called
Ink
with
Ted Danson
, and after every episode we would take a
curtain call
and I noticed that I needed a
head-start
."
[15]
Hiding his condition became too much of a burden for Katz and he eventually disclosed it. Now he speaks publicly as part of a tour sponsored by a manufacturer of medications used to treat MS.
[16]
"People have been pretty supportive; nobody ever had me in mind for an action film because of the kind of work I do -- mostly in the world of animation, which is not a big issue because as a person, I can't run that fast; as a cartoon character, I can fly -- literally."
[15]
Katz, who now gets around with the help of a motorized scooter and performs onstage with the aid of a cane, says he doesn't regret his decision: "One of the reasons I disclosed my condition is because it is much easier to live with MS than to pretend you don't have it. If I could convince everyone of that, my job here is done."
[15]
Career
[
edit
]
Dr. Katz
originally aired on
Comedy Central
from 1995 to 2002, and starred Katz as a professional
therapist
whose patients were chiefly other comedians and actors. He received a
Primetime Emmy Award
for his work on the show in 1995 for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance.
[17]
He has also created the show
Raising Dad
in 2001. His voice can also be heard in the
animated series
Home Movies
,
[11]
a show with many ties to
Dr. Katz
, as well as on the
Adult Swim
animated comedy series
Squidbillies
where he performed uncredited voice-overs as "The Rapist" in Season 2 and as the Holodeck Therapist in Season 5.
[18]
During that time, in 1999, he then signed an overall development deal with
Paramount Network Television
.
[19]
In 2007, Katz joked to
Blast Magazine
entertainment editor Bessie King about the success of his Comedy Central show and the recent release of the full series on DVD. "I’m so proud of that work and I’m a compulsive name dropper, [but] when I did a movie with Ice Cube over the summer I said...I hope my best work is not behind me but if it is, I’m glad it's
Dr. Katz
," he said.
[20]
In 2007, he released a stand-up album titled
Caffeinated
.
[21]
In 2009, he can be seen (or heard) as Freezy, the Burl Ives-inspired animated snowman star of
Turbocharge: The Unauthorized Story of the Cars
, a comedy biopic about
The Cars
, which Katz narrates throughout.
[11]
In 2011, he starred as Jon Gold on the web series
Explosion Bus
created by
Tom Snyder
and co-developed with Katz, Snyder and
Tom Leopold
.
[4]
In the spring of 2012, Katz taught a theater class at
Brandeis University
in Short Form Comedy.
[22]
On September 3, 2014, Katz appeared on
Ken Reid
's TV Guidance Counselor Podcast.
[23]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Official Website of Jonathan Katz"
.
www.jonathankatz.com
. Archived from
the original
on 7 October 2018
. Retrieved
13 March
2018
.
- ^
Brozan, Nadine (12 June 1997).
"CHRONICLE"
.
New York Times
. Retrieved
12 August
2010
.
- ^
"Hey We're Back! Podcast | Jonathan Katz's Podkatz"
.
jonathankatz.com
. Archived from
the original
on 3 October 2015
. Retrieved
23 October
2015
.
- ^
a
b
"Explosion Bus - About"
.
www.explosionbus.com
. Retrieved
23 October
2015
.
- ^
Epstein, Lawrence J.
The Haunted Smile: The Story of Jewish Comedians in America
ISBN
978-0786724925
- Publisher: PublicAffairs - Date: Aug 2008
- ^
a
b
"The Fatherly Questionnaire: Jonathan Katz"
.
Fatherly Magazine
. 13 July 2017
. Retrieved
6 May
2022
.
- ^
"Getting Personal with Jonathan Katz"
.
Vulture Magazine
. 20 October 2014
. Retrieved
6 May
2022
.
- ^
"The Park Avenue Synagogue Bulletin, Bound Volume, September, 1973 - June, 1974"
.
Internet Archive
. 1 June 1974
. Retrieved
6 May
2022
.
- ^
"The World According to David Mamet"
.
ABC News
. 8 June 2011
. Retrieved
23 October
2015
.
- ^
a
b
"Dr. Katz Receives His Degree"
.
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
. Archived from
the original
on 4 March 2016
. Retrieved
23 October
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Official Website of Jonathan Katz - Bio"
.
jonathankatz.com
. Archived from
the original
on 7 September 2015
. Retrieved
23 October
2015
.
- ^
"Jonathan Katz - President Street Productions"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 8 September 2015
. Retrieved
24 October
2015
.
- ^
"Brandon Project by Jonathan Katz"
.
MTV Artists
. Retrieved
23 October
2015
.
- ^
"Comedian Jonathan Katz on His Life with MS"
.
EverydayHealth.com
. Retrieved
23 October
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
"CNN.com - Comedian turns multiple sclerosis into a laughing matter - Oct. 10, 2003"
.
edition.cnn.com
. Retrieved
23 October
2015
.
- ^
"Anne Carlini - Exclusive Magazine"
.
www.annecarlini.com
. Retrieved
23 October
2015
.
- ^
"Dr. Katz Professional Therapist"
.
Television Academy
. Retrieved
23 October
2015
.
- ^
List of Squidbillies episodes#Season 2: 2006
- ^
Adalian, Josef (3 December 1999).
"Par bags Katz for TV series deal"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
21 October
2021
.
- ^
Interviewing Dr. Katz - Blast, the Online Magazine
, blastmagazine.com, December 2007.
- ^
"Official Website of Jonathan Katz - Yard Sale"
.
www.jonathankatz.com
. Archived from
the original
on 17 May 2016
. Retrieved
23 October
2015
.
- ^
Profile
, brandeis.edu; accessed September 27, 2015.
- ^
"TV Guidance Counselor with Ken Reid | Women in Comedy Festival"
.
www.womenincomedyfestival.com
. Archived from
the original
on 5 September 2015
. Retrieved
23 October
2015
.
External links
[
edit
]
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