Jon Lovitz

From 2012 to 2015, he starred in the sitcom Mr. Beginning in 2017, he was a regular comedian on the game show Funny You Should Ask. Lovitz played a baseball scout in the film A League of Their Own (1992) and acted in other films such as Three Amigos (1986), Big (1988), Mom and Dad Save the World (1992), Coneheads (1993), Happiness (1998), Small Time Crooks (2000), Rat Race (2001), The Producers (2005) and Bula Quo! He also voiced roles in The Brave Little Toaster (1987), Hotel Transylvania (2012) and Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015). He played Alan Dershowitz on Saturday Night Live and George Santos on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Jon Lovitz studied at University of California, Irvine, Harvard-Westlake School and Claire Trevor School of the Arts. The recorded working language is English. Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce and Jack Benny are recorded as an influence. Residence is recorded at Beverly Hills.

• Name — Jon Lovitz • Birth Name — Jonathan Michael Lovitz • Born — 21 July 1957 • Birthplace — Los Angeles, California, U.S. • Education — University of California, Irvine (BA) • Occupation — * Comedian • actor • Years Active — 1984–present

Lovitz was born on July 21, 1957, in the Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles, to Harold and Barbara Lovitz. His family is Jewish and emigrated from Romania, Hungary and Russia. His paternal grandfather Feivel Ianculovici left Romania around 1914 and anglicized his name to Phillip Lovitz after arriving in the United States. Lovitz graduated from the Harvard-Westlake School in 1975. He then studied drama at UC Irvine under Robert Cohen, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1979. Afterward, he studied acting with Tony Barr at Tony Barr's Film Actors Workshop. He became a member of The Groundlings comedy troupe, where he performed alongside Lisa Kudrow, and where he befriended his future SNL castmate Phil Hartman. Lovitz's childhood best friend was Lisa's brother David Kudrow. While in college, Lovitz went on a backpacking trip across Europe and Israel with him in 1978.

Lovitzs first stint as a regular in a situation comedy was that of Mole, an investigator for a New York City district attorneys office, in the short-lived 1985–86 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 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 Steve Martin 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.

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 Jay Sherman (using his regular speaking voice). He has made several appearances on The Simpsons—as 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 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. 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!'" 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 at the Music Box Theatre in Neil Simon's 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 national anthem at Dodger Stadium and the U.S. Open. Lovitz began his stand-up career in 2003 at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles. In 2006, he became the spokesman in an advertising campaign for the Subway restaurant chain.

In 2009, The Jon Lovitz Comedy Club location on Universal CityWalk in Universal Studios Hollywood opened. 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 in 2009. 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; 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-style biographical interview about Lovitz's life and career. 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. 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. That same year he portrayed lawyer Alan Dershowitz on season 45 of Saturday Night Live with Adam Driver as the host playing Jeffrey Epstein. Also that year, he was hired by Ninjio to voice characters in their animated employee training videos on cybersecurity. In 2023, he portrayed U.S. Congressman George Santos on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Lovitz resides in Beverly Hills, California. He is friends with Adam Sandler. He was also friends with Penny Marshall and Phil Hartman. He has described Hartman as "the big brother I always wanted".

Lovitz was a contestant on The New Celebrity Apprentice (also known as Celebrity Apprentice 8), playing for the charity St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. He was the sixth contestant fired, finishing in 11th place and raising $50,000 for his charity. He also appeared on an episode of Celebrity Weakest Link to compete for charity on November 17, 2025.

Lovitz was involved in an intense feud with former NewsRadio costar Andy Dick concerning the death of their mutual friend Phil Hartman. According to Lovitz, Dick gave Hartman's wife Brynn cocaine at a Christmas party at Hartman's house in 1997. Brynn, a recovering addict, began using drugs again, culminating in her killing Hartman and herself on May 28, 1998. When Lovitz joined the cast of NewsRadio as Hartman's replacement, he and Dick got into a heated argument in which Lovitz reportedly shouted "I wouldn't be here if you hadn't given Brynn coke in the first place." Lovitz later apologized to Dick for the remark. In early 2007, Dick approached Lovitz at a restaurant and said "I put the Phil Hartman hex on you—you're the next to die." On July 10, 2007, Lovitz got into a physical altercation with Dick at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles. Lovitz demanded an apology from Dick, who refused and accused Lovitz of blaming him for Hartman's death. Lovitz then smashed Dick's head into the bar.

Politically, Lovitz was a supporter of the Democratic Party. However, he was an outspoken critic of former president Barack Obama. He called Obama a "fucking asshole" and criticized him for claiming the rich did not pay their share of taxes. Lovitz said: "He had nothing … and the guy ends up being at Harvard. He's the president of the United States. And now he's like, 'Fuck me and everyone who made it like me'." In June 2021, Lovitz criticized cancel culture and compared it to McCarthyism. He opined that it makes comedians' jobs increasingly difficult, saying, "If you don't have the ability to laugh at yourself, don't go to a comedy club," and "If you're watching TV and you don't like the show, change the channel. It's very simple." In 2024, he was a supporter of president Donald Trump and praised his efforts to support Israel after the October 7 attacks. He has regularly criticized antisemitism, including exposing children who bullied his friend's daughter, and anti-Zionism, such as pro-Palestinian protestors at Columbia University.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1984 — The — Levitz — Episode: "Billy Pierce" • 1985–1986 — Foley Square — Mole — Regular cast member • 1985–1992 — Saturday Night Live — Various characters — Main cast (92 episodes) • 1991 — Tales from the Crypt — Barry Blye — Episode: "Top Billing" • Married... with Children — Jeff Littlehead — Episode: "Kelly Does Hollywood: Part 2" • 1991–present — The — Artie Ziff, Jay Sherman, Aristotle Amadopolis, Prof. Lombardo, Various characters — Voice (22 episodes) • 1992, 1994 — The Larry Sanders Show — Himself — (2 episodes) • 1993 — A League of Their Own — Ernie Capadino — Episode: "Dottie's Back" • 1994–1995 — The — Jay Sherman — Voice, Main role (23 episodes) • 1995 — Seinfeld — Gary Fogel — Episode: "The Scofflaw" • 1995, 2003 — Friends — Steve — (2 episodes) • 1997 — The — Acer Predburn — Episode: "The Scoop" • 1997–1999 — NewsRadio — Ulysses S. Grant, Mike Johnson, Max Lewis — Main cast member in fifth season (2 episodes) • 1997 — Saturday Night Live — Host — Episode: "Jon Lovitz/Jane's Addiction" • 2000 — Bette — Himself — Episode: "Polterguest" • 2000–2001 — The Critic (webisodes) — Jay Sherman — Voice • 2002 — Son of the Beach — Father of B.J.'s Baby — Episode: "Bad News, Mr. Johnson" • 2003 — Just Shoot Me! — Roland Devereaux — Episode: "A Simple Kiss of Fate" • 2004–2005 — Las Vegas — Fred Puterbaugh — (3 episodes) • 2006 — Two and a Half Men — Archie Baldwin — Episode: "The Unfortunate Little Schnauzer" • 2008 — Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget — Himself — Television special • 2010 — WWE Raw — Himself — Guest host • 2011 — Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen — Himself — Television special • 2011 — Saturday Night Live — Himself (Cameo) — Episode: "Dana Carvey/Linkin Park" • 2011–2012 — Hot in Cleveland — Homeless Man & Artie — (4 episodes) • 2012–2015 — Mr. Box Office — Bobby Gold — Main cast member • 2013–2014 — New Girl — Rabbi Feiglin — (2 episodes) • 2014 — Sing Your Face Off — Himself — Contestant • 2015 — Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja — Queen Gabnidine — Voice, Episode: "To Smell and Back" • Hawaii Five-O — Barry Burns — (2 episodes) • 2016–2018 — Animals. — Himself & Old Ben — Voice (3 episodes) • 2016, 2018 — The $100,000 Pyramid — Himself (Celebrity Guest) — (2 episodes) • 2017 — The New Celebrity Apprentice — Himself (Contestant) — 11th place • Justice League Action — Sid Sharp — Voice, Episode: "Superman's Pal, Sid Sharp" • 2017–2024 — Funny You Should Ask — Himself (Celebrity Comic) — (467 episodes) • 2018 — Insatiable — Father Schwartz — Episode 1.09 "Bad Kitty" • Mogulettes — Amnon — Television film • 2019 — The Goldbergs — Jimmie Moore — Episode: "The Wedding Singer" • The Cool Kids — Kip Samgood — Episode: "Kip Samgood's Biggest Fan" • Jackie and the Next-Neighbor Girls — Johnny Bodine — (41 episodes) • Historical Roasts — Franklin D. Roosevelt — Episode: "Anne Frank" • Anything but A..Man..Da! — Michael Stein — Episode: "Pilot" • 2020 — Saturday Night Live — Alan Dershowitz — Episode: "Adam Driver/Halsey" • Bitmoji TV — Justin Bieber — Voice, Episode: "Demon Bear" • Holey Moley — Himself (Captain Long Jon Lovitz) — (3 episodes) • A.P. Bio — Robin Schwonk — Episode 3.02 "Disgraced" • 2021 — The Potwins — Henry — Episode: "Blue Collar" • Paper Empire — Stan Katz — Episode: "The Anderson Files" • 2023 — The Tonight Show — George Santos — Episode: "Colin Jost/Kenya Barris" • The Masked Singer — Himself — Episode: "Comedy Roast Night" • Human Resources — Schmitty from Pity — Voice, Episode: "Pity Party" • Magnum P.I. — Pierre — Episode: "Consciousness of Guilt" • 2024 — SpongeBob SquarePants — Acceleration T. Greenlight — Episode: "Student Driver Survivor" • 2025 — Tires — Irate Customer — Episode: "Bonus Money" • 2026 — The Paper — Todd Dumph — Season 2 (4 episodes)

• Year — Title — Role — Venue • 2000 — The Dinner Party — Albert Donay (replacement) — Music Box Theatre, Broadway

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 2013 — Kevin Pollak's Chat Show — Himself/Guest — Episode: "178" • 2020 — GPS Distress — Manager, NavTerrain — Season 5, Episode 10 • 2024 — Bill Burr's Monday Morning — Himself — February 1, 2024