H. Jon Benjamin
| H. Jon Benjamin | |
|---|---|
 H. Jon Benjamin at the 2010 Comic Con in San Diego | |
| Birth name | Harry Jon Benjamin |
| Born |
May 23, 1966 Worcester, Massachusetts, United States |
| Medium | television & film (primarily voice), stand-up |
| Nationality | American |
| Years active | 1991–present |
Harry Jon Benjamin[1] (born May 23, 1966), known professionally as H. Jon Benjamin, is an American actor, voice actor, and comedian. He is best known for voicing various cartoon characters, such as Sterling Archer in the animated sitcom Archer; Bob Belcher in the animated sitcom Bob's Burgers; Ben, the son of Dr. Katz, in Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist; Coach McGuirk and Jason on Home Movies; and a can of vegetables in the film Wet Hot American Summer.
Early life
Benjamin was born on May 23, 1966 to a Jewish family[2] in Worcester, Massachusetts, and graduated from Worcester Academy in 1984.[3]
Career
Benjamin's comedy career began at age twenty-four in Boston where he was in a comedy duo with Sam Seder, then a member of Cross Comedy, a comedy team led by David Cross. For the first seven years of his career, Benjamin almost exclusively worked in groups rather than independently. Afterwards, his independent work remained more experimental, rejecting traditional styles of stand-up comedy.
Benjamin's live projects include the Midnight Pajama Jam, a show performed in New York City with Jon Glaser, and Tinkle, a show combining stand-up comedy and live music co-hosted by Todd Barry and David Cross. A Midnight Pajama Jam DVD is currently in production. He and Cross also appear together on the album Invite Them Up.
He was the guest on Space Ghost Coast to Coast in its eighty-first episode "King Dead" on December 17, 1999 where Zorak and Moltar kidnapped him. He has appeared in the television show Cheap Seats, on ESPN Classic, as "Gene Stapleton" and "Rabbi Marc Shalowitz". He co-starred in Todd Barry's short film Borrowing Saffron, and portrayed a talking can of vegetables with a shameful habit of autofellatio in the film Wet Hot American Summer. He also made short cameos in Not Another Teen Movie as the football trainer and on the FX Network comedy-drama Rescue Me as the pimp "F-bomb" in season two. He can also be seen in Turbocharge- the Unauthorized Story of the Cars, a comedy biopic about 80's rock band The Cars, playing the role of Cars' manager Elliot Roberts in his usual deadpan comedic delivery.[4]
Benjamin has done extensive voice work in animated TV shows. His credits include starring roles in several Soup2Nuts cartoon shows, such as Science Court, Home Movies, O'Grady, Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, and Assy McGee. He also co-created the show Freak Show with his friend David Cross. Benjamin also starred as the Devil and multiple other roles in Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil, which ran for one season on Adult Swim beginning September 9, 2007. Benjamin also plays a recurring character on the PBS Kids series WordGirl, and is the announcer for The Sam Seder Show and the recently revived The Majority Report. He also did the voice of "Shelly", Sam Seder's accountant, on Breakroom Live with Maron & Seder.
Benjamin has made guest appearances in several animated shows. He was in the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episodes "Bus of the Undead" and "The Last One" as Mothmonsterman, in "Broodwich" as Mr. Sticks, in "Bible Fruit" as Mortimer Mango, and played the live-action role of Master Shake in "Last Last One Forever and Ever", credited as Capt. Turd Mahoy. He also made a cameo appearance as a government agent in the film Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters alongside frequent collaborator Jon Glaser. He has appeared in Family Guy as Carl, a movie trivia obsessed convenience store clerk who also portrayed Yoda in the Star Wars parody episode "Something, Something, Something, Dark Side".
Other notable recent appearances include The Venture Bros., in the episodes "Escape to the House of Mummies Part II," "I Know Why the Caged Bird Kills," and "The Better Man," in which he played Dr. Orpheus's master—who appears in the form of Cerberus, Catherine the Great's horse and, in "The Better Man", both Dr. Orpheus's ex-wife and a future Dean Venture, respectively. He also appeared in the Stella short "Bar", which can be found as an easter egg on the Season 1 DVD. Benjamin appeared on the Comedy Central sketch/variety show Important Things with Demetri Martin and had nearly as much screen time as Martin himself.
In 2009 Benjamin, along with David Cross, created and wrote for Paid Programming, a live action television pilot for Cartoon Network's late night programing block, Adult Swim. Paid Programming was not picked up for a full series; this was confirmed when Benjamin referred to it as an "abject failure".[5]
Benjamin was featured in a Super Bowl XLIII Bud Light commercial with Conan O'Brien[6] and was responsible for the McCain Girls[7] videos on YouTube.[8] He voices Sterling Archer, a secret agent in the FX series Archer that first aired January 14, 2010.[9] He has also appeared in several segments of the television show Human Giant and had a cameo in the American Dad! episode "License to Till" as a talking head of cabbage.
Benjamin starred in the Comedy Central series Jon Benjamin Has a Van, which he co-created with comedian Leo Allen.[10] The series debuted on May 14, 2011; a total of 10 episodes aired, the last on August 10, 2011.
Beginning in 2013, Benjamin's voice can be heard as the narrator of a series of TV commercials for Coke Zero, including some with tie-ins to ESPN's College Game Day program.
In 2014 Benjamin was named as the year's best male comedy performer for his work on Bob's Burgers and Archer by the Vulture TV Awards, a digital expansion of New York magazine.[11]
In 2015, despite not knowing how to play any instrument, Benjamin released his first jazz album, "Well, I Should Have...".[12] Benjamin "played" piano and was joined by Scott Kreitzer on sax, David Finck on bass, and Jonathan Preitz on drums.[13]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Who's the Caboose? | Ken Fold | |
| 1998 | Next Stop Wonderland | Eric | |
| 2000 | Happy Accidents | Reveler #1 | |
| 2001 | Wet Hot American Summer | Can of Vegetables (voice) | |
| 2001 | Not Another Teen Movie | Trainer | |
| 2002 | Martin & Orloff | Keith | |
| 2002 | Borrowing Saffron | Ron | Short film |
| 2003 | Temptation | Kevin | |
| 2004 | New York Minute | Vendor | |
| 2007 | Puberty: The Movie | The Torah / Uncle Irving | |
| 2007 | Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters | CIA Agent #1 (voice) | |
| 2007 | The Ten | Lying Rhyno (voice) | |
| 2008 | The Toe Tactic | Police Officer | |
| 2008 | A Bad Situationist | Isaiah | |
| 2008 | Turbocharge: the Unauthorized Story of the Cars | Dance Instructor | |
| 2014 | 22 Jump Street | MCS Coach | Uncredited[14] |
| 2014 | Jason Nash Is Married | Dennis | |
| 2015 | Creative Control | Gary Gass | |
| 2015 | Limbo | Jim | Short film |
| 2015 | Hell & Back | The Tree (voice) | |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Understanding | Quark | Episode: "Uncertainty" |
| 1995–1999 2002 |
Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist | Ben / Various voices | 80 episodes; also writer |
| 1997 | The Chris Rock Show | Third man on the street | Episode: "1.4" |
| 1997 | The Jenny McCarthy Show | Various roles | 6 episodes |
| 1997–2000 | Science Court | Prof. Nick Parsons (voice) | 29 episodes |
| 1998 | Sex and the City | Jeff | Episode: "Bay of Married Pigs" |
| 1998 | Upright Citizens Brigade | Various roles | 10 episodes |
| 1999 | Dick and Paula Celebrity Special | Various voices | 2 episodes; also writer |
| 1999–2004 | Home Movies | Coach John McGuirk / Jason Penopolis / Various voices | 52 episodes; also writer, producer |
| 1999 | Space Ghost Coast to Coast | Himself | Episode: "King Dead" |
| 2001–2009 | Aqua Teen Hunger Force | Various voices | 5 episodes |
| 2002 | Saddle Rash | Gummy / Tommy Morgan (voices) | Television pilot; also writer |
| 2004 | Pilot Season | Ken Fold | 2 episodes |
| 2004–2006 | Cheap Seats: Without Ron Parker | Rabbi Marc Shalowitz / Gene Stapleton | 4 episodes |
| 2004–2006 | O'Grady | Kevin Harnisch / Iris / Philip (voices) | 19 episodes |
| 2005 | Rescue Me | Gary | Episode: "Rebirth" |
| 2005-2006 | Sunday Pants | Bob the Log | Featured on the Travel Logs shorts by Stuart Hill. |
| 2005–2007 | Lucy, The Daughter of the Devil | Satan / Special Father #1 (voices) | 11 episodes; also writer |
| 2006 | Freak Show | Tuck / Various voices | 7 episodes; also co-creator, writer, executive producer |
| 2006–2012 | The Venture Bros. | The Master (voice) | 4 episodes |
| 2006–present | Family Guy | Carl | 25 episodes |
| 2006–2008 | Assy McGee | The Mayor / Various voices | 19 episodes; also writer, consulting producer |
| 2007–present | WordGirl | Reginald / InvisiBill / Jewelry Store Clerk / Additional voices | 30 episodes |
| 2007–2008 | Human Giant | Various characters | 4 episodes; also consultant writer |
| 2009 | Michael and Michael Have Issues | Larry | Episode: "Frog Box" |
| 2009 | Paid Programming | Various Characters | Television pilot Co-creator, writer, executive producer |
| 2009 | Parks and Recreation | Scott Braddock | Episode: "Kaboom" |
| 2009 | Titan Maximum | Tap Banister (voice) | Episode: "Dirty Lansbury" |
| 2009–present | Archer | Sterling Archer (voice) | 85 episodes |
| 2009–2010 | Important Things with Demetri Martin | Various characters | 7 episodes; also writer, co-producer |
| 2011 | Jon Benjamin Has a Van | Host | 10 episodes; also co-creator, writer, executive producer |
| 2011 | Soul Quest Overdrive | Mortimer (voice) | 6 episodes; also co-creator, co-writer |
| 2011–present | Bob's Burgers | Bob Belcher / Jimmy Pesto Jr. / Ms. LaBonz (voices) | 107 episodes |
| 2011 | American Dad! | Talking Cabbage (voice) | Episode: "License to Till" |
| 2012 | Suburgatory | Tabitha | Episode: "Ryan's Song" |
| 2012 | Ugly Americans | Dick Maggotbone (voice) | Episode: "Mark Loves Dick" |
| 2013 | Nathan For You | Himself | Episode: "Yogurt Shop/Pizzeria" |
| 2014 | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | Ben | Episode: "State Legislatures and ALEC" |
| 2014 | Family Guy | Bob Belcher (voice) | Episode: "The Simpsons Guy" |
| 2015 | Conan | Sterling Archer (voice) | Episode: "677" |
| 2015 | Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp | Mitch/Can of Vegetables | 4 episodes |
| 2015 | The Jim Gaffigan Show | Kevin | Episode: "The Bible Story" |
| 2015 | The Adventures of Puss in Boots | Baltasar (voice) | Episode: "Luck" |
| 2015 | Master of None | Benjamin | 3 episodes |
| 2015 | All Hail King Julien | Fred | Episode: "The King Who Would Be King" |
| 2016 | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | Scientist | Season 3, Episode 11. Scientific Studies segment |
| 2016 | People of Earth | Officer Glimmer | 2 episodes |
References
Notes
- ↑ "Worcester, Mass. Public Records". Retrieved 2014-02-22.
- ↑ Rock 'n Roll Ghost. "H. Jon Benjamin Talks FX's Archer Season Finale". Rocknrollghost.com. Retrieved 2014-04-29.
- ↑ "Class Notes" The [Worcester Academy] Hilltopper (Spring 2011) p.28
- ↑ "Welcome to TURBOCHARGE The Movie". Turbochargethemovie.com. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
- ↑ Heisler, Steve (4 February 2011). "Random Roles H. Jon Benjamin". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
- ↑ "Super Bowl 43 ad: Budweiser Bud Light - Conan O'brien 'Vroom Vroom Party Starter'" (Video). YouTube.com. Retrieved 2009-02-15.
- ↑ "McCaingirls's Channel". YouTube.com. 2008-03-14. Retrieved 2009-02-15.
- ↑ "Just because". SamSederShow.com. Retrieved 2009-02-15.
- ↑ "Archer reviews at". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
- ↑ "Interview with Jon Benjamin". SanDiego.com. Retrieved 2011-06-09.
- ↑ Seitz, Matt. "Vulture TV Awards: The Year's Best Male Comedy Performer Is H. Jon Benjamin". Vulture. New York. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
- ↑ Bradley, Laura (23 November 2015). "Watch H. Jon Benjamin Record a Whole Jazz Album on the Piano Even Though He Can't Play the Piano". Slate. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
- ↑ "H. Jon Benjamin Discusses Why He Recorded Jazz Album in Recently Surfaced Interview". Classicalite. 2016-01-20. Retrieved 2016-01-22.
- ↑ McCarthy, Erin. "10 Things to Know About '22 Jump Street'". MentalFloss.com. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
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