Jonathan Katz

Katz was born to a Jewish family,Epstein, Lawrence J. [https://books.google.com/books?id=iTarGWLM5CEC&q=katz&pg=PT174 The Haunted Smile: The Story of Jewish Comedians in America] {{ISBN|978-0786724925}} - Publisher: PublicAffairs - Date: Aug 2008 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.{{Cite web|title = The Fatherly Questionnaire: Jonathan Katz|url = https://www.fatherly.com/love-money/fatherly-questionnaire-jonathan-katz/|website = Fatherly Magazine|date = 2017-07-13|access-date = 2022-05-06}} As a young man, Katz dated Valerie Velardi, who later became the first wife of Robin Williams.{{Cite web|title = Getting Personal with Jonathan Katz|url = https://www.vulture.com/2014/10/getting-personal-with-jonathan-katz.html|website = Vulture Magazine|date = 2014-10-20|access-date = 2022-05-06}} Katz went on to marry his current wife, Susan (born 1955), with whom he has two daughters: Julia (born 1983) and Miranda (born 1992). His paternal grandfather, Bernath Katz, immigrated from Budapest, Hungary.{{Cite web|title = The Park Avenue Synagogue Bulletin, Bound Volume, September, 1973 - June, 1974|url = https://archive.org/stream/parkavenuesynago00uns_922/parkavenuesynago00uns_922_djvu.txt|website = Internet Archive|date = 1974-06-01|access-date = 2022-05-06}}

He is a close friend of playwright David Mamet,{{Cite web|title = The World According to David Mamet|url = https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/david-mamet-book-liberal-conservative/story?id=13783247|website = ABC News|date = 2011-06-08|access-date = 2015-10-23}} with whom he attended Goddard College.{{Cite web|title = Dr. Katz Receives His Degree|url = http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Chapters/MAM/About-this-Chapter/News/Jonathan-Katz-Honorary-Degree|website = National Multiple Sclerosis Society|access-date = 2015-10-23|archive-date = 4 March 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092342/http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Chapters/MAM/About-this-Chapter/News/Jonathan-Katz-Honorary-Degree|url-status = dead}} 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.

Originally a musician and songwriter, Katz fronted a rhythm and blues group called "Katz and Jammers"{{Cite web|title = Official Website of Jonathan Katz - Bio|url = http://jonathankatz.com/bio.html|website = jonathankatz.com|access-date = 2015-10-23|archive-date = 7 September 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150907064414/http://jonathankatz.com/bio.html|url-status = dead}} before serving as the musical director for Robin Williams' 1979 standup tour.{{Cite web|url = http://www.jonathankatz.com/press_kit/Jonathan_Katz_Bio.pdf|title = Jonathan Katz - President Street Productions|access-date = 2015-10-24|archive-date = 8 September 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150908114217/http://www.jonathankatz.com/press_kit/Jonathan_Katz_Bio.pdf|url-status = dead}} In 1998, he released Brandon Project, a blues album.{{Cite web|title = Brandon Project by Jonathan Katz|url = http://www.mtv.com/artists/jonathan-katz/discography/553299/|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160311203955/http://www.mtv.com/artists/jonathan-katz/discography/553299/|url-status = dead|archive-date = 11 March 2016|website = MTV Artists|access-date = 2015-10-23}}

In 1996, Katz was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.{{Cite web|title = Comedian Jonathan Katz on His Life with MS|url = http://www.everydayhealth.com/multiple-sclerosis/webcasts/comedian-jonathan-katz-on-his-life-with-ms.aspx|website = EverydayHealth.com|access-date = 2015-10-23}} 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."{{Cite web|title = CNN.com - Comedian turns multiple sclerosis into a laughing matter - Oct. 10, 2003|url = http://edition.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/10/09/hln.bio.katz/|website = CNN|access-date = 2015-10-23}}

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.{{Cite web|title = Anne Carlini - Exclusive Magazine|url = http://www.annecarlini.com/ex_interviews.php?id=629|website = www.annecarlini.com|access-date = 2015-10-23}}

"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."

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.{{Cite web|title = Dr. Katz Professional Therapist|url = http://www.emmys.com/shows/dr-katz-proffessional-therapist|website = Television Academy|access-date = 2015-10-23}} He has also created the show Raising Dad in 2001. His voice can also be heard in the animated series Home Movies, 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.List of Squidbillies episodes#Season 2: 2006 During that time, in 1999, he then signed an overall development deal with Paramount Network Television.{{Cite web|last=Adalian|first=Josef|date=1999-12-03|title=Par bags Katz for TV series deal|url=https://variety.com/1999/tv/news/par-bags-katz-for-tv-series-deal-1117758593/|access-date=2021-10-21|website=Variety|language=en-US}}

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.[http://blastmagazine.com/2007/12/interviewing-dr-katz/ Interviewing Dr. Katz - Blast, the Online Magazine], blastmagazine.com, December 2007. In 2007, he released a stand-up album titled Caffeinated.{{Cite web|title = Official Website of Jonathan Katz - Yard Sale|url = http://www.jonathankatz.com/yard_sale/|website = www.jonathankatz.com|access-date = 2015-10-23|archive-date = 17 May 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160517081009/http://www.jonathankatz.com/yard_sale/|url-status = dead}} 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.

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. In the spring of 2012, Katz taught a theater class at Brandeis University in Short Form Comedy.[http://www.brandeis.edu/facguide/person.html?emplid=d38cce0f26c3c5f043e45f2a610e9cd914e4cfea Profile], brandeis.edu; accessed September 27, 2015. {{dead link|date=May 2025}} On September 3, 2014, Katz appeared on Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor Podcast.{{Cite web|title = TV Guidance Counselor with Ken Reid {{!}} Women in Comedy Festival|url = http://www.womenincomedyfestival.com/shows/2015/tv-guidance-counselor|website = www.womenincomedyfestival.com|access-date = 2015-10-23|archive-date = 5 September 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150905113941/http://www.womenincomedyfestival.com/shows/2015/tv-guidance-counselor|url-status = dead}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Wikiquote}}

{{Commons category|Jonathan Katz}}

• [http://www.explosionbus.com Explosion Bus starring Jonathan Katz]
• [http://www.wkatz.com/ WKATZ, home of Hey We're Back]
• [http://www.jonathankatz.com/ Jonathan Katz's Official Website]
• {{IMDb name|441747}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110511215138/http://www.devonlougheed.com/theexplodingsandwich/?p=180 Katz on the comedy podcast "The Exploding Sandwich"]
• [http://www.maximumfun.org/blog/2006/04/podcast-jonathans.html Extensive audio interview with Katz] on the public radio program The Sound of Young America
• [http://www.avclub.com/article/jonathan-katz-meets-professional-therapist-our-11--211403 11 Questions with Jonathan Katz (A.V. Club)]
• [http://www.avclub.com/article/jonathan-katz-13993 Interview with The Onion's A.V. Club]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg_vv0tgWnc Dr. Katz's Therapy Sessions] (audio only, with Dr. Katz's post-session diagnoses)
• [https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/dr-katz/squigglevision-30-years-of-kvetching-from-the-couch-of-dr-katz-professional-therapist SQUIGGLEVISION! 30 Years of Kvetching from the Couch of Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist]

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Category:1946 births

Category:Living people

Category:American male comedians

Category:American male voice actors

Category:American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent

Category:Comedians from New York City

Category:Goddard College alumni

Category:Male actors from New York City

Category:People with multiple sclerosis

Category:Primetime Emmy Award winners

Category:Stand Up! Records artists

Category:20th-century American comedians

Category:21st-century American comedians

Category:Jewish American comedians