David Herman (born February 20, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. He was an original cast member on '' MADtv'' from 1995 to 1997, and played Michael Bolton in ''

Office Space ''Office Space'' is a 1999 American black comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge. It satirizes the worklife of a typical 1990s software company, focusing on a handful of individuals weary of their jobs. It stars Ron Livingston, Jennifer ...

''. He has done

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-Diegetic#Film sound and music, diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, th ...

work in hundreds of episodes of ''

Bob's Burgers ''Bob's Burgers'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard that premiered on Fox on January 9, 2011. The show centers on the Belcher family—parents Bob and Linda and their three children, Tina, Gene, and Louise—who r ...

'', '' Brickleberry'', ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...

'', '' King of the Hill'', ''

OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes ''OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes'' is an American animated television series created by Ian Jones-Quartey for Cartoon Network. The show is based on Jones-Quartey's pilot ''Lakewood Plaza Turbo'', which was released as part of Cartoon Network's 2013 Su ...

'', '' Disenchantment'', and '' Father of the Pride''.

Early life

Herman was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and raised in Washington Heights, Manhattan. He graduated from the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in 1985, then attended the acting program at

SUNY Purchase The State University of New York at Purchase (commonly Purchase College or SUNY Purchase) is a Public college, public Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Purchase, New York. It is one of 13 comprehensive colleges ...

Career

''MADtv''

Herman was part of the cast of

John Leguizamo John Alberto Leguizamo Peláez (; ; born July 22, 196013:04) is an American actor, comedian, and film producer. He has appeared in over 100 films, produced over 20 films and documentaries, made over 30 television appearances, and has produced ...

's short-lived series ''

House of Buggin' '' House of Buggin' '' is a Latino-themed sketch comedy television show, which aired on Sunday night at 8:30 pm EST as a mid-season replacment from January to April 1995, starring John Leguizamo and Luis Guzmán. It was aired on the FOX Network, ...

'' in 1994. When

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

cancelled ''House of Buggin and decided to replace it with a sketch comedy show, Herman was signed on as one of nine original cast members of '' MADtv'' when the series began in 1995. Unlike most of the other featured players, Herman came to the show with an established acting career (as did fellow cast member Phil LaMarr); he had appeared in the films '' Born on the Fourth of July'', ''

Lost Angels ''Lost Angels'' (also known as ''The Road Home'') is a 1989 independent film directed by Hugh Hudson and written by Michael Weller. It stars Donald Sutherland and Adam Horovitz. It was filmed in and around San Antonio, Texas. The film was entere ...

'', and '' Let It Be Me''. Herman's ''MADtv'' characters included Mike Lawson (Incredible Findings),

Generation X Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western world, Western demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years a ...

anchorman Marsh (''X News''), and concerned father Joel Linder. Herman lampooned celebrities and famous figures such as Don Adams (as Maxwell Smart from '' Get Smart''), Tim Allen (as Tim "the Tool Man" Taylor from ''

Home Improvement The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...

''),

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

, Nicolas Cage,

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...

David Duchovny David William Duchovny ( ; born ) is an American actor, writer, producer, director, novelist, and singer-songwriter. He is known for portraying FBI agent Fox Mulder on the television series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002, 2016-2018) and as write ...

(as

Fox Mulder Fox William Mulder () is a fictional FBI Special Agent and one of the two protagonists of the Fox science fiction-supernatural television series ''The X-Files'', played by David Duchovny. Mulder's peers dismiss his many theories on extraterrest ...

from ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

''), Larry Flynt,

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

(as

Forrest Gump ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Eric Roth. It is based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson and ...

and as Jim Lovell from ''

Apollo 13 Apollo 13 (April 1117, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted aft ...

''), Larry King,

Kenny Kingston Kenny Kingston (February 15, 1927 – June 30, 2014) was an American psychic. He described himself as a psychic medium. He is sometimes referred to as a "psychic to the stars" due to his extensive contact with celebrities. Clients for his psychic ...

, Regis Philbin, Charles Nelson Reilly, John Ritter (as himself and as Jack Tripper from '' Three's Company''),

Joel Schumacher Joel T. Schumacher (; August 29, 1939June 22, 2020) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Raised in New York City by his mother, Schumacher graduated from Parsons School of Design and originally became a fashion designer. H ...

, Robert Shapiro,

Pauly Shore Paul Montgomery Shore (born February 1, 1968) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker best known for his roles in 1990s comedy films. Shore began as a stand-up comedian at the age of 17, before becoming an MTV VJ in 1989. This led to a sta ...

Brent Spiner Brent Jay Spiner (; born February 2, 1949) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the android Data on the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', as well as four subsequent films. In 2019, he reprised the role for ...

, Patrick Stewart (as

Jean-Luc Picard Jean-Luc Picard is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, most often seen as the captain of the Federation starship . Played by Patrick Stewart, Picard has appeared in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (''T ...

from '' Star Trek: The Next Generation''), and

Alex Trebek George Alexander Trebek (; July 22, 1940 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian-American game show host and television personality. He is best known for hosting the syndicated general knowledge quiz game show ''Jeopardy!'' for 37 season ...

. Herman stayed with the show until exiting six episodes into the third season. He said in 2019 that he wanted to leave the show to do other projects, but Fox would not let him out of his contract, as they considered him too valuable to the show, so Herman got himself fired by screaming all his lines during read-through. While continuing his voice work on '' King of the Hill'', he came across the script for ''

'', for which ''Hill'' creator

Mike Judge Michael Craig Judge (born October 17, 1962) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director and musician. He is the creator of the animated television series ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' (1993–1997, 2011, 2022–present), and the co-cre ...

had specifically written the Michael Bolton part with Herman in mind.

Other television projects

Herman's television credits include guest-starring on the WB's ''

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

'' and

's action drama '' 24''.

Film projects

Although he is primarily a television actor, Herman has appeared in several films including '' Dude, Where's My Car?'' and '' Fun with Dick and Jane.'' Herman had a prominent role in the 1999 comedy ''

'', where he played a

gangsta rap Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, emerged in the mid- to late 1980s as a controversial hip-hop subgenre whose lyrics assert the culture and values typical of American street gangs and street hustlers. Many gangsta rappe ...

-loving nerd unfortunately named Michael Bolton who must endure questions about his relationship to the famous singer. In 2006, he appeared in another

film, ''

Idiocracy ''Idiocracy'' is a 2006 American science fiction comedy film directed by Mike Judge and co-written by Judge and Etan Cohen. Starring Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, and Terry Crews, the film tells the story of Corporal Joe Bauers (Wi ...

''.

Voice acting

Herman is also known for his work as a voice actor in cartoons and video games, notably in ''

'', where he provides the voices of many recurring characters (including Scruffy, Planet Express's ''Sling Blade''-esque janitor; Roberto, the mentally-deranged criminal robot obsessed with stabbing people; New New York City mayor, Mayor Poopenmeyer, and Professor Farnsworth's former student and current rival, Ogden Wernstrom), and '' King of the Hill'', for which he voiced Luanne's ill-fated boyfriend, Buckley, as well as several one-shot and incidental characters. Herman's other voice work includes parts on ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...

'', ''

American Dad! ''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since 2014, the series has been airing new episodes on TBS. ''American Dad!'' is the first television ...

'', the short-lived CGI-animated sitcom '' Father of the Pride'' (in which he voices

Roy Horn Siegfried & Roy were a duo of German-American magicians and entertainers, best known for their appearances with white lions and white tigers. It was composed of Siegfried Fischbacher (June 13, 1939 – January 13, 2021) and Roy Horn (born Uwe L ...

), and the ''

Jak and Daxter ''Jak and Daxter'' is an Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game franchise created by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin and owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The series was originally developed by Naughty Dog with a number of install ...

'' video game series. Herman also starred as Ubuntu Goode (and other supporting voices) on Mike Judge's short-lived companion series to ''King of the Hill'', '' The Goode Family''. He also provides the voice for Mr. Frond (and other supporting voices) in Fox's ''

'', Mr. Gar, Brandon, and others on Cartoon Network's ''

'', The Herald and various characters on Matt Groening's

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

series '' Disenchantment'', self-absorbed and dangerously incompetent park ranger Steve Williams on

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

's '' Brickleberry'', and Kevin Crawford on '' Paradise PD''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Other

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Herman, David 1967 births Living people 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American Jews American male comedians American male film actors American male voice actors American male television actors American male video game actors American sketch comedians Audiobook narrators Comedians from New York City Male actors from New York City People from Washington Heights, Manhattan State University of New York at Purchase alumni