Darrell Hammond
Encyclopedia
Darrell Hammond is an American
actor, stand-up comedian and impressionist. He was a regular on Saturday Night Live
(SNL) from 1995 until 2009, the longest tenure of any cast member. Upon his departure, Hammond, at age 53, was the oldest cast member in the show's history. Hammond has made more SNL appearances than any other cast member and has impersonated more than 107 celebrities (with former President Bill Clinton
as his most frequent impression). As of May 8, 2011, he has appeared on the show seven times since leaving the cast.
, the son of Margaret and Max Hammond. He graduated from Melbourne High School
in 1973 where he was a star athlete who lettered in both football and baseball. Darrell was a high school baseball teammate of Bruce Bochy
. He then attended Brevard Community College
and the University of Florida
where he majored in broadcasting. Hammond credits UF theater professor David Shelton for encouraging his work. After completing college, Hammond moved to New York City
where he lived for several years before joining the cast of SNL.
/Yeah Yeah Yeahs
episode) and for the most times saying the show's catch phrase "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" to start the show (beating out Dana Carvey
).
He is best known on the show for impersonating former President Bill Clinton
, as well as Al Gore
, Donald Trump
, John McCain
, Regis Philbin
, Dick Cheney
, Chris Matthews
, Phil Donahue
, Ted Koppel
, John Travolta
, Jesse Jackson
, Geraldo Rivera
, and Sean Connery
, in the recurring Celebrity Jeopardy!
skits. Hammond also impersonated SNL announcer Don Pardo
, filling in for Pardo on occasions when the announcer was unavailable.
After the end of the 34th season
, Hammond retired from the show after a record-breaking 14 years as a repertory player. Hammond was the last SNL cast member from the 1990s to leave the show. After leaving the show, he has made multiple cameo appearances. Hammond also holds the record for most shows of any SNL cast member, 279 (272 as a cast member and 7 cameos since).
and other Looney Tunes
characters in the comedy single "Wappin'." The song was so popular with Dr. Demento
listeners, it was included on the show's 20th Anniversary compilation.
Hammond is a frequent guest on The Howard Stern Show. He has also guest starred in episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
and Law & Order: Criminal Intent
. He had his own stand-up comedy special on Comedy Central: Comedy Central Presents Darrell Hammond. Hammond can frequently be seen at The Comedy Cellar
in New York City
.
In the summer of 2007, Hammond made his Broadway theatre
debut, playing the role of Vice Principal Douglas Panch in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
. In 2009, Hammond had a guest starring role on the FX drama Damages
. The same summer, Hammond appeared with Eli Manning
, Peyton Manning
, and Donald Trump
in an Oreo
commercial, where he does an impression of Trump.
Hammond has admitted to struggling with alcoholism and cocaine abuse. The death of a close friend in 1991 led to a relapse of drug and alcohol abuse. After suffering another relapse in 2009, Hammond went to rehab.
In August 2011 Hammond filed a lawsuit against Jose Mendez and Monteleone, a "pal" of his, after a car accident in which he was the passenger.
During an October 2011 interview with CNN, Hammond revealed that his mother had brutally abused him during his childhood. This abuse led to self-mutilation, several hospitalizations due to psychiatric issues, and diagnoses which include bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Hammond says that he was medicated throughout his tenure on SNL, and that he cut himself backstage and was once taken from the studio to a psychiatric ward.
On November 8, 2011, Hammond's memoir, God, If You're Not Up There, I'm F*cked, was released nationally by Harper Collins. It is a firsthand account of his abusive childhood, psychiatric issues, struggles with substance abuse, and experiences on SNL.
One evening, while the boat was docked in the Bahamas
, Hammond visited a restaurant, where he consumed the equivalent of 16 shots of rum
. He claimed that a man repeatedly pestered him throughout the evening to take a dollar bill with trace amounts of cocaine
on it. When the comedian left the bar to use the restroom, the man followed him into the stall and told him, "I think you should take this with you." Believing he was about to be mugged
, he relented, and the man placed the bill inside Hammond's pocket. Local police
were waiting outside the restroom and quickly arrested him. The US Drug Enforcement Administration
later told Hammond that the episode had been a setup, and that local authorities regularly entrapped American tourists; he spent a weekend in a crude jail cell, and was assigned a "barefoot" attorney. Hammond was released after his father traveled to the Bahamas and paid $5,000 for his son's release.
Hammond first publicly mentioned the incident while acting as a guest on a 1997 episode of the radio show Loveline
; the story was again referenced when he returned to Loveline in 2000 and 2004. The comedian has otherwise not spoken about the arrest. Tina Fey
and Tim Meadows, two friends and coworkers of Hammond's, said in 2004 they had not previously heard the story.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor, stand-up comedian and impressionist. He was a regular on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
(SNL) from 1995 until 2009, the longest tenure of any cast member. Upon his departure, Hammond, at age 53, was the oldest cast member in the show's history. Hammond has made more SNL appearances than any other cast member and has impersonated more than 107 celebrities (with former President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
as his most frequent impression). As of May 8, 2011, he has appeared on the show seven times since leaving the cast.
Early life
Hammond was born in Melbourne, FloridaMelbourne, Florida
Melbourne is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. As of 2009, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 78,323. The municipal area is the second largest by size and by population in the county. Melbourne is a principal city of the Palm Bay – Melbourne – Titusville, Florida...
, the son of Margaret and Max Hammond. He graduated from Melbourne High School
Melbourne High School (Melbourne, Florida)
Melbourne High School or Mel-Hi is a public secondary school located in Melbourne, Florida, United States and operated by Brevard Public Schools. The principal is Jim Willcoxon.- History :...
in 1973 where he was a star athlete who lettered in both football and baseball. Darrell was a high school baseball teammate of Bruce Bochy
Bruce Bochy
Bruce Douglas Bochy is the manager of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to joining the Giants, Bochy had been the manager of the San Diego Padres for twelve seasons. Bochy is the only former Padres player to serve as the team's manager. He has participated in all five postseason appearances in...
. He then attended Brevard Community College
Brevard Community College
Brevard Community College, founded in 1960, is a community college on Florida's Space Coast, in Brevard County, Florida. It has four campuses in Cocoa, Melbourne, Palm Bay, and Titusville, as well as an Aerospace program at Kennedy Space Center and a Virtual Campus...
and the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
where he majored in broadcasting. Hammond credits UF theater professor David Shelton for encouraging his work. After completing college, Hammond moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
where he lived for several years before joining the cast of SNL.
Career
In the late 1980s, Hammond worked briefly as a stand-up comedian on Premier Cruise Line ships.Saturday Night Live
During the 2004–2005 season, Hammond set the record for the longest consecutive tenure of any SNL cast member in the show's history. He also holds SNL records for the most impressions by a single cast member (107, as of the Zac EfronZac Efron
Zachary David Alexander "Zac" Efron is an American actor. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and became known with his lead roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, the WB series Summerland, and the 2007 film version of the Broadway musical Hairspray...
/Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O, guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They are complemented in live performances by second guitarist David Pajo, who joined as a touring...
episode) and for the most times saying the show's catch phrase "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" to start the show (beating out Dana Carvey
Dana Carvey
Dana Thomas Carvey is an American actor and stand-up comedian, best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for playing the role of Garth in the Wayne's World movies.-Early life:...
).
He is best known on the show for impersonating former President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, as well as Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
, Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
, John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
, Regis Philbin
Regis Philbin
Regis Francis Xavier Philbin is an American media personality, actor and singer, known for hosting talk and game shows since the 1960s. Philbin is often called "the hardest working man in show business" and holds the Guinness World Record for the most time spent in front of a television camera...
, Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
, Chris Matthews
Chris Matthews
Christopher John "Chris" Matthews is an American news anchor and political commentator, known for his nightly hour-long talk show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, which is televised on the American cable television channel MSNBC...
, Phil Donahue
Phil Donahue
Phillip John "Phil" Donahue is an American media personality, writer, and film producer best known as the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show. The television program, also known as Donahue, was the first to use a talk show format. The show had a 26-year run on U.S...
, Ted Koppel
Ted Koppel
Edward James "Ted" Koppel is an English-born American broadcast journalist, best known as the anchor for Nightline from the program's inception in 1980 until his retirement in late 2005. After leaving Nightline, Koppel worked as managing editor for the Discovery Channel before resigning in 2008...
, John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
, Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...
, Geraldo Rivera
Geraldo Rivera
Geraldo Rivera is an American attorney, journalist, author, reporter, and former talk show host...
, and Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
, in the recurring Celebrity Jeopardy!
Celebrity Jeopardy! (Saturday Night Live)
Celebrity Jeopardy! was a recurring sketch on the television comedy/variety show Saturday Night Live that regularly aired between 1996 and 2002, the years when Will Ferrell was a cast member...
skits. Hammond also impersonated SNL announcer Don Pardo
Don Pardo
Dominick George "Don" Pardo is an American radio and television announcer. He is best known as the voice of the long-running late night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live....
, filling in for Pardo on occasions when the announcer was unavailable.
After the end of the 34th season
Saturday Night Live (Season 34)
The thirty-fourth season of the variety series Saturday Night Live began airing in 2008 and concluded in 2009 on NBC. This season of Saturday Night Live consisted of 22 episodes, in an attempt to compensate for episodes lost during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike...
, Hammond retired from the show after a record-breaking 14 years as a repertory player. Hammond was the last SNL cast member from the 1990s to leave the show. After leaving the show, he has made multiple cameo appearances. Hammond also holds the record for most shows of any SNL cast member, 279 (272 as a cast member and 7 cameos since).
Other work
In the late 1980s, Hammond gained fame for his impersonations of Elmer FuddElmer Fudd
Elmer J. Fudd/Egghead is a fictional cartoon character and one of the most famous Looney Tunes characters, and the de facto archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheon . His aim is to hunt Bugs, but he usually ends up seriously injuring...
and other Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
characters in the comedy single "Wappin'." The song was so popular with Dr. Demento
Dr. Demento
Barret Eugene Hansen , better known as Dr. Demento, is a radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present....
listeners, it was included on the show's 20th Anniversary compilation.
Hammond is a frequent guest on The Howard Stern Show. He has also guest starred in episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
and Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
. He had his own stand-up comedy special on Comedy Central: Comedy Central Presents Darrell Hammond. Hammond can frequently be seen at The Comedy Cellar
Comedy Cellar
The Comedy Cellar is a comedy club in Manhattan, where many top New York comedians perform. It was founded in 1982 by then standup comedian, and current television writer/producer Bill Grundfest...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
In the summer of 2007, Hammond made his Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut, playing the role of Vice Principal Douglas Panch in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a one act musical comedy conceived by Rebecca Feldman with music and lyrics by William Finn, a book by Rachel Sheinkin and additional material by Jay Reiss. The show centers on a fictional spelling bee set in a geographically ambiguous Putnam Valley...
. In 2009, Hammond had a guest starring role on the FX drama Damages
Damages (TV series)
Damages is an American television drama series created by the writing and production trio of Daniel Zelman and brothers Glenn and Todd A. Kessler . It is broadcast in the United States on the DirecTV channel Audience Network after originally airing on FX and is produced by the creators' own...
. The same summer, Hammond appeared with Eli Manning
Eli Manning
Eli Nelson Manning is an American football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League. He is the younger brother of NFL quarterback Peyton Manning and the son of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning...
, Peyton Manning
Peyton Manning
Peyton Williams Manning is an American football quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League . Manning holds the record for most NFL MVP awards with four. He was drafted by the Colts as the first overall pick in 1998 after a standout college football career with the...
, and Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
in an Oreo
Oreo
Oreo is a trademark for a popular sandwich cookie by the Nabisco Division of Kraft Foods. The current design consists of a sweet, white filling commonly referred to as 'cream' or 'creme', sandwiched between two circular chocolate or golden cookie pieces....
commercial, where he does an impression of Trump.
Personal life
Hammond married his wife, Elizabeth, in 1986. The couple divorced in the early 1990s and remarried in 1997. They have a daughter named Mia who was born in 1998.Hammond has admitted to struggling with alcoholism and cocaine abuse. The death of a close friend in 1991 led to a relapse of drug and alcohol abuse. After suffering another relapse in 2009, Hammond went to rehab.
In August 2011 Hammond filed a lawsuit against Jose Mendez and Monteleone, a "pal" of his, after a car accident in which he was the passenger.
During an October 2011 interview with CNN, Hammond revealed that his mother had brutally abused him during his childhood. This abuse led to self-mutilation, several hospitalizations due to psychiatric issues, and diagnoses which include bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Hammond says that he was medicated throughout his tenure on SNL, and that he cut himself backstage and was once taken from the studio to a psychiatric ward.
On November 8, 2011, Hammond's memoir, God, If You're Not Up There, I'm F*cked, was released nationally by Harper Collins. It is a firsthand account of his abusive childhood, psychiatric issues, struggles with substance abuse, and experiences on SNL.
Entrapment incident
In the late 1980s, Hammond worked briefly as a stand-up comedian on Premier Cruise Line ships.One evening, while the boat was docked in the Bahamas
The Bahamas
The Bahamas , officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a nation consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets . It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola , northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States...
, Hammond visited a restaurant, where he consumed the equivalent of 16 shots of rum
Rum
Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels...
. He claimed that a man repeatedly pestered him throughout the evening to take a dollar bill with trace amounts of cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
on it. When the comedian left the bar to use the restroom, the man followed him into the stall and told him, "I think you should take this with you." Believing he was about to be mugged
Mugging
Mugging or mugger may refer to:* A type of street robbery**Steaming , a variation of this type of robbery*Model Mugging, a self-defense training technique.* The Mugger Crocodile, a species native to India, Pakistan, Iran, and Nepal....
, he relented, and the man placed the bill inside Hammond's pocket. Local police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
were waiting outside the restroom and quickly arrested him. The US Drug Enforcement Administration
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
later told Hammond that the episode had been a setup, and that local authorities regularly entrapped American tourists; he spent a weekend in a crude jail cell, and was assigned a "barefoot" attorney. Hammond was released after his father traveled to the Bahamas and paid $5,000 for his son's release.
Hammond first publicly mentioned the incident while acting as a guest on a 1997 episode of the radio show Loveline
Loveline
Loveline is a syndicated radio call-in program in North America, offering medical and relationship advice to listeners, often with the assistance of guests, typically actors and musicians. Its flagship station is KROQ-FM in Los Angeles....
; the story was again referenced when he returned to Loveline in 2000 and 2004. The comedian has otherwise not spoken about the arrest. Tina Fey
Tina Fey
Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live , the NBC comedy series 30 Rock, and films such as Mean Girls and Baby Mama .Fey first broke into comedy as a featured player in the...
and Tim Meadows, two friends and coworkers of Hammond's, said in 2004 they had not previously heard the story.
Filmography
- Celtic PrideCeltic PrideCeltic Pride is a comedy film written by Judd Apatow and Colin Quinn and directed by Tom DeCerchio. It features Daniel Stern and Dan Aykroyd as Mike O'Hara and Jimmy Flaherty, two passionate Boston Celtics fans and Damon Wayans as Lewis Scott, the Utah Jazz's All-Star shooting guard.-Plot:Best...
(1996) - Blues Brothers 2000Blues Brothers 2000Blues Brothers 2000 is a 1998 American musical comedy film that is a sequel to the 1980 film The Blues Brothers. Directed by John Landis, the film featured Dan Aykroyd and John Goodman, with cameos by many musicians.-Plot:...
(1998) - The King and IThe King and I (1999 film)The King and I is a 1999 animated film adaptation of the stage musical The King and I, which in turn is adapted from the Anna Leonowens story. The film was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and Morgan Creek Productions, and released theatrically by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment on March 19, 1999...
(1999) (voice) - The Devil and Daniel WebsterThe Devil and Daniel Webster (2001 film)Shortcut to Happiness is a 2004 film adaptation of the Stephen Vincent Benet classic short story The Devil and Daniel Webster. It stars Anthony Hopkins as Daniel Webster, Alec Baldwin as Jabez Stone, and Jennifer Love Hewitt as The Devil. Baldwin also directed the film.Although filmed in 2001, it...
(2001) - Scary Movie 3Scary Movie 3Scary Movie 3 is a 2003 American science fiction comedy film, which parodies the horror, sci-fi, and mystery genres, directed by David Zucker. It is the third film of the Scary Movie franchise, as well as the first to have no involvement from the Wayans family...
(2003) - Agent Cody BanksAgent Cody BanksAgent Cody Banks is an American action comedy film directed by Harald Zwart. Its story follows the adventures of the 15-year-old title character, played by Frankie Muniz, who has to finish his chores, avoid getting grounded, and save the world by going undercover for the CIA as a James Bond type...
(2003) - New York Minute (2004)
- Ira and AbbyIra and AbbyIra and Abby is a 2006 romantic comedy film directed by Robert Cary and released in the US by Magnolia Pictures. The poignant love story stars Chris Messina and Jennifer Westfeldt in the title roles, and co-stars Fred Willard, Frances Conroy, Jason Alexander, Robert Klein and Judith...
(2006) - Puff Puff Pass (2006)
- Kiss Me AgainKiss Me AgainKiss Me Again may refer to:*Kiss Me Again , a 1925 film directed by Ernst Lubitsch*Kiss Me Again , a 1931 film*Kiss Me Again , a 2006 film*Kiss Me Again , a 2010 film...
(2006) - Netherbeast IncorporatedNetherbeast IncorporatedNetherbeast Incorporated is an independent film directed by Dean Ronalds and written by Bruce Dellis. It is an undead office comedy concerning a telephone company in Arizona staffed entirely by flesh-eating, vampire-like employees who refer to themselves as "Netherfolk." Historical figures such as...
(2007) - Epic MovieEpic MovieEpic Movie is a 2007 American parody film directed and written by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer and produced by Paul Schiff. It was made in a similar style to Date Movie, Friedberg and Seltzer's previous film. The film mostly references The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the...
(2007) - Wieners (2008)
- Buzzkill (2008)