Bill Hader
Hader at the Adventureland premiere in 2009
Birth name	William Hader
Born	(1978-06-07) June 7, 1978 (age 34) Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Nationality	American
Years active	1998–present
Spouse	Maggie Carey (2006-present; 1 child)
Notable works and roles	Saturday Night Live, Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Doogal, Adventureland

William "Bill" Hader (born June 7, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, producer and writer. He is best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for his supporting roles in comedy films such as Superbad, Hot Rod, Tropic Thunder, Adventureland, Paul, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.

Early life[link]

Hader was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Sherri and Bill Hader.^[1] He has two sisters, Katie and Kara.^[1] Hader attended Patrick Henry Elementary School, Edison Junior High, and Cascia Hall Preparatory School,^[2][3] before attending The Art Institute of Phoenix and Scottsdale Community College.^[4]

Early career[link]

Hader's comedic aspirations eventually led him to Los Angeles where he joined the Second City, a comedy troupe that has been a training ground for many SNL cast members since the 1970s. He performed at iO West in Los Angeles. During his time at Second City and iO West, Hader worked as a production assistant on the DVD Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy and Collateral Damage, as well as an assistant on VH1's The Surreal Life.

[edit] Saturday Night Live

Bill Hader was "discovered" by Megan Mullally of Will & Grace while working with the Los Angeles-based comedy troupe "Animals from the Future." Mullally brought him to the attention of SNL producer Lorne Michaels. Hader was hired as a "featured player" and made his debut on the show on October 1, 2005. His first role was as a psychologist giving his views about life and death during the emergency landing of JetBlue Airways Flight 292. Hader is known for his impressions of famous people, such as Vincent Price in the Variety Vault sketches, Al Pacino, Brian Grazer, Rick Perry, John Malkovich, James Carville, Julian Assange, Eliot Spitzer, Alan Alda and Charlie Sheen.

Hader recently finished his 7th season on SNL.

Recurring characters[link]

• Stefon, Weekend Update's flamboyant New York City Correspondent, whose recommendations consist solely of bizarre nightclubs involving nightmarish characters. He is in love with Seth Meyers. Writer John Mulaney often changes some jokes to the sketch right before it airs and many of the lines catch Hader off guard, leading him to burst into laughter.
• Usually the game show host in game show sketches.
• Vinny Vedecci, the Italian talk-show host who chain-smokes, insults his crew (Fred Armisen and Will Forte, later replaced by Paul Brittain), has a son (Bobby Moynihan), and speaks little English, even though his guests (played by the guest hosts as themselves) are English speakers.
• Greg the Alien, the co-host of a sports talk show who appears to be an alien despite co-host Randy Dukes (Kenan Thompson's) constant claims that Greg is not an alien.
• Nitro, in the SNL Digital Short Laser Cats
• One of the four guys (the others being Will Forte [later replaced by Andy Samberg], Jason Sudeikis and the host) who reveal crazy aspects about themselves while singing a song in the Song Memories sketches
• Lindsey Buckingham, from the skit "What's Up with That?"
• One half of the "2 Gay Guys from New Jersey." Is the only one whose real name was revealed. His real name is Tony DiNato.
• DJ Frontal Assault on Deep House Dish
• Danny, a guy who has the mutant "Kuato" (played by Andy Samberg) living in his stomach
• Mr. Triggs, the father of an ugly, socially inept girl named Stacia (played by Kristen Wiig)
• Jerry, a sleazy businessman who works with Carl (Will Forte). Both are often drunk and insulting to their co-workers
• One of the "Scared Straight" kids, three young trouble-makers (along with Andy Samberg and Bobby Moynihan) who are lectured by convict Lorenzo McIntosh (played by Kenan Thompson) and a fellow inmate played by the host
• Dwayne Vogelcheck: the brother in Kissing Family (his parents are played by Kristen Wiig and Fred Armisen) where another sibling, usually played by the celebrity host, brings a friend or girlfriend home to their overly affectionate family
• Brady Trunk: co-host of "Hollywood Dish", with Kristen Wiig
• Herb Welch: a senile, on-the-scene news reporter who keeps hitting his interviewees in the face with his microphone.
• One of the Merryville Brothers robots (along with Taran Killam; the third member has been played by Jim Carrey and Justin Timberlake)
• Leonard, the production assistant on advice shows produced by Roger Brush (Fred Armisen)
• Lyle Round, host of the 1960s game show, "Secret Word." He often gets annoyed with his celebrity contestants, particularly Mindy Gracin (Kristen Wiig)
• Vince Blight, the host for the game show, "What's That Name?" On the Alec Baldwin/Radiohead episode, Blight was the host of a game show called "Who's On Top?" and on the episode hosted by Anna Faris (with musical guest Drake), Blight hosted a Lifetime-based game show called "What's Wrong With Tanya?"

Impersonations[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2012)

Bill Hader has said that he performed impersonations of teachers and friends when he was growing up, but did not do impersonations of famous people until his Saturday Night Live audition.^[5] His Al Pacino impersonation came after watching the actor's Emmy acceptance speech for Angels in America. Hader's Vincent Price impersonation came from his love of Price's Edgar Allan Poe films, such as The Fall of the House of Usher. His Peter O'Toole impersonation came partly from O'Toole in My Favorite Year and Jack Lemmon's drunken Prince Hapnick from The Great Race and Cher from Burlesque.

Another one of Hader's impersonations from Saturday Night Live is his impersonation of former governor Eliot Spitzer. Hader has also impersonated Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, Michael "The Situation" Sorrentino from MTV's Jersey Shore, Pearl Jam's frontman Eddie Vedder, Dave Matthews, John Boehner, Ben Mankiewicz, John Mayer, Conan O'Brien, Alan Alda, Dr. Oz, Rick Perry, Charlie Sheen, political strategist James Carville, Clint Eastwood and Tim Burton.

Hader is known^[where?] for his uncanny impression of Dateline NBC 's Keith Morrison, parodying his reporting style of being overly interested in horrific tales of tragedy and/or murder, and asking inane questions. After discovering that Morrison works at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where both Dateline and Saturday Night Live are filmed, Hader half-jestingly said on the March 30, 2009, episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon that he lived in fear of getting into the same elevator as Morrison at 30 Rock.

In December 2010, he portrayed Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, who interrupts the broadcast from a British prison. In this sketch he hacks commercials for companies that are apologizing about WikiLeaks (such as MasterCard) and informs America about his status. He also performed a parody of TMZ with Assange playing the role of Harvey Levin.

Film roles[link]

He first appeared alongside Owen Wilson and Matt Dillon in You, Me and Dupree. Since then he's had a wide range of roles such as Katherine Heigl's editor at E! in Knocked Up, the acid-taking mechanic Dave in Hot Rod (alongside SNL castmate Andy Samberg), a recumbent biker in The Brothers Solomon (which featured SNL castmate Will Forte in one of the film's co-leading roles) and, most famously, as Officer Slater in the Judd Apatow produced Superbad. His role in Superbad helped boost his public awareness and allowed him to appear on mainstream programs like Total Request Live, The Tonight Show, and MTV's Video Music Awards.

Hader appeared in two other Apatow projects: Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Pineapple Express (with Seth Rogen). He appeared alongside Ben Stiller, Brandon T. Jackson, Jack Black, Robert Downey, Jr., Matthew McConaughey, Steve Coogan, Jay Baruchel, Tom Cruise, and Nick Nolte in Tropic Thunder.

He teamed back up with Superbad director Greg Mottola for the film Adventureland. He also appears in Mottola's feature Paul.

In addition to these films, Hader has made several short films, including Back in the Day, Sounds Good to Me: Remastering the Sting, and The Jeannie Tate Show with SNL writer Liz Cackowski and wife Maggie Carey.

Hader makes a small appearance in the 2009 film Year One with Jack Black and Michael Cera.

Hader lent his voice to the critically acclaimed^[6] 2009 Sony Pictures Animation film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, playing the lead role of Flint Lockwood. He voiced a gazelle in Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

Hader appeared in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian as Major General George Armstrong Custer.

He provided a voiceover in the 2010 film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. He portrayed The Voice, the disembodied voice that pops up during certain moments of the film's video game-inspired fight scenes.

Hader has written a slasher film to be produced by Judd Apatow,^[7] which he will star in if the film is produced.^[8]

In April 2009, Hader was a part of Vanity Fair's list of "Comedy's New Legends".^[9]

Other work[link]

Hader was a creative consultant on the 12th season of South Park. He was a producer on the 13th season, which premiered March 11, 2009.^[10] Hader is among the series producers to win the 2009 Emmy Award for Best Animated Series. He also appeared on the commentary recorded for the 2009 Blu-ray edition of South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, and the Comedy Central special "South Park: 6 Days to Air", a documentary filmed during production of the 2011 South Park episode HumancentiPad.

Hader won a Peabody Award for his participation in Saturday Night Live Political Satire, 2008

Hader voiced an array of different characters on the second season of the Adult Swim show Xavier: Renegade Angel.

Hader and SNL castmate Seth Meyers penned a Spider-Man one-shot, "The Short Halloween," the title of which is a reference to the Batman story arc "The Long Halloween." It was drawn by Kevin Maguire and came out May 29, 2009, to positive reviews.

Jackson Publick announced on his blog that Hader will be the new voice for Professor Impossible on the fourth season of The Venture Brothers The part was originated by Stephen Colbert.

In the game Grand Theft Auto IV he played Wilson Taylor Sr (On in-game radio show: Pacemaker)

Hader appeared on Tim and Eric Awesome Show impersonating the recurring character James Quall on the episode "Jazz."

In July 2008, Hader starred in, and co-wrote with Simon Rich, the web series The Line on Crackle.^[11]

Hader lent his voice to the audiobook of Sarah Vowell's The Wordy Shipmates.

Hader voiced the Pod in the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode "IAMAPOD" as well as Hitler in the episode "Der Inflatable Fuhrer."

Hader played Kevin, Matt Damon's co-pilot, in the live episode of 30 Rock, recorded October 14, 2010.

Hader is hosting the 2011 season of Essentials, Jr. on Turner Classic Movies.

Personal life[link]

This section requires expansion.

In 2006, Hader married writer-director Maggie Carey.^[12] They have a daughter named Hannah Kathryn, born October 6, 2009.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bill Hader at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with New York Times