- published: 21 Nov 2014
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Gilbert Gottfried (born February 28, 1955) is an American actor, voice actor and stand-up comedian best known for his trademark comedic persona of speaking in a loud, grating tone of voice. He has played numerous roles in film and television, perhaps most notably voicing the parrot Iago in Disney's Aladdin (1992), and co-starred in the Problem Child movies. He is also known for voicing Digit in the children's cartoon/educational math-based show Cyberchase, the Aflac duck until 2011 and Marley the alligator in Winnie the Pooh.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1955, Gottfried is the youngest of three children.
At age fifteen, Gilbert Gottfried began doing amateur stand-up in New York City and, after a few years, became known[by whom?] as "the comedian's comedian." In 1980, the popular NBC late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live was being retooled with a new staff and new comedians; the producers noticed Gottfried and hired him as a cast member. During the 1980–1981 season, Gottfried's persona in SNL sketches was very different from his later characterization: he rarely (if ever) spoke in his trademark screeching, obnoxious voice and never squinted. During his 12-episode stint, he was given very little airtime and seldom used in sketches. Gottfried recalls a low point was having to play a corpse in a sketch about a sports organist hired to play inappropriate music at a funeral. Despite this, he had one recurring character (Leo Waxman, husband to Denny Dillon's Pinky Waxman on the recurring talk show sketch, "What's It All About?") and two celebrity impersonations: David A. Stockman and controversial film director Roman Polanski.
Actors: Frank Chindamo (director), Daniel Sollinger (producer), Frank Chindamo (writer), Gilbert Gottfried (actor), Frank Chindamo (producer), Jeffrey Gurian (writer), Jeffrey Gurian (producer), John Hoyt (actor),
Genres: Comedy, Short,