Darrell Hammond

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

This article is about comedian Darrell Hammond. For the veteran Arena Football player, see Darryl Hammond.

Darrell Hammond

Joined SNL

1995

Status

Repertory

Web Page

[1]

Darrell Hammond (born October 8, 1955 in Melbourne, Florida) is an American comedian who has been a cast member of Saturday Night Live (SNL) since 1995. Midway between the 2004–2005 season, Hammond set the record for the longest consecutive tenure of any SNL cast member in the show's history (Al Franken currently holds the record for the longest total years as a cast member). Hammond also holds SNL records for most impressions by a single cast-member, and most times for saying the legendary catch-phrase "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" to start the show (beating out Dana Carvey). He is also the only cast member to have a "Best Of..." compilation special while still a castmember.

Hammond graduated from Melbourne High School in Melbourne, Florida in 1973 and then attended the University of Florida at Gainesville where he majored in broadcasting. After completing college, Hammond moved to New York City where he lived for several years before joining the cast of SNL. He married his wife, Elizabeth, in 1986 and then again in 1997 after a divorce in the early 1990's. They now have a daughter named Mia who was born in 1998.

A gifted impressionist, he became famous for his impressions of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ted Koppel, Bill O'Reilly, Regis Philbin, Jack Perkins, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld, Dr. Phil, Jesse Jackson, Phil Donahue, Sean Connery, Jay Leno, Bob Costas, Tim Russert, Dan Rather, Geraldo Rivera, Richard Dreyfuss, Rudolph Giuliani, Al Gore, and George W. Bush. Although he does many impressions, he is best known for his segments impersonating Bill Clinton, Chris Matthews from "Hardball", and more recently Donald Trump. When veteran announcer Don Pardo is unavailable, Hammond fills in to introduce the cast, with a spot-on Pardo impersonation.

Hammond has for some reason, been the hardest cast member to put in makeup, as on several occasions his fake moustaches seem to fall off, examples of this can be seen in the Ludacris episode as well as the Ian McKellen/Kylie Minogue episode.

In the late 1980s, Hammond gained fame for his impersonations of Elmer Fudd 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 and popular guest on The Howard Stern Show. He has also guest starred in episodes of Law and Order SVU and Law and Order: Criminal Intent. He had his own stand-up comedy special on Comedy Central: "Comedy Central Presents Darrell Hammond."