The American stand-up comedian Gilbert Gottfried is known for his vulgar jokes. His trademark loud, rough voice has earned him numerous voice-over jobs – from “Digit” in “Cyberchase” to “Jago” in “Disney’s Aladdin” and every other Disney film in which the character appears.
Gottfried occasionally acts and hosts his very own podcast called “Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast” (“Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast”). “Gilbert” (2017), the documentary about his real life, revealed many things about Gottfried, including the fact that he is not as insensitive as he sounds in his many jokes. Here is a look at his career so far and his private life.
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Gilbert Gottfried Bio (Age and other Background Details)
Gottfried was born on 28 February 1955 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. He came from a Jewish family but indicated that his family was not so serious about religion and that he could never hold a bar mitzvah. Gottfried was always a strange man. When he was 15 years old, he decided to improve his joke-telling skills by performing in bars and shows all over New York City.
A decade later, Gottfried began appearing on television and made his debut as one of the new cast members in the 6th season of Saturday Night Live 1980. Around the same time, he was picked up by the newly formed MTV channel to perform improvisations that were used to promote the channel. The anime makers quickly recognized Gottfried’s unique rough voice, and voice-over performances began to pile up. This also led to appearances as an actor. Some of Gottfried’s earliest films are Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), Problem Child (1990), and its sequel.
As a dubbing actor, he cast the dubbing role of the parrot Jago in Disney’s Aladdin (1992). Since then he has vocally embodied the character in subsequent Disney films, television series, and video games in which the character appears. He has been identified as one of the most successful voice actors in children’s entertainment.
While remaining active in Hollywood, Gottfried continued to perform nationwide as a stand-up actor and became known for his crude jokes. His jokes have made him a controversial subject on several occasions, including during the infamous Hugh Hefner fry-up, when he joked about the September 11 attacks. While the joke was not well received by the audience, Gottfried staged an immediate comeback by telling the aristocrat joke.
His next controversial joke about a natural disaster didn’t go down so well because it cost him a commercial appearance. Gilbert joked about the earthquake in Japan in March 2011, and then the American insurance company Aflac fired him from his vocal role as Aflac duck in their commercial. Gilbert had embodied the duck’s mascot vocally since 2000. Aflac operated about 75% of its business in Japan.
His Wife and Kids
Gilbert Gottfried is married and has been married since 2007 when he entered into the alliance with a certain Dara Kravitz. The couple first met at a Grammys party in the late 1990s. At that time Kravitz was working in the music industry.
Do you wonder what Gottfried did at a Grammy party? No, he wasn’t there to tell jokes, he just went because he knew there would be free food, a fact he revealed in a phone interview with the JTA. The interview also revealed another fact that Gottfried is a very frugal man.
Gottfried and Kravitz got into a conversation and soon found a connection, and the rest is history.
In his self-titled documentary, comic book colleagues talked about Gottfried’s relationship with his wife and praised her for helping to make Gottfried the nice guy he is today.
The couple has two children, including daughter Lily Aster Gottfried (born June 12, 2007) and son Max, born May 18, 2009, and live a middle-class lifestyle in the Chelsea district of Manhattan.
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Height and Other Quick Facts You Need To Know
With a height of 1.65 m (1.65 feet), Gilbert Gottfried can be described as a man of average height.
Gilbert’s voice in real life is very regular in contrast to the rough voice that made him popular.
In August 2017 he lost his sister Arlene Gottfried to cancer. She was a celebrated street photographer.
Gottfried squinted during his early stand-up days to overcome his nervousness, his current trademark.
