David Herman


David Herman is an American actor, voice artist, and comedian. He was an original cast member on MADtv and played Michael Bolton in Office Space. He is known for his voice-work in Bob's Burgers, Futurama, King of the Hill, OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, and Roy Horn in Father of the Pride.

Early life

Herman was born into a Jewish family in New York City and raised in Washington Heights, Manhattan. He graduated from the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in 1987, then attended the acting program at SUNY Purchase. Herman appeared in the films Born on the Fourth of July, Lost Angels, and Let It Be Me; but he is probably best known for his role as Michael Bolton in Mike Judge's Office Space. Earlier, Herman had joined the cast of John Leguizamo's House of Buggin in 1994; however, that show was short-lived. When Fox decided to mount a sketch comedy show to replace House of Buggin, Herman was kept on as an original MADtv cast member.

Career

''MADtv''

Herman was one of nine original cast members of MADtv when the series debuted in 1995. Unlike the other original repertory and featured players, he was one of the few cast members who came to the show with an established acting career. Herman's MADtv characters included Mike Lawson, Generation X anchorman Marsh, and concerned father Joel Linder. Former castmate Artie Lange referred to Herman as "a brilliant, talented actor" and called him "one of my best friends in show business."
Herman lampooned celebrities and famous figures such as Don Adams, Tim Allen, Woody Allen, Nicolas Cage, Bill Clinton, Bob Dole, David Duchovny, Larry Flynt, Tom Hanks, Larry King, Kenny Kingston, Regis Philbin, Charles Nelson Reilly, John Ritter, Joel Schumacher, Robert Shapiro, Pauly Shore, Brent Spiner, Patrick Stewart, and Alex Trebek.
Herman stayed with the show until exiting six episodes into the third season. He wanted to leave the show to do other projects, but Fox would not let him out of his contract as they considered him too valuable to the show. So he got himself fired by screaming all his lines during read-through. While continuing his voice work on King of the Hill, he came across the script for Office Space, for which Hill creator Mike Judge had specifically written the Michael Bolton part with Herman in mind.

Other television projects

Herman's television credits include guest-starring on the WB's Angel and Fox's action drama 24.

Film projects

Although he is primarily a television actor, Herman has appeared in several films including Dude, Where's My Car? and Fun with Dick and Jane. Herman had a prominent role in the 1999 comedy Office Space, where he played a gangsta rap-loving nerd unfortunately named Michael Bolton who must endure questions about his relationship to the famous singer. In 2006, he appeared in another Mike Judge film, Idiocracy.

Voice acting

Herman is also known for his work as a voice actor in cartoons and video games, notably in Futurama, where he provides the voices of many recurring characters, and King of the Hill, for which he voiced Anthony Page, Eustis, and other one-shot and incidental characters. Herman's other voice work includes parts on Family Guy, American Dad!, the short-lived CGI-animated sitcom Father of the Pride, and the Jak and Daxter video game series. Herman also starred as Ubuntu Goode on Mike Judge's short-lived companion series to King of the Hill, The Goode Family. He also provides the voice for Mr. Frond in Fox's Bob's Burgers, Mr. Gar, Brandon, and others on Cartoon Network's OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, The Herald and various characters on Matt Groening's recent series for Netflix Disenchantment, self-absorbed and dangerously incompetent park ranger Steve Williams on Comedy Central's Brickleberry, and Kevin Crawford, a childish, yet semi-competent rookie cop on Netflix's Paradise, PD.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Other