Jonathan Katz
Author, producer, actor, comedian and musician,Jonathan Katz is one of the entertainment industry’s most original and versatile creative personalities.Katz co-created and starred in the hit animated series, “Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist,” which,during the six seasons it aired on Comedy Central, was credited with branding that network as the home for sophisticated, smartly stupid humor. He received Comedy Central’s first ever Emmy Award (forOutstanding Primetime Voiceover Performance), the prestigious Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting, and two Cable Ace Awards for his work on the series.
As an actor, Katz won praise for roles in the films “Daddy Day Care” with Eddie Murphy (“excruciatingly funny”), the David Mamet films “State and Main,” “Things Change,” and “The Spanish Prisoner,” and opposite Janeane Garofalo in the 2002 release, “The Independent.” He also co-wrote the story for Mamet’s critically acclaimed “House of Games.”
For the past several years, Katz has focused on creating innovative programming across different media platforms. He created and produced “Raising Dad” for the WB, and the animated television pilot, “Say Uncle” in which he co-starred with Lisa Kudrow for Disney and Fox. Jonathan is a regular contributor to public radio’s, “The Next Big Thing.” Additional television credits include an HBO special, a recurring role on the CBS series “Ink,” and an appearance as himself in the last season of HBO’s “The Larry Sanders Show.” Katz has made numerous guest appearances on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “The Tonight Show,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and “Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher,” for which he also served as a creative consultant.
Katz’s first book “To Do Lists of the Dead” was published in 2000 by Andrews McMeel, and is currently working on a new book, tentatively titled, “Humility; What is it and Where Can I Get Some?”
Originally a musician and songwriter, Katz fronted a rhythm and blues group called “Katz and Jammers” before serving as the musical director for Robin Williams’ 1979 stand-up tour. In 1981 he started working solo, doing a cabaret act that was mostly musical, and in between songs he began to lay the groundwork for his stand-up act.
A native New Yorker, Jonathan moved to Boston twenty years ago and currently resides in Newton, Massachusetts with his wife and two daughters.
In 1997 Jonathan was diagnosed with MS. Weeks later he found out what those two letters represent (multiple sclerosis). For the last few years he has talked publicly about how this illness has impacted his life, and finds sharing his situation with others very enriching. “Life goes on with the disease. I use comedy to cope. In fact I teach a course called “Coping with Comedians who use Comedy to Cope.”
