Andy Richter

Paul Andrew Richter (born October 28, 1966) is an American actor, voice actor, writer, comedian, and late night talk show announcer. He appears as the sidekick for Conan O'Brien on each of the host's programs: Late Night, The Tonight Show on NBC, and Conan on TBS. He voiced Mort in the Madagascar film franchise and Ben Higgenbottom in the Nickelodeon animated television series The Mighty B!.

Andy Richter
Richter at the 2013 Final Four in Atlanta, Georgia
Birth name	Paul Andrew Richter
Born	October 28, 1966 Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.
Medium	Television, film
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Columbia College Chicago
Years active	1988–present
Genres	Improvisational comedy, sketch comedy, cringe comedy, anti-humor, self-deprecation, blue comedy, alternative comedy, satire
Spouse	Sarah Thyre ​ ​ (m. 1994; div. 2019)​
Children	2
Notable works and roles	Late Night with Conan O'Brien (sidekick, 1993–2000) Andy Richter Controls the Universe (writer, producer, 2002–2003) The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (sidekick, 2009–2010) Conan (sidekick, 2010–present)

Early life

Richter, the third of four children, was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to mother Glenda Swanson (née Palmer), a kitchen cabinet designer, and father Laurence R. Richter, who taught Russian at Indiana University for more than 32 years.[1][2][3] Richter was raised in Yorkville, Illinois. He graduated from Yorkville High School in 1984, where he was elected Prom King.[4][5] His parents divorced when he was 4 and his father later came out as gay.[6] Richter is of Swedish and German descent.[7]

Career

Andy Richter as "Pope" of the "Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus" 2015 New Orleans Mardi Gras parade.

In the late 1980s, Richter attended the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and Columbia College Chicago as a film major. While at Columbia, he learned the basics of comedic acting and writing by starring in numerous student films and videos. After leaving Columbia in 1988, Richter worked as a production assistant on commercial shoots in Chicago. In 1989, he began taking classes at Chicago's Improv Olympic. He went from student to "House Performer" within a year. Richter branched out working with "The Comedy Underground" and the Annoyance Theatre. Richter wrote for the short-lived Jonathan Brandmeier television show.

In the early 1990s, the Annoyance Theatre hit gold when producer Joey Soloway staged The Real Live Brady Bunch with live, word-for-word performances of the '70s sitcom. The show was so popular that it attracted national attention and moved to New York City. Richter was not an original member of the cast but the actor who played "Mike Brady" in the Chicago cast opted not to go to New York. Richter asked Soloway if he could play "Mike" in New York and, since Soloway had not cast a replacement, they agreed.

Late Night with Conan O'Brien

At the same time The Real Live Brady Bunch was playing in New York, two fellow Annoyance members (Beth Cahill and Melanie Hutsell, who played Marcia and Jan Brady in the "Real Live Brady Bunch" stage show) were hired as cast members on Saturday Night Live. With friends on SNL, Richter was able to get into the after-show parties where he met SNL writer Robert Smigel. Two years later, Smigel hired Richter for a new show he was producing, Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Originally hired as a writer, Richter was upgraded to Conan O'Brien's sidekick just weeks before the show began airing in 1993, after it became clear the two had a strong rapport, something Smigel noticed after sending Richter to join O'Brien on stage during a practice run-through when the production staff was testing lighting angles and sound.[8]

After seven years with the show, Richter departed from Late Night after the show on May 26, 2000. He later said of the decision, "After seven years of being on the show, I got itchy. I have a philosophy that if you enjoy good fortune, rather than sit there and say, 'Oh, that's fine, this amount is good enough for me,' you should try and push it. You should see how much you can stretch your good fortune. And I was curious."[9]

After Late Night

Richter left his post at Late Night in 2000 to pursue a career acting in films and television. His first major venture, Fox's Andy Richter Controls the Universe, was canceled after two mid-season runs. His next Fox sitcom, Quintuplets, lasted one season. His 2007 television series, Andy Barker P.I., was co-written and executive produced by Conan O'Brien. In the series, Richter played an accountant who could not attract clients.[10] After a woman comes to his office thinking he is the former tenant, a private investigator, she asks him to find her husband who she thinks faked his death. Barker decides to pursue this job and becomes a private detective in earnest, and continues to do his accounting job, which seems to pick up as the series goes on. The series played on NBC, with all six episodes in the first season on NBC.com. The series was canceled after very poor ratings despite being named by Entertainment Weekly as one of the Top Ten Shows of 2007.[11]

The Tonight Show

On February 24, 2009, it was announced that Richter would be joining Conan O'Brien once again as the announcer for The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien in Los Angeles.[12] Richter frequently appeared in comedy sketches on the show and often commented and interacted with Conan during the opening monologue; he was also part of the show's writing staff. In mid-December 2009, Richter also began joining Conan on the couch during the celebrity interviews, much like he did in his former sidekick role on Late Night. Richter said he enjoyed having a steady paycheck again and not having to deal with production companies while developing television shows. Richter said, "Now I'm so happy to be back and making TV every night, not asking permission from somebody and waiting six months to get their sparklingly clear and cogent notes. And then wait another month for them to get back from Hawaii and say, 'Yes, now we can go make television.' I felt like a plumber who kept going into the building and saying, 'Can we put some pipes together?' and watching my wrenches gather dust."[9]

Conan

When Conan O'Brien returned to the air as host of his self-titled TBS show in 2010, Richter followed and resumed his roles as announcer, writer, general sidekick and participant in comedy sketches.

The Three Questions with Andy Richter

Since June 2019, Richter has his own podcast on the Earwolf network.[13]

Game shows

Richter was considered to be a potential host of the classic Pyramid game show that was being developed for CBS, but was ultimately not picked up by the network.[14] Had the series been picked up, it would not have affected Richter's role on Conan. On May 18, 2011, TBS announced development of a possible new version of Pyramid, again to be hosted by Richter.[15]

In June 2010, Richter hosted the Team Coco Presents the Conan Writers Live comedy special for TBS at the Just for Laughs festival in Chicago. He hosted in place of O'Brien, who was still prohibited from hosting any television program until fall 2010.

In July 2013, Richter signed up to host a game show called Step Up, which was ordered by Fox.[16]

Richter currently holds the record for all-time highest one-day score on Celebrity Jeopardy!, winning $68,000 during a first round game of the 2009–10 season's "Jeopardy! Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational". His earnings were donated to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.[17]

In January 2017, he began hosting the ABC game show Big Fan.[18]

Other television appearances

In April 2002, Richter appeared in the Fox series Malcolm in the Middle. In "Clip Show", he played a psychiatrist giving therapy to Malcolm, Reese, and Dewey.

In October 2005, Richter appeared in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace. In "The Old Man and the Sea", he played an annoying blind date that was teased and misled by Grace Adler, who only dated him to prove she was not a snob.

Richter appeared in Monk as a murderer posing as Adrian Monk's best friend in the episode "Mr Monk Makes a Friend".

Richter appears in the Fox series Arrested Development in the 2006 episode "S.O.B.s." He plays every member of a fictional group of identical Richter quintuplets: Donnie, Chareth, Rocky, Emmett, and himself. He reprises the roles in several episodes of season 4.

From 2006 to 2008, Richter had a recurring role as "Sad Dad" Stan in the TV show The New Adventures of Old Christine.

He also provided the voice of Ben on the animated series The Mighty B!, played Simon Cristini on True Jackson, VP, and reprises the voice of Mort on The Penguins of Madagascar and All Hail King Julien.

Film

In addition to his television work, Richter has appeared in motion pictures such as Aliens in the Attic, Big Trouble, Elf, Seeing Other People, New York Minute, Dr. Dolittle 2, Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, My Boss's Daughter, Scary Movie 2, Frank McKlusky, C.I., Pootie Tang, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Blades of Glory, Semi-Pro, Lenny the Wonder Dog, Dr. T & the Women and Cabin Boy.

Other appearances

In 2008, Richter appeared in composer Marc Shaiman's satirical mini-musical called "Prop 8 — The Musical".[19] The three-minute video was distributed on the internet at FunnyOrDie.com. In addition to Richter, the cast includes Jack Black, John C. Reilly, Craig Robinson, and many other celebrities, directed by Adam Shankman. The video won the 2009 Webby Award category Comedy: Individual Short or Episode,[20] and won a GLAAD media award.[21]

In July 2009, Richter played for the American League as a first baseman in the 2009 Taco Bell All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game. Representing the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Richter hit a home run in the game.[22]

After the end of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, Richter joined O'Brien on his Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour, a stage show touring the United States and Canada over the spring of 2010. Richter served in his usual role as announcer/sidekick. Due to performing with O'Brien, Richter was forced to drop out of the Jeopardy! Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational, in which he was a semifinalist. Isaac Mizrahi replaced Richter in the tournament.[23] Richter also made an appearance on the Disney Channel sitcom The Suite Life on Deck as a non-religious hooded brother, Brother Theodore in the episode "Silent Treatment".

Personal life

Richter was married to comedic actress and writer/author Sarah Thyre from 1994 to 2019, and they have two children, a son born in 2000 and a daughter born in 2005.[24] Thyre was part of the cast of the cult comedy series Strangers with Candy, on which Richter made frequent cameo appearances. Richter and Thyre also appeared together playing Hansel and Gretel in an episode of the Upright Citizens Brigade sketch comedy series on Comedy Central in 1998. On April 13, 2019, Richter announced on his Twitter account that he and Thyre had separated and had begun divorce proceedings.[25]

Richter is a supporter of Planned Parenthood. At a fundraiser in 2016, he referenced abortion services provided in 1992 for Thyre when the couple had split and were each undergoing great personal difficulties. He stated that although they were very sad about the situation, they both knew it was the right decision for them. He also said that he is "eternally grateful" to the organization for allowing them to care for themselves and also for the ability to choose the time to bring children into their lives. The couple had been married 22 years at the time of his statements.[26][27]

Richter is a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. After leaving Late Night with Conan O'Brien, he moved to Los Angeles.

Richter's brother Victor Swanson, a teacher at Glenbard East High School, was a Democratic candidate in the 2018 election in Illinois's 14th district.[28]

On April 15, 2019, Richter joined a host of other writers in firing their agents as part of the WGA's stand against the ATA and of packaging, which they believe to be an unfair practice.[29]

Filmography

Film

Andy Richter film work

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Cabin Boy	Kenny
1996	Good Money	Happy
1998	The Thin Pink Line	Ken Irvine
1999	Barenaked in America	Himself	Documentary
2000	Dr. T & the Women	Eli
2001	Dr. Dolittle 2	Eugene Wilson
2001	Pootie Tang	Record executive
2001	Scary Movie 2	Father Harris
2001	Kids in the Hall: Same Guys, New Dresses	Himself	Documentary
2002	Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns)	Himself	Documentary
2002	Run Ronnie Run!	Network executive #2
2002	Martin & Orloff	Maitre 'D
2002	Big Trouble	Jack Pendick/Ralph Pendick
2002	Frank McKlusky, C.I.	Herb
2002	God Hates Cartoons	Drinky Crow	Voice Direct-to-DVD
2002	The Cat Returns	Natoru	English dub
2003	End of the Century	Himself	Documentary
2003	My Boss's Daughter	Red Taylor
2003	Elf	Morris
2004	Death and Texas	Congressman Jack Levant
2004	New York Minute	Bennie Bang
2004	Seeing Other People	Carl
2005	The Aristocrats	Himself	Documentary
2005	Madagascar	Mort	Voice
2005	Lenny the Wonder Dog	Lenny	Voice
2006	Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby	Gregory
2007	The Procedure	T. J.	Short film
2007	If I Had Known I Was a Genius	Game show host
2007	Blades of Glory	Mountie
2008	Semi-Pro	Bobby Dee
2008	Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa	Mort	Voice
2008	Prop 8 — The Musical	Gay California man	Short film
2009	Aliens in the Attic	Uncle Nathan Pearson
2011	Conan O'Brien Can't Stop	Himself	Documentary
2012	Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted	Mort	Voice
2013	The Secret Life of Walter Mitty	Himself
2014	Penguins of Madagascar	Mort	Uncredited voice cameo
2014	Jason Nash Is Married	Himself
2016	Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie	Pete Rozelle
2017	Girlfriend's Day	Harold Lamb

Television

Andy Richter television work

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom	Police officer	Television film
1993–2000	Late Night with Conan O'Brien	Himself (co-host)	1,247 episodes; also writer
1995	Mr. Show with Bob and David	Himself	Episode: "The Cry of a Hungry Baby"
1998	Upright Citizens Brigade	Hansel	Episode: "Story of the Toad"
1998	Saturday Night Live	Drinky Crow (voice)	Episode: "Cameron Diaz/Smashing Pumpkins"; uncredited
1999	LateLine	Himself	Episode: "Pearce on Conan"
2000	Strangers with Candy	Various roles	3 episodes
2000	Just Shoot Me!	Alan	Episode: "Choosing to Be Super"
2000	DAG	Himself	Episode: "Pilot"; uncredited
2002	Ed	Barney Sticuzo	Episode: "Youth Bandits"
2002–2003	Andy Richter Controls the Universe	Andy Richter	19 episodes; also producer
2002	Malcolm in the Middle	Dr. Kennedy	Episode: "Clip Show"
2003	The Lyon's Den	Kelly Robbins	Episode: "Ex"
2004	Happy Family	Clerk	Episode: "The Headboard"
2004	It's All Relative	Dr. Bob	Episode: "Philip in a China Shop"
2004–2005	Crank Yankers	Lloyd (voice)	3 episodes
2004–2005	Quintuplets	Bob Chase	22 episodes
2005	Will & Grace	Dale	Episode: "The Old Man and the Sea"
2006–2019	American Dad!	Various voices	12 episodes
2006, 2013	Arrested Development	The Richter brothers	8 episodes
2006–2008	The New Adventures of Old Christine	Stan	4 episodes
2006–2012	Metalocalypse	Various voices	3 episodes
2007	The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show	Mayor William Q. Lefawn	Episode: "Key to the City"
2007–2008	Monk	Hal Tucker	2 episodes
2007	Andy Barker, P.I.	Andy Barker	6 episodes; also producer
2007	Clark and Michael	Jerry Lillard	Episode: "DA Dad and the Break-Up"
2007	30 Rock	Mitch Lemon	Episode: "Ludachristmas"
2008–2011	The Mighty B!	Benjamin Higgenbottom (voice)	16 episodes
2008–2011	Robot Chicken	Various voices	2 episodes
2008	The Sarah Silverman Program	Potential adoptive parent	Episode: "Fetus Don't Fail Me Now"
2008–2015	The Penguins of Madagascar	Mort (voice)	82 episodes
2008	King of the Hill	Wesley Cherish (voice)	Episode: "Straight as an Arrow"
2009	Bones	Henry Simon	Episode: "Double Trouble in the Panhandle"
2009	True Jackson, VP	Simon Christini	Episode: "The Rival"
2009	Chuck	Brad	Episode: "Chuck Versus the Suburbs"
2009	The Goode Family	Fred Ridley (voice)	Episode: "Public Disturbance"
2009	Merry Madagascar	Mort (voice)	Television special
2009–2010	The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien	Himself (co-host)	145 episodes; also writer and announcer
2010	The Suite Life on Deck	Brother Theodore	Episode: "The Silent Treatment"
2010	Running Wilde	Dan Thorngood	Episode: "The Junior Affair"
2010	Glory Daze	Priest	Episode: "Hungry Like Teen Wolf"
2010–present	Conan	Himself (co-host)	Also writer and announcer
2011	Jon Benjamin Has a Van		Episode: "The Van Scheme"
2011–2015	China, IL	Agent Green (voice)	4 episodes
2012	Hot in Cleveland	Father Brian	Episode: "Claus, Tails & High-Pitched Males: Birthdates 3"
2012–2014	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Himself / Narrator	3 episodes
2013	Happy Endings	Roy	Episode: "Bros Before Bros"
2013	Madly Madagascar	Mort (voice)	Television special
2013	Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja	The Disciplinarian (voice)	Episode: "Escape from Detention Island"
2013	Deon Cole's Black Box	Cameo	Episode: "Deon Discovers the Wettest in the Building"
2013	Brooklyn Nine-Nine	Doorman	Episode: "The Vulture"
2014	Sean Saves the World	Larry	Episode: "The Joy of Ex"
2014	Review	Auctioneer	Episode: "Celebrity; Batman"
2014	The Millers	Douglas Marie Dascal	Episode: "Walk-n-Wave"
2014–2017	All Hail King Julien	Mort / Ted (voice)	78 episodes
2014–2015	Maron	Himself	2 episodes
2015–2018	Bob's Burgers	Wayne (voice)	2 episodes
2016	Bajillion Dollar Propertie$	Art Gordon	Episode: "Inside Joke"
2016	The Jim Gaffigan Show	Mitch Gaffigan	Episode: "My Brother's Keeper"
2016–2019	The Stinky & Dirty Show	Brave (voice)	10 episodes
2016	Andy Richter's Home for the Holidays	Himself	Television film
2017	Big Fan	Himself (host)	4 episodes
2017	Life in Pieces	Julius Black	Episode: "Musical Motel Property Bingo"
2017–2018	Santa Clarita Diet	Carl Coby	5 episodes
2017	Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special	Himself	Variety special
2017	Portlandia	Larry	Episode: "Passenger Rating"
2017	Animals.	Prisoner (voice)	Episode: "Humans"
2017	Justice League Action	Chronos (voice)	2 episodes
2017–2019	Big Hero 6: The Series	Globby / Dibs (voice)	8 episodes
2018	Mr. Pickles	(voice)	Episode: "S.H.O.E.S"
2018	Final Space	Gatekeeper (voice)	Episode: "Chapter 8"
2019	Black-ish	Mr. Schatz	Episode: "Relatively Grown Man"
2019	Corporate	Himself	Episode: "The Tragedy"
2020	Fresh Off the Boat	Himself	Episode: "Commencement"
2020	Love, Victor	Coach Ford	2 episodes
2020	Earth to Ned	Himself	Episode: "Late Night Ned"
2021	Big City Greens	Mayor Hansock (voice)	Episode: "Chipocalpyse Now"

Video games

Andy Richter video game work

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Halo 4	Marine	Voice

References

1. "Statement on the retirement of Laurence R. Richter", "Indiana.edu"
2. "Andy Richter Biography (1966-)". www.filmreference.com. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
3. Dietrich, Matthew (September 17, 1998). "Life as a Late-Night Sidekick". The State Journal Register. Springfield, Illinois. Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
4. "Andy Richter - Biography". All Movie Guide.
5. "Andy Richter Replaces Denny Hastert As The Star Of Yorkville, IL". TeamCoco. Conan O'Brien Show. June 2, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
6. Greg Fitzsimmons (November 27, 2012). "The Greg Fitzsimmons Show" (Podcast). Event occurs at 51:05. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
7. Richter on Conan on YouTube (April 13, 2012)
8. Aisha Tyler (January 23, 2012). "Girl on Guy with Aisha Tyler 31 with Andy Richter". MyLibsyn. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
9. Sicha, Choire (May 31, 2009). "Andy Richter: 'I got itchy'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 2, 2009.
10. Adalian, Josef (April 9, 2007). "NBC cancels 'Andy Barker, PI'". Variety.
11. Flynn, Gillian (March 9, 2007). "Andy Barker, P.I." Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
12. "Andy Richter named announcer for NBC's 'The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'". WFMJ-TV News. February 24, 2009.
13. "Introducing The Three Questions with Andy Richter". Earwolf. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
14. Flint, Joe (May 27, 2010). "Andy Richter wrapping deal to host new version of 'Pyramid' for CBS". Los Angeles Times.
15. "TNT and TBS Announce Extensive Slate of New Projects from Top Talents". The Futon Critic. May 18, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
16. Eames, Tom. "Andy Richter game show ordered by Fox". Digital Spy. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
17. "Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational, Game 1 (Andy Richter vs. Dana Delany vs. Wolf Blitzer)". Jeopardy!. September 17, 2009. Syndicated.
18. Prudom, Laura (February 8, 2016). "ABC Orders Game Show 'Big Fan' from Jimmy Kimmel and Banijay Studios". Variety. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
19. "Prop 8 - The Musical" starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and many more...". Funny or Die. December 2, 2008
20. "Webby Nominees: 13th Annual Webby Awards Nominees & Winners". The Webby Awards. Archived from the original on December 2, 2009. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
21. "Shaiman's 'PROP 8-THE MUSICAL' Wins GLAAD Award Honors". Broadway World. April 21, 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2009.
22. "Clouds give way to stars for softball game", Doug Miller, MLB.com, July 12, 2009
23. Bierly, Mandi (April 19, 2010). "Neil Patrick Harris Among Celebs In Million Dollar Jeopardy Semifinals". Entertainment Weekly.
24. King, Larry (November 19, 2014). "Andy Richter" (Video interview). Larry King Now. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
25. Richter, Andy (April 13, 2019). "Andy Richter" (Tweet). Twitter. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
26. Williams, Maxwell. "Andy Richter Shares Personal Story of Abortion at Planned Parenthood Fundraiser". The Hollywood Reporter.
27. Shepherd, Ken. "Comedian Andy Richter 'eternally grateful' for wife's 1992 Planned Parenthood abortion". The Washington Times.
28. "Andy Richter on Twitter". Twitter. April 26, 2017.
29. "Damon Lindelof, Hart Hanson Among Top Showrunners Posting Termination Letters In Wake Of Failed WGA-ATA Negotiations". Deadline.

External links

• Andy Richter at IMDb
• Andy Richter on Twitter
• The Three Questions with Andy Richter