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.”