Maurice LaMarche: Difference between revisions

But did you know that he was once a stand-up comedian? At the age of 19, LaMarche took his high school act to an open mic night in New York, performing to a reaction in which, as he describes, "they just totally ignored me". This reaction was coupled with the backlash LaMarche received from fellow Canadian comedians who LaMarche describes as discouraging him from pursuing a career outside of Canada. Three years later, at the age of 22, Maurice moved straight to Los Angeles to further his stand up career. This move, LaMarche says, would always be something he regretted doing instead of moving to New York.

Over the next five years, LaMarche's career would gradually progress, playing comedy clubs all over the U.S., with several appearances on Merv Griffin and ''An Evening At The Improv'', but in spite of such interest, LaMarche always believed that, while his impersonations and stage presence were strong, he needed to develop funnier comedy material. Despite being so critical of himself, LaMarche would be granted the opportunity of being part of the 1985 HBO production, Rodney Dangerfield Hosts the 9th Annual Young Comedians Special, on which also appeared Bob Saget, Rita Rudner, Louie Anderson, Yakov Smirnov, and the breakout first appearance of Sam Kinison. Although he was received (and reviewed) favorably, in looking back on his own performance in that special, LaMarche believed he was "probably about five years away from going from being a good comedian to being a great comedian" and being the "only impressionist that actually comes from somewhere". Unfortunately, LaMarche wouldn't get that chance.

On March 9, 1987, [[Maurice LaMarche]]'s father was murdered, shot to death by a lifelong friend in a Toronto hotel lobby, in front of dozens of witnesses. [[Creator Breakdown|This sent LaMarche into depression and alcoholism for the next two years, effectively stalling his stand up career]]. After getting sober on Inauguration Day in 1989, LaMarche embarked again into the world of his first love, standup comedy, in the early part of 1990. However, just as he was regaining lost momentum, tragedy struck once more, as his eighteen-year-old sister was killed in a car accident in September of that year. At this point, though he remained sober, LaMarche decided he just couldn't do standup comedy anymore.

[[Maurice LaMarche]] began voice-acting on ''[[Inspector Gadget]]'' (and even appeared onscreen as Gadget in a couple of live-action segments of ''[[The Super Mario Bros Super Show]]'') and went on to ''[[Dennis the Menace]]'', ''Popeye and Son'' and ''[[The Real Ghostbusters]]''. After ''[[The Real Ghostbusters]]'', LaMarche became a regular mainstay of the voiceover industry appearing in such shows as ''[[Tale Spin]]'', ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'', ''[[G.I. Joe]]'', ''[[Attack of the Killer Tomatoes]]: The Animated Series'', ''[[Taz-Mania]]'', ''[[Where's Waldo]]'', ''[[The Little Mermaid (animation)|The Little Mermaid]]'', ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]'', and ''[[Bonkers]]'' before landing perhaps his most recognized role in 1993 as The Brain. Following this, LaMarche worked on ''[[The Critic]]'' (he once voiced 29 characters in one 30 minute episode), ''[[Freakazoid]]!'', and ''[[The Tick]]'' before being cast in ''[[Extreme Ghostbusters]]''. The stretch of two years after this saw LaMarche portray characters in such shows as ''[[Duckman]]'', ''[[Hey Arnold]]!'', ''[[King of the Hill]]'', and ''[[Sonic Underground]]''. It was at this time, 1999, that [[Maurice LaMarche]] began work on ''[[Futurama]]''. Since ''[[Futurama]]'' he has continued to work steadily in television, including guest roles on ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' (where he once again parodied Orson Welles).