- Born
- Birth nameDarrell C. Hammond
- Height5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
- Comedian Darrell Hammond was born in Melbourne, Florida, to Margaret Evelyn (Helms) and Max Carey Hammond. A Saturday Night Live (1975) cast member from 1995 to 2009 - the longest tenure of any SNL cast member - Hammond was one of the sketch TV show's strongest and funniest performers. As well as being part of skits where he had chemistry with other cast members, Hammond won audiences over with dead-on impersonations of various celebrities and Hollywood figures, such as Vice Presidents Dick Cheney and Al Gore, President Bill Clinton, Hardball with Chris Matthews (1994) host Chris Matthews, Sean Connery (who constantly bothered Alex Trebek, played by fellow cast alumni, Will Ferrell, during "Celebrity Jeopardy" skits), Regis Philbin, Donald Trump and many more. Despite his shaky movie resume (The King and I (1999) and New York Minute (2004)), Hammond is still a revelation whenever it comes to SNL.
More recently known for his ongoing 2011 - 2012 SNL Republican Primary coverage and spot-on portrayal of sometimes - candidate Donald Trump.
In May 2011 Darrell published his first auto-biography: God If You're Not Up There I'm F*cked: Tales of Stand-Up, Saturday Night Live, and Other Mind-Altering Mayhem. This book tells how a childhood filled with abuse led to his career as a mimic and impersonator extraordinaire.- IMDb Mini Biography By: CartmanKun@aol.com
- SpousesElizabeth Hammond(1997 - 2012)Elizabeth Hammond(May 9, 1990 - present) (1 child)
- Most known for his impression of Bill Clinton
- Holds the SNL record for the most impressions by a single cast member: 105. He also holds the record for the most times saying the show's catch phrase, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", to start the show (beating out Dana Carvey).
- Impersonations include Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Dick Cheney, Jesse Jackson, Chris Matthews, Regis Philbin, Sean Connery, John Travolta, Ted Koppel, Phil Donahue, Jack Nicholson, Donald Trump and Richard Dreyfuss on Saturday Night Live (1975).
- Held the record of being the longest running cast member in SNL history with 14 seasons. Retired from SNL after the 34th season in 2009 but returned to be the show announcer after the passing of Don Pardo. His record has since been broken by Kenan Thompson.
- Has spoken candidly about his struggles with Bipolar disorder and Schizophrenia.
- In 2011, he revealed in his memoir "God, If You're Not Up There, I'm Fucked: Tales of Stand-Up, 'Saturday Night Live' and Other Mind-Altering Mayhem" having been severely abused as a child, especially by his mother, and a subsequent history of drug addiction and self-harm as coping mechanisms. He also said that as a child, he had started practicing impressions and mimicry because it helped distract his mother from abusing him.
- [on his troubled past] The thing that occurs to me is that abhorrent behavior is not an airborne virus. You don't get it because you sat on the wrong toilet seat in the subway station. Something has to occur to have caused it. Suddenly I realized I'm not ashamed of this at all. I've been knocked down on the canvas a number of times and I've never not gotten up.
- By the time you get on the air on 'Saturday Night Live' you're so tired you can't even remember why you wanted to be a comic, or what you ever thought was funny. But when you get that huge first laugh in this famous place, and there are literally millions of people watching, and you're affecting what they do that night, you can't get higher. It can't get better.
- [about appearing in a sketch as Bill Clinton opposite the real Monica Lewinsky] My mother called me after the Lewinsky episode to say , "You didn't really kiss her, did you?"Yeah, Ma, we all know where her mouth has been, thanks for reminding me.
- When I did Regis, I did him a little differently than Dana Carvey had. When I did Phil Donahue, I did him a little differently than Phil Hartman had. There was one sketch after Will Ferrell had left the show when I played George W. Bush, and there was a lot of pressure on me to mimic the way Will did him. Bit it wasn't possible; we're not wired the same.
- [2020, on Sean Connery]: Always loved doing my silly impressions of him on SNL, and I heard he once spoke highly of me on The Tonight Show.
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