Phil Hartman

Phil: I recently made a list of all the characters and voices I've done. It came to 99.

Phil: I should have been a general a long time ago instead of shining a seat with my ass in Washington D.C. But, thanks to a certain master sergeant, I had a career reversal 20 years ago.

Phil: The one thing I could do was voices and impersonations and weird characters, and there was really no call for that, except on Saturday Night Live.

Phil: One of the remarkable things about my career is that it has been marked by steady, incremental progress. No sudden spikes up, and no sudden downfalls, either.

Phil: I could do John Wayne, Jack Benny, Jack Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and entertain my friends. But I never seriously considered it as a career choice.

Phil: After working in the corporate world of advertising and graphic design, I know how hard the average person works, because I've been there.

Phil: I'm 49-years-old and I'm cautious of the fact that very few people in comedy have careers after age 50. I think there's a notion in our society, and it maybe valid, that people aren't as funny when they get older. It's a stigma still attached to the rebelliousness of youth. I do believe that sooner or later I'll get those great roles like Gary Sinise's part in "Forrest Gump" or Tommy Lee Jones' as "Two Face" in "Batman Forever."

Phil: I benefit from the Mr. Potato Head syndrome. Put a wig and a nose and glasses on me, and I disappear.

Phil: (On Paul Reubens' 1991 arrest for indecent exposure) The loss he took for what allegedly happened is the equivalent of somebody's getting 20 years for having a joint in their wallet.

Phil: I started doing Clinton and then I was on the cover of TV Guide. I became a household name. I didn't have to look for work any more. Work came to me.