Phil Hendrie

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Philip Stephen Hendrie
Born September 1, 1952
Occupation Radio Personality, Actor, Voice-over Artist, Entrepeneur
Years active 1973-present
Known for Radio satirist with 50+ characters he created and plays on air.
Notable work(s) The Phil Hendrie Show
Influenced by Lenny Bruce, Frank Zappa, Laurel & Hardy and The Honeymooners.
Home town Arcadia, California
Website
www.PhilHendrieShow.com

Philip Stephen Hendrie (born on September 1, 1952 in Arcadia, California, USA) is an American radio personality, actor and voice over artist.

Contents

Early life [edit]

Phil Hendrie was born and raised in Arcadia, CA.[1] In 1958 when Hendrie was 5 years old, his family took a road trip to visit relatives in Toronto, Canada. They listened to the radio the whole way.[2] He knew then he wanted to work in radio one day.[3]

He was one of four children in an upper-middle-class Catholic family [4] and an altar boy at Arcadia’s Holy Angels Church.[5] Hendrie still does an impression of Mother Rosalia doing announcements over the loudspeaker.[6]

Hendrie’s father was a salesman who came to Los Angeles in 1950 after serving in the Canadian army during World War II.[4] When Hendrie was 12 years old, his parents’ marriage was in trouble.[4] Listening to radio was his escape.[7] He was a huge fan of the Top 40 DJ “Emperor” Bob Hudson, so he rode his bike to radio station KRLA in Pasadena to see if he could meet him.[4] In Hendrie’s 12-year-old mind, he imagined the DJ sitting in his studio with the walls lined in leopard skin and a bunch of beautiful women feeding him peeled grapes.[3] Instead, he saw a middle-aged guy in slippers and a sweatshirt making up stories and Hendrie was inspired by that reality.[4]

Hendrie was also influenced by Lenny Bruce, Frank Zappa, Laurel & Hardy and The Honeymooners.[3]

When he was 13 years old, Hendrie’s parents divorced.[7] His father moved to Europe and married a woman who had four kids.[4] Hendrie’s family home was repossessed, forcing them to move into a small rented apartment where he slept on the couch during his high school years.[4] Hendrie is quoted in the LA Weekly, 6-11-04, saying “Our home really became the House of Usher. This suburban middle-class dream just beginning to decay like Dorian Gray. Now there are weeds growing up in the yard, the swimming pool is starting to turn green, and the cute little boy named Phillip that everybody used to see in the neighborhood suddenly has long hair, is smoking cigarettes and looking surly and pissed.”

After graduating from high school, Hendrie attended Pasadena City College to earn an English degree.[4] After one year at college, he left for Orlando, Florida in the mid- 70s.[7] He was 19 years old when he made the cross country road trip with a few of his friends.[8] He got a job in construction working on the build-out of Disney World.[4]

Career [edit]

Radio [edit]

Passionate about radio, Hendrie made a demo tape and got his first DJ job at WBJW in Winter Park, a city just outside Orlando.[8] It was 1973 and he was 19 years old.[2](3-29-02 LA Times) In 1978, he left WBJW to do evenings at WNOE-FM in the French Quarter of New Orleans.[9] He would go on from there to spin records up until 1988 in Miami, San Diego, Los Angeles, Utica and Fresno.[4]

In 1989, Phil returned to the Los Angeles area to debut as a weekend talk show host on KFI-AM 640, a newstalk station.[4]

After his show was cancelled on KFI, KVEN in Ventura, CA offered him a job in August, 1990.[7] In late September 1990, Hendrie introduced his first fictional on-air character on his radio talk show: Iraqi Raj Feenan.[7] The Gulf War had broken out and Feenan vociferously defended Saddam Hussein. Thinking it was a real person on the air, listeners went ballistic and the phones lit up. An entire cast of characters evolved and in 18 months, Hendrie took the show to major market stations in Atlanta, Minneapolis, Miami and eventually back to Los Angeles.[2]

As a radio satirist whose show is driven by a cast of fictional characters, all of whom Hendrie created and plays on air, he sets up a topic and discusses it with one of his characters who seamlessly takes the discussion beyond obvious social parameters. Feeding the circle of social satire are the callers who are real and genuinely passionate about what Hendrie’s “guest” is saying. Loyal fans enjoy being in on the ruse as Hendrie orchestrates a parody of his own profession—talk radio.[10]

In October 1996 Hendrie went back to KFI AM 640 to host The Phil Hendrie Show daily.[2] Hendrie’s popularity resulted in the radio show going national in 1999 via Premiere Radio Networks, a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications.[3]

Comedy greats and celebrities such as Howard Stern, Matt Groening (with musician David Lindley), Harry Shearer, George Carlin, Michael McKean, June Lockhart and Gary Oldman are fans who have come to Hendrie’s studio to watch him do his show.[4]

In February 2005, Hendrie’s flag ship station, KFI-AM 640, moved him to sister station XTRA Sports 570 AM in an effort to help turn the all sports talk radio station into a ratings winner with entertainment programming incorporated.[11] The show remained nationally syndicated on 100 radio stations until 2006.[12]

On April 27, 2006, Hendrie announced he was leaving radio to pursue his acting career on a full-time basis.[13] At the time, Hendrie was working on NBC-TV’s sitcom Teachers as cynical history teacher Dick Green.[14] His acting resume already included film and television roles in Trey Parker’s and Matt Stone’s motion picture, Team America: World Police, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Richard Appel’s A.U.S.A., and Judd Apatow’s North Hollywood. He also starred in Steve Levitan’s Phil Hendrie and wrote, executive produced and starred in Phil at the Gate, as well as performing a myriad of character voices on several episodes of the animated television shows King of the Hill and Futurama.[15]

His last day on air was June 23, 2006.[16]

On June 4, 2007, it was announced that Phil Hendrie would return to radio June 25, 2007 via national syndicator, Talk Radio Network (TRN) with shows airing nationally Monday through Friday from 10 PM to 1 AM PST on 100 radio stations.[17] The show was a straight talk show until September 14, 2009, when he welcomed back his cast of characters, bringing back his original brand of radio theater.[18] “Radio needs alternative programming, like my show, now more than ever,” said Hendrie. “Having the advantage of communicating compelling and outrageous points of view through these characters is an opportunity no other host has.” [19]

On Saturday, November 20, 2010, KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles announced that Phil Hendrie and his cast of voices were joining the station’s weekend line up.[20] Heard Saturdays from 7–1 PM, Hendrie did a local show for the station, while doing his national show Monday through Friday.

On February 23, 2012, Hendrie announced to his fans via Twitter and www.PhilHendrieShow.com that February 25, 2012 would be his last KFI-AM 640 Los Angeles show.[21]

Hendrie said, “This was not an easy decision because I’m going to miss everyone at KFI big time. However, doing a show like mine six days a week is murder. With the acting work cranking up and my obligation to TRN, something had to give.”[22]

He continues his national show on more than 100 stations via Talk Radio Network and works as an actor.

Acting [edit]

For the last 14 years, Hendrie has worked as an actor and voice over artist.

In the summer of 2011, Hendrie filmed a part for Judd Apatow’s motion picture, This Is 40, which was in theaters December 2012. In 2012, he played the recurring character Joe Napoli on three episodes of New Girl, 20th Century Fox’s hit sit-com starring Zooey Deschanel.[23]

Other television work in 2012 included recurring parts on six episodes of Napoleon Dynamite, and a role in an episode of ABC-TV’s Emmy Award winning series Modern Family.[24] Also out in 2012 was the film Last Call, in which Hendrie was cast as the liquor company representative, Mulvahill.

In 2008, Hendrie played the New Jersey Nets Coach in the comedy film Semi-Pro, starring Will Ferrell. Also that year, Hendrie had parts in the TV movies Mike Birbiglia’s Secret Public Journal and Giants of Radio.

From 2006 to 2007, Hendrie had a recurring role in David Mamet’s The Unit and appeared in five episodes. Other TV series included NBC’s sitcom Teachers, where he was part of an ensemble cast, playing the part of school teacher Dick Green for the full season;[25] and The Replacements, where he appeared in two episodes as the Mayor. He was also in the 2006 TV movie, Three Strikes.

In 2004, Hendrie voiced the computer I.N.T.E.L.L.I.G.E.N.C.E. and the Chechen terrorist in Trey Parker’s and Matt Stone’s motion picture Team America: World Police and starred in Steve Levitan’s animated TV pilot Phil Hendrie.[26]

He played Judge McCarthy on Richard Appel’s A.U.S.A. in 2003.[26] He also starred in a TV pilot he wrote and executive produced called Phil at the Gate the same year.

From 1999 to 2009, Hendrie voiced characters on 24 episodes of the hit animated TV series King of the Hill. He also voiced characters for three episodes of Futurama from 2000–2002 and played three characters on the 2009 feature length video, Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder.

From 2001–2002, Hendrie appeared on the TV series Andy Richter Controls the Universe and Judd Apatow’s TV movie North Hollywood.

Digital [edit]

Hendrie created his website, www.PhilHendrieShow.com in 1999 during his syndication deal with Premiere Radio Networks. In 2006, he acquired ownership of the website.[27] On March 26, 2010, Hendrie launched his revamped website, www.PhilHendrieShow.com with new features like “Backstage Pass” and “Phollow Phil,” where Hendrie fans gain special access to his comments, photos and pre-show videos and can interact with him and his characters.[28] In August that same year, Hendrie launched a podcast version of his national radio show on iTunes for his Backstage Pass subscribers.[29]

In March 2012, Hendrie extended his brand to Pandora with a collection of comedy bits featuring such characters as Jay Santos, Chris Norton, Bobbie Dooley, David G. Hall and Ted Bell.[30]

On March 13, 2013, it was announced that Hendrie partnered with LEG Digital and Courtside Media’s Launchpad Digital Media to increase his growing digital fan base.[31] As part of the partnership, Hendrie also launched the weekly “Phil Hendrie’s Mmm-Hmm, The Bobbie Dooley Podcast,” where his popular character, a member of the Western Estates Homeowners Association, interviews celebrities like actors Joel McHale and Patricia Arquette and boxer Sugar Ray Leonard.[32] The Dooley podcast is available on www.TheSideShowNetwork.com, www.PhilHendrieShow.com, iTunes and PodcastOne.com. The first Dooley podcast where she interviewed Actress Patricia Arquette garnered more than 15,000 downloads in three days.[33]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Hitt, Jack (6-17-01). "Talk-to-Yourself Radio: With Phil Hendrie Nothing Is as It Seems". New York Times Magazine. 
  2. ^ a b c d Carney, Steve (3-29-02). "Gotcha". Los Angeles Times. 
  3. ^ a b c d Heine, Paul (3-18-05). "Radio Schizo". Billboard Radio Monitor. 
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cullum, Paul (6-11-04). "Radio Provocateur". LA Weekly. 
  5. ^ Hitt, Jack (6-17-01). "Talk-to-Yourself Radio". New York Times Magazine. 
  6. ^ Hit, Jack (6-17-01). "Talk-to-Yourself Radio". New York Times Magazine. 
  7. ^ a b c d e Johnson, Brett (3-30-06). "Call Baiting". Ventura County Star. 
  8. ^ a b Yount, Michael (9-3-04). "Bait & Switch; Phil Hendrie hears voices -- 40 or so and all his own -- on his radio show; Phil Hendrie: The man behind 40 radio characters". Salt Lake Tribune. 
  9. ^ Walker, Dave (9-12-01). "Phil Hendrie has much to say". Times Picayune. 
  10. ^ Ryan, Ed (2-8-12). Radio Ink Magazine. 
  11. ^ "XTRA Adds More Non-Sports Content". Los Angeles Times. 4-29-05. 
  12. ^ "Phil Hendrie Retires From Radio to Pursue Acting Career". Radio Online News. 4-27-06. 
  13. ^ "Radio Vet Hendrie to Pursue Acting". Mediaweek. 4-27-06. 
  14. ^ Peterson, Al (4-28-06). "Phil Hendrie Retires From Radio". Radio & Records. 
  15. ^ Phil Hendrie at the Internet Movie Database
  16. ^ "Phil Hendrie's retiring from radio". Inside Radio. 4-27-06. 
  17. ^ All Access. 6-7-07. 
  18. ^ Marcucci, Carl (10-29-09). Radio Business Report. 
  19. ^ "phil hendrie brings comedy back to late night show". Radio Syndication Talk. 10-14-09. 
  20. ^ Lycan, Gary (11-22-10). Orange County Register http://www.ocregister.com/articles/radio-277233-station-sunday.html |url= missing title (help). 
  21. ^ Saxe, Frank (2-23-12). Inside Radio http://www.insideradio.com/article.asp?id=2401636&spid=32061 |url= missing title (help). 
  22. ^ Fleischer, Matthew (2-24-12). Fishbowl LA http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlla/phil-hendrie-to-end-his-saturday-night-kfi-show_b54324 |url= missing title (help). 
  23. ^ Ryan, Ed (10 September 2012). Radio Ink Magazine http://www.radioink.com/article.asp?id=2530218&spid=24698 |url= missing title (help). 
  24. ^ Simon, Perry (12-7-11). All Access http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/99949/phil-hendrie-shoots-role-on-modern-family |url= missing title (help). 
  25. ^ Haston, Chris (2006). TV Guide http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/phil-hendrie/photos/263525 |url= missing title (help). 
  26. ^ a b Harris, Jeffrey (3-25-12). 411mania.com http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/columns/230803 |url= missing title (help). 
  27. ^ Vizzo, Emily (4-24-10). Ventura County Star. 
  28. ^ Peterson, Al (10-26-2010). "Phil Phires Up New Website". NTS MediaOnline. 
  29. ^ "Phil Hendrie Launches Podcast via iTunes". All Access. 8-6-10. 
  30. ^ "Phil Hendrie Distributes Content Via Pandora". Talkers Magazine. 3-20-12. 
  31. ^ Ryan, Ed (3-13-13). Radio Ink Magazine. 
  32. ^ Taylor, Tom (3-13-13). Tom Taylor Now. 
  33. ^ Talkers Magazine. 3-13-13. 

External links [edit]

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