**To see video of Hank Azaria’s appearance on “Raceday,” click here: http://youtu.be/V1cAMKUqJ8s**
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Contact: NYRA Press Office
(718) 659-2244
EMMY-WINNING ACTOR HANK AZARIA APPEARS ON ‘RACEDAY’
ELMONT, N.Y. – Hank Azaria, a four-time Emmy Award-winning actor, made a guest appearance on Tuesday’s episode of “The NYRA Network Presents Raceday,” the dark-day broadcast of The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA).
In between races at Churchill Downs, Finger Lakes, Atlantic City Race Course, and other venues, Azaria sat down with “Raceday” hosts John Imbriale and Ernie Munick and discussed his acting and his childhood experiences, which included trips with Munick to Belmont Park. Azaria and Munick were childhood residents of Gerard Towers in Forest Hills and attended Camp Towanda together for 10 years and The Kew-Forest School in Rego Park.
Azaria, 47, is best-known for his work on the animated sitcom “The Simpsons,” for which he provides the voices for dozens of characters, most notably Moe Szylak, Chief Wiggum and Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. Other television appearances include “Friends,” “Mad About You,” and “Huff,” which ran from 2004-2006 and starred Azaria as Dr. Craig “Huff” Huffstodt.
The New York native has also appeared in numerous films including “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” (2009), “Dodgeball” (2004), “America’s Sweethearts” (2001), and “The Birdcage” (1996) for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for his portrayal of Guatemalan housekeeper Agador Spartacus. Theater credits include “Spamalot,” in which he played Sir Lancelot, the French Taunter, and others, and “The Farnsworth Invention.”
“Raceday” airs from noon – 6 p.m. on NYRA’s non-live racing days (usually Mondays and Tuesdays) and spotlights simulcast racing from around the country. Late last year, NYRA reached an agreement with New York City to provide content for channel 71, which had previously carried the NYCOTB Racing Network. The channel, now known as the NYRA Network, shows racing content from approximately 11 a.m. – 11 p.m. After the conclusion of NYRA’s live races, the channel highlights select simulcast signals from tracks around the country, with coverage usually extending to the end of the card at Yonkers Raceway.
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