Photo: Jay Dixit / CC BY 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Robert Smigel is, to me, one of comedy's great architects who rarely needs the spotlight. The mind behind SNL's TV Funhouse and the gloriously cruel puppet Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, he wins by sideways invention rather than star wattage. That he holds an Emmy and a Writers Guild Award yet keeps working the strange margins of humor tells me everything about his instincts. His screenwriting for Adam Sandler films only deepens my respect: this is a craftsman who shapes American comedy from behind the curtain, and I think that hidden influence is precisely what makes him so admirable.
Overview
Robert Smigel (born February 7, 1960) is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, producer, and puppeteer, known for his Saturday Night Live "TV Funhouse" cartoon shorts and as the puppeteer and voice behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. He also co-wrote the first two Hotel Transylvania films, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, and Leo, all starring Adam Sandler.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Robert Smigel
- Name (Japanese)
- ロバート・スミゲル
- Reading
- ろばーと・すみげる
- Born
- February 7, 1960 (age 66)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aquarius / Rat
- Origin
- New York City, New York, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- actor / puppeteer / screenwriter / television actor / film director
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- New York University
Awards & achievements
- Writers Guild of America Award
- Primetime Emmy Award
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Actor — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.