Robert M. Smigel was born on the 7th January 1960, in New York City, USA, and is a comedian, actor, writer, and humorist, best known to the world for his appearance on TV’s “Saturday Night Live” in the segment “TV Funhouse”, and also writing sketches for the show, and is also known as the voice of the puppet character Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog, which appeared firstly in “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” in 1993.
Have you ever wondered how rich Robert Smigel is, as of mid- 2017? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Smigel’s net worth is as high as $3 million, earned through his successful career in the entertainment industry, which started in 1985.
Robert Smigel Net Worth $3 Million
Robert is a son of Irwin Smigel and his wife Lucia. He is Jewish, and during his childhood years, he visited Jewish summer camps on several occasions. After matriculating, Robert enrolled at Cornell University, but then transferred to New York University, from which he obtained a degree in political science in 1983.
However, his love for comedy was predominant, and he joined The Players Workshop in Chicago, where under Josephine Forsberg he studied improvisation, and was also a part of the All You Can Eat comedy troupe in the ‘80s.
He came to prominence in 1985 when Lorne Michaels hired him as a writer for SNL. Although the show was disastrous in the 1985-1986 season, Lorne kept some of the staff writers including Robert, and hired others. He eventually stayed on the show until 2013, gradually building his influence, as he started as a writer, but then began appearing on the show, impersonating celebrities such as Woody Allen, Al Sharpton, William Ginsburg, and the very Lorne Michaels. He also launched his own segment called “TV Funhouse”. His net worth also benefited considerably from this exposure.
Thanks to his success at SNL – for which Robert won two Primetime Emmy Awards in category Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program – he was sought by other notable people of the comedy world, including Conan O’ Brien. He joined Conan in 1993, and served as writer on more than 170 episodes until 2000. Also on Conan, Robert created the puppet character, Triumph – the Insult Comic Dog, which mocks celebrities in an Eastern European accent. Thanks to positive critiques Robert received for his creation, he wrote several more TV series about Triumph, including “The Jack and Triumph Show” (2015), then the film “Triumph’s Election Special 2016” (2016), and TV Mini-Series “Triumph’s Election Watch 2016” which certainly increased his net worth.
Aside from the two TV shows, Robert also wrote screenplays for films “You Don’t Mess With Zohan” (2000), starring Adam Sandler, “Hotel Transylvania” (2012), and its sequel “Hotel Transylvania 2” (2015) as well as voicing several characters in the film, including Marty. This also added to his net worth.
Regarding his personal life, Robert is married to Michelle Saks Smigel with whom he has three children. One of their children has autism and because of his dedication to improving his child’s life, Robert and his wife are members of the board of New York Collaborates for Autism. Also, Robert created a fundraising event – Night of too Many Stars – to benefit autism education. He received his third Primetime Emmy in 2012 for the TV special he created.
