Ari Hoptman

Ari Hoptman (born February 22, 1967) is an American actor, author, and academic, specializing in Germanic etymology, as well as a Marx Brothers historian.

Career

Hoptman attended Wayne State University before moving to the Twin Cities to graduate school at the University of Minnesota. He studied Germanic philology under Anatoly Liberman, eventually earning his doctoral degree in 2002. His graduate work investigated the possible relationship between Verner's Law and certain stress patterns of Old Germanic poetry.

At the University of Minnesota, Hoptman teaches classes in the Department of German, Nordic, Scandinavian & Dutch.

Hoptman has appeared in dozens of theatre productions, plays and solo shows, mostly in comedic roles. Minnesota Public Radio called Hoptman a "great local actor", and one reviewer said he takes a dry pleasure in unusual couplings in his humor.

Portraying Ira Stone from Laughter on the 23rd Floor four different times, Hoptman has described the journalist as obnoxious, loud, rude, and late on arrival, but "a brilliant writer."

Filmography