Azaria was born to Sephardic Jewish parents from Greece in New York, New York. After several years of living together, Azaria married actress Helen Hunt on July 18, 1999. The couple divorced on December 18, 2000. Current rumor is that he's dating INXS Rock Star contestant Suzie McNeal.

Azaria is perhaps best known for his voice work on the animated television show . He has provided the voices for over 160 characters on the show including those of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Moe Szyslak, Police Chief Clancy Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, Cletus,Professor Frink and Snake. He also provided the voice of Eddie Brock in the Spider-Man animated series of the mid-1990s.

He has also appeared in movies such as where he played the recurring character David, one of Phoebe’s boyfriends. He also had a recurring role on as Nat, the dogwalker.

Azaria has also shown his talents on stage, in 2003 he appeared in London's West End as Bernard in . Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing in Friends) and Minnie Driver also starred.

He also appeared as Sir Lancelot, the French Taunter, and other characters in the musical version of until June of 2005, which opened in Chicago, Illinois in December 2004 and has since moved to Broadway. He currently plans to return in fall of 2005 to take on these roles again after leaving to go back to work on

Hank Azaria has been nominated for numerous awards during his career including Emmys and Screen Actors Guild Awards.