1987–1995: Early career Lange cites
Richard Pryor,
Richard Lewis, Lange would not attempt stand-up again for another four years. In February 1991, Lange supported his family by taking up work as a
longshoreman at
Port Newark, loading ships at its orange juice pier. That year, Lange earned around $60,000. During his search for work, he found regular employment driving a taxi in
New York City. The flexibility of his taxi job allowed him to perform sets at the clubs and resume work afterwards. Lange's first paid gig as a stand-up comedian followed at the
United States Merchant Marine Academy in
Kings Point, New York, for a payment of $30. He then became a paid regular for the first time in 1992 at Stand Up NY in Manhattan, followed by
Comic Strip Live, where he would perform a 20-minute set from Tuesday to Saturday nights. Within a year of starting, Lange landed a role in a dinner theater play, touring restaurants and catering halls across
New Jersey. He then co-formed an
improv troupe called Live on Tape which sold out
Caroline's on Broadway numerous times. The success of these shows led to a contract with the
William Morris Agency where Lange met Peter Principato, his manager for the next ten years. Lange took up extra work with roles in commercials which were a "big step up", including a voiceover for
Foot Locker, which entitled him to become a member of
AFTRA. During this time, Lange developed an addiction to
cocaine and
alcohol.
1995–1997: Mad TV, first suicide attempt, and jail time At age twenty-seven, Lange was selected as one of the eight cast members in the sketch comedy series
Mad TV, from the eight thousand that were screened. He flew to
Los Angeles in May 1995 to shoot the television pilot which was picked up by the
Fox network. Lange moved to Los Angeles two months later to film the
first season. The show paid him a large signing bonus plus a salary of $7,500 per episode, fueling his worsening cocaine habit; during this period he said he was using cocaine "like it was going out of style". In November 1995, after nine episodes had been shot, he attempted suicide after he ran out of cocaine, drank
whiskey and "a bunch of pills", and wrote a
suicide note to his mother and sister. He claimed, "I was 100 percent serious about dying". Lange returned to New Jersey to complete a rehabilitation and counseling program. At its conclusion, he wrote a new forty-five minute stand-up set that he felt "really proud of", and used his
Mad TV fame to headline spots in comedy clubs around New York City, supported by further voiceover work for commercials. In January 1996, Lange returned to Los Angeles to film the remaining episodes of the first season.
Quincy Jones, the show's producer, supported Lange during rehab and sent him over on his private jet. Lange returned to form in his work, ranking his performance in these episodes as "the best I've ever done in sketch comedy", including the creation of his hit character, White Mama. In mid-1996, Lange secured his first major acting role for an independent film titled
Puppet, starring
Rebecca Gayheart and
Fred Weller. He wrote, "To this day I have never seen it because I don't think it's possible to purchase a copy of it anywhere ... it was screened in a theater at least once, because my manager went to see it". Filming for the
second season of
Mad TV began in August 1996. Two months later, Lange ended his sobriety and returned to using cocaine. His time on the show ended in November 1996 when his agent and the show's cast and crew attempted an
intervention. The incident began when Lange lost a $15,000 bet on the
Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield boxing match and turned up to rehearsals "coked up". While in jail, Lange received a voice mail from
Cameron Crowe who informed him that his scene with
Tom Cruise and
Kelly Preston for
Jerry Maguire had been cut. After his jail term, Lange returned to New Jersey in January 1997 and spent a short time in a
psychiatric hospital. He described this time as the "most depressing period" of his life. He returned home afterwards, and fell into a
clinical depression. After the producers at
Mad TV convinced Lange to complete formal rehabilitation, he spent two months at Honesty House in
Stirling, New Jersey. Lange's contract was not renewed for the show's
third season, but he made special guest appearances on the
fifth,
tenth, and
fourteenth seasons.
1997–2001: Dirty Work and The Norm Show In 1997, Lange left rehab and resumed stand-up gigs in New York City. His depression improved soon after when he was invited to audition for two network television sitcoms, which boosted his confidence "astronomically". During the negotiations phase, Lange was contacted by comedian and actor
Norm Macdonald, who asked him to audition for the dual lead role in his comedy
buddy film Dirty Work (1998), directed by
Bob Saget. Macdonald had not found a suitable actor for the part until he happened to tune into an episode of
Mad TV for the first time. He saw a sketch that involved Lange delivering an out-of-character monologue which he found funny and noted Lange "had a melancholy about him" that reminded Macdonald of comedian
John Belushi. Macdonald recalled Lange's first reading of the script as "perfect", which landed him the role, but in order to shoot the film,
MGM studios required Lange to obtain an approval report from his rehab facility in New Jersey. Lange settled the matter by paying the center $1,500 as a private donor. Filming took place across two months in
Toronto. To promote the film, Lange made his debut guest appearance on
The Howard Stern Show with Macdonald on January 8, 1998. The pair returned once more that year, and twice more in 1999. Lange credits Macdonald and Saget with rejuvenating his career when his exposure from
Dirty Work led to several film and television offers. When filming wrapped, various heads of networks and production companies expressed an interest in potentially hiring Lange. After meeting with them, including
Warren Littlefield of
NBC and
Peter Roth of Fox, a bidding war occurred, with offers coming in from every major network. With help from William Morris Agency, Lange accepted a $750,000 development deal with Fox that originally stood at $250,000 in late 1997, enabling him "to bail my mother out of every single financial debt she had." None of Lange's ideas for a show were picked up, but he supported himself by performing at comedy clubs in
Los Angeles. He also landed a role in a pilot television series which he co-wrote with Sam Cass, in April 1998, subsequently re-written by request from the network. Its title was
The King of New York which included
Luis Guzmán in its cast. Lange felt the idea was ignored and suddenly pushed through for shooting at the last minute, which affected its quality. Weeks later, Lange accepted a second development deal, this time with NBC worth $350,000. From 1999 to 2000, Lange secured roles in the feature films
Mystery Men,
The Bachelor,
The 4th Floor, and
Lost & Found. He also toured as the opening act to Macdonald's stand-up shows. In 1999, Lange joined the cast of Macdonald's sitcom
The Norm Show during its second season as Macdonald's half brother, Artie. Lange stayed with the show until its cancellation in 2001 after three seasons. He enjoyed a period of wealth during this time, being paid $35,000 per episode for a show with "ridiculously lame, easy jokes", liked working with his castmates and lived in a $4,000-a-month condo in
Beverly Hills. "Even with that life", Lange added, "creatively I was empty inside".
2001–2008: The Howard Stern Show and ''Artie Lange's Beer League'' In March 2001, comedian and writer
Jackie Martling left
The Howard Stern Show. Stern announced the "Win Jackie's Money" contest and had several comedians audition for the vacant position by sitting in on some shows. Having been introduced to the show back in 1982 by his father, Lange had since developed an immense appreciation for the radio antics of Stern and the rest of the staff. Lange built a rapport with Stern, the show's
staff, and the audience. One news reporter credited Lange's "everyman demeanor ... relatable to the average Joe"; another wrote: "a kind of comic
Everyman, the person who says what the listener at home might be thinking". but he accepted a contract to join the show full-time, describing the offer as a "blessing". Around this time, Lange teamed with producer and writer
Sam Simon for a comedy show pilot for
DreamWorks to air on
NBC, but it never materialized. In September 2003, Lange scored a one-year talent holding deal with ABC and
Touchstone Television. When Stern announced his departure from terrestrial radio for Sirius Satellite Radio in late 2004, Infinity Broadcasting offered Lange a four-year deal worth $20 million to replace Stern on WXRK-FM, with producer
Gary Dell'Abate as producer. Both turned down the offer in order to stay on the show as it moved to Sirius. On December 13, 2004, Lange released his first stand-up DVD titled ''It's the Whiskey Talkin'', formed of 45 minutes of material he performed at the Tempe Improv in
Tempe, Arizona, a time in his career when he was "playing more clubs". Lange later spoke about the release: "I worked really hard on that ... a major distributor put it out, people bought it and seemed to like it". Upon the DVD's general release in February 2005, Lange took on "an insane schedule" for the following six months to promote it, doing
The Howard Stern Show each weekday morning, and stand up gigs nationwide on weekends. In March 2005, Lange secured a deal with Ckrush Entertainment to star in and executive produce his own comedy feature film, ''
Artie Lange's Beer League. Development began in 2001 when Lange started on a script with director and producer Frank Sebastiano, based on a 17-minute film Lange wrote, funded and starred in 2000 titled Game Day''. The script was complete by 2002, and Ckrush agreed to fund a $2.5 million budget. The stress of putting the film together, and doing nationwide gigs on weekends, caused Lange to
drink heavily and take "twenty
painkillers a day". His attempts to cope from withdrawals failed – during one attempt to obtain more at a comedy gig, he instead bought
heroin which began an addiction that lasted from March to June 2005, resulting in his absence from cast auditions and pre-production meetings. Lange took four days off work in June 2005 to get through the illness caused by withdrawals at home, which prompted concerns from his family and radio colleagues of a drug relapse. When Sebastiano and production staff threatened to cancel the film if he did not show up, Lange obtained
Subutex from a doctor that got him well enough to return to work. On the air, Lange put his absence down to illness from excessive drinking. Filming was completed in July 2005, on time and within budget. The film premiered on September 13, 2006, at the
Ziegfeld Theatre, followed by a limited release across North America. To promote the film, Lange completed a stand-up tour which included a show at
Carnegie Hall which sold out in under three hours.
2008–2009: Various projects and Stern Show departure In June 2008, Lange headlined a comedy tour he formed, named Operation Mirth, with the
United Service Organizations to entertain American troops serving in
Afghanistan. He was inspired to do so after watching
Patriot Act: A Jeffrey Ross Home Movie, a documentary about comedian
Jeffrey Ross' own USO tour in
Iraq. Lange picked comedians
Jim Florentine,
Nick DiPaolo, and
Dave Attell to join him, with ''The Howard Stern Show's'' producer
Gary Dell'Abate as the tour's
master of ceremonies. In 2008, Lange signed a deal with
Spiegel & Grau to write his first book
Too Fat to Fish, and held the position for one week. The book remained on the list's top ten for eleven weeks. It was referenced twice on the
Top Ten List segment on
Late Show with David Letterman. A paperback edition released in 2009 with an additional chapter, peaked at number six on the Best Seller paperback list. In January 2009, Lange went to
West Palm Beach, Florida, to complete a 21-day rehab program after he had relapsed on heroin the month prior. After seven days, he quit treatment and spent almost $4,800 on a hotel room, women, a haircut, and two pairs of sunglasses. He returned home and booked three nights at Caroline's comedy club in the same week, earning $35,000 back. The show was cancelled two episodes later. Buck defended Lange's comments and wrote the foreword to his second book. In July 2009, Lange was charged of
driving under the influence of an intoxicant and
careless driving after he became involved in a minor traffic accident in New Jersey. In October 2009, Lange took one week off from
The Howard Stern Show, citing depression and a "mini nervous breakdown". Lange recorded the set at
Gotham Comedy Club in New York City earlier in the year, and is composed of material that Lange had written over the past four years of his career, He was found on the floor by his mother who, unbeknownst to him, was outside planning an intervention for him with his sister, two uncles, and comedian
Colin Quinn. and was transferred to a psychiatric ward a week later. An executive for SiriusXM stated that Lange would be welcomed back onto
The Howard Stern Show following his recovery, but Stern later decided against it, thinking it would not aid in his recovery. Lange entered a period of
depression, spending most of his time at home. The death of his friend and fellow comedian
Greg Giraldo from a prescription drug overdose two days later sent Lange back into a depression, at a time when he considered a "return to society". In April 2011, after showing no signs of improvement, Lange was forced into a detox facility in New Jersey by Quinn and "two huge Irish guys". Lange wrote, "It was an abduction, which was exactly what I needed ... they dragged me, literally kicking and screaming". After three weeks at the facility, Lange was transferred to Ambrosia Treatment Center in
Florida for two and a half months, where he completed the program.
Bruce Springsteen, one of Lange's favorite artists, contacted him during the process for support. Initially, he denied the incident was a suicide attempt as he felt embarrassed to say it was his second, but while writing about the event and subsequent therapy, he realized, "I need to be honest with myself." In July 2011, Lange had recovered enough to resume his career. His first endeavor took place on July 6 as co-host on a one-off radio show on
Fox Sports Radio with comedian
Nick Di Paolo as a stand-in for
Tony Bruno. The show turned out to be a test show after Di Paolo accepted a deal to host a late-night sports comedy program on
DirecTV, and chose Lange as his co-host. On October 3, 2011,
The Nick & Artie Show launched on approximately 30 stations nationwide and on
SiriusXM. After Di Paolo left the show in January 2013, the show was renamed
The Artie Lange Show and Lange hired retired American football player
Jon Ritchie as his co-host. On April 28, 2014, Lange announced the show would no longer air after that day. In 2013, Lange accepted an $800,000 advance from
Touchstone Books to write his second book. Lange agreed to the project primarily for the money, but also wished to put out something that would help others who struggle with
drug abuse. which covers his life and career during his final years on
The Howard Stern Show, his second suicide attempt and resulting depression, and his recovery. Lange described the book as "the most honest thing I've ever done in my life". Following its release on October 29, 2013, the book entered
The New York Times Best Seller list at number 8 under combined print and e-book sales and number 12 under hardcover sales.
2014–2019: The Artie Quitter Podcast, third book, and Crashing Following the cancellation of his DirecTV show, Lange focused on his comedy career. He recorded a one-hour special for
Comedy Central titled
The Stench of Failure that aired on October 18, 2014. On November 4, 2014, Lange sent out a series of tweets about a sexual fantasy between him and
ESPN sportscaster
Cari Champion set during slavery times. He was
Thomas Jefferson and Champion was a slave, and he attempts to whip her but fails. She beats him up and escapes. As a result, Lange received a lifetime ban from ESPN and Comedy Central cancelled a scheduled appearance. On January 5, 2015, Lange launched an uncensored subscription-based podcast titled
The Artie Quitter Podcast. He recorded episodes mainly from his home in
Hoboken, New Jersey. Lange estimated the podcast gained "about 9,000" subscribers in its first year. In May 2017, Lange stated the podcast would end after 400 episodes in order to tend to his comedy, filming
Crashing, and his third book. He aimed to resume the podcast around September 2017, either at a cheaper subscription rate or free with advertisements. In 2015, Lange made a return to television after he secured roles on two shows. He made two guest appearances on
The Jim Gaffigan Show in 2015 and 2016, respectively, Lange revealed he was paid $15,000 per episode. During this time, Lange recorded a scene for a special reunion episode of
Mad TV. He revealed his salary of $17,500 per episode on season two. The piece was well received and a deal with the publisher was made. ''Wanna Bet?: A Degenerate Gambler's Guide to Living on the Edge'' was released in July 2018. On September 5, 2017, Lange co-hosted his new show,
The Artie and Anthony Show, with
Anthony Cumia on the latter's online subscription-based network
Compound Media. Cumia had hosted
The Anthony Cumia Show for three years by himself until he decided to bring in a co-host. Lange was absent from the show for six weeks following his December 2017 arrest and subsequent time in rehab; he returned full-time on January 22, 2018. Cumia announced Lange's departure on May 14, 2018, for the foreseeable future due to his ongoing health and legal issues. In 2018, Lange's potential projects included the development of a film, a sitcom, and an animated series. Three days prior to his arrest, Apatow and HBO offered Lange a buddy comedy-type show and a raise in salary, but Lange claimed he was fired from the second season of
Crashing in the wake of the incident. However, Apatow maintained this was not the case and Lange revealed he is "still a
Crashing employee". On April 5, 2017, Lange's original charges were downgraded to three "disorderly persons" offenses, equivalent to misdemeanors, as he was not in the car where the drugs were found. Lange failed to appear in court due to miscommunication from his lawyer, resulting in a bench warrant issued by the court. The situation culminated in Lange's arrest on December 12 when he failed to appear in court in response to an additional arrest on May 12 when he was caught at high speed with a bag of heroin on his lap. On July 7, 2017, Lange was rushed to a hospital and had emergency surgery on his chest after he collapsed after performing stand-up in
Chicago, and claimed he was hours from death. On December 15, 2017, Lange pleaded guilty to possessing 81 bags of heroin in exchange for the earlier charge of possession of cocaine being dropped. He then checked himself into rehab on a private jet paid for by two fellow comics. Lange left rehab in January 2018, and began an outpatient rehab program for five days a week with regular urine tests. He reasoned his drug relapse down to anger. In November 2018, Lange announced his decision to enter inpatient rehabilitation with comedian
Bob Levy, after breaking his four-year probation by testing positive twice for cocaine and opioids. On several occasions he left rehab to perform stand-up comedy gigs before returning to the facility on the same night. On January 30, 2019, Lange was placed into custody for possession of a controlled substance and checked into a treatment center. A month later, Lange posted a tweet which revealed he had moved on to work at a gas station. On May 21, Lange was arrested on a drug court warrant for violating the conditions of his probation program. On June 10, after 21 days in jail, he was released and began a new in-patient program.
Radar Online reported in August 2019 that Lange was progressing in rehab and would remain at least through September. He was scheduled to return to a New Jersey court where a jail sentence was a possibility. On September 10, 2019, Lange left rehab and announced that had been sober for more than seven months. On January 30, 2020, Lange announced that he had been sober for one year.
2019–present: Halfway House podcast and hiatus After being released from rehab, Lange performed his first stand-up routine that night at the Comedy Cellar in New York City. He then resumed regular stand-up jobs in the local area. He announced that he had written a fourth memoir while in rehab, tentatively named ''Rippin' & Runnin': Life on Drug Court
. Artie Lange's Halfway House
premiered on December 2, 2019, featuring comedian Mike Bocchetti as co-host. The last episode was released on February 7, 2020, before Lange put his career on hold later that month. He later said that he had returned to the public eye too soon and needed further time to work on his recovery program. Lange resurfaced in November 2020 with a new podcast series, Letters to Artie'', on The Comics Gym network with his manager as co-host. The pair recorded one episode, after which Lange entered another career hiatus. In October 2021, Lange resumed the ''Artie Lange's Halfway House'' podcast, recording two episodes a week. He also set up a
Patreon account. In February 2022, Lange put the podcast on hiatus once more to focus on his health. Actor and longtime friend Jimmy Palumbo said in March 2023: "He's doing OK. He's sober. He's just trying to put it all together right now. Get himself healthy and have a clear mind." A photograph of Lange at a restaurant with fellow comedians Jeff Ross, Dave Juskow, Rachel Feinstein and Amanda Gail was published in December 2025. Another photograph was published in the following month, this time showing Lange at gathering for comedian Dave Attell's birthday. == Personal life ==