Stephen Hawking in popular culture

Stephen Hawking (1942–2018), a theoretical physicist, appeared in many works of popular culture.

Television and film

Appeared as himself

Comedy and drama The Culture Show. (Simpsons special) Alien Planet. (Discovery Channel special) I Love the World. (Discovery Channel commercial) Late Night with Conan O'Brien (episode 1752). He was in a skit in which he made a phone call to guest Jim Carrey. TV Offal. Hawking appeared with host Victor Lewis-Smith in the pre-titles sequences of this show. Star Trek: The Next Generation At the release party for the home video version of the A Brief History of Time, Leonard Nimoy, who had played Spock on Star Trek: The Original Series, learned that Hawking was interested in appearing on the show. Nimoy made the necessary contact, and as a result Hawking appears at the beginning of the Season 6 cliffhanger, "Descent", when Data is seen playing poker with holographic depictions of Hawking, Sir Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein. Hawking portrayed his own hologram for this episode, making him the only guest in any Star Trek series to play himself. When taking a tour of the set, he paused at the Warp core, smiled, and said, "I'm working on that." During the tour, Hawking requested, and was allowed, to sit in the captain's chair of the Enterprise-D. The Big Bang Theory. (episode 108: "The Hawking Excitation"; episode 117: "The Extract Obliteration" (voice-over); episode 155: "The Relationship Diremption" (voice-over); episode 173: "The Troll Manifestation"; episode 200: "The Celebration Experimentation"; episode 216: "The Geology Elevation"; episode 232: "The Proposal Proposal".) Red Nose Day 2015. Hawking appears with David Walliams and Catherine Tate as an Andy Pipkin character, who transforms into a machine.

Voiced himself in animation

Futurama: In "Anthology of Interest I" (2000) Hawking appears as a member of the Vice Presidential Action Rangers (VPAR), who guard the space-time continuum. Along with Hawking at the end of the twentieth century they include Al Gore, Nichelle Nichols, Gary Gygax, and their summer intern Deep Blue. He first appears as a customer at the pizzeria where Fry believes him to have "invented gravity", and Hawking neglects to correct him. After learning of Fry's inter-dimensional experience, he arranges for him to be kidnapped by the VPAR. In the film The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008), Hawking appears as his own head in a jar leading a scientific convention organized to study and discuss a tear in the universe. He says that despite writing a book about it, he has no idea what it is. After stunning Professor Farnsworth and Professor Wernstrom with beams from his eyes, he is surprised, remarking, "I didn't know I could do that". Hawking provided his "own" voice for this appearance, and is characterised the same way as in The Simpsons. Hawking appeared in the video game segment of season 6's finale, "Reincarnation" (2011). Hawking made his final appearance in a 2017 promo trailer for Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow. The Simpsons: In "They Saved Lisa's Brain" (1999), Lisa joins the power-hungry Springfield chapter of Mensa, who take over the local council with the intention of transforming Springfield into a Platonic Utopia. Hawking gets wind of the group's actions and arrives in Springfield to investigate. When Mensa announce their new draconian laws, the crowd gathered quickly transforms into an angry mob. Hawking saves Lisa with his wheelchair, which is equipped with hidden gadgets including retractable helicopter blades and a spring-loaded boxing glove. He later joins Homer for a beer at Moe's, where Homer impresses him with his theory of a donut-shaped universe. He makes a brief cameo in "Life's a Glitch, Then You Die" (1999). He appears queuing for the rocket trip to Mars. During the British Comedy Awards 2004, Hawking was presented with a one-off toy version of himself in Simpson form by Matt Groening, complete with boxing glove. Hawking presented Groening with a lifetime achievement award. In the episode "Don't Fear the Roofer" (2005) he is again at Moe's, for Lenny's birthday party. He later explains that he was tracking a miniature black hole, which drew light away from Homer's "imaginary friend" Ray (guest voice Ray Romano), thus making him invisible to Bart. Homer is therefore able to prove his sanity after being institutionalized. In the episode "Stop or My Dog Will Shoot" (2007), Santa's Little Helper encounters Hawking in a corn maze while searching for a lost Homer. Hawking says "This maze is too hard for me," and then flies off in the helicopter attachment. In the episode "Elementary School Musical" (2010), Hawking raps with Flight of the Conchords for Lisa.

Factual Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Interview, 15 June 2014 Red Dwarf. Hawking appeared in a special programme about the popular British science fiction series. He praised its creators for their witty use of (pseudo) scientific theories and said he enjoyed watching the show. The 11th Hour. In this film about the effects of human activity on the environment Hawking gave explanations of these effects. Genius of Britain. Hawking presented the links for a five-part 2010 Channel 4 series profiling British scientists. University Challenge 2016–17. Hawking presented the winner's trophy to the team from Balliol College, Oxford. God, the Universe and Everything Else. Interview with Arthur C. Clarke and Carl Sagan.

Narration Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking. A three-part miniseries about aliens, time travel and the past and present of mankind Masters of Science Fiction. A science fiction anthology series.

Played by an actor Hawking. Portrayed by actor Benedict Cumberbatch in a drama about Hawking's time as a postgraduate student at Cambridge University. Stargate Atlantis. In the 5th season of Stargate Atlantis, episode 16 "Brain Storm", where many world physicists were invited to a demonstration of cooling effect using a wormhole between 2 universes. Stephen Hawking, played by an actor, was shown in his chair from behind. Superhero Movie. In a parodied take on Spider-Man, Hawking, played by the actor Robert Joy, jokes about himself within. The Theory of Everything. Portrayed by actor Eddie Redmayne in a biopic about Hawking from the early 1960s to the 1980s. Hawking agreed to allow the filmmakers use of his speech synthesizer voice for the film. Sausage Party. Portrayed by storyboard artist Scott Underwood in the animated movie, parodied as a piece of gum.

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