Mike Myers (actor)

This article is about the actor. For other uses see Michael Myers

Michael Myers (born May 25, 1963 in Scarborough, Ontario) is a British-Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film producer.

Biography

Early life

Both of Myers' parents are from Liverpool, England, and Myers has British as well as Canadian citizenship. His ethnic heritage is English, Scottish and Irish, and he has stated that he considers himself to be British although he is also very vocal about being a proud Canadian.

Career

One of Myers' first acting jobs was with Saturday Night Live star Gilda Radner in a TV commercial when he was nine years old. Myers graduated from high school in 1982 and was immediately accepted into Toronto's Second City improvisational comedy troupe. He made numerous appearances, including as Wayne Campbell, on Toronto's Citytv in the early 1980s, on the alternative video show "City Limits" hosted by Christopher Ward. In 1985 he was one of the founding members of The Comedy Store Players, an improvisational group based at The Comedy Store in London. The next year, he starred in the British children's TV programme Wide Awake Club, parodying the show's normal exuberance with his own "Sound Asleep Club", in partnership with Neil Mullarkey.

Myers became well-known as a member of the cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live television program from 1989 to 1995, where he performed characters like Dieter, Linda Richman, and Wayne Campbell from "Wayne's World". In 1992, Myers and comedian Dana Carvey took Wayne's World to the silver screen in a full-length motion picture based on the SNL sketch. It ended up being one of the most successful movies of the year. The film was so successful, the next year a sequel was made - Wayne's World 2.

In 1997, Myers introduced the world to Austin Powers, with the film International Man of Mystery. Myers played the title role, and several other characters in the film. In 1999, he played one of his first non-comedic roles in the film 54 where he played the proprietor of Studio 54, a famous New York discotheque of the 1970s. The film was moderately successful, and Myers' performance was widely praised. Myers later parodied the club as "Studio 69" in 2002's Austin Powers in Goldmember.

In June 2000, Myers was sued by Universal Pictures for $3.8 million for backing out of a contract to play Dieter, the SNL character, in a feature film. Myers said he refused to honor the $20 million contract because he didn't want to cheat moviegoers with an unacceptable script - one that he himself had written. Myers countersued, and a settlement was reached after several months where Myers agreed to make another film with Universal. That film would be The Cat in the Hat, released in November 2003 and starring Myers as the title character. It was a role he was ecstatic to play.

With former Bangles guitarist and vocalist Susanna Hoffs, Myers is a member of the band Ming Tea, which performed the songs BBC and Daddy Wasn't There for the Austin Powers movies.

In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted among the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. As of September 29, Myers has been signed on to play the lead role in the upcoming biopic of The Who drummer Keith Moon. The film will be produced by Roger Daltrey, Nigel Sinclair and Paul Gerber.

Personal life

His brother, Paul Myers, is a musician and writer.

On September 2, 2005, Myers was paired with rapper Kanye West for a 90-second segment, part of a benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina relief, A Concert for Hurricane Relief, on NBC. The event stirred criticism when West deviated from the script to criticize the media portrayal of black people in New Orleans and also commented, "George Bush doesn't care about black people" before the camera cut away to comedian Chris Tucker. On October 1, Myers appeared in the season premiere of Saturday Night Live. He was featured in a short clip with West (the musical guest for the episode), and jokingly stated that the US had revoked his citizenship is not known to be a U.S. citizen and that FBI agents are monitoring him.

On December 23, 2005, Myers and his wife of the past 12 years, Robin Ruzan (whose Jewish mother was the inspiration behind Myers' Linda Richman character on Saturday Night Live), filed for divorce.

Selected filmography

Saturday Night Live (1975) (TV series) (1989–1995)
Wayne's World (1992) - Wayne Campbell
So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993) - Charlie Mackenzie/Stuart Mackenzie
Wayne's World 2 (1993) - Wayne Campbell
International Man of Mystery (1997) - Austin Powers/Dr Evil
Pete's Meteor (1998) - Pete
54 (1998) - Steve Rubell
The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) - Austin Powers/Dr Evil/Fat Bastard
Shrek (2001) (voice) - Shrek
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) - Austin Powers/Dr Evil/Fat Bastard/Goldmember
View from the Top (2003) - John Witney
The Cat in the Hat (2003) - The Cat
Shrek 2 (2004) (voice) - Shrek
Shrek 3 (2007) (voice) - Shrek

Myers has recently been working on the upcoming film Shrek The Third, a second sequel to Shrek. It is going to be released on May 17, 07. Shrek 2 was most successful animated movie ever and was second block buster hit after Titanic.

Notable characters

The following characters were created by Myers:

Dieter (Saturday Night Live)
Linda Richman (SNL)
Wayne Campbell (SNL, the Wayne's World films)
Stuart McKenzie (SNL, So I Married an Axe Murderer)
Charlie McKenzie (So I Married an Axe Murderer)
Austin Powers (the Austin Powers films)
Dr. Evil (all three Austin Powers films)
Fat Bastard (Austin Powers: The Spy who Shagged Me and Austin Powers in Goldmember)
Goldmember (Austin Powers in Goldmember)

The following are notable characters whom Myers has portrayed in film, but who were originally created by other writers:

Shrek (Shrek, Shrek 2, and the forthcoming Shrek 3)
The Cat in the Hat (The Cat in the Hat)

External links