Rick Moranis (born April 18, 1953) is a Canadian comic actor best known for his work on SCTV and in films such as Ghostbusters, Little Shop of Horrors, and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

Biography

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Early life

He was born Frederick Alan Moranis in Toronto, Ontario. In the 1970s, he worked (using the stage name Rick Allen) as a disc jockey at various radio stations in Toronto, including CFTR, CKFH, and CHUM-FM. He followed that with his work at SCTV, enjoying particular success portraying "Bob" of Bob and Doug McKenzie.

His other memorable SCTV characterizations include motor-mouthed film producer Larry Siegel, terminally-ill rock star Clay Collins, smooth-voiced video deejay Gerry Todd, cool Leutonian pop star Linsk Minyk, kid-brother amateur comic Skip Bittman, headcheese butcher Carl Scutz and morning homily intellect Rabbi Karlov.

Movies

After his SCTV work, Moranis had a busy film career which lasted over a decade. In an August 2004 interview with Sound & Vision magazine, Moranis talked about the kinds of films he enjoyed the most:

The films he worked on include:

Trivia

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One of Rick Moranis' trademarks is that he always wears glasses in all of his films.

Celebrities impersonated by Moranis on SCTV include: David Brinkley, Dick Cavett, Merv Griffin, Woody Allen, Richard Dreyfuss, Al Waxman, George Carlin, Neil Young, Anson Williams, Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, Jim Bakker, Brent Musburger, Henry Moore, Phil Silvers, John Denver and the voice of Gordon Lightfoot.

Recent activities

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As of 2004, Moranis was on the Advisory Committee for the Writing and Performance at Humber College, the only such diploma program in the world.

In an October 2005 interview with USA Today, Moranis talked about backing away from the movie business:

In 2005, Moranis released an album entitled The Agoraphobic Cowboy, featuring country songs with lyrics which Moranis says follow in the comic tradition of artists like Roger Miller and Jim Stafford. The album was produced by Tony Scherr and is distributed through ArtistShare and his official website. In the Sound & Vision interview done before he decided to release the album, he commented on the origins of some of the songs:

On December 8, 2005, The Agoraphobic Cowboy was announced as a nominee for the 2006 Grammy for Best Comedy Album.

(A previous album by Moranis was entitled You, Me, The Music and Me (1989).)

Quotes

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• As Gerry Todd: "Meatballs, meatballs... I kind of like that one."

• As Skip Bittman (impersonating Porky Pig meeting Kruschev): "A-be, da-be, da-be, da-be, da-be, Nikita!"

• As Clay Collins: "It's good to know my music turns on hip clergymen like you."

• Ghostbusters "During the rectification of the Vuldronaii the Traveller came as a large, moving Torb. Then, during the third reconciliation of the last of the Meketrex supplicants they chose a new form for him-that of a giant Sloar. Many Shubs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Sloar that day, I can tell you."
• Ghostbusters "Alright, who brought the dog?"

• Ghostbusters II "Your honor, ladies and gentlemen of th-the-the audience, I don't think it's fair to call my clients frauds. Okay, so the blackout was a big problem for everybody, okay? I was stuck in an elevator for two hours and I had to make the whole time. But I don't blame them. 'C-Cause one time I turned into a dog and they helped me. Thank you."
• Ghostbusters II "Yeah! My clients are still under a judicial mes-trangement order! That blue thing I got from her!"

• Honey, I Shrunk the Kids "When Einstein invented the atomic bomb, did they ask him to prove that it worked?"

• Honey, I Blew Up the Kid "I was president of the astronomy club two years in a row! We were happenin' guys."

• Little Shop of Horrors "You look radiant today, Audrey. Is that new eye makeup?"

• Spaceballs: "What? You went over my helmet?"

• Spaceballs: " I see your schwartz is as big as mine."

• Spaceballs: "Yogurt, I hate yogurt, even with strawberries!"

External links

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• grammy winning country singer?
• Official website
• His ArtistShare projects
• Rick Moranis Internet Fan Club
• Rick Moranis, Singing 'Cowboy', a December 2005 story from Weekend Edition
• Rock Radio Scrapbook 1973, with a RealAudio clip of Rick Allen from June 1973
• Review of The Agoraphobic Cowboy from the Country Music Television website
• An Hour with SCTV's Rick Moranis, an August 2004 interview with Sound & Vision magazine
• October 2005 Interview with Moranis from the USA Today website

1953 births | Canadian comedians | Canadian film actors | Canadian television personalities | Jewish Canadians | Jewish comedy | Living people | Radio personalities | SCTV | Torontonians

Rick Moranis | Rick Moranis | Rick Moranis