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Michael Myers (born May 25, 1963 in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film producer. Both his 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.
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 skit. It ended up being one of the most successful movies of the year.
In 1997, Myers introduced the world to Austin Powers, with the film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Myers played the title role, and several other characters in the film. In 1999, he played his first non-comedic role 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 of 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. 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.
Myers is a member of the band Ming Tea with former Bangles guitarist and vocalist Susanna Hoffs, which performed the songs BBC and Daddy Wasn't There for the Austin Powers movies.
His brother, Paul Myers, is a musician and writer.
In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted amongst the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.
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 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 revoked his citizenship, and FBI agents are monitoring him.
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.
On December 23, 2005, Myers decided to divorce his wife of twelve years, Robin Ruzan.
Selected Filmography
- Saturday Night Live (1975) (TV series) (1989–1995)
- Wayne's World (1992)
- So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993)
- Wayne's World 2 (1993)
- Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
- 54 (1998)
- Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
- Shrek (2001) (voice)
- Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
- View from the Top (2003)
- The Cat in the Hat (2003)
- Shrek 2 (2004) (voice)
- Shrek 3 (2007) (voice)
External links
- Mike Myers at IMDb