Seth Meyers

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Seth Meyers

Seth Meyers, 2007
Born Seth Adam Meyers
December 28, 1973 (1973-12-28) (age 35)
Bedford, New Hampshire, U.S.
Years active 1995 - present

Seth Adam Meyers (born December 28, 1973) is an American actor and comedian, currently serving as head writer for Saturday Night Live (SNL) and anchoring its weekly news sketch Weekend Update.

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[edit] Early life

Meyers was born and raised in Bedford, New Hampshire, attending West High School in Manchester, New Hampshire. He went on to graduate from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Meyers is the older brother of Josh Meyers who was a cast member of MADtv and That '70s Show.

[edit] Career

Before SNL, Meyers got his improv comedy start as a member of the Northwestern University improv sketch group Mee-Ow, created by Paul Warshauer and Josh Lazar. He continued his career at ImprovOlympic with the group Preponderate as well as overseas as a cast member of Boom Chicago, an English language improv troupe based in Amsterdam,[1] where his brother was also a cast member.[2]

Meyers appeared with Brendan Fraser and Anita Briem in the 2008 3D film Journey to the Center of the Earth. He also makes a cameo in the 2008 film Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist as a drunk man who mistakes the main character's Yugo for a taxi. Meyers is currently writing (and will star in) a movie Key Party. He also starred in the 2004 comedy See This Movie with John Cho.[3][4] In July of 2008, Meyers directed the web series The Line on Crackle.[5]

Meyers has hosted the Webby Awards twice, in 2008 and again in 2009.

[edit] Saturday Night Live

Meyers joined the SNL cast in 2001.[2] In 2005, he was promoted to writing supervisor,[citation needed] and in January 2006 he became co-head writer, sharing the role with Tina Fey and Andrew Steele. [6] In 2004, he auditioned to co-anchor "Weekend Update" with Fey, but lost out to Amy Poehler.[7] With Fey's departure, Meyers became head writer for the 2006-2007 season and also took on the role of Weekend Update co-anchor with Amy Poehler.[8][9] When Poehler left the show, Meyers anchored solo. With Weekend Update Thursday this fall, it seems Meyers will be co-anchoring with Kristen Wiig.

During the 2008 United States presidential election,[10] while appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman, former SNL cast member Tina Fey credited Meyers with writing the skits involving Fey's impression of Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

On SNL, he has impersonated such figures as John Kerry,[2] Michael Caine, Anderson Cooper, Carrot Top, Prince Charles, Ryan Seacrest, Sean Penn,[2] Stone Phillips,[2] Tobey Maguire, Peyton Manning, Ben Curtis (also known as the Dell Dude), Ty Pennington, Bill Cowher, Brian Williams, Nicollette Sheridan, Wade Robson, Donald Trump, Jr., Tom Cruise, and Kevin Federline. His recurring characters include Zach Ricky (the host of the kids' hidden camera show "Pranksters"), Nerod (the receptionist in the recurring sketch "Appalachian Emergency Room"), David Clinger (a scientist who often insults his fellow workers), DJ Johnathan Feinstein (the DJ on the webcam show "Jarett's Room"), Dan Needler (one half of a married couple "that should be divorced," opposite Amy Poehler), and William Fitzpatrick (from the Irish talk show "Top O' The Morning").

Meyers supported and picketed during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. When interviewed he said, "We all know how lucky we are to have the jobs we have. We're not asking for much. You have to change the rules because people are watching TV in a different way."[11] Even so, he mentioned in interviews that he regretted missing much of the presidential election primary season.[12][13]

[edit] Other pursuits

Meyers won the third season of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown and donated the $100,000 prize to the Boston-based Jimmy Fund.[14][15]

In 2008, Meyers donated over $4000 to Barack Obama's presidential campaign. [16]

Meyers and SNL castmate Bill Hader penned a Spider-Man one-shot entitled "The Short Halloween". It was illustrated by Kevin Maguire and came out May 29, 2009 to positive reviews.

Meyers, along with Mike Shoemaker of SNL, created an animated half-hour series "The Awesomes" that was picked up by MTV and will be produced by Lorne Michaels' production company, Broadway Video. [17]

[edit] Personal life

Meyers is an avid Red Sox fan.[18] He is also a Pittsburgh Steelers fan;[19] his father is from Pittsburgh [20]. At the end of the March 1, 2008, episode of "Weekend Update," he reached under his desk for a Terrible Towel to wave in honor of Myron Cope.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Rapkin, Mickey (September 10, 2004), "Going Dutch". Entertainment Weekly. (782/783):18
  2. ^ a b c d e Biography from the NBC website
  3. ^ www.imdb.com/name/nm1024878/
  4. ^ Seth Meyers at the Internet Movie Database
  5. ^ "For anybody that's ever waited in line to see a movie / Star Trek". Star Trek Phase II. 2008-07-26. http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/forum/index.php?topic=5588.0. Retrieved on 2009-02-27. 
  6. ^ SNL undergoing another generational shift, an AP article from The Arizona Republic website
  7. ^ Gary Levin (September 29, 2006), "'SNL' will update its Weekend Update". USA Today
  8. ^ "Fey, Dratch Give Up Saturday Night". E! Online), eonline.com. 2006-07-24. http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=b1b31fb1-7238-4341-9348-425c793c0853. Retrieved on 2007-11-03. 
  9. ^ "Seth Meyers will coanchor Weekend Update". tv.com). 2006-09-22. http://www.tv.com/story/6449.html. Retrieved on 2007-11-03. 
  10. ^ Scholibo, Corey (January 13, 2008), "Tina Fey". Advocate. (1022):65
  11. ^ Levin, Gary (November 6, 2007), "Late night without Letterman, Leno ...". USA TODAY.
  12. ^ Levin, Gary (February 20, 2008). "Weekend update: 'SNL' is back in the race". USA Today.
  13. ^ Meyers, Seth (February 29, 2008), "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE". Entertainment Weekly (980):40
  14. ^ NH Magazine's It List
  15. ^ Anft, Michael (May 12, 2005), "Win, Lose, or Draw?". Chronicle of Philanthropy. 17 (15):25-27
  16. ^ Celebrity Political Donations/Seth Meyers, newsmeat.com/
  17. ^ [1]
  18. ^ Woolley, Scott (September 29, 2003), "ZAP!". Forbes. 172 (6):76-82
  19. ^ A. D. (July 16, 2007), "Andy Samberg". Sports Illustrated. 107 (2):24
  20. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaXCXGD9BIA&feature=related

[edit] External links

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Tina Fey		 Weekend Update(1)
2006 – current		 Succeeded by
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1. Meyers co-anchored alongside Amy Poehler from 2006-2008.
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