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Mike Myers

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This article is about the actor. For other people with similar names, see Michael Myers (disambiguation).
Mike Myers
Myers at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival
Born
Michael John Myers

(1963-05-25) May 25, 1963 (age 61)
Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
CitizenshipCanada
United Kingdom
United States
Occupation(s)Actor, comedian, musician, writer, film producer
Years active1975–present
Spouse(s)
Robin Ruzan
​
​
(m. 1993; div. 2007)​

Kelly Tisdale
​
(m. 2010)​
Children3
RelativesPaul Myers (brother)
Comedy career
MediumStand-up, film, television, theatre, books
GenresObservational comedy, satire, black comedy, self-deprecation, cringe comedy, deadpan
Subject(s)American culture, American politics, current events, religion, Jewish culture, race relations, human sexuality

Michael John "Mike" Myers (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian-born actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film producer, who also holds UK and US citizenship.[1] He is known for his run as a featured performer on Saturday Night Live from 1989 to 1995, and for playing the title roles in the Wayne's World, Austin Powers, and Shrek films. He also directed the documentary film Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon, and had a small role in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds in 2009.

Early life

Myers was born on May 25, 1963[2] in Scarborough, Ontario, the son of English-born parents Eric Myers (1922–1991), an insurance agent, and his wife, Alice E. (née Hind; born 1926), an office supervisor and a veteran of the Royal Air Force.[3]

Both his parents were from Liverpool and he has two older brothers, Paul, an indie rock singer-songwriter, broadcaster and author, and Peter, a Sears Canada employee.

The family is of English, Scottish and Irish ancestry. Myers was raised Protestant.[4]

Myers reportedly holds Canadian, U.S. and British citizenship.[1]

Myers grew up in North York and then Scarborough,[5] where he attended Sir John A. MacDonald Collegiate Institute and then graduated from Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute in 1982.

Career

Early career

Myers began performing in commercials at the age of two. At the age of ten, he made a commercial for British Columbia Hydro, with Gilda Radner playing his mother.[3] At the age of 12, he made a guest appearance as Ari on the TV series King of Kensington.

After graduating from high school, Myers was accepted into the Second City Canadian touring company. He later moved to the United Kingdom, where 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 program Wide Awake Club, parodying the show's normal exuberance with his own "Sound Asleep Club", in partnership with Neil Mullarkey.

He returned to Toronto and Second City in 1986 as a cast member in the Second City's Toronto main stage show, Second City Theatre.[6] In 1988, he moved from Second City in Toronto to Chicago. In Chicago, he trained, performed, and taught at the Improv Olympic.

Myers made many appearances, including as Wayne Campbell, on Toronto's Citytv in the early 1980s, on the alternative video show City Limits hosted by Christopher Ward. Myers also appeared as Wayne Campbell in the music video for Ward's Canadian hit "Boys and Girls".

The Wayne Campbell character was featured extensively in the 1986 summer series It's Only Rock & Roll, produced by Toronto's Insight Production Company for CBC Television. Wayne appeared both in studio and in a series of location sketches directed and edited by Allan Novak. Myers wrote another sketch, "Kurt and Dieter", co-starring with Second City's Dana Andersen and also directed by Novak, which would later turn into the popular "Sprockets" sketch on Saturday Night Live.

In 2011 Myers returned to The Comedy Store in London to perform a one-time reprisal of his role with The Comedy Store Players. The UK comedy website Chortle praised his performance.[7]

Film

Myers' star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

In 1992, Myers and Dana Carvey adapted Wayne's World into a full-length motion picture based on the SNL sketch. It was among the most successful movies of the year and the following year a sequel, Wayne's World 2, was released. That year Myers also starred in So I Married an Axe Murderer, which garnered a cult following.[citation needed] He then took a hiatus from television.

Myers returned to acting in 1997 with the film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, then a sequel in 1999, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, and finally Austin Powers in Goldmember in 2002. Myers played both the title role (Austin Powers) and the villain (Dr. Evil), as well as other characters, in all three Austin Powers films.

In 1998, Myers played one of his rare non-comedic roles in the film 54: Steve Rubell, proprietor of New York City's famous Studio 54, a 1970s discotheque. The film was moderately successful, and Myers's performance was widely praised.[citation needed] Myers later parodied the club as "Studio 69" in Goldmember.

In June 2000, Myers was sued by Universal Pictures for US$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 US$20 million contract because he did not want to cheat moviegoers with an unacceptable script—one that he himself had written.[citation needed] Myers countersued, and a settlement was reached after several months where Myers agreed to make another film with Universal. That film was The Cat in the Hat, which was released in November 2003 and starred Myers as the title character.

In 2001, Myers provided the voice of Shrek in the DreamWorks animated film of the same name, having taken over the role after original planned voice actor Chris Farley died in December 1997. He reprised this role in Shrek 4-D (a theme park ride) in 2003, Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third, and the Christmas special Shrek The Halls, both in 2007.

In 2008, Myers co-wrote, co-produced and starred in The Love Guru. In 2009 he played the part of British general Ed Fenech, in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. In 2010 Myers returned for the latest film in the Shrek series, Shrek Forever After.

Myers made a cameo appearance in Britney Spears' music video Boys as his film character Austin Powers.

Myers is a member of the band Ming Tea along with The Bangles' guitarist and vocalist Susanna Hoffs and musician Matthew Sweet. They performed the songs "BBC" and "Daddy Wasn't There" from 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.[citation needed] During a CBS interview in 2007, he noted that he normally takes three years between films. He spends one year "living his life" and then writes various screenplays, develops characters, practices them in front of live audiences, and then selects one of the screenplays to film.[citation needed]

Myers received the MTV Generation Award in June 2007, making him the second Canadian to win the award (following Jim Carrey in 2006), for bringing his unique style of comedy to small and big screens alike. His directorial debut, Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon, was selected to be screened in the Gala Presentation section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.[8]

Personal life

Myers began dating actress and comedy writer Robin Ruzan in the late 1980s after meeting at a hockey game in Chicago, during which Myers caught a puck and used the incident as an icebreaker to strike up a conversation with Ruzan. The couple married on 22 May 1993, and Myers later referred to Ruzan as "his muse".[9][10] The couple filed for divorce in December 2005.[11]

In 2006, café owner Kelly Tisdale confirmed reports that she and Myers were dating. Myers and Tisdale wed in New York in a secret ceremony in the fall of 2010.[12] They have three children: son Spike Alan (b. 2011) and daughters, Sunday Molly (b. 2014) and Paulina Kathleen (b. 2015).[13][14][15]

Myers is a Dungeons & Dragons player[16] and was one of several celebrities to have participated in the Worldwide Dungeons & Dragons Game Day in 2006.[17]

He supports the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League.[18] He named two characters in the first Austin Powers movie Commander Gilmour and General Borschevsky, after then-Maple Leafs players Doug Gilmour and Nikolai Borschevsky.

Myers has played for Hollywood United F.C., a celebrity soccer team.[19] He played in the 2010 Soccer Aid for UNICEF UK football match, England vs. R.O.W (Rest of the World) and scored his penalty during a sudden death shootout after the game ended 2–2 (June 6, 2010). The Rest of the World team beat England for the first time since the tournament started. Myers is a fan of Liverpool F.C.[20]

In 2016 Myers published a book, Canada, about the country's history and pop culture.[6]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1992 Wayne’s World Wayne Campbell Also writer
MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo shared with Dana Carvey
Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance
Soundtrack - Waynes World Theme
1993 So I Married an Axe Murderer Charlie McKenzie / Stuart McKenzie
1993 Wayne's World 2 Wayne Campbell Also writer
Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo shared with Dana Carvey
1997 Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery Austin Powers / Dr. Evil Also writer and producer
MTV Movie Award for Best Dance Sequence
MTV Movie Award for Best Villain
Nominated — Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor – Comedy
Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance
1998 54 Steve Rubell
1998 The Thin Pink Line Tim Broderick
1998 Pete's Meteor Pete
1999 Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me Austin Powers / Dr. Evil /
Fat Bastard 		Also writer and producer
American Comedy Award for Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture (Leading Role)
Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Villain
Canadian Comedy Award for Film – Performance – Male
Canadian Comedy Award for Film – Writing – Original
MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo shared with Verne Troyer
MTV Movie Award for Best Villain
Teen Choice Award for Film – Choice Sleazebag as Fat Bastard.
Nominated — Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor – Comedy
Nominated — Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor
Nominated — Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Couple shared with Heather Graham
Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance
Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Fight shared with Verne Troyer
Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Musical Performance shared with Verne Troyer
Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Film – Choice Chemistry shared with Mindy Sterling
Soundtrack - Just the Two of Us
1999 Mystery, Alaska Donnie Shulzhoffer
2001 Shrek Shrek Voice
Nominated — Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie
Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance
Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Team shared with Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz
2002 Austin Powers in Goldmember Austin Powers / Dr. Evil /
Fat Bastard / Goldmember 		Also writer and producer
Canadian Comedy Award for Film – Pretty Funny Male Performance
Canadian Comedy Award for Film – Pretty Funny Writing
MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance
Nominated — Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor
Nominated — Empire Award for Best Actor
Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Villain
Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor – Comedy
Soundtrack - Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)
2003 Nobody Knows Anything! 'Eye' Witness
2003 The Cat in the Hat The Cat in the Hat Nominated — Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor
Nominated — Razzie Award for Worst Actor
Nominated — Razzie Award for Worst Screen Couple (with either Thing 1 or Thing 2)
2003 Shrek 4-D Shrek Voice
Amusement Park Attraction
2003 View from the Top John Witney
2004 Shrek 2 Shrek Voice
Nominated — Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie
2006 Home Himself Documentary
2007 Shrek the Third Shrek Voice
Favorite Voice For an Animated Movie
2008 The Love Guru Guru Maurice Pitka/Himself Also writer and producer
Razzie Award for Worst Actor
Razzie Award for Worst Screenplay
Razzie Award for Worst Picture
Nominated — National Movie Award for Best Performance – Male
2009 Inglourious Basterds Gen. Ed Fenech Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Ensemble
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2010 Shrek Forever After Shrek Voice
Nominated — Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Voice in an Animated Film
2012 Oscar Etiquette Sir Cecil Worthington Short film
2013 Being Canadian, Sometimes Himself Documentary
2013 Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon Himself Documentary; also director
2015 I Am Chris Farley Himself Documentary
2017 Terminal Filming

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1975 King of Kensington Ari Episode: "Scout's Honour"
1977 Range Ryder and the Calgary Kid Himself
1979 The Littlest Hobo Tommy Episode: "Boy on Wheels"
1980 Bizarre Various
1985 John and Yoko: A Love Story Delivery Boy Uncredited
Television film
1987 Meet Julie (voice) Television film
1987 It's Only Rock & Roll Various 13 episodes
1989 Elvis Stories Cockney Man Television short
1989–1995 Saturday Night Live Various 121 episodes; also writer
1997 Saturday Night Live Himself (host) Episode: "Mike Myers/Aerosmith"
2008 2008 MTV Movie Awards Himself (host) Television special
2011 Saturday Night Live Wayne Campbell Episode: "Dana Carvey/Linkin Park"
2014 Monty Python Live (Mostly) Himself Television special
2014 Saturday Night Live Dr. Evil Episode: "Amy Adams/One Direction"
2015 Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special[21] Wayne Campbell Television special

Awards and nominations

Notable Saturday Night Live characters

  • Dieter – host of Sprockets
  • Linda Richman – hostess of Coffee Talk
  • Japanese Game Show Host
  • "Handsome Actor" Lank Thompson
  • Simon – a little boy who does drawings in the bath and complains about having "prune hands" (the theme song for this segment was a slightly modified version of the theme song from Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings by Edward MacLachlan)
  • Wayne Campbell (SNL, the Wayne's World films)
  • Pat Arnold (SNL, Bill Swerski's Superfans)
  • Stuart Rankin – proprietor of "All Things Scottish"
  • Lothar (Of the Hill People)
  • Ed Miles (Middle-Aged Man) – An older man who helps young people with their problems
  • Phillip – A child of the age of six who is hypoglycemic and hyperactive (quote: "I'm a hyper hypo"). Phillip appears in at least two sketches, one with Nicole Kidman and the other with Kim Basinger. The sketch centers on him at a playground while wearing a helmet and a harness tied to the monkey bars.
  • Kenneth Reese-Evans – host of "Theatre Stories"
  • In December 2014, Myers appeared in a cameo during the cold open as his character Dr. Evil, a super villain known for his appearances in the Austin Powers film series where he called out North Korea and Sony, in particular the logic of Kim Jong-un, and the 2014 Sony hack. as well as making comparisons between the Guardians of Peace and Grand Old Party.[25][26]

References

  1. ^ a b Paul Harrison (2005). Mike Myers. Heinemann-Raintree Library. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-4109-1088-2.
  2. ^ "Mike Myers Biography at". TV Guide. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Mike Myers Biography at". TalkTalk. Retrieved 2013-05-01.
  4. ^ Elson, Peter (2002-07-27). "Mike Myers: International Man of Mirth". Liverpool Daily Post. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
  5. ^ "Mike Myers on his new book 'Canada' and his relationship with his home country". Victoria Ahearn, The Canadian Press, via the Ottawa Citizen, October 28, 2016.
  6. ^ a b "Mike Myers". The Second City - 50 Years of Funny. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  7. ^ Butler, Marc. "Mike Myers & The Comedy Store Players 3/7/2011". Chortle Live Review. Chortle. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
  8. ^ "Supermensch The Legend of Shep Gordon". TIFF. Retrieved 2013-08-06.
  9. ^ "Mike and Kelly wed in secret". New York Post. 2011-03-04. Retrieved 2011-03-04.
  10. ^ "Mike Myers: Why does everyone want to get into bed with him?". independent.co.uk. July 13, 2002. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  11. ^ "Mike Myers, wife file for divorce: report". MSN. 2005-12-24. Retrieved 2011-03-04.
  12. ^ "Mike Myers secretly marries longtime girlfriend". CTV. 2011-03-04. Retrieved 2011-03-04.
  13. ^ Mike Myers and wife welcome third child, November 2015
  14. ^ "Mike Myers becomes first-time father to baby boy". CTV News. 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2011-10-01.
  15. ^ "Mike Myers Welcomes Daughter". People. April 11, 2014. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  16. ^ "Mike Myers". Inside the Actors Studio. Season 7. Episode 9. 2001-02-04. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ "Dungeons and Dragons Game Day at London Dungeon". Viewlondon.co.uk. 2007-11-03. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  18. ^ "Mike Myers as proud as ever of Canadians - Sportsnet.ca". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  19. ^ Philip, Robert (2008-03-05). "Frank Leboeuf ready to act on the ball". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  20. ^ Bourne, Dianne (May 27, 2010). "US actor Mike Myers to play football in Manchester for charity". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  21. ^ "WATCH: 'Wayne's World' Returns to 'SNL' to Make Kanye West Sit Down". Variety. February 16, 2015. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  22. ^ "Mike Myers". Canada's Walk of Fame.
  23. ^ "Hollywood Walk of Fame database". HWOF.com.
  24. ^ "Canada Post honours Canuck comedians with new stamp series". cbc.ca. 29 August 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  25. ^ Leeds, Sarene (December 22, 2014). "Mike Myers' Dr. Evil Schools North Korea and Sony Pictures". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  26. ^ "Dr. Evil Returns on 'SNL' to Talk Sony and North Korea". Variety. December 21, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
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