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'''Michael John''' "'''Mike'''" '''Myers''' (born May 25, 1963) is a [[Canadians|Canadian]] actor of [[British people|British]] [[parentage]], [[comedian]], [[screenwriter]], and [[film producer]]. He was a long-time cast member on the [[NBC]] sketch show ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' in the late 1980s and the early 1990s and starred as the title characters in the films ''[[Wayne's World (film)|Wayne's World]]'', ''[[Austin Powers (film series)|Austin Powers]]'', the ''[[Shrek (film series)|Shrek]]'' film series, and ''[[The Love Guru]]''.
'''Michael John''' "'''Mike'''" '''Myers''' (born May 25, 1963) is a [[Canadians|Canadian]] actor of [[British people|British]] [[parentage]], [[comedian]], [[screenwriter]], and [[film producer]]. He was a long-time cast member on the [[NBC]] sketch show ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' in the late 1980s and the early 1990s and starred as the title characters in the films ''[[Wayne's World (film)|Wayne's World]]'', ''[[Austin Powers (film series)|Austin Powers]]'', the ''[[Shrek (film series)|Shrek]]'' film series, and ''[[The Love Guru]]''.


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==Personal life==
Myers was born and raised in [[Scarborough, Ontario|Scarborough]], [[Ontario]], [[Canada]], the son of Alice E. ([[married and maiden names|née]] Hind; b. 1926), an office supervisor who was formerly in the [[Royal Air Force]], and Eric Myers (1922–1991), he worked in the insurance business and previously was a [[Corps of Royal Engineers|Royal Engineer]] in the [[British Army]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/35/Mike-Myers.html |title=Mike Myers Biography (1963-) |publisher=Filmreference.com |accessdate=2008-10-23}}</ref><ref name="tiscali1">{{cite web|url=http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biographies/mike_myers_biog.html |title=Mike Myers Biography |publisher=Tiscali.co.uk |accessdate=2008-10-23}}</ref> Both of his parents are from [[Liverpool]], [[England]]. He has two older brothers, Peter and [[Paul Myers (musician)|Paul Myers]], the latter of whom is an [[indie rock]] [[singer-songwriter]], broadcaster and author. Myers is of English, Scottish, and Irish ancestry,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/wow/films/film_interviews/tm_headline=q-a-mike-myers&method=full&objectid=19392698&siteid=50002-name_page.html |title=icBirmingham - Q&A: Mike Myers |publisher=Icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk |date= |accessdate=2008-10-23}}</ref> and was raised [[Protestant]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-89729450.html |title=Mike Myers - International man of Mirth |first=Peter |=Elson |publisher=Daily Post (Liverpool, England) |date=2002-07-27 |accessdate=2008-10-23}}</ref>

He attended [[Sir John A. Macdonald Collegiate Institute]] but then changed schools and went to Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute in [[Scarborough, Ontario]]. He began working in commercials at age eight, and at ten he made a commercial for British Columbia Hydro Electric with [[Gilda Radner]] playing his mother. During high school, in an attempt to make girls laugh, he would go into the ''Wayne’s World'' character that later came to be known as Wayne Campbell. The day he finished his high school finals he joined Second City Theatre. Later, he left Second City to tour Britain with comedian [[Neil Mullarkey]].

Mike is a Dungeons & Dragons player<ref>{{cite episode| title = Mike Myers| series = Inside the Actors Studio| serieslink =Inside the Actors Studio| airdate = 2001-02-04| season = 7| number = 9 }}</ref> and was one of several celebrities to have participated in the [[Worldwide Dungeons & Dragons Game Day]] in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/whatson/dungeons-and-dragons-game-day-article-5339.html |title=Dungeons and Dragons Game Day at London Dungeon |publisher=Viewlondon.co.uk |date=2007-11-03 |accessdate=2010-06-18}}</ref>

He was married to Robin Ruzan from 1993 until their divorce in 2007.

Myers has played for [[Hollywood United F.C.]], a celebrity studded U.S. soccer team.<ref>{{cite web|last=Philip |first=Robert |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2293564/Frank-Leboeuf-ready-to-act-on-the-ball.html |title=Frank Leboeuf ready to act on the ball |publisher=Telegraph.co.uk |date=2008-03-05 |accessdate=2010-06-18}}</ref> He played in the 2010 [[Soccer Aid]] for [[UNICEF UK]] soccer match, England vs. R.O.W (Rest of the World) and successfully 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 passionate [[Liverpool F.C.]] supporter, and a huge fan of the [[Toronto Maple Leafs]].


==Career==
==Career==

Revision as of 07:43, 19 December 2010

Mike Myers
Myers at the Shrek the Third London premiere in June 2007
Birth nameMichael John Myers
Born (1963-05-25) May 25, 1963 (age 61)
Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Years active1975–present
SpouseRobin Ruzan (1993–2007) (divorced)
Notable works and rolesSaturday Night Live
Wayne's World
Wayne's World 2
So I Married an Axe Murderer
Austin Powers
Shrek
Template:Infobox comedian awards

Michael John "Mike" Myers (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor of British parentage, comedian, screenwriter, and film producer. He was a long-time cast member on the NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live in the late 1980s and the early 1990s and starred as the title characters in the films Wayne's World, Austin Powers, the Shrek film series, and The Love Guru.

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Career

Early career

One of Myers's first acting jobs was in a TV commercial when he was ten years old.[1] Gilda Radner played his mother. A few months later, according to Myers, his brother was teasing him about his "girlfriend (Radner) being on some stupid show on Saturday." Myers swore that one day, he too would be on that show.

Myers graduated from high school in 1982 and was immediately accepted into the Second City Canadian Touring Company, after which he moved to the UK 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. Myers then attended Tufts University where he played football and lacrosse. He was the team captain of both before quitting school to pursue his acting career. 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. In 1988 he moved from Second City in Toronto to Chicago. In Chicago, he trained and performed at the Improv Olympic. 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. Myers also appeared as his Wayne Campbell character in the music video for Ward's Canadian hit "Boys and Girls". Later, Ward would appear as one of Austin Powers' band members in Ming Tea in Myers's popular movie series. 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.

Saturday Night Live

Main article: Saturday Night Live

He was a member of the cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live television program from 1989 to 1995, where he performed characters such as Simon, Dieter, Linda Richman, and Wayne Campbell from Wayne's World.

File:Myers.JPG
Mike Myers's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Film

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 was released - Wayne's World 2. That year Myers also starred in So I Married an Axe Murderer which garnered a cult following. After Wayne's World 2, Myers took a hiatus from television. The characters in the movie were based on people Myers knew growing up in the Bridlewood section of Scarborough.

After four year 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, finally topping it off with 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, he 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. Myers later parodied the club as "Studio 69" 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 did not 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. In 2001, Myers played the title character in the DreamWorks animated film Shrek (2001). He reprised this role in Shrek 4-D in 2003, Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third, and the Christmas special Shrek The Halls, both in 2007. In 2010 Myers returned for what is apparently the last in the Shrek series, Shrek Forever After. Myers made a cameo apperance in Britney Spears' music video 'Boys' as his film character Austin Powers. Myers is a member of the band Ming Tea along with Bangles guitarist and vocalist Susanna Hoffs and musician Matthew Sweet. They performed the songs BBC and Daddy Wasn't There for the Austin Powers movies.

Myers at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival.

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 2005, Myers was signed on to play the lead role in the upcoming biopic of The Who drummer Keith Moon.[2] The film would be produced by Roger Daltrey and Nigel Sinclair.

During a CBS interview in 2007, Myers 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. Myers noted that this was the Marx Brothers' procedure for developing their film material.

Myers received the MTV Generation award in June 2007, making him the 2nd Canadian to win the award (Jim Carrey was the first in 2006), for bringing his unique style of comedy to small and big screens alike.

In June 2008, Myers's film The Love Guru met with negative reviews, prompting cable news network MSNBC to brand Myers "The Antifunny" in its June 24, 2008 online news edition.

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
1992 Wayne’s World Wayne Campbell Also Writer
1993 So I Married an Axe Murderer Charlie McKenzie/ Stuart McKenzie
Wayne’s World 2 Wayne Campbell Also Writer
1997 Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery Austin Powers / Dr. Evil Also Writer/ Producer
1998 54 Steve Rubell
The Thin Pink Line Tim Broderick
Pete’s Meteor Pete
1999 Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me Austin Powers / Dr. Evil / Fat Bastard / Austin-Ten-Minutes-From-Now Also Writer/ Producer
Mystery, Alaska Donnie Shulzhoffer
2001 Shrek Shrek Voice
2002 Austin Powers in Goldmember Austin Powers / Dr. Evil / Fat Bastard / Goldmember Also Writer/ Producer
2003 Nobody Knows Anything! 'Eye' Witness
The Cat in the Hat The Cat
Shrek 4-D Shrek Voice
View from the Top John Witney
2004 Shrek 2 Shrek Voice
2007 Shrek the Third Shrek Voice
Shrek the Halls Shrek Voice
2008 The Love Guru Guru Maurice Pitka Also Writer/Producer
Razzie Award for Worst Actor
2009 Inglourious Basterds Gen. Ed Fenech, British Army Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2010 Shrek Forever After Shrek Voice
2011 Marvin the Martian Marvin the Martian Voice
in production
Elvis Colonel Tom Parker Post-Production
Bunnicula Harold Voice
2012 See Me Feel Me: Keith Moon Naked for Your Pleasure Keith Moon in production
2013 Austin Powers 4 Austin Powers / Dr. Evil Also Writer/ Producer

Awards

Myers has won the following awards:

Notable characters

The following characters were created and played by Myers:

  • Dieter (SNL) - host of Sprockets
  • Linda Richman (SNL) - hostess of Coffee Talk
  • Simon (SNL) - 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 (SNL) - proprietor of "All Things Scottish"
  • Stuart McKenzie (So I Married an Axe Murderer)
  • Charlie McKenzie (So I Married an Axe Murderer)
  • Middle-Aged Man (SNL) - An older man who helps young people with their problems.
  • Austin Powers (the Austin Powers films)
  • Dr. Evil (the Austin Powers films)
  • Fat Bastard (Austin Powers: The Spy who Shagged Me and Austin Powers in Goldmember)
  • Goldmember (Austin Powers in Goldmember)
  • Donald Q. Cashington, Jr. III (Featured in The Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Event for Autism Education) - An eccentric billionaire that requests buying the rights to name autism after himself.
  • Guru Pitka (The Love Guru)
  • Shrek - (the Shrek films)
  • Gen. Ed Fenech (Inglourious Basterds)

References

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference tiscali1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Weinberg, Scott (2005-09-30). "News Mike Myers to Play Who? Keith Moon". Uk.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  3. ^ "Hollywood Walk of Fame database". HWOF.com.
  4. ^ "Mike Myers". Canada's Walk of Fame.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mike Myers.
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