Mike Myers

Michael John Myers OC (born May 25, 1963)[1] is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. His accolades include seven MTV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2017, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada for "his extensive and acclaimed body of comedic work as an actor, writer, and producer."

Mike Myers

Myers in 2017
Born
Michael John Myers

(1963-05-25) May 25, 1963[1]
Occupation
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • screenwriter
  • producer
  • director
Years active1973–present
Spouses
    Robin Ruzan
    (m. 1993; div. 2006)
      Kelly Tisdale
      (m. 2010)
      Children3
      RelativesPaul Myers (brother)

      Following a series of appearances on several Canadian television programs, Myers came to recognition for performing on Saturday Night Live (1989–1995), which won him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. He subsequently earned praise and numerous accolades for playing the title roles in the Wayne's World (1992–1993), Austin Powers (1997–2002), and Shrek (2001–2010) franchises, the latter of which is the second highest-grossing animated film franchise.

      Myers acted sporadically in the 2010s, notably having supporting roles in Terminal and Bohemian Rhapsody (both 2018). He made his directorial debut with the documentary Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon (2013), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. He created and starred in the 2022 Netflix original series The Pentaverate, and will appear in David O. Russell's Amsterdam.

      Early life

      Michael John Myers was born in the Scarborough district of Toronto on May 25, 1963,[1] to data processor Alice "Bunny" E. (née Hind) and insurance agent Eric Myers. His parents were English immigrants from the Old Swan area of Liverpool.[2][3] Both were World War II veterans, his mother having served in the Royal Air Force and his father in the British Army. He has distant Scottish ancestry.[4][5][6] He has two older brothers: Paul, a musician, and Peter, who worked for Sears Canada.[7] He grew up in Scarborough and North York,[8] where he attended Sir John A. Macdonald Collegiate Institute. He graduated from Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute in 1982.

      One of his neighbors and schoolmates was prominent voice actor Maurice LaMarche.[9]

      Career

      Early career

      Myers began performing in commercials at two years old. At the age of 10, he made a commercial for British Columbia Hydro, with Gilda Radner playing his mother.[5] At 12, he made a guest appearance as Ari on the TV series King of Kensington. At 16, he was the guest star of the season 1 episode "Boy on Wheels" of the TV series The Littlest Hobo.

      After graduating from high school, Myers was accepted into The Second City Canadian touring company. He moved to the United Kingdom, and 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 The Second City in 1986 as a cast member in The Second City's Toronto main stage show, Second City Theatre.[10] In 1988, he moved from Second City in Toronto to Chicago. There, 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 made several appearances after the launch of MuchMusic, for which City Limits was essentially the prototype. 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 later became the popular "Sprockets" sketch on Saturday Night Live.

      Saturday Night Live

      Myers began appearing on Saturday Night Live on January 21, 1989 and eventually became the first repertory player added to the show's cast in over two years. "He quickly became one of the show's biggest draws thanks to his talent for creating oddball characters with memorable catchphrases," according to Entertainment Weekly.[11] In addition to "Wayne's World" and "Sprockets", Myers starred in the recurring sketches "Lothar of the Hill People", "Stuart Rankin, All Things Scottish", "Lank Thompson", "Middle-Aged Man", "Simon", "Coffee Talk with Linda Richman", "Theatre Stories", "Phillip the Hyper Hypo", and "Scottish Soccer Hooligan Weekly". Myers's last episode as a cast member aired on January 21, 1995 (exactly six years to the day after his first episode aired). He returned to host in 1997 and made an appearance as his movie character Dr. Evil in 2014.

      Saturday Night Live characters

      • Dieter – host of Sprockets
      • Linda Richman – hostess of Coffee Talk
      • Japanese Game Show Host
      • "Handsome Actor" Lank Thompson
      • Simon – a young British boy who makes drawings in his bath tub 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"
      • Johnny Letter – an Old West citizen who writes polite, well-written letters of complaint.
      • 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 the Grand Old Party.[12][13]

      Film

      Myers in 1994

      Myers made his film debut when he and Dana Carvey adapted their "Wayne's World" Saturday Night Live (SNL) sketches into the feature Wayne's World (1992). It was among the most successful films of the year and was followed in 1993 by Wayne's World 2; Myers starred in So I Married an Axe Murderer the same year. He took a two-year hiatus from performing after the end of his time as an SNL regular.

      Myers returned to acting with the film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), followed by the sequels Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002). Myers played the title role (Austin Powers) and the villain (Dr. Evil) in all three films as well as a henchman (Fat Bastard) and another villain (Goldmember) in the sequels.

      One of Myers's rare non-comedic roles came in the film 54 (1998), in which he portrayed Steve Rubell, proprietor of New York City's famous 1970s disco nightclub Studio 54. The film was not critically or commercially successful, though Myers received some positive notice.[14][15]

      In June 2000, Myers was sued by Universal Pictures for US$3.8 million for backing out of a contract to make a feature film based on his SNL character Dieter. Myers said he refused to honor the US$20 million contract because he felt his script was not ready. Myers countersued and a settlement was reached after several months where Myers agreed to make another film with Universal. That film, The Cat in the Hat, was released in November 2003 and starred Myers as the title character.[16][17][18] It received negative reviews and was unsuccessful at the box office.

      In 2001, Myers provided the voice of the eponymous character, Shrek in the animated film of the same name, having taken over the role after the originally planned voice actor Chris Farley died in December 1997 before recording all of his dialogue. He reprised this role in Shrek 4-D (a theme park ride) in 2003, Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), the Christmas and Halloween television specials Shrek the Halls (2007) and Scared Shrekless (2010), and Shrek Forever After (2010).

      Myers received the MTV Generation Award in June 2007, making him the second Canadian to win the award (following Jim Carrey in 2006).[19]

      In 2008, Myers co-wrote, co-produced and starred in the poorly received The Love Guru, and in 2009 had a minor role as British general Ed Fenech in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.

      In 2018, after an eight-year hiatus from feature films, Myers appeared in supporting roles in Terminal (2018)[20] and Bohemian Rhapsody (2018).[21]

      In May 2022, Myers provided a cryptic message that implied an Austin Powers 4 would be forthcoming.[22][23]

      Other work

      Myers had a cameo appearance in Britney Spears' music video "Boys" as Austin Powers.[24] Britney Spears, in turn, made a cameo in Austin Powers in Goldmember, performing "Boys". In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted among the top 50 comedy acts by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.[25]

      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 films.[26] In 2011 Myers returned to The Comedy Store in London to perform a one night only comeback of his role with The Comedy Store Players. The UK comedy website Chortle praised his performance.[27]

      Myers's 2013 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.[28] In 2017, Myers began hosting a reprised version of The Gong Show in heavy makeup as a fictional British host known as Tommy Maitland,[29] though his identity was not confirmed until the second season.[30]

      An avid follower of the Monty Python comedy troupe, in July 2014 Myers appeared on stage at the O2 Arena on the final night of their 10 dates live show, Monty Python Live (Mostly), and also appears on the documentary telefilm Monty Python: The Meaning of Live.[31]

      From 2017 to 2018, Myers hosted a re-boot of The Gong Show using heavy prosthetics and disguised as "British comedian" Tommy Maitland, a fictional character. [32]

      In April 2019, Variety reported that Myers will be starring in and executive producing a comedy series for Netflix, which will last for six episodes and involve him playing multiple characters.[33] In June 2021, the series title was announced as The Pentaverate, which serves as a spin-off of So I Married an Axe Murderer.

      Personal life

      Myers in 2010

      Myers began dating actress and comedy writer Robin Ruzan in the late 1980s after meeting at an ice 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 May 22, 1993, and Myers later referred to Ruzan as "his muse".[34][35] The couple filed for divorce in December 2005.[36]

      In 2006, Kelly Tisdale confirmed reports that she and Myers were dating. Myers and Tisdale married in New York City in a secret ceremony in late 2010. Tisdale is a scenic artist who works in the entertainment industry and a former cafe owner.[37][38] They have a son[39] and two daughters.[40] They reside in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York City.[41]

      Myers is a Dungeons & Dragons player[42] and was one of several celebrities to have participated in the Worldwide Dungeons & Dragons Game Day in 2006.[43] He supports the Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey team,[44] and named two characters in the first Austin Powers film Commander Gilmour and General Borschevsky, after then-Maple Leafs players Doug Gilmour and Nikolai Borschevsky.[45] He is also a fan of his parents' hometown football team Liverpool FC.[46]

      Myers has played for Hollywood United FC, a celebrity soccer team.[47] 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.

      In 2014, Myers starred in a commercial with his brother Peter for Sears Canada, using "humorous banter to spread the message that, despite rumours, Sears wasn't shutting down". Peter at the time was senior director of planning at Sears' head office in Toronto, and he was laid off in 2017 after Sears Canada filed for bankruptcy.[7]

      In 2016, Myers published a book, Canada, a memoir interwoven with reflections on his native country's history and popular culture and the renaissance represented by the election of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.[10]

      Filmography

      Film

      Year Title Actor Writer Producer Role Notes
      1992 Wayne's World Yes Yes No Wayne Campbell
      1993 So I Married an Axe Murderer Yes Yes (uncredited) No Charlie McKenzie / Stuart McKenzie Extensively rewrote the script with Neil Mullarkey
      Wayne's World 2 Yes Yes No Wayne Campbell
      1997 Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery Yes Yes Yes Austin Powers / Dr. Evil
      1998 54 Yes No No Steve Rubell
      The Thin Pink Line Yes No No Tim Broderick
      Pete's Meteor Yes No No Pete
      1999 Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me Yes Yes Yes Austin Powers / Dr. Evil / Fat Bastard
      Mystery, Alaska Yes No No Donnie Shulzhoffer
      2001 Shrek Yes No No Shrek Voice
      2002 Austin Powers in Goldmember Yes Yes Yes Austin Powers / Dr. Evil / Fat Bastard / Goldmember
      2003 Nobody Knows Anything! Yes No No 'Eye' Witness
      View from the Top Yes No No John Witney
      The Cat in the Hat Yes No No The Cat in the Hat
      2004 Shrek 2 Yes No No Shrek Voice
      2006 Home Yes No No Himself Documentary
      2007 Shrek the Third Yes No No Shrek Voice
      2008 The Love Guru Yes Yes Yes Guru Maurice Pitka / Himself
      2009 Inglourious Basterds Yes No No General Ed Fenech
      2010 Shrek Forever After Yes No No Shrek Voice
      2012 Oscar Etiquette Yes No No Sir Cecil Worthington Short film
      2013 Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon Yes No Yes Himself Documentary; also director
      2015 Being Canadian Yes No No Himself Documentary
      I Am Chris Farley Yes No No Himself Documentary
      2017 Last Knight Yes No No Vodyanoy Voice
      2018 Terminal Yes No No Clinton / Mr. Franklyn
      Bohemian Rhapsody Yes No No Ray Foster
      2022 Amsterdam Yes No No Paul Canterbury

      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
      1986–1987 Wide Awake Club Sound Asleep Club 2 episodes
      1987 Meet Julie (voice) Television film
      It's Only Rock & Roll Various 13 episodes
      1989 Elvis Stories Cockney Man Television short
      1989–2015 Saturday Night Live Various 121 episodes; also writer
      1991 Saturday Night Live: Halloween Special Wayne Campbell Television special
      1992 Saturday Night Live: All the Best for Mother's Day Himself Television special
      1997 1997 MTV Movie Awards Himself (host) Television special
      2007 Shrek the Halls Shrek Voice
      Television special
      2008 2008 MTV Movie Awards Himself (host) Television special
      Saturday Night Live: The Best of Mike Myers Himself
      2010 Scared Shrekless Shrek Voice
      Television special
      2014 Monty Python Live (Mostly) Himself Television special
      2015 Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Himself Episode: "Canada"
      Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special Wayne Campbell Television special
      2017–2018 The Gong Show Tommy Maitland (host) 20 episodes; also executive producer
      2018 The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Dr. Evil 2 episodes[48]
      2022 The Pentaverate Various roles Also creator, writer, and executive producer; 6 episodes

      Theme parks

      Year Title Voice role
      1994 Hurler Wayne Campbell
      2003 Shrek 4-D Shrek

      Music videos

      Awards and honours

      Honours

      Myers's Hollywood Walk of Fame star

      References

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      2. Elson, Peter (July 27, 2002). "Mike Myers: International Man of Mirth". Liverpool Daily Post. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved October 23, 2008.
      3. Mike Myers Has A History With Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' on YouTube, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (November 1, 2018)
      4. "Mike Myers: My family values | Family | the Guardian".
      5. Wills, Dominic. "Mike Myers Biography". TalkTalk. Archived from the original on October 16, 2002. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
      6. Invictus Games (September 23, 2017). "Invictus: Mike Myers Honours British Parents Who Fought In WW2". Forces Network. Archived from the original on September 24, 2017. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
      7. Harris, Sophia (July 19, 2017). "Employee featured in hit Sears Canada ad with famous brother Mike Myers loses job and severance". CBC News. CBC Inc. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
      8. Ahearn, Victoria (October 28, 2016). "Mike Myers on his new book 'Canada' and his relationship with his home country". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Canada: The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on October 31, 2016.
      9. LaMarche, Maurice [@MAURICELAMARCHE] (May 19, 2021). "I also did the original scratch for Shrek (which went to my childhood neighbor Mike Myers), Dinosaur (went to D.B Sweeney), and The Toad in Flushed Away, which went to Ian McKellen after I said, "Oh, I've just been doing my Ian McKellen for you guys this whole time"" (Tweet). Retrieved May 16, 2022 via Twitter.
      10. "Mike Myers". The Second City. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
      11. Rottenberg, Josh (June 16, 2008). "Mike Myers: Man of Mystery". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
      12. Leeds, Sarene (December 22, 2014). "Mike Myers' Dr. Evil Schools North Korea and Sony Pictures". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
      13. "Dr. Evil Returns on 'SNL' to Talk Sony and North Korea". Variety. December 21, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
      14. O'Sullivan, Michael (August 28, 1998). "'54': Rise and Fall of a Disco Inferno". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
      15. Rush, George; Molloy, Joanna; Baram, Marcus; K. C.; Baker (August 17, 1998). "IN '54,' MYERS WON'T SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT". New York Daily News. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
      16. "Myers settles Dieter dispute". BBC News. BBC. August 11, 2000. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
      17. Cosgrove-Mather, Bootie (March 7, 2002). "The Cat In The Hat Is Phat". CBS News. CBS. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
      18. Evans, Bradford (October 9, 2013). "'Dieter': The Surprisingly Funny Mike Myers Movie That Never Was". Vulture, LLC. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
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      20. Darby, Luke (April 5, 2018). "Mike Myers Filmed His Own Zombie Movie Between Takes for Terminal". GQ. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
      21. Desta, Yohana (September 12, 2017). "In Perfect Casting News, Mike Myers Is Joining Bohemian Rhapsody". Vanity Fair. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
      22. "Mike Myers Gives Cryptic Austin Powers 4 Update". ScreenRant. May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
      23. "Austin Powers 4 gets promising update from Mike Myers". Digital Spy. May 6, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
      24. "Britney on music, 'Boys' and Austin's powers". CNN. August 2, 2002. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
      25. Thorpe, Vanessa (January 2, 2005). "Cook tops poll of comedy greats". The Guardian. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
      26. "Great Fictional Bands: MING TEA – UPDATE 4/11/14". Warped Factor. November 4, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
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      28. "Supermensch The Legend of Shep Gordon". TIFF. Archived from the original on September 14, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
      29. Zuckerman, Esther (May 18, 2018). "Mike Myers' disappearing act". The Outline. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
      30. Davis, Alex (January 8, 2018). "ABC Renews The Gong Show for a Second Season - BuzzerBlog BuzzerBlog | Your Game Show News Source". Buzzerblog.com. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
      31. Harvey, Dennis. Film Review: 'Monty Python: The Meaning of Live'. Variety May 2, 2015
      32. "Mike Myers Finally Explains His Gong Show Stunt, and It's Weirder Than You Thought". Vanity Fair.
      33. "Mike Myers Sets Netflix Comedy Series (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. April 17, 2019.
      34. "Mike and Kelly wed in secret". New York Post. March 4, 2011. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
      35. Hanks, Robert (July 13, 2002). "Mike Myers: Why does everyone want to get into bed with him?". The Independent. Archived from the original on May 14, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
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      38. "Mike Myers secretly marries longtime girlfriend". CTV Television Network. CTV Inc. March 4, 2011. Archived from the original on March 6, 2011. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
      39. "Mike Myers becomes first-time father to baby boy". CTVnews.ca. CTV Inc. September 29, 2011. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
      40. Michaud, Sarah (April 11, 2014). "Mike Myers Welcomes Daughter Sunday Molly". People. Archived from the original on April 11, 2014. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
      41. "Groovy, Baby: Is Mike Myers' New Pad Worthy of Austin Powers?". The New York Observer. January 5, 2017.
      42. "Mike Myers". Inside the Actors Studio. Season 7. Episode 9. February 4, 2001. Bravo.
      43. "Dungeons and Dragons Game Day at London Dungeon". ViewLondon.co.uk. November 3, 2007. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
      44. "Mike Myers as proud as ever of Canadians". Sportsnet.ca. October 25, 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
      45. Winsa, Patty (September 23, 2017). "Mike Myers gives thanks to 'thriving' Invictus Games athletes". Toronto Star. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
      46. Bourne, Dianne (May 27, 2010). "US actor Mike Myers to play football in Manchester for charity". Manchester Evening News. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
      47. Philip, Robert (March 5, 2008). "Frank Leboeuf ready to act on the ball". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on January 10, 2022. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
      48. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (April 4, 2018). "Dr. Evil Gets Fired from Trump's Cabinet". Archived from the original on December 11, 2021 via YouTube.
      49. "Mike Myers gets a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
      50. "Mike Myers". Canada's Walk of Fame. Archived from the original on November 10, 2008.
      51. "Canada Post honours Canuck comedians with new stamp series". CBC News. CBC Inc. August 29, 2014. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
      52. "Mike Myers Sets Netflix Comedy Series (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. April 17, 2019.
      53. "Mike Myers Netflix Series 'Pentaverate' Adds Six to Cast, Including Ken Jeong and Keegan-Michael Key". Variety. June 8, 2021.
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