Mike Myers is the gleeful creator and star of the spoofy-mod Austin Powers film series. A former child actor and member of the Second City comedy troupe, Myers joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 1988, hitting paydirt with characters like the gossipy Linda Richman (host of "Coffee Talk") and the absurd Dieter, German modernist and host of "Sprockets." Next Myers turned to the movies, writing and starring in the 1992 hit Wayne's World (based on his popular SNL skit with Dana Carvey, with the two of them as nerdy high-schoolers), then creating Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997, with Elizabeth Hurley). Both movies spawned sequels, and Myers was suddenly one of the hottest comedians in the movies. Myers starred in The Cat in the Hat, a live-action feature based on the classic Dr. Seuss tale, in 2003. He also voiced the monster Shrek in the animated movies Shrek (2001) and Shrek 2 (2004).
Austin Powers sequels include The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Goldmember (2002)... Myers played disco entrepreneur Steve Rubell in the 1998 drama 54.
Born: May 25, 1963 in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Occupation: Actor, Writer
Active: '90s-2000s
Major Genres: Comedy
Career Highlights: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Wayne's World
First Major Screen Credit: Wide Awake Club (1984)
Biography
One of the few Saturday Night Live cast members to make a successful transition to film, Mike Myers gained worldwide fame with his impersonations of a heavy metal-loving couch potato in Wayne's World and an oversexed British secret agent in the Austin Powers series.
A native of Scarborough, Canada, where he was born on May 25, 1963, Myers seemed destined to link up with Saturday Night Live; when he made his TV debut in a commercial at the age of eight, the actress playing his mother was none other than a pre-SNL Gilda Radner. Myers went on to appear in a number of Canadian television shows, and after graduating high school, he almost immediately joined Second City, Toronto's famed improv group. By the age of 20, Myers was the star of his own TV series, Mullarkey and Myers, and also did time as the veejay of an all-night Canadian music video show. While he worked on various programs, the comedian continued to hone the characterizations that would later make him famous on SNL. The Wayne's World character of Wayne Campbell, for example, was one that Myers had been doing since high school, when he used the impersonation to impress girls at parties.
In 1989, Myers fulfilled a longtime dream by becoming a member of Saturday Night Live. During his time on the show, which lasted until 1994, he won an Emmy for his writing, and he starred alongside fellow-SNL cast member Dana Carvey in the successful 1992 film Wayne's World. Unfortunately for Myers, the film's 1993 sequel, Wayne's World 2, proved to be a disappointment, as did his other film that year, So I Married an Axe Murderer. However, he struck gold four years later, writing and starring in the sleeper hit Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. The film's success all but guaranteed a sequel, but before writing and starring in it, Myers explored previously uncharted dramatic territory in 54 (1998). His portrayal of the titular club's drug-addled owner, Steve Rubell, met with wide acclaim; unfortunately, it was about the only aspect of the film that did. The following year, Myers switched back to comedy with the much-anticipated Austin Powers sequel, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. The recipient of a marketing campaign whose volume was bested only by that of Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace, the film was even more popular than the original (which made more money on home video than in its initial theatrical release), although not as well received by critics. That same year, Myers returned to more northerly climes and his lifelong love of hockey when he appeared in Mystery, Alaska, which was helmed by Austin Powers director Jay Roach.
In 2001, Myers made an audible return to movie screens as an unsightly ogre with the kid-friendly fairy tale spoof Shrek. Realizing that his voice-over work didn't quite work after having recorded all of his dialogue, Myers dusted off the patented Scottish accent he had utilized with humorous effect in both SNL and So I Married an Axe Murderer and breathed new life into the tale of an unlikely hero enlisted to restore order to the land of fairy tales and rescue the princess. A hit with children and adults alike, Shrek scored big in the 2001 summer movie season, easily holding its own against such heavies as Pearl Harbor and The Mummy Returns.
The folowing year Myers once again returned to the screen as everyone's favorite snaggletoothed superspy in Austin Powers in Goldmember. Returning as series stalwarts Dr. Evil and Fat Bastard as well, the third film in the series also found Myers stepping into the shoes of the newest master criminal, the titular Goldmember. As a double jointed Danish criminal mastermind with an unsightly skin disorder and a plan for world domination, Myers once again scored a hit at the box office, raking in an impressive opening weekend gross and holding its own against a slew of notable summer releases.
The triumphant success (and staggering income) of the third Powers outing seemed then to set a pattern for Myers, who - after a disastrous portrayal of the title character in the live-action fiasco Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat (2003) - clung largely to franchise-oriented work over the next several years. He did so via extensive voiceover work in the second (2004) and the third (2007) Shrek outings. To no one's surprise, these efforts netted an unholy amount at the U.S. and international box offices. Myers followed this up by writing, producing and starring in The Love Guru (2008), about an Indian-raised swami who takes it upon himself to heal the schism between a Toronto hockey player and the man's soon-to-be ex-wife. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Myers was born and raised in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, the son of Alice E. (née Hind; b. 1926), an office supervisor who was formerly in the Royal Air Force, and Eric Myers (died in 1991), who worked in the insurance business and previously was a Royal Engineer in the British Army.[1][2] Both of his parents are from Liverpool. He has two older brothers, Peter and Paul Myers, who is an indie rocksinger-songwriter, broadcaster and author. Myers is of English, Scottish, and Irish ancestry,[3] and was raised Protestant.[4] He attended Sir John A. Macdonald Collegiate Institute but then changed schools and went to Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute in Scarborough, Ontario. Myers also attended Second City at the age of 19. 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. He was a very popular person in his school. During high school, 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 England with comedian Neil Mullarkey.
In 2001, Myers mentioned he is a Dungeons & Dragons player[5] and was one of several celebrities to have participated in the Worldwide Dungeons & Dragons Game Day in 2006.[6]
He was married to Robin Ruzan from 1993 until their divorce in 2007.
Career
Early career
One of Myers's first acting jobs was in a TV commercial when he was ten years old.[2]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. 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. Myers has played for Hollywood United F.C., a celebrity studded U.S. football team.[7]
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.
In 1992, Myers and comedian Dana Carvey adapted Wayne's World into a full-length motion picture based on the SNL sketch. The movie turned out to be one of Myers's greatest successes and one of the few Saturday Night Live-based films to be considered worthwhile by both audiences and film critics. 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.
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 didn't 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 3-D in 2003, Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek The Third, and the Christmas special Shrek The Halls, both in 2007.
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.
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.[8] 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.
Four American Comedy Awards (Best Film Performance (Male) and Best Writing in 2003 and 2000, for Austin Powers in Goldmember and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, respectively)
An Emmy Award in 1989 for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program, for Saturday Night Live. He has also been nominated for two other Emmy Awards.
He was personally nominated for 2 Razzie Awards in 2008, winning Worst Actor and Worst Screenplay for The Love Guru. The film also won Worst Film and secured 4 other nominations.
Notable characters
The following characters were created and played by Myers:
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)
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.
