Michael John MyersOC (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and director who holds Canadian, British, and American citizenship.[1] He is known for his run as a performer on Saturday Night Live from 1989 to 1995, and for playing the title roles in the Wayne's World, Austin Powers, and Shrek film franchises. He made his directorial debut with the documentary Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon (2013). He has stepped away from acting since 2012, though he had supporting roles in Terminal and Bohemian Rhapsody (both 2018).
Myers began performing in commercials at two years old. At the age of ten, 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.
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.[8] 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 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 would later turn into the popular "Sprockets" sketch on Saturday Night Live.
One of Myers' rare non-comedic roles came in the film 54 (1998), in which he portrayed Steve Rubell, proprietor of New York City's famous 1970s discothequeStudio 54. The film was not critically or commercially successful, though Myers received some positive notice.[9][10]
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.[11][12][13]
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.[18]
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.[19]
In April 2019, TheHollywood Reporter reported that Myers will be starring in and executive producing a comedy series for Netflix, with it to last for six episodes and him playing multiple characters.[24]
Personal life
Myers began dating actress and comedy writer Robin Ruzan in the late 1980s after meeting at a 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".[25][26] The couple filed for divorce in December 2005.[27]
In 2006, café owner Kelly Tisdale confirmed reports that she and Myers were dating. Myers and Tisdale wed in New York City in a secret ceremony in late 2010.[28] They have three children: a son born in September 2011[29] and two daughters.[30]
He supports the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League.[33] He named two characters in the first Austin Powers film 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.[34] 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.[35]
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.[6]
In 2016, Myers published a book, Canada, about the country's history and popular culture.[8]
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)
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 Grand Old Party.[43][44]
Steve Baker, Ricky Blitt, Will Carlough, Tobias Carlson, Jacob Fleisher, Patrik Forsberg, Will Graham, James Gunn, Claes Kjellstrom, Jack Kukoda, Bob Odenkirk, Bill O'Malley, Matthew Alec Portenoy, Greg Pritikin, Rocky Russo, Olle Sarri, Elizabeth Wright Shapiro, Jeremy Sosenko, Jonathan van Tulleken, and Jonas Wittenmark – Movie 43 (2013)
Comedy
Film
Television
United Kingdom
United States
