Michael McKean Biography

Michael John McKean (born October 17, 1947) is an American actor, comedian, and musician, known for a variety of roles played since the 1970s. He first came to national attention playing annoying neighbor Lenny Kosnowski on the sitcom Laverne & Shirley. In the mid-1990s he was a repertory cast member of Saturday Night Live. He has played roles in several Christopher Guest ensemble films, particularly as David St. Hubbins, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the fictional rock band Spinal Tap in This Is Spinal Tap. He co-wrote the song "A Mighty Wind" (from the film of the same name), which won a Grammy Award, as well as "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" from the same film, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song. He plays Chuck McGill, brother of the protagonist of the AMC drama Better Call Saul.

Early life

McKean was born October 17, 1947, in New York City, the son of Ruth, a librarian, and Gilbert McKean, one of the founders of Decca Records, and was raised in Sea Cliff, New York, on Long Island. McKean is of Irish, English, Scottish, and some German and Dutch, descent. He graduated from high school in 1965.

Career

McKean began his career (as well as the characters of Lenny and Squiggy) in Pittsburgh while a student at Carnegie Mellon; David Lander was a fellow student at CMU. Their partnership grew after graduation as part of the comedy group The Credibility Gap with Harry Shearer in Los Angeles, but McKean's breakthrough came in 1976 when he and Lander joined the cast of Laverne & Shirley portraying Lenny and Squiggy. McKean directed one episode, and the characters became something of a phenomenon, even releasing an album as Lenny and the Squigtones in 1979, which featured a young Christopher Guest on guitar (credited as Nigel Tufnel - the name Guest would use a few years later as part of the spoof rock band, Spinal Tap). "Foreign Legion of Love" was a big hit for the Squigtones, with frequent play on the Dr. Demento Show. McKean also played his character in an episode of Happy Days. After leaving Laverne & Shirley in 1982, McKean played David St. Hubbins in the comedy This is Spinal Tap with both Guest and Shearer, and appeared in the soap opera spoof Young Doctors in Love.

McKean quickly became a recognizable name in film and television, with appearances in films such as Used Cars (1980), Clue (1985), Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), Earth Girls Are Easy (1988), and taking a lead role in Short Circuit 2 (1988).

1990s

In 1990, McKean landed a memorable role opposite Kiefer Sutherland and Dennis Hopper in the American adventure comedy movie, Flashback. That same year, McKean was part of an ensemble cast in the television series Grand on NBC which, however, only aired for a short time. In 1991 McKean co-wrote (with Christopher Guest) the second episode and later directed the final episode of the mock documentary series Morton & Hayes, created by Phil Mishkin and Rob Reiner.

Having already appeared as a musical guest and then host of Saturday Night Live, McKean joined the cast from 1994 to 1995. At the age of 46, he was the oldest person ever to join the SNL cast at the time (later surpassed by Leslie Jones, who joined in 2014 at age 47), one of a handful of SNL cast members to appear on the show before becoming a cast member (joining the likes of Billy Crystal, Denny Dillon, Ann Risley, and Rob Riggle), and the only one to be a musical guest and a host before becoming a cast member. During this time, he also released a video follow up to Spinal Tap, played the villainous Mr. Dittmeyer in The Brady Bunch Movie, and played the boss Gibby in the HBO series Dream On. After leaving Saturday Night Live, McKean spent a lot of time doing children's fare, voicing various TV shows and movies.

McKean then appeared in a number of movie roles, including the film adaptation of Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992), Coneheads (1993), Airheads (1994), and Radioland Murders (1994). In 1997, he performed the lead voice role in the video game Zork Grand Inquisitor as Dalboz of Gurth and also appeared in the 1999 films Teaching Mrs. Tingle and Mystery, Alaska.

McKean's television guest appearances include The Simpsons, Star Trek: Voyager, Boy Meets World, Murder, She Wrote, Murphy Brown, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and Caroline in the City. In 1998, he guest starred in a two-part episode of The X-Files called "Dreamland" in which his character, Morris Fletcher, switched bodies with Fox Mulder. The character was a success, and reappeared in 1999's "Three of a Kind", an episode which focused on the recurring characters of The Lone Gunmen. The character appeared on their short-lived spin-off series in 2001, and then returned to The X-Files in its final season for an episode called "Jump the Shark".

2000s

McKean reunited with Christopher Guest in Best in Show (2000) and also appeared in Little Nicky (2000), The Guru (2002), And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (2003), and A Mighty Wind (2003) in which The Folksmen are played by the actors who played as Spinal Tap. McKean had a regular role as the brassy, heavily made-up bandleader Adrian Van Voorhees in Martin Short's Comedy Central series, Primetime Glick. He also had guest roles on such shows as Law & Order, Family Guy, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. He did voiceover work as Henry's cousin, Louie, on Oswald, which coincidentally featured the voice of David Lander as Henry. And he lent his voice to an episode of Kevin Smith's Clerks: The Animated Series that was never aired on ABC but was included on the VHS and DVD versions of the series.

In 2003, he guest starred on Smallville, the Superman prequel in which his wife, Annette O'Toole, starred as Martha Kent. McKean played Perry White, who ultimately becomes Clark Kent's boss. He had previously associated with the Superman universe in 1994 on the Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman first-season episode "Vatman" in which he played Dr. Fabian Leek, a cloning expert who creates a Superman clone that belonged to corporate mogul Lex Luthor (John Shea). Also, during his short stint on Saturday Night Live, McKean played Perry White in a Superman spoof.

In 2003, he appeared in the Christopher Guest comedy A Mighty Wind. He co-wrote several songs for the film, including A Mighty Wind (with Guest and Eugene Levy), which won the Grammy for "Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media" and A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song.

McKean performed in the Broadway production of Hairspray in 2004, and is apparently writing his own musical with O'Toole. He co-starred as Hines in a revival of The Pajama Game with Harry Connick, Jr. at the American Airlines Theatre in the first half of 2006. Also in 2006, McKean reunited with most of the cast of A Mighty Wind to film the comedy For Your Consideration and appeared in the play Love Song on the stage in London. His musical interests led him to a starring role in the 2008 comedy air-drumming film Adventures of Power, in which he was reunited with his co-star from For Your Consideration, Jane Lynch, in a story intended to honor the leaders and fighters of the 99% movement.

McKean was cast in the pilot episode of a remake of the British series The Thick of It as the chief of staff. The pilot was directed by Guest. McKean starred in the fortieth anniversary Broadway revival of Harold Pinter's The Homecoming, co-starring Ian McShane, Raul Esparza, Eve Best, and James Frain. The show opened on December 9, 2007. In 2009, he starred in the Chicago-based Steppenwolf Theatre Company's production of Superior Donuts, by playwright Tracy Letts.

2010s

On January 20, 2010, it was announced that Michael McKean would return to an episode of Smallville alongside his spouse, Annette O'Toole.

In May 2010, McKean won the Celebrity Jeopardy! tournament by defeating Jane Curtin and Cheech Marin. The earnings were donated to the International Myeloma Foundation in honor of McKean's friend Lee Grayson, who died of myeloma in 2004. In the summer of 2010, McKean took over the role of the Stage Manager in Thornton Wilder's Our Town at the Barrow Street Playhouse in New York's Greenwich Village. His run ended on August 24, 2010. In 2011, McKean appeared on an episode of Sesame Street as Virgil, the rock star, looking for "rocks" to be in an all ROCK-band. He searches for many different rocks and gems but is unable to find his lead singer until Abby turns him into an emerald.

In April 2012, McKean began performing on Broadway in Gore Vidal's The Best Man. On May 22, 2012, McKean was hit by a car in New York City, suffering a broken leg. His part was filled by James Lecesne. On June 1, 2012, McKean was released from the hospital to begin physical rehabilitation. He also appeared in the HBO comedy series Family Tree in early 2013.

In late February 2014, McKean played J. Edgar Hoover in Broadway previews of Robert Schenkkan's Lyndon B. Johnson bio-play, All the Way, starring Emmy winner Bryan Cranston as Lyndon B. Johnson. The play opened on March 6, 2014. In May 2014, McKean was announced to have joined the cast of the Breaking Bad spin-off, Better Call Saul in the role of Chuck McGill, older brother to Jimmy McGill before Jimmy became Saul Goodman. He was the first actor to join the series that was not featured in the original series, although he had worked with series creator Vince Gilligan previously on The X-Files. The series premiered in February 2015.

Michael is a lifelong fan of Laurel and Hardy, and in June 2016 he called in to The Ross Owen Show on Black Sky Radio to talk about his passion for Stan and Ollie.

Recurring characters on SNL

• Anthony, the weatherman from "Good Morning, Brooklyn"

Celebrity impersonations on SNL

• Bill Clinton (after Phil Hartman left at the end of season 19)
• Jimmy Carter
• Robert Evans
• John Tesh
• Robert Shapiro
• Spalding Gray
• Tom Skerritt
• Vincent Price
• Richard Gephardt
• Jeffrey Dahmer
• Howard Stern
• Donald E. Belfi
• Adam West
• Elvis Costello"?whom he portrayed in Season 19, 1994, in a sketch called "Rockers Help Explain Whitewater"
• George F. Will
• Gary Busey
• Patrick Stewart

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	Cracking Up	Various characters
1979	1941	Willy
1980	Used Cars	Eddie Winslow
1982	Young Doctors in Love	Dr. Simon August
1984	This Is Spinal Tap	David St. Hubbins	Also writer
1985	D.A.R.Y.L.	Andy Richardson
1985	Clue	Mr. Green
1986	Jumpin' Jack Flash	Leslie	Uncredited
1987	Light of Day	Bu Montgomery
1987	Planes, Trains and Automobiles	State Trooper
1988	Portrait of a White Marriage	Rev. Prufrock
1988	Short Circuit 2	Fred Ritter
1988	Earth Girls Are Easy	Woody
1989	Hider in the House	Phil Dreyer
1989	The Big Picture	Emmett Summer	Also writer
1990	Flashback	Hal
1990	Book of Love	Adult Jack Twiller
1991	True Identity	Harvey Cooper
1992	Memoirs of an Invisible Man	George Talbot
1992	Man Trouble	Eddy Revere
1993	Coneheads	Gorman Seedling
1994	Airheads	Milo Jackson
1994	Radioland Murders	Rick Rochester
1995	The Brady Bunch Movie	Mr. Larry Dittmeyer
1995	Across the Moon	Frank
1996	Edie & Pen	Rick
1996	The Pompatus of Love	Sitcom Star
1996	Jack	Paulie
1997	No Strings Attached	Elliot Lewis
1997	Casper: A Spirited Beginning	Bill Case	Direct-to-video
1997	That Darn Cat	Peter Randall
1997	Nothing to Lose	Phillip "P.B" Barrow
1997	Still Breathing	New Mark
1998	The Man Who Counted	Reverend Hooper	Short film
1998	Spinal Tap: The Final Tour	David St. Hubbins	Short film
1998	The Pass	Willie L.
1998	Small Soldiers	Insaniac/Troglokhan (voices)
1998	Archibald the Rainbow Painter	J.P. Bigelow
1998	With Friends Like These...	Dr. Maxwell Hersh
1998	Sugar: The Fall of the West	Head of Sex Clinic
1999	Masters of Horror and Suspense	Will Masters
1999	Kill the Man	Mr. Livingston
1999	True Crime	Reverend Shillerman
1999	Teaching Mrs. Tingle	Principal Potter
1999	Mystery, Alaska	Mr. Walsh
2000	Best in Show	Stefan Vanderhoof
2000	Beautiful	Lance DeSalvo
2000	Little Nicky	Chief of Police
2001	My First Mister	Bob Benson
2001	Never Again	Alex The Transvestite
2001	Dr. Dolittle 2	Bird 1 (voice)
2002	Slap Her... She's French	Monsieur Duke
2002	The Hunchback of Notre Dame II	Sarousch (voice)	Direct-to-video
2002	Teddy Bears' Picnic	Porterfield 'Porty' Pendleton
2002	The Guru	Dwain
2002	Auto Focus	Video Executive
2002	100 Mile Rule	Howard
2003	A Mighty Wind	Jerry Palter
2005	The Producers	Prison Trustee
2006	Relative Strangers	Ken Hyman
2006	For Your Consideration	Lane Iverson
2007	Joshua	Chester Jenkins
2007	The Grand	Steve Lavisch
2007	Surf's Up	Rock (voice)	Scenes deleted
2008	Adventures of Power	Harlan
2009	Whatever Works	Boris' Friend
2010	Pure Country 2: The Gift	Peter
2012	The Words	Nelson Wylie
2012	Batman: The Dark Knight Returns	Dr. Bartholomew Wolper (voice)	Direct-to-video
2013	10 Rules for Sleeping Around	Jeffrey Fields
2014	Sesame Street: Learning Rocks	Virgil Von Vivald	Direct-to-video
2015	The Meddler	Mark

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976-1983	Laverne & Shirley	Leonard 'Lenny' Kosnowski	149 episodes
1979	Happy Days	Leonard 'Lenny' Kosnowski	Episode: "Fonzie's Funeral: Part 2"
1980	Goodtime Girls	Joey	Episode: "Internal Injury"
1984	Saturday Night Live	Himself / David St. Hubbins	2 episodes
1985	George Burns Comedy Week	Joey	Episode: "The Borrowing"
1986	Classified Love	Pete Newly	Television film
1986	Tall Tales & Legends	Mac Macintosh / Mr. Wallace	2 episodes
1987	Double Agent	Jason Starr / Warren Starbinder	Television film
1987	Daniel and the Towers	Wexler Hatch	Television film
1990	Grand	Tom Smithson	13 episodes
1990	Empty Nest	Dennis	Episode: "Mad About the Boy"
1990	Murder, She Wrote	Ross McKay	Episode: "The Return of Preston Giles"
1990	The American Film Institute Presents: TV or Not TV?	Principal Ford	Television special; segment: "Peak A Boo"
1991	Morton & Hayes	Dr. Mummenschvantz	Episode: "The Bride of Mummula"
1991	Murder in High Places	Pettibone	Television film
1991-1996	Dream On	Gibby Fiske	25 episodes
1992-1994	Dinosaurs	Various voices	12 episodes
1992, 1999	The Simpsons	David St. Hubbins / Arthur Fortune / Jerry Rude (voices)	2 episodes
1993-1994, 1998	Animaniacs	Various voices	3 episodes
1993	Family Album	Mr. Gordon	Episode: "Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall All You Gotta Do Is Call..."
1994	Getting By	Dirk Clearfield	Episode: "Sell It Like It Is"
1994-1995	Saturday Night Live	Various	25 episodes
1994	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman	Dr. Fabian Leek	Episode: "Vatman"
1994	Duckman	Bob Hiney (voice)	Episode: "A Civil War"
1995	The Nanny	Professor Noel Babcock PhD	Episode: "Franny and the Professor"
1995	Friends	Mr. Rastatter	Episode: "The One with the List"
1996	The Sunshine Boys	Scott Grogan	Television film
1996	Star Trek: Voyager	The Clown	Episode: "The Thaw"
1996	Secret Service Guy	Frank McClellan	7 episodes
1996-1999	Tracey Takes On...	Barrington 'Barry' LeTissier	6 episodes
1996-1998	Jungle Cubs	Cecil (voice)	20 episodes
1996	Caroline in the City	Father Damian	Episode: "Caroline and the Wedding"
1996-1998	Pinky and the Brain	Various voices	4 episodes
1997	Road Rovers	Dr. Jeffrey Otitus (voice)	Episode: " Reigning Cats and Dogs (a.k.a. Curiosity Killed the Cat)"
1997	Johnny Bravo	King Raymond / Rupert / Rhino (voices)	Episode: "Johnny Bravo/Jungle Boy in 'Mr. Monkeyman'/Johnny Bravo and the Amazon Women"
1997	The Weird Al Show	Miner	Episode: "Mining Accident"
1997	Space Ghost Coast to Coast	Himself (voice)	Episode: "BooBooKitty"
1997-1998	101 Dalmatians: The Series	Jasper Badun (voice)	27 episodes
1998	The Closer	Arthur Willhaven	2 episodes
1998	LateLine	Dick Obermeyer	Episode: "Pearce's New Buddy"
1998	Murphy Brown	Dennis Page	Episode: "Second Time Around"
1998	The Angry Beavers	L.G. Algae / Raccoon (voices)	Episode: "Pond Scum"
1998	The New Batman Adventures	50's Joker / Mutant Member (voices)	Episode: "Legends of the Dark Knight "
1998	Mr. Show with Bob and David	Professor Peens	Episode: "Life Is Precious and God and the Bible"
1998-1999	Maggie Winters	Lewis Stickley	2 episodes
1998-2002	The X-Files	Morris Fletcher	4 episodes
1998	Recess	Mr. Bream (voice)	Episode: "Yes, Mikey, Santa Does Shave"
1999	Providence	Sherman Smith	Episode: "Blind Faith"
1999	Boy Meets World	Jedediah Lawrence	Episode: "State of the Unions"
1999, 2003	Hey Arnold!	Pinkerton / Earthflower / Johnny Stitches (voice)	2 episodes
2000	Batman Beyond	Ian Peek (voice)	Episode: "Sneak Peek"
2000-2001	The Huntress	Lt. Praeger / Ralph Thorson (voice)	3 episodes
2000, 2002	Family Guy	Various voices	2 episodes
2000-2001	Clerks: The Animated Series	Various voices	2 episodes
2000, 2008	Law & Order	Elias Grace / Bill Nolan	2 episodes
2001	Strip Mall	Psycho-Vivor Host	2 episodes
2001-2002	Oswald	Maestro Bingo / Louie (voices)	5 episodes
2001	The Lone Gunmen	Morris Fletcher	Episode: "All About Yves"
2001-2003	Primetime Glick	Adrien Van Voorhees	30 episodes
2002	Teamo Supremo	Mean Thumb / Lo-Fi (voices)	2 episodes
2002	As Told by Ginger	Bobby Lightfoot (voice)	Episode: "Family Therapy"
2002	Justice League	Sgt. O'Shaughnessey/The Sportsman (voice)	2 episodes
2002	The Zeta Project	Dr. Marcus Edmunds (voice)	Episode: "The Hologram Man"
2002-2005	Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law	Evelyn Spyro Throckmorton (voice)	4 episodes
2003	And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself	William Christy Cabanne	Television film
2003, 2010-2011	Smallville	Perry White	3 episodes
2005	Alias	Dr. Atticus Liddell	2 episodes
2005	Hopeless Pictures	Mel Wax (voice)	9 episodes
2005	Boston Legal	Dwight Biddle	Episode: "Truly, Madly, Deeply"
2006	Catscratch	Groink (voice)	Episode: "Love Jackal"
2006	Help Me Help You	Dr. Howard 'J.' Hubbins	Episode: "Pink Feud"
2006	The Year Without a Santa Claus	Snow Miser	Television film
2007	The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy	Kalgoron (voice)	Episode: "Wrath of the Spider Queen"
2007, 2011	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Matt Tessler	2 episodes
2008	The Unit	Dr. Donald Metz	2 episodes
2010	Glory Daze	Stu	Episode: "Why Shant This Be Love?"
2010	Sesame Street	Vergil Von Vivaldi	Episode: "Rock, Rock Band"
2011	Off the Map	Ed Greenman	Episode: "Saved by the Great White Hope"
2011	Castle	Victor Baron	Episode: "Pretty Dead"
2011	Childrens Hospital	Death	Episode: "Munch by Proxy"
2011	Glenn Martin, DDS	Eye-Hawk / Sarge (voice)	Episode: "Heist"
2011	Homeland	Judge Jeffrey Turner	Episode: "Grace"
2012-2013	Happy Endings	Big Dave	2 episodes
2012	Thundercats	Vultaire (voice)	2 episodes
2012, 2016	SpongeBob SquarePants	Captain Frosty Mug / Lonnie the Shark (voices)	2 episodes
2012	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Fred Sandow	Episode: "Father's Shadow"
2013	Family Tree	Keith Chadwick	4 episodes
2013	American Dad!	Emperor Zing (voice)	Episode: "Lost in Space"
2014	The 7D	Uncle Humidor (voice)	2 episodes
2015-present	Better Call Saul	Chuck McGill	25 episodes
2015-present	Food: Fact or Fiction?	Himself (host)	20 episodes
2015	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Zeus	Episode: "Stephen Merchant Wears a Checkered Shirt and Rolled Up Jeans"
2015-2016	Drunk History	Carl Laemmle / Arthur Jell	2 episodes
2017	Last Week Tonight with John Oliver	Warren G. Harding counselor	Segment: "Harding"

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Venue
2004	Hairspray	Edna Turnblad	Neil Simon Theatre
2004-2005	A Second Hand Memory	Phil Wellman	Linda Gross Theater
2006	The Pajama Game	Hines	American Airlines Theatre
2006	Love Song	Harry	Ambassadors Theatre
2007-2008	The Homecoming	Sam	Cort Theatre
2009	Our Town	Stage Manager	Barrow Street Theatre
2009-2010	Superior Donuts	Arthur Przybyszewski	Music Box Theatre
2011	King Lear	Earl of Gloucester	The Public Theatre
2012	The Best Man	Dick Jensen	Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre
2014	All the Way	J. Edgar Hoover	American Repertory Theatre
2017	The Little Foxes	Ben Hubbard	Samuel J. Friedman Theatre

Awards

• 2004 - Academy Award Nomination: Best Song - A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow - (shared with Annette O'Toole)
• 2004 - Broadcast Film Critics Association Award Winner: Best Song - A Mighty Wind - (shared with Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy)
• 2004 - Golden Satellite Award Nomination: Best Original Song - A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow - (shared with Annette O'Toole)
• 2004 - Grammy Award Winner: Best Song Written for a Motion Picture - A Mighty Wind - (shared with Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy)
• 2003 - Seattle Film Critics Award Winner: Best Music - A Mighty Wind - (shared with Christopher Guest, John Michael Higgins, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Annette O'Toole, Harry Shearer and Jeffrey C.J. Vanston)
• 2003 - DVD Exclusive Award Nomination: Best Animated Character Performance - The Hunchback of Notre Dame II - (shared with Ritsuko Notani)
• 2001 - DVD Exclusive Award Winner: Best DVD Audio Commentary - This Is Spinal Tap - (shared with Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer)