Michael John McKean is an American actor, comedian, writer, composer and musician well
known for his portrayal of Squiggy's friend, Leonard "Lenny" Kosnowski, on the sitcom Laverne
& Shirley; and for his work in the Christopher Guest ensemble films, particularly as David
St. Hubbins, the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the fictional rock band Spinal
Tap from the eponymous film.
Early life and career McKean was born Oct. 17, 1947, in New York
City, the son of Ruth and Gilbert McKean, and was raised in Sea Cliff, New York, on
Long Island.
McKean began his career in Pittsburgh while a student at Carnegie Tech; 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.
"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.
Film and television McKean quickly became a recognizable name
in film and television, with appearances in films such as Used Cars, Clue, Planes, Trains
and Automobiles, Earth Girls Are Easy, the film adaptation of Memoirs of an Invisible
Man, Coneheads, and Radioland Murders, and taking a lead role in Short Circuit 2.
He also had guest roles on such shows as Murder, She Wrote, Murphy Brown, Lois and Clark: The
New Adventures of Superman, and Caroline in the City.
McKean was part of an ensemble cast in the short-lived television series Grand on NBC
which aired in 1990.
In 1991 McKean co-wrote 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 in 1994 and remained a cast member until 1995.
At 46, he was the oldest person ever to join the Saturday Night Live cast, and the only
person to be a musical guest, host, and cast member in that order.
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.
Later work
In 1997, he played the lead voice role in the video game Zork Grand Inquisitor, as Dalboz
of Gurth.
His more recent films have included Teaching Mrs. Tingle; Mystery, Alaska; Best in Show;
Little Nicky; The Guru; And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself; and A Mighty Wind.
McKean's TV guest appearances include; The Simpsons; Law & Order; Family Guy; Star Trek:
Voyager; SpongeBob SquarePants; Boy Meets World and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law.
He also guest voiced on Oswald as Henry's cousin, Louie.
Coincidentally, Henry was voiced by David Lander.
He also 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 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".
McKean had a regular role as the brassy, heavily made-up bandleader Adrian Van Horhees in Martin
Short's Comedy Central series, Primetime Glick, and in 2003, he guest starred on Smallville,
the Superman prequel in which his wife stars as Martha Kent.
McKean played Perry White, who – in the Superman universe – ultimately becomes Clark
Kent's boss.
He previously has been related to the Superman myth.
In 1994, on the Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman first season episode "Vatman",
he played Dr. Fabian Leek, a cloning expert who creates a Superman clone that belonged
to corporate mogul Lex Luthor.
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, 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.
He was on Broadway in a production of Hairspray in 2004, and is apparently writing his own
musical with O'Toole.
He was co-starring 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 critically acclaimed 2008 comedy
air-drumming film Adventures of Power, in which he was re-united on-screen with his
co-star Jane Lynch and starred alongside Adrian Grenier, Chiu Chi Ling, and Shoshannah Stern.
In it, McKean plays a copper-miner who organizes a community strike against the corrupt owners
of the town plant and is the father of Power (Ari Gold, a devoted young musician whose
goal it is to win the national air-drumming competition.
His role honors the leaders and fighters of the 99% movement.
On 22 March 2006, while Harry Shearer was being interviewed on the Opie and Anthony
Radio Show about Spinal Tap, he stated the following: "Well, Michael McKean had been
in a band called 'The Left Banke'.
They'd done a hit called 'Walk Away Renée', and 'Pretty Ballerina' was their follow-up
that was a semi-hit, and he joined the band right after they had their hits."
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.
Recently, McKean starred in the 40th Anniversary Broadway revival of Harold Pinter's The Homecoming,
co-starring Ian McShane, Raul Esparza, Eve Best, and James Frain.
The show opened on 9 December 2007.
In 2009, he starred in the Chicago-based Steppenwolf Theatre Company's production of Superior Donuts,
by playwright Tracy Letts.
On 20 January 2010, it was announced that Michael McKean would return to an episode
of Smallville alongside his real life wife, 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 is to be filled by James Lecesne.
He is currently appearing in the HBO comedy series "Family Tree".
On June 1, 2012, McKean was released from the hospital to begin physical rehabilitation.
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 the
36th President.
The play opens March 6, 2014.
In May 2014, McKean was announced to be a regular actor in AMC's Better Call Saul.
He was the first actor to join the series that was not on Breaking Bad.
Recurring characters on SNL Anthony, the weatherman from "Good Morning,
Brooklyn" Celebrity impersonations on SNL
Bill Clinton 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
George F. Will Gary Busey
Patrick Stewart Filmography
Cracking Up 1941
Used Cars Young Doctors in Love
This Is Spinal Tap D.A.R.Y.L.
Clue Jumpin' Jack Flash
Double Agent Light of Day
Planes, Trains and Automobiles Portrait of a White Marriage
Short Circuit 2 Earth Girls Are Easy
Hider in the House The Big Picture
Flashback Book of Love
Grand True Identity
Memoirs of an Invisible Man Man Trouble
Coneheads Airheads
Radioland Murders The Brady Bunch Movie
Across the Moon Friends "The One with the List"
Star Trek: Voyager – "The Thaw" Edie & Pen
The Pompatus of Love Jack
No Strings Attached Casper: A Spirited Beginning
That Darn Cat Nothing to Lose
Space Ghost Coast to Coast as himself Still Breathing
The Man Who Counted Spinal Tap: The Final Tour
The Pass The X-Files – Dreamland
Small Soldiers Archibald the Rainbow Painter
With Friends Like These...
Sugar: The Fall of the West Masters of Horror and Suspense
Kill the Man True Crime
Teaching Mrs. Tingle Mystery, Alaska
Law and Order - Mega Best in Show
Beautiful Little Nicky
My First Mister Never Again
Dr. Dolittle 2 Slap Her...
She's French Teddy Bears' Picnic
The Guru Auto Focus
100 Mile Rule A Mighty Wind
And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself Smallville
The Producers Relative Strangers
The Year Without a Santa Claus – Snow Miser For Your Consideration
Joshua The Grand
Surf's Up Law and Order - Called Home
Adventures of Power Whatever Works
Homeland – "Grace" The Dark Knight Returns - Part 1 – Dr. Wolper
SpongeBob SquarePants American Dad!
Better Call Saul Awards
2004 – Academy Award Nomination: Best Song – A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow –
2004 – Broadcast Film Critics Association Award Winner: Best Song – A Mighty Wind
– 2004 – Golden Satellite Award Nomination:
Best Original Song – A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow –
2004 – Grammy Award Winner: Best Song Written for a Motion Picture – A Mighty Wind –
2003 – Seattle Film Critics Award Winner: Best Music – A Mighty Wind –
2003 – DVD Exclusive Award Nomination: Best Animated Character Performance – The Hunchback
of Notre Dame II – 2001 – DVD Exclusive Award Winner: Best
DVD Audio Commentary – This Is Spinal Tap –
References
External links Michael McKean at the Internet Movie Database
Michael McKean at the Internet Broadway Database Michael McKean at the Internet Off-Broadway
Database Michael McKean on Twitter
Michael McKean – Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org
Official The Homecoming on Broadway website