Michael McKean

Tidlig liv og karriere

McKean ble født 17. oktober 1947, i New York City som sønn av Ruth, en biblitakar, og Gilbert McKean, en av grunneggerne av Decca Records=, og vokste opp i Sea Cliff, New York på Long Island.
McKean begynte sin karriere i Pittsburgh mens han var student ved Carnegie Tech; en av hans medstuderende var David Lander. Deres samarbeide og vennskap vokste etter eksamen. De samarbeidet i en komediegruppe: The Credibility Gap med Harry Shearer i Los Angeles, men McKeans gjennombrudd kom i 1976 da han og Lander spilte sammen i Laverne & Shirley som portretterte Lenny og Squiggy. McKean regissiserte en episode, og figurene ble noe av et fenomen, som førte til utgivelsen av et album kalt Lenny and the Squigtones I 1979, spite McKean også denne skikkelse i en episode av Happy Days. Etter å ha forlatt Laverne & Shirley i 1982, spilte McKean rollen som David St. Hubbins i komedien This is Spinal Tap og også i såpeoperaen Young Doctors in Love.

Film og fjernsyn

McKean ble raskt et kjent navn i film og fjernsyn, med optredener i filmer som Used Cars (1980), Clue (1985), Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) og Earth Girls Are Easy (1988), the filmatisering av TV-seriene Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992), Coneheads (1993), Airheads (1994), Radioland Murders (1994), og for hvedrollen i Short Circuit 2 (1988). Han hadde også gjesterolle i show som Murder, She Wrote, Murphy Brown, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, og Caroline in the City.
Etter ha opptrådt som gjest og senere programeder forSaturday Night Live, ble McKean med i stykket i 1994 og foble der frem til 1995. Han var da 46 år gammel og da den eldste person noensinne i dette show, i løpet av denne priode kom hans vido, en oppfølger til Spinal Tap.

Senere arbeider

I 1997 site han hovedrollen i videospillet Zork Grand Inquisitor, som Dalboz of Gurth. Hans senere filmer omfatter Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999); Mystery, Alaska (1999); Best in Show (2000), Little Nicky (2000); The Guru (2002); And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (2003); og A Mighty Wind (2003).
McKeans gjesteopptredener i TV omfatter; The Simpsons; Law & Order; Family Guy; Star Trek: Voyager; SpongeBob SquarePants; Boy Meets World og Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. Han hadde gjesterolle med sin stemme i Oswald som Henrys fetter. Louie. Coincidentally, Henrys stemme tilhørte David Lander. I 1998 hadde han gjesteopptreden i The X-Files , en episode kalt "Dreamland" hvor an karakter. Morris Fletcher, switched bytter kropp medFox Mulder. Rollen var en suksess og be gjentatt på 1999-tallet som "Three of a Kind", en episode som fokuserte på recurring karakterene i The Lone Gunmen. Skikkelsene hsdde en kort levetid i 2001, og gjenoppstod i The X-Files , siste, episode kalt "Jump the Shark". McKean hadde en rolle som bandleader Adrian Van Horhees i Martin Shorts serie, Primetime Glick, og i 2003, hadde han gjesterolle i 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 (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.
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 (from "For Your Consideration") 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.
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 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 December 9, 2007. In 2009, he starred in the Chicago-based Steppenwolf Theatre Company's production of Superior Donuts, by playwright Tracy Letts.
On January 20, 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. 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. 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. McKean plays the role of Chuck McGill.