Lorne Michaels

Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, film and television producer and screenwriter best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live (1975–1980, 1985–present) and producing the Late Night series (since 1993), The Kids in the Hall (from 1989 to 1995) and The Tonight Show (since 2014).
He has received 20 Primetime Emmy Awards from 94 nominations, holding the record for being the most nominated individual in the award show's history.
==Early life==
===Place of birth===
Lorne Michaels was born on November 17, 1944, to Florence (née Becker) and Henry Abraham Lipowitz. His place of birth is disputed; multiple sources have said he was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, while others state he was born on a kibbutz in the then British mandate of Palestine (now Israel) and that his Jewish family immigrated to Toronto when he was an infant.
===Personal life===
Michaels and his two younger siblings were raised in Toronto; he attended Forest Hill Collegiate Institute. He graduated from University College, Toronto, where he majored in English, in 1966. Michaels became a US citizen in 1987 and was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2002.
Michaels has three children and has been married three times. During the early 1960s, he began a relationship with Rosie Shuster, daughter of his comedy mentor Frank Shuster of the Wayne and Shuster comedy team, who later worked with him on Saturday Night Live as a writer. Michaels and Shuster were married in 1971 and divorced in 1980. He married model Susan Forristal in 1981, which ended in divorce in 1987. Michaels is married to Alice Barry, his former assistant. The pair wed in 1991.
==Career==
===Early career===
Michaels began his career as a writer and broadcaster for CBC Radio. He moved to Los Angeles from Toronto in 1968 to work as a writer for Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show. He starred with Hart Pomerantz in The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour, a series of comedy specials that ran on CBC in the early 1970s.
===Saturday Night Live===
thumb|Michaels at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival.In 1975, Michaels created (with fellow NBC employee Dick Ebersol and president of the network Herb Schlosser) the TV show NBC's Saturday Night, which in 1977 changed its name to Saturday Night Live (initially there was a name conflict with an ABC show titled Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell, which debuted September 20, 1975, and was cancelled on January 17, 1976). The show, which is performed live in front of a studio audience, immediately established a reputation for being cutting-edge and unpredictable. It became a vehicle for launching the careers of some of the most successful comedians in the United States.
Originally the producer of the show, Michaels was also a writer and later became executive producer. He occasionally appears on-screen as well, where he is known for his deadpan humor. Throughout the show's history, SNL has been nominated for more than 156 Emmy Awards and has won 36. It has consistently been one of the highest-rated late-night television programs. Michaels has been with SNL for all seasons except for his hiatus in the early 1980s (seasons 6–10).
His daughter, Sophie, has appeared in episodes, one of which was during the show's 30th season hosted by Johnny Knoxville during the monologue when Lorne introduces Johnny Knoxville to his daughter and Sophie shocks Knoxville with a taser. She also appeared in a sketch about underage drinking when Zac Efron hosted the show.
Perhaps Michaels's best-known appearance occurred in the first season when he offered The Beatles $3,000 (a deliberately paltry sum) to reunite on the show. He later increased his offer to $3,200, but the money was never claimed. According to an interview in Playboy magazine, John Lennon and Paul McCartney happened to be in New York City that night and wanted to see the show. They very nearly went, but changed their minds as it was getting too late to get to the show on time, and they were both tired. This near-reunion was the basis for the TV movie Two of Us. On the November 20, 1976, show, musical guest George Harrison appeared, but Michaels told him the offer was conditional on all four members of the group showing up, not just any Beatle. Harrison told Michaels his refusal to pay him his share is "chintzy," and Michaels countered by saying, "The Beatles don't have to split the money equally. They can give, say, Ringo less if they want."
===Other work===
Michaels founded the production company Broadway Video in 1979, which has produced SNL since 1981 as well as other shows such as Canadian sketch-comedy The Kids in the Hall which began airing in 1988 on CBC in Canada, debuting in the US market in 1989 on cable television network HBO until moving to CBS in 1993.
During his SNL hiatus, Michaels created another sketch show titled The New Show, which debuted on Friday nights in prime time on NBC in January 1984. The show failed to garner the same enthusiasm as SNL and was cancelled after 9 episodes.
In the 1980s, Michaels appeared in an HBO mockumentary titled The Canadian Conspiracy about the supposed subversion of the United States by Canadian-born media personalities, with Lorne Greene as the leader of the conspiracy. Michaels was identified as the anointed successor to Greene.
Michaels is also the executive producer of the NBC show Late Night, and was the executive producer of 30 Rock and Up All Night during their runs.
On April 3, 2013, it was announced that Michaels would be taking over as the executive producer for The Tonight Show. Consequently, The Tonight Show moved to New York in early 2014 as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
==Credits==
===Film===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1979	Mr. Mike's Mondo Video 	Executive producer	
1980	Gilda Live 	Producer, writer 	
1984	Nothing Lasts Forever 	Producer 	
1986	Three Amigos 	Producer, writer 	
1992	Wayne's World 	Producer 	
1993	Coneheads 	Producer 	
1993	Wayne's World 2 	Producer 	
1994	Lassie 	Producer 	
1995	Tommy Boy 	Producer 	
1995	Stuart Saves His Family 	Producer 	
1996	Black Sheep 	Producer 	
1996	Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy	Producer 	
1998	A Night at the Roxbury 	Producer 	
1999	Superstar 	Producer 	
1999	Man on the Moon 	Cameo as himself 	
2000	The Ladies Man 	Producer 	
2001	Enigma 	Producer 	
2004	Mean Girls 	Producer 	
2007	Hot Rod 	Producer 	
2008	Baby Mama 	Producer 	
2010	MacGruber 	Producer 	
2012	The Guilt Trip 	Producer 	
2015	Staten Island Summer 	Producer 	
2016	Whiskey Tango Foxtrot 	Producer 	
2016	Brother Nature 	Producer 	
2016	Masterminds 	Producer 	
2017	Sandy Wexler 	Cameo as himself 	
===Television===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1970–1971 	The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour 	Costar, writer, producer 	Variety sketch series, CBC
1975–1980; 
1985–present	Saturday Night Live 	Executive producer, creator	Variety sketch series, NBC
1978 	All You Need is Cash: The Rutles 	Executive producer 	Television movie
1982 	The Concert in Central Park 	Executive producer 	Concert special, HBO
1984 	The New Show 	Producer 	Variety sketch series, NBC
1988–1990 	Sunday Night 	Executive producer 	Late night television, NBC
1988 	40th Primetime Emmy Awards 	Executive producer 	Awards ceremony, FOX
1988–1995; 
2022	The Kids in the Hall 	Executive producer 	Variety sketch series, CBC/Amazon Prime Video
1993–2009 	Late Night with Conan O'Brien 	Executive producer 	Variety talk series, NBC
2002 	The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch 	Executive producer 	Television film
2002 	The Colin Quinn Show 	Executive producer 	Variety talk series, NBC
2006 	Sons and Daughters 	Producer 	Television series, ABC
2006–2013 	30 Rock 	Executive producer 	Television series, NBC
2009–2014 	Late Night with Jimmy Fallon 	Executive producer 	Variety talk series, NBC
2011–2018 	Portlandia 	Executive producer 	Variety sketch series, IFC
2011–2013 	Up All Night 	Executive producer 	Television series, NBC
2013–2015 	The Awesomes 	Executive producer 	Television series, Hulu
2014–present	The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon 	Executive producer 	Variety talk series, NBC
2014–present	Late Night with Seth Meyers 	Executive producer 	Variety talk series, NBC
2014 	Howard Stern Birthday Bash 	Himself 	Television special
2014–2015 	Mulaney 	Executive producer 	Television series, Fox
2014 	The Maya Rudolph Show 	Executive producer 	Variety talk series, IFC
2015–2017 	Man Seeking Woman 	Executive producer 	Variety sketch series, FX
2015–present	Documentary Now! 	Executive producer 	Variety sketch series, IFC
2015 	Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special	Executive producer, himself	Television special, NBC
2015 	Adele Live in New York City 	Executive producer 	Television special, NBC
2016 	Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee 	Guest – Himself 	Episode: "Everybody Likes to See the Monkeys", Netflix
2016 	Maya & Marty 	Executive producer 	Variety sketch series, NBC
2017–2018 	Detroiters 	Executive producer 	Television series, Comedy Central
2017 	The David S. Pumpkins Halloween Special 	Executive producer 	Television special, NBC
2018–2021 	A.P. Bio 	Executive producer 	Television series, NBC/Peacock
2018 	70th Primetime Emmy Awards 	Executive producer 	Awards ceremony, NBC
2018 	Love, Gilda 	Himself 	Documentary, HBO
2018 	Norm Macdonald Has a Show 	Guest – Himself 	Episode: "Lorne Michaels", Netflix
2019–2021 	Shrill 	Executive producer 	Television series, Hulu
2019–present	Miracle Workers 	Executive producer 	Television series, TBS
2019–present	The Other Two 	Executive producer 	Television series, Comedy Central/HBO Max
2019–present	Los Espookys 	Executive producer 	Television series, HBO
2020 	Mark Twain Prize: Dave Chappelle 	Himself 	Awards ceremony, PBS
2020 	Mapleworth Murders 	Executive producer 	Television series, Quibi
2021-present	Kenan 	Executive producer 	Television series, NBC
2021-present	That Damn Michael Che 	Executive producer 	Television series, HBO Max
2021-present	Schmigadoon! 	Executive producer 	Television series, Apple TV+
2021 	Saturday Morning All Star Hits! 	Executive producer 	Television series, Netflix
===Stage===
Year	Title 	Role 	Theatre 	Notes
1979	Gilda Radner: Live From New York	Producer, director, and writer	Winter Garden Theatre	
1998	Colin Quinn -- An Irish Wake 	Producer 	Helen Hayes Theatre 	Straight Play
2018	Mean Girls 	Producer 	August Wilson Theatre	Broadway and North American tour
==In popular culture==
In The Kids in the Hall movie Brain Candy, the character of Don Roritor was based heavily on actor Mark McKinney’s impersonation of Lorne Michaels.
The character Dr. Evil, the antagonist of Austin Powers in three films, has mannerisms and a speaking style based on Lorne Michaels. Dr. Evil was created and portrayed by SNL alumnus Mike Myers, who was at least partially influenced by fellow SNL performer Dana Carvey's impression of Michaels.
In a 2008 interview with Playboy, as well in various other interviews, Tina Fey admitted that Alec Baldwin's character Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock is inspired by Michaels. In a different interview, on NPR's radio show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, Baldwin stated that some of his inspiration for Donaghy was drawn from Michaels. – 1:56–2:38. Retrieved September 5, 2010
==Honors==
In 1999, Michaels was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame and was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Also in 1999, Michaels received an honorary degree from Ryerson University.
In 2003, he received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.
In 2004, he was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Speaking at the awards ceremony, original Saturday Night Live cast member Dan Aykroyd described the show as "the primary satirical voice of the country".
Michaels received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement in 2006, Canada's highest honor in the performing arts.
In 2008, Michaels was awarded the Webby for Film & Video Lifetime Achievement. With the allotted 5-words allowed to each recipient, his five-word acceptance speech was "Five words is not enough".
In 2012, Michaels was awarded a rare Personal Peabody Award. He accepted at a ceremony in New York City at the Waldorf Astoria New York hotel.
In December 2021, Michaels was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors, along with Justino Diaz, Berry Gordy, Bette Midler, and Joni Mitchell.
Ribbon	Description 	Notes
 	Companion of the Order of Canada (C.C.) 	
*Awarded on: May 11, 2018;
*This is a promotion within the order
 	Member of the Order of Canada (C.M.) 	
*Awarded on: May 1, 2002
*Invested on: February 21, 2003
 	Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal for Canada 	
*2002: As a member of the Order of Canada, he was also awarded with The Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal.
 	Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for Canada	
*2012: As a member of the Order of Canada, he was also awarded with The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal.
 	Presidential Medal of Freedom 	
*On November 22, 2016, Michaels was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States's highest civilian honor.
==References==
==External links==
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*
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*The Museum of Broadcast Communications – Encyclopedia of Television "Saturday Night Live"
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*Audio of Lorne Michaels 1967 comedy act with Hart Pomerantz
* in 2005