Chris Kattan

Bunnicula

**Christopher Lee Kattan** (/kəˈtæn/) is an American actor, comedian, and author. He is best known for his work as a cast member on *Saturday Night Live*, his role as Bob on the first four seasons of *The Middle*, for playing Doug Butabi in *A Night at the Roxbury* and Bunnicula in *Bunnicula*.

## Early life

Kattan was born in Culver City, California.[1] His father, Kip King (originially Jerome Charles Kattan; 1937–2010), was an actor and voice actor. His mother, Hajnalka E. Biro, was once photographed for *Playboy* and worked as a model in London.[2] His father was born to Jewish parents from Iraq and Poland. His mother, a native of Budapest, Hungary, is a Buddhist.[2][3] His stepfather was a Buddhist therapist and monk.[4] His half-brother, Andrew Joslyn, is a professional musician and composer.[5] Kattan was raised on a Zen retreat on Mount San Antonio (Mount Baldy), outside Los Angeles.[4] He lived on Bainbridge Island, Washington, where he attended Bainbridge High School, and graduated in 1989.

## Early work and *SNL*

Kattan was a member of several improvisational comedy (improv) and sketch comedy troupes, one of them being The Groundlings in Los Angeles. His father was an original member of the troupe.[6] Kattan also did some minor roles on TV, including the second episode of the second season of *NewsRadio*, "No, This Is Not Based Entirely on Julie's Life," as a photo shop employee.

He moved to New York City to work on *Saturday Night Live* from 1996 to 2003. His recurring characters included Mr. Peepers, Mango, Azrael Abyss, Kyle DeMarco from The DeMarco Brothers, Gay Hitler, Suel Forrester (known for the term "dagitybo") and, most notably, one half of the Butabi Brothers with fellow *SNL* (and Groundlings) cast member Will Ferrell, known for their trademark head-bobbing. Kattan and Ferrell continued the characters in the 1998 film *A Night at the Roxbury*.

### *SNL* celebrity impersonations

Kattan on August 19, 1999 (after Lorne Michaels received his star on the Walk of Fame)

* Clay Aiken
* Christiane Amanpour
* Antonio Banderas
* Andy Dick
* Larry Fine
* Bill Gates
* Ben Affleck
* David Gest
* Elian Gonzalez
* Anne Heche
* Julio Iglesias Jr.
* Steve Irwin
* Chris Kirkpatrick
* Ricky Martin
* Al Pacino
* Kid Rock
* David Lee Roth
* Paul Shaffer
* David Spade
* Kerri Strug (also appeared in Weekend Update with Strug as her fictional brother, Kippy)
* Geraldo Rivera
* Robert Downey, Jr.

### 2007–2017: Post-*SNL* activities

Kattan was to play Xanthias in the 2004 Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim's *The Frogs*, however director-choreographer Susan Stroman replaced him prior to the opening.[7][8][9] Kattan appeared in a Diet Pepsi Max commercial during Super Bowl XLII in 2008 that featured the song *What Is Love* and had many actors in the commercial performing the head bob from *A Night at the Roxbury*.

In August 2009, Kattan starred in the Independent Film Channel (IFC) miniseries *Bollywood Hero*, where he portrays himself and the difficulties he faces after a career as a comic actor, trying to attain leading man status.[10] Starting in fall of 2009, Kattan appeared in a supporting role in *The Middle*. Kattan played Bob, a colleague of Frankie Heck's at Mr. Ehlert's car dealership. Kattan appeared in an episode of *How I Met Your Mother* as a star in "The Wedding Bride", a fictional movie within the show. He played himself acting as Jed Mosely, a character based on the main character Ted with an arrogant personality. He reappeared as the character while the gang was watching its sequel, *Wedding Bride 2*.[11] On December 17, 2011, Kattan made a guest appearance on the *Saturday Night Live* Christmas show, hosted by Jimmy Fallon and again briefly on the final episode of SNL's 37th season.

In June 2014, Kattan reprised his role as former *SNL* character Mango in a preview of Missy Elliott protégée Sharaya J's "Shut It Down" via a *T by Alexander Wang* campaign.[12]

In 2017, Kattan was a contestant on season 24 of *Dancing with the Stars* paired with professional dancer Witney Carson. He was the first celebrity dancer eliminated.[13]

Kattan reunited with fellow *SNL* alumni Jimmy Fallon, Horatio Sanz, and Tracy Morgan along with special guest Ariana Grande in December 2018 during the cold open of *The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.* The foursome (and Grande) reprised their iconic performance of "I Wish it Was Christmas Today."[14] It was the first time since 2011 that Fallon, Sanz, Kattan, and Morgan were all present for a performance of the song.

## Personal life

Kattan married model Sunshine Deia Tutt on June 28, 2008, in Oakhurst, California, after proposing to her on Christmas Eve 2006.[15] The couple separated on August 10, 2008, and divorced in February 2009.

### Neck injury

Kattan competed in *Dancing With the Stars* in 2017, and was criticized about his stiff upper body movement from the *Dancing* judges and many fans on social media. Afterward, Kattan revealed that he had broken his neck doing a stunt almost 20 years prior and that the injury and subsequent surgeries were the reasons for his lack of mobility. Kattan also revealed that the pain medication he began taking following his fourth surgery led to his 2014 DUI arrest.[17] Kattan revealed more details of the injury claiming that it was the result of a *SNL* sketch that aired on May 12, 2001 in which he threw himself backwards on a chair while doing a *Golden Girls* parody.[18]

## Filmography

### Feature films

* *A Night at the Roxbury* (1998)
* *House on Haunted Hill* (1999)
* *Any Given Wednesday* (2000)
* *Monkeybone* (2001)
* *Corky Romano* (2001)
* *Undercover Brother* (2002)
* *Enough About Me* (TV movie) (2005)
* *Adam & Steve* (2005)
* *Santa's Slay* (2005)
* *The Year Without a Santa Claus* (2006)
* *Two Dreadful Children* (voice) (2007)
* *Undead or Alive* (2007)
* *Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters* (voice) (2007)
* *Nancy Drew* (2007)
* *Christmas in Wonderland* (2007)
* *Delgo* (voice) (2008)
* *Bollywood Hero* (2009)
* *Tanner Hall* (2009)
* *Hollywood & Wine* (2010)
* *Foodfight!* (voice) (2012)
* *Crazy Enough* (2012)
* *Guns, Girls and Gambling* (2012)
* *Hotel Transylvania 2* (voice) (2015)
* *The Ridiculous 6* (2015)
* *The Last Film Festival* (2016)
* *Walk of Fame* (2017)
* *How to Get Girls* (2017)

### Television

* *Saturday Night Live* (1996–2003)
* *Grace Under Fire* (1996)
* *Celebrity Deathmatch* (voice) (as himself) (2001)
* *Inked* (TV) (2005)
* *Totally Awesome* (2006)
* *Sunset Tan* (as himself) (2007)
* *Hollywood Residential* (2008)
* *The Middle* (TV) (2009–2012, 2014)
* *How I Met Your Mother* (2010/2014)
* *Late Night with Jimmy Fallon* (as himself) (2011)
* *Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off* (as himself) (2013)
* *The Awesomes* (2015)
* *Jake and the Never Land Pirates* (voice) (2015)
* *Bunnicula* (voice) (2016)
* *Dancing with the Stars* (as himself) (2017) contestant on season 24
* *Mutt & Stuff* (as Jumping Jimmy) (TV) (2017)
* *Real Rob* (as himself) Season 2 Episode 1 (2017)
* *Bill Nye Saves the World* (as himself) Season 2 Episode 2 (2017)
* *Cody Zingsheim* (as himself) (2018)
* *Celebrity Family Feud* (as himself) (2018)