Michael John Myers born 25 May 1963 is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer and director, known for his run as a performer on Saturday Night Live from 1989 to 1995 and for playing the title roles in the Wayne’s World, Austin Powers and Shrek film franchises. He made his directorial debut with the documentary Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon (2013). He semi-retired from acting in 2012, though he had supporting roles in Terminal and Bohemian Rhapsody (both 2018).
Early life
Michael John Myers was born in Scarborough, Ontario, on May 25, 1963, to English immigrant parents from the Old Swan area of Liverpool. His father, Eric Myers, was an insurance agent, while his mother, Alice “Bunny” E. Myers (née Hind), was an office supervisor and a veteran of the Royal Air Force. He has two older brothers: Paul, a musician and Peter, who worked for Sears Canada. He grew up in suburban Toronto districts, both North York and Scarborough, where he attended Sir John A. Macdonald Collegiate Institute. He then graduated from Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute in 1982.
Career
Early career
Myers began performing in commercials at two years old. At the age of ten, he made a commercial for British Columbia Hydro, with Gilda Radner playing his mother. At 12, he made a guest appearance as Ari on the TV series King of Kensington. At 16, he was the guest star of Season 1 Episode 10 “Boy On Wheels” of the TV series The Littlest Hobo.
After graduating from high school, Myers was accepted into The Second City Canadian touring company. He moved to the United Kingdom, and in 1985 he was one of the founding members of The Comedy Store Players, an improvisational group based at The Comedy Store in London.
The next year, he starred in the British children’s TV program Wide Awake Club, parodying the show’s normal exuberance with his own “Sound Asleep Club”, in partnership with Neil Mullarkey.
He returned to Toronto and The Second City in 1986 as a cast member in The Second City’s Toronto main stage show, Second City Theatre. In 1988, he moved from Second City in Toronto to Chicago. In Chicago, he trained, performed, and taught at the Improv Olympic.
Myers made many appearances, including as Wayne Campbell, on Toronto’s Citytv in the early 1980s, on the alternative video show City Limits hosted by Christopher Ward; Myers also made several appearances after the launch of MuchMusic, for which City Limits was essentially the prototype. Myers also appeared as Wayne Campbell in the music video for Ward’s Canadian hit “Boys and Girls”.
The Wayne Campbell character was featured extensively in the 1986 summer series It’s Only Rock & Roll, produced by Toronto’s Insight Production Company for CBC Television. Wayne appeared both in-studio and in a series of location sketches directed and edited by Allan Novak. Myers wrote another sketch, “Kurt and Dieter”, co-starring with Second City’s Dana Andersen and also directed by Novak, which later became the popular “Sprockets” sketch on Saturday Night Live.
Film
Myers in April 2010
Myers made his film debut when he and Dana Carvey adapted their Wayne’s World Saturday Night Live (SNL) sketches into the feature Wayne’s World (1992). It was among the most successful films of the year and was followed in 1993 by Wayne’s World 2; Myers starred in So I Married an Axe Murderer the same year. He took a two-year hiatus from performing after the end of his time as an SNL regular.
Myers returned to acting with the film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), followed by the sequels Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002). Myers played the title role (Austin Powers), the villain (Dr. Evil), a henchman (Fat Bastard) and another villain (Goldmember) in all three films.
One of Myers’ rare non-comedic roles came in the film 54 (1998), in which he portrayed Steve Rubell, proprietor of New York City’s famous 1970s discotheque Studio 54. The film was not critically or commercially successful, though Myers received some positive notice.
In June 2000, Myers was sued by Universal Pictures for US$3.8 million for backing out of a contract to make a feature film based on his SNL character Dieter. Myers said he refused to honor the US$20 million contract because he felt his script was not ready. Myers countersued, and a settlement was reached after several months where Myers agreed to make another film with Universal. That film, The Cat in the Hat, was released in November 2003 and starred Myers as the title character. It received negative reviews and performed unsuccessfully at the box office.
In 2001, Myers provided the voice of Shrek in the DreamWorks animated film of the same name, having taken over the role after the originally planned voice actor Chris Farley died in December 1997. He reprised this role in Shrek 4-D (a theme park ride) in 2003, Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), the Christmas and Halloween television specials Shrek the Halls (2007) and Scared Shrekless (2010), and Shrek Forever After (2010).
Myers received the MTV Generation Award in June 2007, making him the second Canadian to win the award (following Jim Carrey in 2006).
In 2008, Myers co-wrote, co-produced, and starred in the poorly received The Love Guru, and in 2009, he had a minor role as British general Ed Fenech in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds.
In 2018, after an eight-year hiatus from feature films, Myers appeared in supporting roles in Terminal (2018) and Bohemian Rhapsody (2018).
Other work
Myers had a cameo appearance in Britney Spears’ music video “Boys” as Austin Powers. Britney Spears, in turn, makes a cameo in Austin Powers: Goldmember, performing “Boys”.
In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian’s Comedian, he was voted among the top 50 comedy acts by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.
Myers is a member of the band Ming Tea along with The Bangles’ guitarist and vocalist Susanna Hoffs and musician Matthew Sweet. They performed the songs “BBC” and “Daddy Wasn’t There” from the Austin Powers films.
In 2011 Myers returned to The Comedy Store in London to perform a one night only comeback of his role with The Comedy Store Players. The UK comedy website Chortle praised his performance.
Myers’ 2013 directorial debut, Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon, was selected to be screened in the Gala Presentation section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. In 2017, Myers began hosting a reprised version of The Gong Show in heavy makeup as a fictional British host known as Tommy Maitland.
An avid follower of the Monty Python comedy troupe, in July 2014 Myers appeared on stage at the O2 Arena on the final night of their 10 dates live show, Monty Python Live (Mostly), and also appears on the documentary telefilm Monty Python: The Meaning of Live.
In April 2019, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Myers will be starring in and executive producing a comedy series for Netflix, with it to last for six episodes and him playing multiple characters.
Personal life
Myers began dating actress and comedy writer Robin Ruzan in the late 1980s after meeting at an ice hockey game in Chicago, during which Myers caught a puck and used the incident as an icebreaker to strike up a conversation with Ruzan. The couple married on May 22, 1993, and Myers later referred to Ruzan as “his muse”. The couple filed for divorce in December 2005.
In 2006, café owner Kelly Tisdale confirmed reports that she and Myers were dating. Myers and Tisdale married in New York City in a secret ceremony in late 2010. They have three children: a son born in September 2011 and two daughters.
Myers is a Dungeons & Dragons player and was one of several celebrities to have participated in the Worldwide Dungeons & Dragons Game Day in 2006.
He supports the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League. He named two characters in the first Austin Powers film Commander Gilmour and General Borschevsky, after then-Maple Leafs players Doug Gilmour and Nikolai Borschevsky.
Myers has played for Hollywood United F.C., a celebrity soccer team. He played in the 2010 Soccer Aid for UNICEF UK football match, England vs. R.O.W (Rest of the World) and scored his penalty during a sudden-death shootout after the game ended 2–2 (June 6, 2010). The Rest of the World team beat England for the first time since the tournament started. Myers is a fan of Liverpool F.C.
In 2014, Myers starred in a commercial with his brother Peter for Sears Canada, using “humorous banter to spread the message that, despite rumours, Sears wasn’t shutting down”. Peter at the time was senior director of planning at Sears head office in Toronto, and he was laid off in 2017 after Sears Canada filed for bankruptcy.
In 2016, Myers published a book, Canada, about the country’s history and popular culture.
Myers currently lives in Tribeca, New York.
Myers is also a member of the Canadian charity Artists Against Racism.
Awards and honours
Myers’ star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
In 2003, he was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame.
For contributions to the motion picture industry, Mike Myers was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7042 Hollywood Boulevard.
In 2015, his face was put on a stamp by Canada Post.
On June 30, 2017, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada by Governor General David Johnston for “his extensive and acclaimed body of comedic work as an actor, writer and producer.”
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Wayne’s World | Wayne Campbell | Also writer |
| 1993 | So I Married an Axe Murderer | Charlie McKenzie / Stuart McKenzie | |
| Wayne’s World 2 | Wayne Campbell | Also writer | |
| 1997 | Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery | Austin Powers / Dr. Evil | Also writer and producer |
| 1998 | 54 | Steve Rubell | |
| The Thin Pink Line | Tim Broderick | ||
| Pete’s Meteor | Pete | ||
| 1999 | Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me | Austin Powers / Dr. Evil / Fat Bastard | Also writer and producer |
| Mystery, Alaska | Donnie Shulzhoffer | ||
| 2001 | Shrek | Shrek | Voice |
| 2002 | Austin Powers in Goldmember | Austin Powers / Dr. Evil / Fat Bastard / Goldmember | Also writer and producer |
| 2003 | Nobody Knows Anything! | ‘Eye’ Witness | |
| The Cat in the Hat | The Cat in the Hat | ||
| View from the Top | John Witney | ||
| 2004 | Shrek 2 | Shrek | Voice |
| 2006 | Home | Himself | Documentary |
| 2007 | Shrek the Third | Shrek | Voice |
| 2008 | The Love Guru | Guru Maurice Pitka / Himself | Also writer and producer |
| 2009 | Inglourious Basterds | Gen. Ed Fenech | |
| 2010 | Shrek Forever After | Shrek | Voice |
| 2012 | Oscar Etiquette | Sir Cecil Worthington | Short film |
| 2013 | Being Canadian, Sometimes | Himself | Documentary |
| Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon | Himself | Documentary; also director | |
| 2015 | I Am Chris Farley | Himself | Documentary |
| 2018 | Terminal | Clinton/Mr. Franklyn | |
| Bohemian Rhapsody | Ray Foster | ||
| TBA | Untitled David O. Russell film | Filming |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | King of Kensington | Ari | Episode: “Scout’s Honour” |
| 1977 | Range Ryder and the Calgary Kid | Himself | |
| 1979 | The Littlest Hobo | Tommy | Episode: “Boy on Wheels” |
| 1980 | Bizarre | Various | |
| 1985 | John and Yoko: A Love Story | Delivery Boy | Uncredited Television film |
| 1986–1987 | Wide Awake Club | Sound Asleep Club | 2 episodes |
| 1987 | Meet Julie | (voice) | Television film |
| It’s Only Rock & Roll | Various | 13 episodes | |
| 1989 | Elvis Stories | Cockney Man | Television short |
| 1989–1995 | Saturday Night Live | Various | 121 episodes; also writer |
| 1997 | Saturday Night Live | Himself (host) | Episode: “Mike Myers/Aerosmith” |
| 2007 | Shrek the Halls | Shrek | Voice Television special |
| 2008 | 2008 MTV Movie Awards | Himself (host) | Television special |
| 2010 | Scared Shrekless | Shrek | Voice Television special |
| 2011 | Saturday Night Live | Wayne Campbell | Episode: “Dana Carvey/Linkin Park” |
| 2014 | Monty Python Live (Mostly) | Himself | Television special |
| Saturday Night Live | Dr. Evil | Episode: “Amy Adams/One Direction” | |
| 2015 | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | Himself | Episode: “Canada” |
| Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special | Wayne Campbell | Television special | |
| 2017–2018 | The Gong Show | Tommy Maitland (host) | |
| 2018 | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | Dr. Evil | 2 episodes |
Theme parks
| Year | Title | Voice role |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Hurler | Wayne Campbell |
| 2003 | Shrek 4-D | Shrek |