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'Dana Thomas Carvey' (born June 2, 1955, in Missoula, Montana) is an American actor and comedian best known for his work on ''Saturday Night Live'' and the spin-off movie ''Wayne's World''.

Contents

Early life

Career

First roles

SNL

After SNL

Filmography

See also

References

External links

Early life

When Carvey was three years old, his family moved to San Carlos, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. He received his first drum kit at an early age. He attended Tierra Linda Junior High in San Carlos, California, and Carlmont High School in Belmont, California, and received his Bachelor's degree in communications from San Francisco State University. He is a member of the Lutheran Church.
In 1979, while performing at the Great American Music theater in San Francisco, he met the former Miss Paula Zwaggerman, who would later become his wife. Paula attended University of California at San Diego for a short period of time, while dating future high profile San Diego entrepenuer, Rich Singley. Soon after returning to the Bay Area in 1980, Dana and Paula were engaged.
Dana Carvey is the brother of Brad Carvey, the engineer/designer of the Video Toaster. The character Garth Algar (from the movie Wayne's World) is a loosely based portrayal of Brad.

Career

First roles

Carvey's first movie role was a small part in the 1981 horror film ''Halloween II''. He then costarred on ''One of the Boys'' in 1982, a short-lived television sitcom that also starred Mickey Rooney, Nathan Lane, and Meg Ryan. In 1984, Carvey had a small role in Rob Reiner's ''This Is Spinal Tap'' film, in which he played a mime, with fellow comedian Billy Crystal. He also starred in the short-lived movie-based action show ''Blue Thunder''.

SNL

In 1986, Carvey became a household name when he joined the cast of NBC's ''Saturday Night Live''. His breakout character was The Church Lady, the uptight, smug, and pious host of "Church Chat." Carvey said he based the character on women he knew from his church growing up, who would keep track of his and others' attendance. He became so associated with the character that later cast members like Chris Farley referred to Carvey simply as "The Lady."
Carvey's other original characters included Garth Algar (from "Wayne's World"), Hans (from "Hans and Franz"), and The Grumpy Old Man (from ''Weekend Update'' appearances). Algar is actually an affectionate caricature of Dana's brother, Brad Carvey, an accomplished electrical engineer who invented the Video Toaster, and has been said by Carvey to have fixed the family clothes dryer using only a butter knife.
Carvey also became known for his impressions, most notably of George H. W. Bush during the 1988 campaign and after Bush was elected president. Other notable impressions included James Stewart, Johnny Carson, John McLaughlin, Regis Philbin, Keith Richards, Tom Brokaw, Charles Grodin, Paul McCartney, and Woody Allen. During the 1992 campaign, he did a dead-on impression of independent candidate Ross Perot; in a prime-time special before the election, Carvey played both Bush and Perot in a three-way debate with Bill Clinton, who was played by Phil Hartman. As Perot, Carvey declined to say the show's signature "Live from New York" opening line because he was actually on tape.
Carvey left SNL in 1993.
In 1992, Carvey joined Mike Myers to bring their popular "Wayne's World" sketch to the silver screen with ''Wayne's World'' the movie. A sequel was filmed and released in 1993, titled ''Wayne's World 2''. Rumors abound that Mike Myers is writing a screenplay for Wayne's World 3 but nothing has been verified yet from either Mike's or Dana's camp.

After SNL

NBC executives hoped to get Carvey to take over the 12:30 a.m. (ET) weeknight spot in the network's lineup in 1993 when David Letterman left his show, ''Late Night with David Letterman'', for an 11:30 p.m. (ET) show on CBS. A big Letterman fan, Carvey rejected the offer, causing embarrassment for the network, which had publicly floated his name. The 12:30 spot eventually went to Conan O'Brien.
In 1994, Carvey starred in the film ''Clean Slate''.
He reprised many of his SNL characters in 1996 for ''The Dana Carvey Show'', a critically acclaimed but short-lived prime-time variety show. The show was most notable for launching Robert Smigel's cartoon "The Ambiguously Gay Duo."
In 1997, he underwent open-heart surgery for a blocked artery. Unfortunately, the doctors operated on the wrong artery. Carvey later sued for medical malpractice and was awarded $7.5 million. He has had to undergo a total of five operations to correct his heart problems. Carvey stated in an interview with Larry King that he donated all the money awarded to him from the lawsuit to charity.
In 2002, he returned to the silver screen in the comedy ''Master of Disguise'', which was panned by critics but managed about $40 million at the North American box office.
He is number 90 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.
A very private person, Carvey withdrew from the limelight to focus on his family. He later said in an interview that he doesn't want to be in a career in which his kids would already be grown with his having neglected time with them.
Carvey may hold the distinction of being the only comedian ever to be imitated by a former President of the United States at the funeral of another former President of the United States. At the January 2, 2007 funeral of Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush reminisced in his eulogy about how Ford took it in stride when SNL's Chevy Chase made Ford the object of his own imitations. Bush cited this as a valuable lesson in learning to laugh at one's self as a part of public life. "I'd tell you more about that," Bush continued, "but as Dana Carvey would say, [imitating Carvey imitating him] 'Not gonna do it! Wouldn't be prudent!'"
Carvey charges over $75,000 per paid appearance. ^[1]

Filmography

★ ''Halloween II'' - 1981

★ ''This is Spinal Tap'' - 1984

★ ''Racing with the Moon'' - 1984

★ ''Blue Thunder (TV series)'' - 1984

★ ''Tough Guys'' - 1986

★ ''Moving'' - 1988

★ ''Opportunity Knocks'' - 1990

★ ''Wayne's World'' - 1992

★ ''Wayne's World 2'' - 1993

★ ''Clean Slate'' - 1994

★ ''The Road to Wellville'' - 1994

★ ''Trapped in Paradise'' - 1994

★ ''The Shot'' - 1996

★ ''Little Nicky'' - 2000

★ ''The Master of Disguise'' - 2002

See also

★ Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches (listed by cast member)

References

1. http://www.leadingauthorities.com/23920/Dana_Carvey.htm

External links

★

★ Dana Carvey fansite

★ Maxim Rated Top SNL performer