'Lorne Michaels' (born 'Lorne Michael Lipowitz' on
November 17,
1944) is an
Emmy-winning
Canadian television
producer,
writer and
comedian best known for creating and producing ''
Saturday Night Live'' and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.
Early life and career
Born in
Toronto, Michaels began his career as a writer and broadcaster for
CBC Radio [1]. He moved to Los Angeles from Toronto in 1968 to work as a writer for ''
Laugh-In'' and ''
The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show''. During the late 1960s, Michaels married Rosie Shuster, who later worked with him on ''Saturday Night Live'' as a writer
[2]. She was the daughter of
Frank Shuster, one half of the famous comedy team,
Wayne and Shuster. Michaels and Shuster were divorced in 1980.
''Saturday Night Live''
In
1975, Michaels co-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 "
Saturday Night Live." 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 North America, including:
Chevy Chase,
John Belushi,
Dan Aykroyd,
Gilda Radner,
Bill Murray,
Eddie Murphy (who was on the
Dick Ebersol produced Saturday Night Live during Michaels' absence),
Mike Myers,
Dana Carvey,
Chris Rock,
David Spade,
Chris Farley,
Adam Sandler,
Molly Shannon, and
Will Ferrell.
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's known for being very deadpan and never breaking character. However, during the October 28, 2006 episode, Michaels laughed at himself after mispronouncing "
Kazakhstan" while introducing
Borat. Throughout the show's history, ''SNL'' has been nominated for more than 80
Emmy Awards and has won 18. 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 once appeared in an episode during the show's 30th season hosted by Johnny Knoxville during the monologue where Lorne introduces Johnny Knoxville to his daughter and Sophie shocks Knoxville with a taser.
Perhaps Michaels' best known appearance occurred in the first season when he offered the Beatles three thousand dollars - a deliberately paltry sum - to reunite on the show. He later upped his promise to $3200, but the money was never claimed. According to an interview in Playboy magazine, former
Beatles John Lennon and
Paul McCartney happened to be in
New York City that night and saw 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 quite tired by that point.
Despite the program's success, he has been known to have had combative relationships with several cast members, and is generally portrayed by media onlookers as a harsh but evidently effective boss. An example of the harshness is his rather active disdain of improvisation during the performances of SNL. This is somewhat ironic, as many perfomers on SNL over the years have had extensive background and training in improvisational comedy. The disdain on Michaels' part may be due in no small part to the fact that the scripts tend to be worked on extensively through the week for the skits, and any deviation or improvisation is seen by Michaels as affecting the flow and timing of the show.
Other work
Michaels started
Broadway Video in
1979, producing such shows as ''
The Kids in the Hall''.
During his ''SNL'' hiatus, Michaels created another sketch show entiltled ''
The New Show'', which debuted on Friday nights in prime time on NBC in January 1984. It was critically panned and was a failure in the ratings which led to its cancellation after only 2 months.
In the 1980s, Lorne 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.
Honors
In
1999, Michaels was inducted into the ''
Television Academy Hall of Fame''. In
2002, Michaels was made a member of the ''
Order of Canada'' for lifetime achievement
[3], and awarded a star on the ''
Hollywood Walk of Fame''.
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
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts[4], the first non-American to earn this honour. Speaking at the awards ceremony, original ''Saturday Night Live'' cast member
Dan Aykroyd described Michaels as "the primary satirical voice of the country."
In Canada, Michaels also received a 2006
Governor General's Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.
1
Micheals in Popular Culture
Dr. Evil, a character in Mike Myers'
Austin Powers films, has been rumored to be partly based on Michaels.
[5] Myers has denied the rumors, saying that the two share only a voice.
Mark McKinney of the comedy team, ''
The Kids in the Hall'' has stated that his character, Don Roritor, the president of Roritor Pharmaceuticals in the film ''
Brain Candy'', is based on Lorne Michaels.
Michaels was played by
Ari Cohen in the 2002 TV movie ''.
Personal Life
Michaels has two sons, Henry and Edward, and a daughter, Sophie. He has been married three times, first to Rosie Shuster (1973; div. 1980), then to model Susan Forristal (1984; div. 1987), and currently to his former assistant Alice Barry (1991 to present).
References
External links
★
Official website
★
The Museum of Broadcast Communications - ''Encyclopedia of Television'' "Saturday Night Live"
★
★
Broadway Video productions from
Internet Movie Database
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