Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels CM ,
LL.D (born
November 17,
1944 in
Toronto, Ontario) is a
Canadian-born American television
producer and
writer best known for creating and producing
Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.
Michaels was born
'Lorne Michael Lipowitz in
Toronto. 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 and early 1970s Michaels wrote for a number of Canadian TV series and specials such as
Barris & Company in 1968 and
The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour in 1971. He was a cast member of the Canadian program
That's Show Biz in 1970. In 1973 he married his junior high school sweetheart, Rosie Shuster, who would work with him on
Saturday Night Live as a writer [
1]. She was the daughter of
Frank Shuster, one half of the famous comedy team,
Wayne and Shuster. Michaels and Rosie were divorced in 1980.
In
1975, Michaels created the TV show
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 best-known comedians in North America, including:
Chevy Chase,
John Belushi,
Dan Aykroyd,
Gilda Radner,
Bill Murray,
Eddie Murphy,
Mike Myers,
Dana Carvey,
Chris Rock,
Adam Sandler, 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.
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).
Michaels started
Broadway Video in
1979, producing such shows as
The Kids in the Hall.
After temporarily leaving
SNL in
1980, Michaels created another sketch show entiltled
The New Show. It received good reviews but was a failure in the ratings and it was cancelled after 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 Green.
Michaels has been executive producer of
NBC's
Late Night with Conan O'Brien since it debuted in
1993.
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, and awarded a star on the
Hollywood 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, 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."
As producer, except as noted
*
Gilda Live, (1980) (writer and producer)
*
Nothing Lasts Forever (1984)
*
¡Three Amigos!, (1986)
*
Wayne's World, (1992)
*
Coneheads, (1993)
*
Wayne's World 2, (1993)
*
Lassie, (1994)
*
Tommy Boy, (1995)
*
Stuart Saves His Family (1995)
*
Black Sheep, (1996)
*
Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy, (1996)
*
A Night at the Roxbury, (1998)
*
The Ladies Man (2000)
*
Enigma (2001)
*
Mean Girls, (2004)
*
All You Need Is Cash (aka
"The Rutles"), (1978) (executive producer)
*
Mr. Mike's Mondo Video (1979) (executive producer)
*
The New Show, (1984) (producer)
*
The Kids in the Hall, (1989) (executive producer)
*
Late Night with Conan O'Brien, (1993-present) (executive producer)
*
Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, (2002) (executive producer)
*
The Colin Quinn Show, (2002) (executive producer)
*
Dr. Evil, a character said to be partly based on Michaels.
*Don Roritor, a character played by
Mark McKinney in the Michaels produced
Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy, is also based on Michaels and is coincidentally quite evil as well.
*
Official website*
The Museum of Broadcast Communications - Encyclopedia of Television "Saturday Night Live"*
Broadway Video productions from
Internet Movie Database*
SNL creator Michaels honored*
Order of Canada Citation
