Mike Myers

Mike Myers has built a career around transformation. As an actor, comedian, writer, and filmmaker, he is closely associated with outsized characters, elaborate voices, and comic creations that can move from a sketch to an entire movie. Born in Scarborough, Ontario, on May 25, 1963, Myers began appearing in commercials at eight and made early television appearances in King of Kensington and The Littlest Hobo. His comic foundation came through improvisation. After joining The Second City’s Canadian touring company, he worked in the United Kingdom as a founding member of London’s Comedy Store Players before returning to Second City in Toronto. He later trained, performed and taught at Chicago’s Improv Olympic. That background fed directly into his years on Saturday Night Live, where he joined the cast in 1989. Wayne Campbell, Dieter and Linda Richman were among the characters that established his taste for specific voices, peculiar mannerisms and fully imagined comic worlds. Wayne made the leap to film in Wayne’s World in 1992, with Myers and Dana Carvey adapting their SNL sketches for the screen. A sequel followed the next year. Myers expanded that character-driven approach with Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Across three films, he played Austin Powers and Dr Evil, while also adding Fat Bastard and Goldmember in the sequels. The series made his ability to perform multiple roles within the same story a defining part of his screen work. His voice performance as Shrek revealed another side of that skill. Myers voiced the title character in Shrek in 2001 and returned for three sequels, television specials and Shrek 4-D. Elsewhere, he stepped outside broad comedy to play Steve Rubell in 54 and British general Ed Fenech in Inglourious Basterds. Behind the camera, Myers made his feature directing debut with the documentary Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon. Whether acting, writing, producing, or directing, his career has remained rooted in character, performance, and a willingness to disappear beneath a voice, costume, or carefully constructed comic persona.