Boyish comic actor Mike Myers began his career with the Second City troupe in Toronto and later Chicago before joining the cast of NBC's "Saturday Night Live" in 1989. Initially a recurring member of the cast, Myers, an audience favorite, was soon made a featured regular. His wonderfully diverse characters included Dieter, the sexually ambivalent, West German avant-garde talk show host; Linda Richman, the "verklempt" drag persona inspired by his mother-in-law; and Wayne Campbell, the fiercely suburban heavy-metal connoisseur who broadcast his own public-access cable TV show from Aurora, Illinois. Myers' exceptional characters won him a host of celebrity fans as well, leading to memorable "SNL" sketches including Barbra Streisand's surprise guest appearance on superfan Linda Richman's "Coffee Talk" and Madonna's game of truth or dare with Wayne Campbell.
Along with his sidekick Garth (Dana Carvey), Myers starred in the feature that would serve as his successful segue into film. As co-writer and star of the 1992's "Wayne's World, Myers had the most successful "Saturday Night Live" sketch spin-off feature to date, and introduced the words "Not!" and "Way!" into the American lexicon. "Wayne's World" proved an enjoyableand highly profitabletrip through some intensely inane corners of pop culture and went on to spawn the less successful sequel "Wayne's World 2" (1993) for true gluttons of the fare. That same year Myers joined the ranks of leading men with the romantic comedy-thriller "So I Married an Axe Murderer" (1993), uttering such memorable lines like She smelled like soup and That boys head is like Sputnik. The actor was ingratiating and funny, playing the dual role of a young, commitment-weary poet and his outrageously contrary Scottish Mad Hatter of a father.
Myers left "Saturday Night Live" in 1995 and took a two year self-imposed hiatus from film and television. He made a triumphant return with the summer hit "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" (1997). Inspired by Burt Bacharach's swinging song "The Look of Love, and incorporating the decidedly zany humor and love of 60s spy films passed on from his English father, Myers wrote the script in three weeks, spoofing British agents (and Sean Connery's hairy chest) along with the "mod" fashion of the 60s. With an outdated free love outlook and alarmingly bad teeth, Powers managed to get the girl (Elizabeth Hurley) and prevent global destruction at the hands of Dr. Evil (Myers again) all in a short (depending on your point of view) 89 minutes. The film enjoyed a second life as a video favorite, going so far as to surpass the popular cultural influence of "Wayne's World.
Next Myers was off to Ireland to film "Pete's Meteor" (1997) teaming up with his "So I Married an Axe Murderer" co-star Brenda Fricker in Joe O'Byrne's story of a Dublin family who enters into the spotlight after a meteor crashes into their backyard. In 1998, Myers took on Steve Rubell, owner of the seminal 70s night spot Studio 54 with a critically acclaimed dramatic turn in the disco-era parable "54. Singled out by the majority of reviewers as a redeeming feature of this largely panned film, Myers gave a scene-stealing and inspired supporting performance, proving his proficiency wasn't limited to comedy. Also in 1998, Myers did a rousing song and dance rendition of "What's New Pussycat?" for the TNT special "Bacharach: One Amazing Night", a tribute to the legendary songwriter who inspired and appeared in the Austin Powers films.
Myers hit the big screen the following year as writer and star of the eagerly awaited sequel "Austin Powers II: The Spy Who Shagged Me, a time travel romp with Powers' newly acquired 1990s sensibilities marring his glorious return to 1969. One of the most hyped film of the summer of 1999, The Spy Who Shagged Me had Myers taking on a new role in addition to Austin Powers and his nemesis Dr. Evil, the actor wearing extensive padding to play aptly named henchman Fat Bastard. Myers had several projects in development following the Austin Powers sequel, including a feature adaptation of his popular and bizarre "Saturday Night Live" character Dieterhowever, Myers desire to abandon the movie on the brink of production ultimately led to an acrimonious and public legal battle with the two main production entities behind it, Universal and Imagine. Additionally, the actor lent his vocal talents to DreamWorks SKG's animated film "Shrek" (2001) portraying the title ogre who finds true love with an unattractive princess. The immensely popular film was called the year's best movie by many critics and Myer's impressive heavy Scottish accent voice for Shrek became an instant classic.
Myers reprised his most popular role in 2002 in "Austin Powers in Goldmember" (2002). Myers' turn as a sharp-tongued flight attendant opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in the long-delayed, disappointing comedy "A View From the Top" finally saw the light of day in 2003; his amusing, self-conscious performance almost redeemed the filmbut not quite. In addition, Myers buried the hatchet with Imagine chief Brian Grazer and accepted the role of the Cat in the hyperactive live version of Dr. Seusss "The Cat in the Hat" (2003). More concerned with production design than storytelling, the disappointing adaptation also wasn't best served by Myers' odd choices, including adopting a Linda Richman-like New Yawk accent and inserting questionable scatological humor into the dialogue.
After providing his voice for the sequel Shrek 2 (2004), Myers took a noticeable hiatus from the big screen that included a few interesting personal moments. On September 2, 2005, Myers appeared with rapper Kanye West as a presenter during NBCs A Concert for Hurricane Relief, an hour-long benefit to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. West deviated from the script to complain about the medias portrayal of black people in New Orleans, which Myers chose to ignore by continuing to read from the teleprompter. But when West declared that George Bush doesnt care about black people, Myers couldnt help doing a double-take before cameras cut unexpectedly to the next presenter (Chris Tucker). A month later, Myers appeared alongside West for a brief, but hilarious skit on Saturday Night Live, saying that the government had revoked the rappers citizenship and the FBI was monitoring his activities.
Meanwhile, Myers quietly separated from wife Robin Ruzan after twelve years of marriage with neither citing a reason, but stating that the two remained committed and caring friends. Returning to his bread and butter, Myers was the starring voice once again for Shrek the Third (2007), which saw the prickly Ogre suddenly become king of Far Far Away after his frogger-in-law King Harold suddenly croak. A reluctant Ogre-King tries to find a suitable replacementQueen Fionas (Cameron Diaz) long-lost underachieving cousin Artie (Justin Timberlake). After a long absence from live-action features, Myers was set to make his return, starring in the comedy vehicle The Love Guru (2008), playing a new character creation, Pitka, a self-help guru called upon to solve couples romantic problems. Myers gave Pitka a test-run in 2006 in New York City theaters.
Copyright © Baseline 2007.