Michael John Myers (born May 25, 1963, in Scarborough, Ontario) is an Emmy Award-winning British-Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, and film producer, best known for his comedy work in Saturday Night Live and the film roles including the title characters of Wayne's World, the Austin Powers series, and Shrek.Both of Myers' parents, Eric and Alice, are from Liverpool, England, and Myers has British, as well as Canadian, citizenship. His ethnic heritage is English, Scottish, and Irish.
One of Myers' first acting jobs was in a TV commercial when he was nine years old. Myers graduated from high school in 1982 and was immediately accepted into the Second City Canadian Touring Company, after which he moved to the UK where in 1985 he was one of the founding members of The Comedy Store Players, an improvisational group based at The Comedy Store in London. The next year, he starred in the British children's TV program Wide Awake Club, parodying the show's normal exuberance with his own "Sound Asleep Club", in partnership with Neil Mullarkey. He returned to Toronto and Second City in 1986 as a cast member in the Second City's Toronto main stage show. In 1988 he moved from Second City in Toronto to Chicago. He made numerous appearances, including as Wayne Campbell, on Toronto's Citytv in the early 1980s, on the alternative video show "City Limits" hosted by Christopher Ward.
Myers was a member of the cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live television program from 1989 to 1995, where he performed characters such as Dieter, Linda Richman, and Wayne Campbell from Wayne's World.
The character of Linda Richman was based on Myers's mother-in-law, a woman of New York Jewish extraction who is actually named Linda Richman. In 1993, Myers married Linda Richman's daughter, Robin Ruzan. They filed for divorce in 2005.
In 1992, Myers and comedian Dana Carvey adapted Wayne's World into a full-length motion picture based on the SNL sketch. It was among the most successful movies of the year and the following year a sequel was released - Wayne's World 2.
In 1997, Myers introduced Austin Powers in the film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Myers played both the title role and the villain in the film. In 1999, he played one of his rare non-comedic roles in the film 54 where he played Steve Rubell, proprietor of New York City's famous Studio 54 (a 1970s discoteque). The film was moderately successful, and Myers' performance was widely praised. Myers later parodied the club as "Studio 69" in 2002's Austin Powers in Goldmember.
In June 2000, Myers was sued by Universal Pictures for $3.8 million for backing out of a contract to play Dieter, the SNL character, in a feature film. Myers said he refused to honor the $20 million contract because he didn't want to cheat moviegoers with an unacceptable script - one that he himself had written. Myers countersued, and a settlement was reached after several months where Myers agreed to make another film with Universal. That film would be The Cat in the Hat, released in November 2003 and starring Myers as the title character.
In 2001, Myers played the title character in the Dreamworks film Shrek. He reprised this role in Shrek 4D IN 2003, Shrek 2 in 2004, Shrek The Third, and the Christmas special Shrek The Halls, both in 2007.
Myers is a member of the band Ming Tea along with former Bangles guitarist and vocalist Susanna Hoffs. They performed the songs BBC and Daddy Wasn't There for the Austin Powers movies.
In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted among the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. As of September 29, Myers has been signed on to play the lead role in the upcoming biopic of The Who drummer Keith Moon. The film will be produced by Roger Daltrey, Nigel Sinclair, and Paul Gerber.
Myers noted during a May 17, 2007, interview on CBS that it normally takes three years between films. He spends one year "living his life" and then writes multiple screenplays, develops characters, practices them in front of live audiences, and then selects one of the screenplays to film. Myers noted that this was the Marx Brothers' procedure for developing their film material. Myers noted that he is working on a fourth Austin Powers film that will focus on Dr. Evil and will be the beginning of another multi film sequence.
On June 3, 2007, Myers received the MTV Generation award, making him the 2nd Canadian to win the award (Jim Carrey was the first in 2006), for bringing his unique style of comedy to the small and big screens alike.
