Michael McKean

Biography

Michael John McKean (; born October 17, 1947) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, composer, and musician. Born in New York City, McKean started his career as Lenny Kosnowski in the ABC sitcom Laverne & Shirley from 1976 to 1983. He was briefly a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live for its 19th and 20th seasons from 1994 to 1995, and played Gibby Fiske in HBO series Dream On (1990–96). He has acted in films such as Used Cars (1980), Clue (1985), and The Big Picture (1989), the last of which he also co-wrote. McKean is also known for having collaborated with Christopher Guest acting in his films such as This Is Spinal Tap (1984), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), and For Your Consideration (2006). He co-wrote the song "A Mighty Wind" (for the Guest film A Mighty Wind), for which he won a Grammy Award. Along with his wife, Annette O’Toole, McKean also co-wrote "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" from the same film, which was nominated for an Academy Award. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 2019 for his role as Chuck McGill on the AMC series Better Call Saul (2015–18; 2022). Since 2020, he has voiced Lou Pickles in Nickelodeon's Rugrats franchise. He has acted in shows such as Curb Your Enthusiasm, Veep, Grace and Frankie, Breeders, and The Diplomat. On stage, McKean made his Broadway debut as Edna Turnblad in the musical Hairspray (2004). He took on dual roles portraying J. Edgar Hoover and Robert Byrd in the political epic play All the Way (2014). He has acted in Broadway plays such as the Tracy Letts play Superior Donuts (2009), the Gore Vidal revival The Best Man (2012), and the Lillian Hellman revival The Little Foxes (2017). McKean is the twenty-second highest-earning game show contestant of all time, having accumulated $1,115,400 during his appearances on Celebrity Jeopardy!.

Bio from Wikipedia

Discography

Records they worked on — most-collected first.

• 

  Spinal Tap (From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack "This Is Spinal Tap", An Embassy Pictures Release)

  1984

• 

  Break Like The Wind

  1992

• 

  Play

  1991

• 

  Christmas With The Devil

  1984

• 

  The Bronze Age Of Radio

  1977

Credited work

154 releases · 31 albums · active 1971–2026

• Performance · 243
• Production · 55
• Other credits · 53

Studios: Real World Studios · Zeitgeist Studios · Ocean Way Recording · Helicon Mountain Recording Studios

Frequent collaborators

• Various
• Soundgarden
• Spinal Tap
• The Credibility Gap
• Spın̈al Tap
• Hayseed Dixie
• Squeeze (2)
• Laverne & Shirley

Around the web

• Wikipedia