Dana Carvey

Dana Thomas Carvey (born June 2, 1955) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer.

In 1957, his family moved to Anderson, California, where his father got a teaching job.

When he was three years old, his family moved to San Carlos, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area.

He attended Tierra Linda Junior High in San Carlos, Carlmont High School in Belmont, California (where he was a member of the Central Coast Section champion cross country team), College of San Mateo in San Mateo, California, and received his bachelor's degree in broadcast communications from San Francisco State University.

In 1977, he won the San Francisco Stand-Up Comedy Competition.

Carvey had a minor role in Halloween II in 1981, and co-starred in One of the Boys in 1982, a short-lived television sitcom that also starred Mickey Rooney, Nathan Lane, and Meg Ryan.

In 1984, Carvey had a small role in Rob Reiner's film This Is Spinal Tap, in which he played a mime, with fellow comedian Billy Crystal (who tells him "Mime is money!").

He appeared in the music video for the Greg Kihn song "Lucky" in 1985.

He also appeared in the short-lived film-based action television series Blue Thunder.

Carvey is best known for his seven seasons on Saturday Night Live, from 1986 to 1993, which earned him five consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

Carvey is also known for his film roles in comedies such as Tough Guys (1986), Opportunity Knocks (1990), Trapped in Paradise (1994), and The Master of Disguise (2002), as well as reprising his role of Garth Algar in the SNL spin-off film Wayne's World (1992) and its sequel Wayne's World 2 (1993).

Carvey was born in Missoula, Montana, the fourth of five (with three older brothers and one younger sister ) born to Billie Dahl, a schoolteacher, and William John (Bud) Carvey, a high school business teacher.

Carvey is the brother of Brad Carvey, the engineer/designer of the Video Toaster.

The character Garth Algar is loosely based on Brad.

Carvey was raised Lutheran.

His big break came in 1986, when he co-starred opposite Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster in Tough Guys.

As a lifelong Douglas fan, Carvey threw in an affectionate impression of his mentor, while describing a hairy scene they did together on a moving train.

Carvey was a finalist for the hosting role on the Nickelodeon TV game show Double Dare.

He ultimately withdrew his name from consideration after he was cast on Saturday Night Live.

The job would go to Marc Summers.

In 1986, Carvey became a household name when he joined the cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live.

He, along with newcomers Phil Hartman, Kevin Nealon, Jan Hooks, and Victoria Jackson, helped to reverse the show's declining popularity and made SNL "must-see" TV once again.

An important part of the show's revival was Carvey's breakout character, the Church Lady, the uptight, smug, and pious host of Church Chat.

Carvey said he based the character on women he knew from church while growing up, who would keep track of other churchgoers' attendance.

He became so associated with the character that later cast members such as Chris Farley referred to Carvey simply as "The Lady".

The Church Lady's discontinuation was mentioned in a sketch which satirized the film Misery with host Roseanne Barr playing the role of Annie Wilkes.

Carvey's other original characters included Garth Algar (from Wayne's World), who was based on his brother; Hans (from "Hans and Franz"); the Grumpy Old Man (from Weekend Update appearances); and Ching Chang, a Chinese poultry store owner.

Throughout the election and presidency of George H. W. Bush, he was the designated impersonator of the president, making him the lead actor of the regular political sketches on SNL.

During the 1992 US presidential election campaign, Carvey also did an impression of independent candidate Ross Perot; in a prime-time special before the election, Carvey played both George H. W. Bush and Perot in a three-way debate with Bill Clinton, played by Phil Hartman.

As Perot—recorded and timed to give the appearance of interacting with the live Bush and Clinton—Carvey eschewed the show's signature "Live from New York" opening line, telling Bush "Why don't you do it, live-boy?"

In 1992, Carvey joined Mike Myers in Wayne's World, the film.

Carvey left SNL in 1993.

A sequel, Wayne's World 2, was filmed and released in 1993.

Carvey's SNL work won him an Emmy Award in 1993 for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program.

He has a total of six Emmy nominations.

Carvey has returned to host SNL four times, in 1994, 1996, 2000, and 2011 in addition to numerous cameo appearances.

In 1994, Carvey starred in the film Clean Slate.

The following year, Carvey filmed his first HBO stand-up special Critic's Choice.

The show featured Carvey doing many of his SNL impersonations, as well as making fun of the premium channel's name, pronouncing it "hobo".

He had to turn down a role in Bad Boys because he felt overwhelmed as a new father.