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Lorne Michaels

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Image:Lorne Michaels.gif thumb|Lorne Michaels '''Lorne Michaels''' Order of Canada CM , Doctor of Laws LL.D (born November 17, 1944 in Toronto, Ontario) is a television executive producer producer and writer best known for creating and producing ''Saturday Night Live'' and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.

Early life and career
Michaels was born '''Lorne Michael Lipowitz''' to a Jewish family in Toronto. He moved to Los Angeles from Toronto in 1968 to work as a writer for ''Laugh-In'' and ''Phyllis Diller The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show''. During the late 1960s and early 1970s Michaels wrote for a number of Canadian TV series and specials such as ''Barris & Company'' in 1968 and ''The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour'' in 1971. He was a cast member of the Canadian program ''That's Show Biz'' in 1970. In 1973 he married his junior high school sweetheart, Rosie Shuster, who would work with him on ''Saturday Night Live'' as a writer [http://www.tv.com/rosie-shuster/person/13663/summary.html]. She was the daughter of Frank Shuster, one half of the famous comedy team, Wayne and Shuster. Michaels and Rosie were divorced in 1980.

''Saturday Night Live''
In 1975, Michaels created the TV show ''Saturday Night Live''. The show, which is performed live in front of a studio audience, immediately established a reputation for being cutting edge and unpredictable. It became a vehicle for launching the careers of some of the best-known comedians in North America, including: Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers (actor) Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Adam Sandler, and Will Ferrell. Originally the producer of the show, Michaels was also a writer and later became executive producer. He occasionally appears on-screen, as well. ''SNL'' has been nominated for more than 80 Emmy Awards and has won 18. It has consistently been one of the highest-rated late-night television programs. Michaels has been with ''SNL'' for all seasons except for his hiatus in the early 1980s (seasons 6-10).

Other work
Michaels started ''Broadway Video'' in 1979, producing such shows as ''Kids in the Hall The Kids in the Hall''. In the 1980s, Lorne Michaels appeared in an HBO mockumentary titled ''The Canadian Conspiracy'' about the supposed subversion of the United States by Canadian-born media personalities, with Lorne Greene as the leader of the conspiracy. Michaels was identified as the anointed successor to Green. Michaels has been executive producer of NBC's ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' since it debuted in 1993.

Honours
In 1999, Michaels was inducted into the ''Television Academy Hall of Fame''. In 2002, Michaels was made a member of the ''Order of Canada'' for lifetime achievement, and awarded a star on the ''Hollywood Walk of Fame''. In 2004, he was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the first non-American to earn this honour. Speaking at the awards ceremony, original ''Saturday Night Live'' cast member Dan Aykroyd described Michaels as "the primary satirical voice of the country."

Selected filmography
As producer, except as noted * ''Gilda Live'', (1980) (writer and producer) * ''Nothing Lasts Forever (film) Nothing Lasts Forever'' (1984) * ''¡Three Amigos! ¡Three Amigos!'', (1986) * ''Wayne's World'', (1992) * ''Coneheads'', (1993) * ''Wayne's World 2'', (1993) * ''Lassie (film) Lassie'', (1994) * ''Tommy Boy'', (1995) * ''Stuart Saves His Family'' (1995) * ''Black Sheep (movie) Black Sheep'', (1996) * ''Brain Candy Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy'', (1996) * ''A Night at the Roxbury'', (1998) * ''The Ladies Man'' (2000) * ''Enigma (2001 film) Enigma'' (2001) * ''Mean Girls'', (2004)

Selected television credits
* ''All You Need Is Cash'' (aka ''"The Rutles"''), (1978) (executive producer) * ''Mr. Mike's Mondo Video'' (1979) (executive producer) * ''The New Show'', (1984) (producer) * ''The Kids in the Hall'', (1989) (executive producer) * ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', (1993-present) (executive producer) * ''Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch'', (2002) (executive producer) * ''The Colin Quinn Show'', (2002) (executive producer)

See also
*Doctor Evil Dr. Evil, a character said to be partly based on Michaels. *Don Roritor, a character played by Mark McKinney Mark McKinney in the Michaels produced Brain Candy Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy, is also based on Michaels and is coincidentally quite evil as well.

External links

- Official website
- The Museum of Broadcast Communications - ''Encyclopedia of Television'' "Saturday Night Live" *{{imdb name|id=0584427|name=Lorne Michaels}}
- Broadway Video productions from Internet Movie Database
- SNL creator Michaels honored
- Order of Canada Citation Category:1944 births Michaels, Lorne Category:Living people Michaels, Lorne Category:Canada's Walk of Fame Michaels, Lorne Category:Canadian comedians Michaels, Lorne Category:Canadian television personalities Michaels, Lorne Category:Hollywood Walk of Fame Michaels, Lorne Category:Jewish Canadians Michaels, Lorne Category:Members of the Order of Canada Michaels, Lorne Category:Ontario writers Michaels, Lorne Category:Producers Michaels, Lorne Category:Saturday Night Live people Michaels, Lorne Category:Torontonians Michaels, Lorne Category:University of Toronto alumni Michaels, Lorne fr:Lorne Michaels sv:Lorne Michaels

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