Dana
Carvey is best known for his work on Saturday Night Live and the Wayne's World
movies. However, this generous and talented Emmy Award winning comedian has had
a tremendous career and a big heart.
A
repertory member of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE since the 1986-87 season, Carvey left
in 1992 after seven seasons. Carvey is best known for his characters the Church
Lady; Hans, of the Hans and Franz bodybuilding duo; Garth, Wayne Campbell's
(Mike Myers) "Excellent Cohost" on the immensely popular sketch
"Wayne's World," and Weekend Update's Grumpy Old Man.
In
addition to these characters, Dana has received widespread praise for his
uncanny and exaggerated comedic impersonations of such political figures as
Ex-President George Bush, H. Ross Perot, Jerry Brown, David Duke and Bob Dole.
He also does impersonations of George Burns, Johnny Carson, Jimmy Stewart, John
McLaughlin, Mickey Rooney, Casey Casem and Regis Philbin.
On
television, he hosted the 1992 presentation of the MTV Music Awards, costarred
in two pilots and was a member of the Showtime special SALUTE TO THE
IMPROVISATION, with Billy Crystal, Robin Williams and Robert Klein.
In
1995, Dana performed standup in his own one-hour comedy special on HBO aptly
named CRITICS' CHOICE. In 1992, Carvey appeared in the blockbuster film WAYNE'S
WORLD, based on the hit SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE sketch. The film grossed over $160
million and was produced by SNL creator Lorne Michaels. The public demanded a
sequel, and in 1993, Carvey appeared in WAYNE'S WORLD 2, recreating his role of
Garth, alongside Mike Myers' Wayne. The film was hugely successful.
Carvey's
transfer from the small screen to the large screen included roles in Alan
Parker's THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE, for Columbia Pictures, Richard and Lili
Zanuck's CLEAN SLATE for MGM, and Twentieth Century Fox's TRAPPED IN PARADISE.
His early film work includes his debut in THIS IS SPINAL TAP, RACING WITH THE
MOON, ONE OF THE GROUP, where he portrayed Mickey Rooney's grandson, BLUE
THUNDER with James Farentino, TOUGH GUYS, with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas,
and starring in the comedy OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS.
Carvey
won an Emmy Award in 1993 for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety
or Music Program. He has received a total of six Emmy nominations, one of which
was for a guest appearance on HBO's highly acclaimed LARRY SANDERS SHOW. Also,
he was honored with the American Comedy Award as Television's Funniest
Supporting Male in 1990 and 1991.