Michael McKean

Born in New York, Michael McKean appeared in over 20 plays during his high school years. After studying acting at Carnegie Mellon University and NYU (with Olympia Dukakis), he flew out to Los Angeles in February 1970 and decided to stay there. While in college, McKean met David L. Lander and Christopher Guest - two young men who would later become hugely important in his professional life. The threesome, along with Harry Shearer and Richard Beebe, formed The Credibility Gap, an influential comedy group that performed on the radio and toured in the early 1970s.

McKean and Lander began performing in L.A. clubs as characters they'd come up with at Carnegie Mellon; Lenny and Squiggy. Penny Marshall and her husband Rob Reiner loved them and introduced them to her brother Garry Marshall who brought them on to "Laverne & Shirley" [ABC, 1976-83] in 1976. McKean's first professional acting job became a seven-year run on a #1 show. Garry Marshall gave McKean his first leading movie role in "Young Doctors in Love" (1982). Meanwhile, McKean, Shearer, and their friend Christopher Guest had spent a few years developing what is generally acknowledged as the funniest rock film ever, along with co-writer and director Rob Reiner - "This Is Spinal Tap" (1984).

McKean has reprised his role as David St. Hubbins in various "Tap"-related projects and live appearances over the years. His 70+ movie credits also include Clue (1985), "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" (1987), "The Big Picture" (1989), "Jack" (1996) and more recently "Jerry & Marge Go Large" (2022) and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022). McKean has had significant roles on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (HBO, 2000-), "The X-Files" (Fox, 1993-2001), "Grace and Frankie (Netflix, 2015-21), "Breeders" (FX, 2020-, "Good Omens" (Amazon Prime, 2019-) and many others. He has also been providing voices for dozens of animated series, among them "The Simpsons" (Fox, 1990-), "Pinky & The Brain" (WB, 1995-99), "Spongebob Squarepants" (Nickelodeon, 1999-), "American Dad!" (Fox, 2005-) and "Rugrats" (Nickelodeon/Paramount+, 1991-).

His most acclaimed role, for which he was nominated for an Emmy in 2019, was as Jimmy McGill's brother, Chuck on "Better Call Saul" (AMC, 2015-22). For McKean personally, his most significant role was in the 1998 Lifetime film "Final Justice" where he met his wife, Annette O'Toole. He and O'Toole were Oscar-nominated for co-writing the song "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow," for "A Mighty Wind" (2003). Also, McKean shared a Grammy with Guest and Eugene Levy for the film's title tune.

Next up for McKean is a role as the President of the United States on the Netflix series "The Diplomat" (2023).