Dana Carvey

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Dana Carvey

Birth name	Dana Thomas Carvey
Born	June 2, 1955 Missoula, Montana, USA
Height	5'8½"
Official site	http://www.danacarvey.net/
Notable roles	The Church Lady on Saturday Night Live Garth Algar on Saturday Night Live, Wayne's World and Wayne's World 2

Dana Thomas Carvey (born June 2, 1955, in Missoula, Montana) is an American actor and comedian best known for his work on Saturday Night Live and the spin-off movie Wayne's World.

1 Early life
2 Career
3 Filmography
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Early life

When Carvey was three years old, his family moved to San Carlos, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. He received his first drum kit at an early age. He attended Carlmont High School in Belmont, California, and received his Bachelor's degree in communications from San Francisco State University. He is a member of the Lutheran Church.

[edit] Career

[edit] First roles

Carvey's first movie role was a small part in the 1981 horror film Halloween II. He then costarred on 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 This Is Spinal Tap film, in which he played a mime, with fellow comedian Billy Crystal. He also starred in the short-lived movie-based action show Blue Thunder.

[edit] SNL

Dana as The Church Lady

In 1986, Carvey became a household name when he joined the cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live. His breakout character was The Church Lady, the uptight, smug, and pious host of "Church Chat." Carvey said he based the character on women he knew from his church growing up, who would keep track of his and others' attendance. He became so associated with the character that later cast members like Chris Farley referred to Carvey simply as "The Lady."

Carvey's other original characters included Garth Algar (from "Wayne's World"), Hans (from Hans and Franz), and The Grumpy Old Man (from "Weekend Update" appearances). Algar is actually an affectionate caricature of Dana's brother, Brad Carvey, an accomplished electrical engineer who invented the Video Toaster.

Carvey also became known for his impressions, most notably of George H. W. Bush during the 1988 campaign and after Bush was elected president. Other notable impressions included Jimmy Stewart, Johnny Carson, John McLaughlin, Keith Richards, Charles Grodin, and Woody Allen. During the 1992 campaign, he did a dead-on impression of independent candidate Ross Perot; in a prime-time special before the election, Carvey played both Bush and Perot in a three-way debate with Bill Clinton, who was played by Phil Hartman.

Carvey left SNL in 1993.

In 1992, Carvey joined Mike Myers to bring their popular "Wayne's World" sketch to the silver screen with Wayne's World the movie. A sequel was filmed and released in 1993, titled Wayne's World 2.

[edit] After SNL

NBC executives hoped to get Carvey to take over the 12:30 a.m. weeknight spot in the network's lineup in 1993 when David Letterman left his show, Late Night, for an 11:30 p.m. show on CBS. A big Letterman fan, Carvey rejected the offer, causing embarrassment for the network, which had publicly floated his name. The 12:30 spot eventually went to Conan O'Brien.

In 1994, Carvey starred in Clean Slate.

He reprised many of his SNL characters in 1996 for The Dana Carvey Show, a critically acclaimed but short-lived prime-time variety show. The show was most notable for launching Robert Smigel's cartoon "The Ambiguously Gay Duo."

In 1997, he underwent open-heart surgery for a blocked artery. Unfortunately, the doctors operated on the wrong artery. Carvey later sued for medical malpractice and was awarded $7.5 million. He has had to undergo a total of five operations to correct his heart problems. Carvey stated in an interview with Larry King that he donated all the money awarded to him from the lawsuit to charity.

In 2002, he returned to the silver screen in the comedy Master of Disguise, which was panned by critics but managed around $40 million at the North American box office.

He is number 90 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.

A very private person, Carvey withdrew from the limelight to focus on his family. He later said in an interview that he doesn't want to be in a career in which his kids would already be grown with his having neglected time with them. l