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Michael McKean Filmography
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Michael McKean Resources
Michael McKean (born October 17, 1947) is an American actor, comedian, composer and musician, best known for his portrayal of Leonard 'Lenny' Kosnowski on the sitcom Laverne and Shirley.
McKean began his career as part of the comedy group Credibility Gap with Harry Shearer and David Lander but his breakthrough came in 1976 when he joined the cast of
Laverne and Shirley, paired with David Lander who played Squiggy. McKean directed one episode, and the characters became something of a phenomenon, even releasing an album as Lenny and the Squigtones in 1980, which featured a young
Christopher Guest on guitar (credited as
Nigel Tufnel, the name Guest would use a few years later as part of the spoof rock band, Spinal Tap). McKean also played his character in an episode of Happy Days
. After leaving Laverne and Shirley in 1982, McKean played David St. Hubbins in the cult spoof documentary movie This is Spinal Tap
and appeared in the soap opera spoof Young Doctors In Love.
McKean quickly became a recognisable name in film and television, with appearances in films such as Clue (1985), Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), Earth Girls Are Easy (1988), the film adaptation of Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992) and Coneheads (1993). He also had guest roles on such shows as Murder She Wrote
, Murphy Brown
, ' and Caroline in the City.
Having already appeared as a musical guest and then host of Saturday Night Live, McKean joined the cast in 1994. During this time, he also released a video follow up to Spinal Tap, and playing Mr. Dittmeyer in The Brady Bunch Movie
. After leaving Saturday Night Live, McKean spent a lot of time doing children's fare, voicing various TV shows and movies. In 1999, with two children from a previous marriage, McKean married Annette O'Toole.
His more recent films have included Teaching Mrs. Tingle
(1999), Mystery, Alaska
(1999), Best in Show (2000) (in which he reunited with
Christopher Guest), Little Nicky
(2000), The Guru (2002) and And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (2003).
Recent TV guest appearances include The Simpsons
, Family Guy
, ', and Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law. In 1998, he guest starred in a two-part episode of The X-Files
called Dreamland in which his character, Morris Fletcher, switched bodies with Fox Mulder. The character was a success, and reappeared in 1999's
Three of a Kind, an episode which focused on the recurring characters of The Lone Gunmen. The character appeared on their short-lived spin-off series in 2001, and then returned to
The X-Files in its final season for an episode called Jump the Shark. In 2003, he guest starred on Smallville, the Superman prequel on which his wife starred as Martha Kent. McKean played Perry White, who - in the Superman universe - ultimately becomes Clark Kent's boss.
In 2003, he appeared in the
Christopher Guest comedy A Mighty Wind
. Along with O'Toole, McKean had written a love song A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow which was then featured in the film, and was subsequently nominated for an Academy Award.
He is currently on Broadway in a production of Hairspray and is also apparently writing his own musical with O'Toole.
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