Lorne MichaelsCC (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian-American television writer and film producer. He created and produced Saturday Night Live (1975–1980, 1985–present) and produced the Late Night series (since 1993), The Kids in the Hall (from 1989 to 1995), and The Tonight Show (since 2014).[1][2][3][4]
He has received 21 Primetime Emmy Awards from 106 nominations, holding the record as the most nominated individual in the award show's history.[5][6]
Early life
Lorne David Lipowitz was born in Toronto, Canada, on November 17, 1944, to Florence (née Becker) and Abraham Lipowitz.[7][8] Many sources incorrectly state that he was born on a kibbutz in the then-British mandate of Palestine,[9][10][11][12] and that his Jewish family immigrated to Toronto, Canada when he was an infant.[13]
In 1975, Michaels created (with fellow NBC employee Dick Ebersol and president of the network Herb Schlosser) the TV show NBC's Saturday Night, which in 1977 changed its name to Saturday Night Live (initially there was a name conflict with an ABC show titled Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell, which debuted September 20, 1975, and was cancelled on January 17, 1976). 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 most successful comedians in the United States.
Originally the producer of the show, Michaels was also a writer and later became executive producer. He occasionally appears on-screen as well, where he is known for his deadpan humor. Throughout the show's history, SNL has been nominated for more than 156 Emmy Awards and has won 36. 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).
Michaels appeared in the show during the first season, where he offered The Beatles $3,000 (a deliberately paltry sum) to reunite on the show.[20] He later increased his offer to $3,200, but the money was never claimed. According to an interview with John Lennon in Playboy magazine,[21] Lennon and Paul McCartney were in New York City that night and wanted to see the show. They decided against it though, as it was too late to get there in time, and they were both tired. This near-reunion was the basis for the TV movie Two of Us. On the episode airing November 20, 1976, musical guest George Harrison appeared, but Michaels told him the offer was conditional on all four members of the group showing up.[22]
Other work
During the 1978-1979 season of SNL, Michaels was offered a deal to produce nine features from Paramount, but he turned it down to take a three-picture deal from Warner Brothers. The Warner Brothers deal didn't net any produced movies.[23] In the early 80s, he subsequently had a deal to produce movies for MGM and was developing a Father Guido Sarducci movie written by Don Novello, a movie called 1985 that was set in the future and written by Al Franken and Tom Davis, and an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice Michaels himself was co-writing with friend John Head.[24] The only movie to be produced from Michaels's MGM deal was Nothing Lasts Forever, a black-and-white surreal sci-fi comedy written and directed by longtime resident SNL filmmaker Tom Schiller. The movie featured appearances from Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd, but the studio opted to never release it.[25]
In 1979, Michaels founded the production company Broadway Video, which has produced SNL since 1981 as well as other shows such as Canadian sketch-comedyThe Kids in the Hall which began airing in 1988 on CBC in Canada, debuting in the US market in 1989 on cable television network HBO until moving to CBS in 1993.
Whilst on his SNL hiatus, Michaels created another sketch show titled The New Show, which debuted on Friday nights in prime time on NBC in January 1984. The show failed to garner the same enthusiasm as SNL and was cancelled after 9 episodes.
In the 1980s, Michaels appeared in an HBOmockumentary 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 Greene.
Michaels is also the executive producer of the NBC show Late Night, and was the executive producer of 30 Rock and Up All Night during their runs.
On April 3, 2013, it was announced that Michaels would be taking over as the executive producer for The Tonight Show. Consequently, The Tonight Show moved to New York in early 2014 as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Personal life
Michaels has three children and has been married three times.[26] During the early 1960s, he began a relationship with Rosie Shuster, daughter of his comedy mentor Frank Shuster of the Wayne and Shuster comedy team, who later worked with him on Saturday Night Live as a writer.[18] Michaels and Shuster were married in 1967[27][28] and divorced in 1980.[29] He married model Susan Forristal in 1981, a marriage that ended in divorce in 1987. Michaels is married to Alice Barry, his former assistant. The pair wed in 1991.[26] He has three children, Henry, Eddie, and Sophie.[30]
Michaels became a U.S. citizen in 1987[26] and was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2002.[31]
The character Dr. Evil, the antagonist of Austin Powers in three films, has mannerisms and a speaking style based on Lorne Michaels. Dr. Evil was created and portrayed by SNL alumnus Mike Myers, who was at least partially influenced by fellow SNL performer Dana Carvey's impression of Michaels.[38]
In a 2008 interview with Playboy, as well in various other interviews, Tina Fey admitted that Alec Baldwin's character Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock is inspired by Michaels. In a different interview, on NPR's radio show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, Baldwin stated that some of his inspiration for Donaghy was drawn from Michaels.[39]
Gabriel LaBelle plays Michaels in the 2024 film Saturday Night, about what happened behind-the-scenes leading up to the first episode of Saturday Night Live.[40]
In 2004, he was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Speaking at the awards ceremony, original Saturday Night Live cast member Dan Aykroyd described the show as "the primary satirical voice of the country".[44]
In 2008, Michaels was awarded the Webby for Film & Video Lifetime Achievement. With the allotted five words allowed to each recipient, his acceptance speech was "Five words is not enough".[45]
In 2022, Michaels received a Peabody Award for his work as an executive producer of the Spanish-language comedy series Los Espookys. He was nominated for a second Peabody Award for his work producing Documentary Now!.[48]
^"Lorne Michaels". Biography.com. A&E Television Networks. November 21, 2016. Archived from the original on August 26, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
^Gibson, Stacey. "The House That Dave Built"(PDF). University of Toronto Magazine. Vol. 35, no. 2. University of Toronto. p. 22. Before he began his decades-long domination of Saturday's late-night airwaves with Saturday Night Live, Lorne Michaels (BA 1966 UC) produced and directed the student-run University College Follies.
^ abSmith, Chris (March 13, 1995). "Comedy Isn't Funny". New York Magazine. Archived from the original on September 11, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
^ abcGinsberg, Gabriella (February 18, 2015). "Lorne Michaels". Hollywood Life. Archived from the original on August 26, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
^Office of the Secretary to the Governor General, Information and Media Services (April 30, 2009). "Honours: Order of Canada - Lorne Michaels, C.M., LL.D."Governor General of Canada Archives. Government of Canada. Archived from the original on August 26, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
^"Personal Award: Lorne Michaels". Peabody Awards. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia. Archived from the original on August 26, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
.jpg)
.svg){kind=small}
