Harry Julius Shearer[1] (born December 23, 1943)[2] is an American actor, comedian, musician, radio host, writer, and producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member of The Credibility Gap, a radio comedy group. Following the breakup of the group, Shearer co-wrote the film Real Life (1979) with Albert Brooks and worked as a writer on Martin Mull's television series Fernwood 2 Night.[3]
Shearer was born December 23, 1943,[2] in Los Angeles, California,[5] the son of Dora, a bookkeeper, and Mack Shearer, a trained opera singer who ran a gas station.[6][5] His parents were Jewish immigrants from Poland and Austria respectively. His parents escaped Nazi-occupied Europe and met in Havana, Cuba. As a child, Shearer and his family often listened to radio programs such as Bob and Ray and the weekly show for the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. His father died when he was 12 and he had his Bar Mitzvah the following year.[7][8][9] Shearer grew up in the neighborhood of West Adams.[10] Starting when Shearer was four years old, he had a piano teacher whose daughter worked as a child actress. The piano teacher later decided to make a career change and become a children's agent, since she knew people in the business through her daughter's work. The teacher asked Shearer's parents for permission to take him to an audition. Several months later, she called Shearer's parents and told them that she had gotten Shearer an audition for the radio show The Jack Benny Program. Shearer received the role when he was seven years old.[3] He described Jack Benny as "very warm and approachable ... He was a guy who dug the idea of other people on the show getting laughs, which sort of spoiled me for other people in comedy."[11] Shearer has stated that one person who took him "under his wing" and was his mentor during his early days in show business was voice actor Mel Blanc, who voiced many animated characters, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Barney Rubble; Blanc was a regular on The Jack Benny Show. He also befriended Blanc's son Noel.[12][13] Shearer made his film debut in the film Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953), in which he had a small part, and appeared in The Robe (also 1953).[11] Throughout his childhood and teenage years, he worked in television, film, and radio.[11]
In 1957, Shearer played the precursor to the Eddie Haskell character in the pilot episode of the television series Leave It to Beaver. After the filming, Shearer's parents said they did not want him to be a regular in a series. Instead they wanted him to just do occasional work so that he could have a normal childhood. Shearer and his parents made the decision not to accept the role in the series if it was picked up by a television network.[11]
Shearer graduated from Los Angeles High School and attended UCLA as a political science major in the early 1960s. He decided to quit show business to become a "serious person".[15][3] However, he says this lasted approximately a month, and he joined the staff of the Daily Bruin, UCLA's school newspaper, during his first year.[3] He was editor of the college humor magazine (Satyr), including the June 1964 parody Preyboy.[16] He also worked as a newscaster at KRLA, a top 40 radio station in Pasadena, during this period. According to Shearer, after graduating, he had "a very serious agenda going on, and it was 'Stay Out of the Draft'."[3] He attended graduate school at Harvard University for one year and worked at the state legislature in Sacramento. From 1967 to 1968, he was a high school teacher, teaching English and social studies. He left teaching following "disagreements with the administration".[3]
From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member of The Credibility Gap, a radio comedy group that included David Lander, Richard Beebe and Michael McKean.[17] The group consisted of "a bunch of newsmen" at KRLA 1110, "the number two station" in Los Angeles.[11] They wanted to do more than just straight news, so they hired comedians who were talented vocalists. Shearer heard about the group from a friend, so he brought over a tape to the station and nervously gave it to the receptionist. He found out he was hired that same day. The group's radio show was canceled in 1970 by KRLA and in 1971 by KPPC-FM, so they started performing in various clubs and concert venues.[3] While at KRLA, Shearer also interviewed Creedence Clearwater Revival for the Pop Chronicles music documentary.[18][19]
Shearer describes his experience on the show as a "living hell" and "not a real pleasant place to work."[21] He did not get along well with the other writers and cast members and states that he was not included with the cast in the opening montage (although he was added to the montage for later episodes of the 1979–80 season) and that Michaels had told the rest of the cast that he was "just a writer".[22]
Michaels left Saturday Night Live at the end of the fifth season, taking the entire cast with him.[23] Shearer told new executive producer Jean Doumanian that he was "not a fan of Lorne's" and offered to stay with the show if he was given the chance to overhaul the program and bring in experienced comedians, like Christopher Guest. However, Doumanian turned him down, so he decided to leave with the rest of the cast.[24]
Return in 1984 under Dick Ebersol
When I left, Dick [Ebersol] issued a press release, saying "creative differences." And the first person who called me for a comment on it read me that and I blurted out, "Yeah, I was creative and they were different."
In 1984, while promoting the film This Is Spinal Tap, Shearer, Christopher Guest and Michael McKean performed on Saturday Night Live. All three members were offered the chance to join the show in the 1984–1985 season. Shearer accepted because he was treated well by the producers and he thought the backstage environment had improved[21] but later stated that he "didn't realize that guests are treated better than the regulars."[26] Guest also accepted the offer while McKean rejected it, although he would join the cast in 1994.
Dick Ebersol, who replaced Lorne Michaels as the show's producer, said that Shearer was "a gifted performer but a pain in the butt. He's just so demanding on the preciseness of things and he's very, very hard on the working people. He's just a nightmare-to-deal-with person."[27] In January 1985, Shearer left the show for good,[21] partially because he felt he was not being used enough.[25]Martin Short said Shearer "wanted to be creative and Dick [Ebersol] wanted something else. ... I think he felt his voice wasn't getting represented on the show. When he wouldn't get that chance, it made him very upset."[28]
Spinal Tap
Shearer co-created, co-wrote and co-starred in Rob Reiner's film This Is Spinal Tap (1984).[11] Shearer, Reiner, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest received a deal to write a first draft of a screenplay for a company called Marble Arch. They decided that the film could not be written and instead filmed a 20-minute demo of what they wanted to do.[21] It was eventually greenlighted by Norman Lear and Jerry Perenchio at Embassy Pictures.[21] The film satirizes the wild personal behavior and musical pretensions of hard rock and heavy metal bands, as well as the hagiographic tendencies of rockumentaries of the time. The three core members of the band Spinal Tap—David St. Hubbins, Derek Smalls and Nigel Tufnel—were portrayed by McKean, Shearer and Guest respectively. The three actors play their musical instruments and speak with mock English accents throughout the film. There was no script, although there was a written breakdown of most of the scenes, and many of the lines were ad-libbed.[21] It was filmed in 25 days.[21]
Shearer said in an interview that "The animating impulse was to do rock 'n' roll right. The four of us had been around rock 'n' roll and we were just amazed by how relentlessly the movies got it wrong. Because we were funny people it was going to be a funny film, but we wanted to get it right."[5] When they tried to sell it to various Hollywood studios, they were told that the film would not work. The group kept saying, "No, this is a story that's pretty familiar to people. We're not introducing them to anything they don't really know," so Shearer thought it would at least have some resonance with the public.[11] The film was only a modest success upon its initial release but found greater success, and developed a cult following, after its video release. In 2000, the film was ranked 29th on the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 comedy movies in American cinema[29] and it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[30]
Shearer, Guest and McKean have since worked on several projects as their Spinal Tap characters. They released three albums: This Is Spinal Tap (1984), Break Like the Wind (1992) and Back from the Dead (2009).[31] In 1992, Spinal Tap appeared in an episode of The Simpsons called "The Otto Show".[32] The band has played several concerts, including at Live Earth in London on July 7, 2007. In anticipation of the show, Rob Reiner directed a short film entitled Spinal Tap.[33] In 2009, the band released Back from the Dead to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the release of the film.[34] The album features re-recorded versions of songs featured in This Is Spinal Tap and its soundtrack, and five new songs.[35][36] The band performed a one-date "world tour" at London's Wembley Arena on June 30, 2009. The Folksmen, a mock band featured in the film A Mighty Wind that is also made up of characters played by Shearer, McKean and Guest, was the opening act for the show.[37]
The Simpsons
Shearer is known for his work as a voice actor on The Simpsons. Matt Groening, the creator of the show, was a fan of Shearer's work, while Shearer was a fan of a column Groening used to write.[38] When approached by Groening to be in the series, Shearer was initially reluctant because he thought the recording sessions would be too much trouble.[38] He felt that voice acting was "not a lot of fun" as, traditionally, voice actors record their parts separately.[13] He was told that the actors would record their lines together,[13] and after three phone calls for executive producer James L. Brooks, Shearer was convinced to join the cast of The Simpsons.[5] Shearer's first impression of The Simpsons was that it was funny. He – who thought it was a "pretty cool" way to work – found it peculiar that his fellow cast members were adamant about not being known to the public as the people behind the voices.[11]
Shearer provides voices for Principal Skinner, Kent Brockman, Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders, Reverend Lovejoy, formerly Dr. Hibbert until 2021, Lenny Leonard, Otto Mann, Rainier Wolfcastle, Scratchy, Kang, Dr. Marvin Monroe, and Judge Snyder, among others.[39] He has described all of his regular characters' voices as "easy to slip into. ... I wouldn't do them if they weren't easy."[38] Shearer modeled Mr. Burns's voice on the two actors Lionel Barrymore and Ronald Reagan.[40] Shearer says that Burns is the most difficult character for him to voice because it is rough on his vocal cords and he often needs to drink tea and honey to soothe his voice.[41] He describes Burns as his favorite character, saying he "like[s] Mr. Burns because he is pure evil. A lot of evil people make the mistake of diluting it. Never adulterate your evil."[42] Shearer is also the voice of Burns' assistant Smithers, and is able to perform dialogue between the two characters in one take. In the episode "Bart's Inner Child", Shearer said "wow" in the voice of Otto, which was then used when Otto was seen jumping on a trampoline.[43] Ned Flanders had been meant to be just a neighbor that Homer Simpson was jealous of, but because Shearer used "such a sweet voice" for him, Flanders was broadened to become a Christian and a sweet guy that someone would prefer to live next to over Homer.[44] Dr. Marvin Monroe's voice was based on psychiatrist David Viscott.[45] Monroe has been largely retired since the seventh season barring a few cameo appearances because voicing the character strained Shearer's throat.[46]
In 2004, Shearer criticized what he perceived as the show's declining quality: "I rate the last three seasons as among the worst, so season four looks very good to me now."[47] Shearer has also been vocal about "The Principal and the Pauper" (season nine, episode two, 1997), one of the most controversial episodes of The Simpsons. Many fans and critics reacted negatively to the revelation that Principal Seymour Skinner, a recurring character since the first season, was an impostor. The episode has been criticized by both Shearer and Groening. In a 2001 interview, Shearer recalled that after reading the script, he told the writers, "That's so wrong. You're taking something that an audience has built eight years or nine years of investment in and just tossed it in the trash can for no good reason, for a story we've done before with other characters. It's so arbitrary and gratuitous, and it's disrespectful to the audience."[48] In a December 2006 interview, Shearer added, "Now, [the writers] refuse to talk about it. They realize it was a horrible mistake. They never mention it. It's like they're punishing [the audience] for paying attention."[49]
Due to scheduling and availability conflicts, Shearer decided not to participate in The Simpsons Ride, which opened in 2008, so none of his characters have vocal parts and many do not appear in the ride at all.[50] In a 2010 interview on The Howard Stern Show, Shearer alluded that the reason he was not part of the ride was because he would not be getting paid for it.[51] Similarly, Shearer was unable to appear in the Family Guy crossover episode "The Simpsons Guy" due to further scheduling conflicts. Therefore, his characters are again mute. When asked about how he felt about the crossover, Shearer replied, "Matter and anti-matter."[52]
Until 1998, Shearer was paid $30,000 per episode. During a pay dispute in 1998, Fox threatened to replace the six main voice actors with new actors, going as far as preparing for casting of new voices.[53] The dispute, however, was resolved and Shearer received $125,000 per episode until 2004, when the voice actors demanded that they be paid $360,000 an episode.[53] The dispute was resolved a month later,[54] and Shearer's pay rose to $250,000 per episode.[55] After salary re-negotiations in 2008, the voice actors received $400,000 per episode.[56] Three years later, with Fox threatening to cancel the series unless production costs were cut, Shearer and the other cast members accepted a 30% pay cut, down to just over $300,000 per episode.[57] On May 14, 2015, Shearer announced he was leaving the show. After the other voice actors signed a contract for the same pay, Shearer refused, stating it was not enough. Al Jean made a statement from the producers saying "the show must go on," but did not elaborate on what might happen to the characters Shearer voiced.[58] On July 7, 2015, Shearer agreed to continue with the show, on the same terms as the other voice actors.[59]
Le Show and radio work
Because I don't do stand-up, radio has always been my equivalent, a place to stay in connection with the public and force myself to write every week and come up with new characters. Plus it's a medium that – having grown up with it and putting myself to sleep with a radio under my pillow [as a kid] – I love. No matter what picture you want to create in the listener's mind, a few minutes of work gets it done.
Since 1983, Shearer has been the host of the public radio comedy/music program Le Show. The program is a hodgepodge of satirical news commentary, music, and sketch comedy that takes aim at the "mega morons of the mighty media".[61] It is carried on many National Public Radio and other public radio stations throughout the United States.[62] Since the merger of SIRIUS and XM satellite radio services the program is no longer available on either.[63] The show has also been made available as a podcast on iTunes[64] and by WWNO. On the weekly program Shearer alternates between DJing, reading and commenting on the news of the day after the manner of Mort Sahl, and performing original (mostly political) comedy sketches and songs. In 2008, Shearer released a music CD called Songs of the Bushmen, consisting of his satirical numbers about former President George W. Bush on Le Show.[5] Shearer says he criticizes both Republicans and Democrats equally, and also says that "the iron law of doing comedy about politics is you make fun of whoever is running the place"[65] and that "everyone else is just running around talking. They are the ones who are actually doing something, changing people's lives for better or for worse. Other people the media calls 'satirists' don't work that way."[66]
Since encountering satellite news feeds when he worked on Saturday Night Live, Shearer has been fascinated with the contents of the video that does not air. Shearer refers to these clips as found objects. "I thought, wow, there is just an unending supply of this material, and it's wonderful and fascinating and funny and sometimes haunting – but it's always good," said Shearer.[67] He collects this material and uses it on Le Show[68][69] and on his website.[70] In 2008, he assembled video clips of newsmakers from this collection into an art installation titled "The Silent Echo Chamber" which was exhibited at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut.[67] The exhibit was also displayed in 2009 at Institut Valencià d'Art Modern (IVAM) in Valencia, Spain[71][72] and in 2010 at the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center.[73]
In 2006 Shearer appeared with Brian Hayes in four episodes of the BBC Radio 4 sitcom Not Today, Thank You, playing Nostrils, a man so ugly he cannot stand to be in his own presence.[74] He was originally scheduled to appear in all six episodes but had to withdraw from recording two due to a problem with his work permit.[75] On June 19, 2008, it was announced that Shearer would receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the radio category.[76]
Further career
Shearer performing in April 2009
Shearer's first feature film as director, Teddy Bears' Picnic, which he also wrote, was released in 2002. The plot is based on Bohemian Grove, which hosts a three-week encampment of some of the most powerful men in the world. The film was not well received by critics. It garnered a 0% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with all 19 reviews being determined as negative[77] and received a rating of 32 out of 100 (signifying "generally negative reviews") on Metacritic from 10 reviews.[78] In 2003, he co-wrote J. Edgar! The Musical with Tom Leopold, which spoofed J. Edgar Hoover's relationship with Clyde Tolson.[79] It premiered at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado and starred Kelsey Grammer and John Goodman.[80]
Shearer has also worked as a columnist for the Los Angeles Times Magazine, but decided that it "became such a waste of time to bother with it."[66] His columns have also been published in Slate and Newsweek.[84] Since May 2005 he has been a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post.[83] Shearer has written three books. Man Bites Town, published in 1993, is a collection of columns that he wrote for The Los Angeles Times between 1989 and 1992.[48] Published in 1999, It's the Stupidity, Stupid analyzed the hatred some people had for then-President Bill Clinton.[85] Shearer believes that Clinton became disliked because he had an affair with "the least powerful, least credentialed woman cleared into his official compound."[48] His most recent book is Not Enough Indians, his first novel. Published in 2006, it is a comic novel about Native Americans and gambling.[83] Without the "pleasures of collaboration" and "spontaneity and improvisation which characterize his other projects", Not Enough Indians was a "struggle" for Shearer to write. He said that "the only fun thing about it was having written it. It was lonely, I had no deal for it and it took six years to do. It was a profoundly disturbing act of self-discipline."[5]
Shearer has released five solo comedy albums: It Must Have Been Something I Said (1994), Dropping Anchors (2006), Songs Pointed and Pointless (2007), Songs of the Bushmen (2008) and Greed and Fear (2010).[86] His most recent CD, Greed and Fear is mainly about Wall Street economic issues, rather than politics like his previous albums. Shearer decided to make the album when he"started getting amused by the language of the economic meltdown – when 'toxic assets' suddenly became 'troubled assets,' going from something poisoning the system to just a bunch of delinquent youth with dirty faces that needed not removal from the system but just ... understanding."[87] In May 2006, Shearer received an honorary doctorate from Goucher College.[88]
Shearer in 2009
The Big Uneasy
Shearer is the director of The Big Uneasy (2010), a documentary film about the impacts of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans. Narrated by actor John Goodman, the film describes leveefailures and catastrophic flooding in the New Orleansmetropolitan area, and includes extended interviews with former LSU professor Ivor Van Heerden, Robert Bea, an engineering professor at the University of California at Berkeley, and Maria Garzino, an engineer and contract specialist for the Los Angeles district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The film is critical of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its management of flood protectionprojects in Southern Louisiana.[89][90][91][92][93] Shearer draws on numerous technical experts to maintain that Hurricane Katrina's "... tragic floods creating widespread damage were caused by manmade errors in engineering and judgment."[94] On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 71% based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 6.85/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Big Uneasy offers an admittedly uneven – yet still worthy and well-intentioned – look at a horrific disaster's aftermath."[93]
Ned Flanders, Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Kent Brockman, Seymour Skinner, Otto Mann, Dr. Hibbert, Reverend Lovejoy, Scratchy, Lenny Leonard, Arnold Schwarzenegger
Albert Brooks is an American actor, director and screenwriter. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1987 comedy-drama film Broadcast News and was widely praised for his performance in the 2011 action drama film Drive. Brooks has also acted in films such as Taxi Driver (1976), Private Benjamin (1980), Unfaithfully Yours (1984), Out of Sight (1998) and My First Mister (2001). He has written, directed, and starred in several comedy films, such as Modern Romance (1981), Lost in America (1985), and Defending Your Life (1991). He is also the author of 2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America (2011).
Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest, known professionally as Christopher Guest, is a British-American actor, comedian, screenwriter and director. Guest has written, directed, and starred in his series of comedy films shot in mockumentary style. He wrote and acted in the rock satire This Is Spinal Tap (1984), and later directed a string of satirical mockumentary films such as Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), For Your Consideration (2006), and Mascots (2016).
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. Set in the fictional town of Springfield, it caricatures society, Western culture, television and the human condition.
Daniel Louis Castellaneta is an American actor and writer. He is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series The Simpsons. Castellaneta is also known for voicing Grandpa in Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold!, and has had voice roles in several other programs, including Futurama, Sibs, Darkwing Duck, The Adventures of Dynamo Duck, The Batman, Back to the Future: The Animated Series, Aladdin, Earthworm Jim, and Taz-Mania.
This Is Spinal Tap is a 1984 American mockumentary comedy film co-written and directed by Rob Reiner. The film stars Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer as members of the heavy metal band Spinal Tap, who are characterized as "one of England's loudest bands". Reiner plays Martin "Marty" Di Bergi, a documentary filmmaker who follows them on their American tour. The film satirizes the behavior and musical pretensions of rock bands and the perceived hagiographic tendencies of rock documentaries such as The Song Remains the Same (1976) and The Last Waltz (1978), and follows the similar All You Need Is Cash (1978) by the Rutles. Most of its dialogue was improvised and dozens of hours were filmed.
Michael John McKean is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, composer, singer, and musician. Over his career he has received a Grammy Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.
David L. Lander was an American actor, comedian, musician, and baseball scout. He was best known for his portrayal of Andrew "Squiggy" Squiggman in the ABC sitcom Laverne & Shirley. He also served as a goodwill ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Julie Deborah Kavner is an American actress. Before becoming well-known for her voice role as Marge Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, Kavner attracted notice for her role as Brenda Morgenstern, the younger sister of Valerie Harper's title character in the sitcom Rhoda, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She also voices other characters for The Simpsons, including Marge's mother, Jacqueline Bouvier, sisters Patty and Selma Bouvier, and half-step-great-aunt Eunice Bouvier.
Henry Albert "Hank" Azaria is an American actor. He is known for voicing many characters in the long-running animated sitcom The Simpsons since 1989, including Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Superintendent Chalmers, Comic Book Guy, Snake Jailbird, Professor Frink, Kirk Van Houten, Duffman, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Lou, Carl Carlson, among others. Azaria joined the show with little voice acting experience, but became a regular in its second season. For his work on the show, he has won four Primetime Emmy Awards.
Le Show is a weekly syndicated public radio show hosted by satirist Harry Shearer. The program is a hodgepodge of satirical news commentary, music, and sketch comedy. Shearer, an impressionist known for his voice work on The Simpsons, writes the sketches and usually performs all the voices.
A Mighty Wind is a 2003 American mockumentary comedy film about a folk music reunion concert in which three folk bands reunite for a television performance for the first time in decades. Co-written, directed, and composed by Christopher Guest, the film is widely acknowledged to reference folk music producer Harold Leventhal as the inspiration for the character of Irving Steinbloom and more broadly parodies the American folk music revival of the early 1960s and its personalities. The film stars Guest and Levy alongside Bob Balaban, John Michael Higgins, Jane Lynch, Michael McKean, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Harry Shearer and Fred Willard.
The Credibility Gap was an American satirical comedy team active from 1968 through 1979. They emerged in the late 1960s delivering comedic commentary on the news for the Los Angeles AM rock radio station KRLA 1110, and proceeded to develop more elaborate and ambitious satirical routines on the "underground" station KPPC-FM in Pasadena, California. Richard Beebe's wife Heidi came up with the name "The Credibility Gap" due to the news being published that seemed to have gaps.
Spinal Tap are a fictional English heavy metal band created by the American comedians and musicians of The T.V. Show, who wrote and performed original songs as the band: Michael McKean, as the lead singer and guitarist David St. Hubbins; Christopher Guest, as the guitarist Nigel Tufnel; and Harry Shearer, as the bassist Derek Smalls. They are characterized as "one of England's loudest bands".
The Folksmen are a fictitious American folk music trio, conceived and performed by actors-comedians-musicians Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer. Originally created in 1984 for a Saturday Night Live sketch, the Folksmen have subsequently maintained an intermittent public presence for more than twenty-five years. The trio is best known for its depiction in the mockumentary film A Mighty Wind (2003), but has also made a number of meta-performances on stage and television, often in conjunction with the same creators' fictitious heavy metal band, Spinal Tap.
This Is Spinal Tap is the soundtrack to the film This Is Spinal Tap, released in 1984. It was re-released in 2000 with lyrics and two versions of "Christmas with the Devil" as bonus tracks. The cover art is identical to that of the fictional album Smell the Glove featured in the film.
Derek Albion Smalls is a fictional character played by Harry Shearer in the spoof rockumentary This Is Spinal Tap. He is the bassist for mock British heavy metal group Spinal Tap, playing alongside guitarists Nigel Tufnel and David St. Hubbins, as well as with a plethora of drummers and keyboardists.
"The Otto Show" is the twenty-second episode of the third season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox in the United States on April 23, 1992. In the episode, Bart wants to become a rock star after attending a Spın̈al Tap concert, so Homer and Marge buy him a guitar. He shows the guitar to the school bus driver Otto, who plays it and makes the children late for school. While racing to Springfield Elementary, Otto crashes the school bus and is suspended until he earns a driver's license. Unable to pay his rent, Otto moves in with the Simpsons.
Tom Leopold is an American comedy writer, performer, and novelist. He has written episodes of Seinfeld and Cheers, along with several books. Leopold has often been associated with Chevy Chase, Harry Shearer, and Paul Shaffer due to his work with them on various projects. He also provided vocal performances with Jonathan Katz in animated productions for the Internet such as Hey, We're Back and Explosion Bus.
Spinal Tap II is an upcoming American mockumentary comedy film directed by Rob Reiner. It is a sequel to the 1984 film This Is Spinal Tap.
1 2 Current Biography Yearbook 2001. H. W. Wilson Company. 2002. p.502. ISBN978-9990016994. Shearer, Harry Dec. 23, 1943 – Satirist; nonfiction writer; radio talk-show host; actor; director; musician; playwright
↑ Shearer, Harry (January 18, 2009). "le Show". HarryShearer.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2009. Retrieved March 26, 2009. (Comment is at 57:06).
↑ Shearer, Harry. "KCRW's Le Show". iTunes Music Store. Retrieved December 7, 2008.
↑ Shearer, Harry (July 5, 2009). "le Show". HarryShearer.com. Archived from the original on August 31, 2009. Retrieved July 16, 2009. (Mentioned right at top of program).
↑ Shearer, Harry (January 4, 2009). "le Show". HarryShearer.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2009. Retrieved January 5, 2009.
↑ Shearer, Harry (December 23, 2008). "New Orleans Faces "The Nation"". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on February 3, 2009. Retrieved February 1, 2009.
↑ Shearer, Harry (June 25, 2006). "le Show". HarryShearer.com. Archived from the original on May 30, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
↑ Shearer, Harry (July 20, 2008). "le Show". HarryShearer.com. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
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