Michael McDonald | |
---|---|
Pseudonym | Mike McDonald |
Birth name | Michael James McDonald |
Born | Fullerton, California, U.S. | December 31, 1964
Medium | Stand-up, film, television |
Years active | 1987–present |
Genres | Sketch comedy, improvisational comedy |
Michael James McDonald (born December 31, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for starring in the sketch comedy show MADtv . McDonald joined the show during the fourth season (1998) and remained in the cast until the end of the thirteenth and penultimate season, having become the longest-tenured cast member.
This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources .(July 2020) |
McDonald was born in Fullerton, California. He graduated from St. Juliana Catholic Elementary School in Fullerton, and later went to Servite High School in Anaheim, California, and graduated from the University of Southern California with a business degree.
After college, a friend took McDonald to see an improv comedy show at The Groundlings Theater. McDonald quit his job at the bank and enrolled in The Groundlings improv program. He was a member of the troupe from 1992 to 1997. During that time, he was also involved in writing and directing films for Roger Corman.
Later on, McDonald would guest star in such shows as Seinfeld (in two episodes playing two different parts), Just Shoot Me! , Family Matters , Scrubs and NewsRadio . He also made brief cameos in all three Austin Powers films. McDonald had a starring role with Will Forte and Nicole Sullivan on the short-lived MTV show Clone High as the voice of Gandhi.
This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources .(July 2020) |
McDonald has toured at stand-up comedy clubs across the country. His stand-up comedy special Michael McDonald: Model Citizen premiered on Showtime on October 9, 2010. Filmed in Orange County at the OC Pavilion, it has been described as "Part stand-up comedy, part one man show, this special is for anyone who – like Michael – finds humor in the strange world all around us."
McDonald was also a writer, director, and producer of the ABC TV series Cougar Town . He directed a number of episodes of the show, including "Letting You Go", "Everything Man", "When a Kid Goes Bad", "Stop Dragging My Heart Around", and "Don't Come Around Here No More". McDonald also wrote the episode "Wake Up Time".
McDonald joined the cast of MADtv in 1998, eventually becoming the longest-standing cast member in the show's history (10 seasons). He performed several recurring characters, including Stuart Larkin, Rusty Miller, Marvin Tikvah, Sean Gidcomb, Bible Dude, the Depressed Persian Tow Truck Man, Fightin' Ron, and F. Michael McKrofsky of "Real M*********ing Talk" (replacing Andrew Daly's token white commentator on that sketch).
After 10 years on MADtv, McDonald left the cast, but was a contributing writer and director for the show's final season. McDonald was the last member of the cast to be hired in the 1990s, and the last cast member to have been born in the 1960s, and is the only cast member to have a "best of" clip show special dedicated to him.
McDonald appeared as the lead Carly's assistant in the 1996 sitcom, first appearing in season one episode four, Something About a Family Photo. [1]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1991 | Uncaged | Clean Cut John | |
1992 | In the Heat of Passion | Nick | |
Dance with Death | Henry | ||
Body Waves | Squirrely | ||
Final Judgement | Rainy | Video | |
Bloodfist IV: Die Trying | Newscaster | Video | |
1993 | Full Contact | - | |
1994 | Bloodfist V: Human Target | Jewelry Store Manager | Video |
Revenge of the Red Baron | Psychiatrist | ||
The Unborn II | Welfare Worker #1 | ||
Leprechaun 2 | Waiter | ||
No Dessert, Dad, Till You Mow the Lawn | Evil Hypnotist | ||
In the Heat of Passion II: Unfaithful | Bartender | ||
The Crazysitter | Mr. Smith | ||
1995 | Carnosaur 2 | Evac. Team Pilot | |
Bloodfist VI: Ground Zero | Corey | Video | |
Hideaway | Young cop | ||
Criminal Hearts | Tierney | ||
Twisted Love | Stoned kid | ||
Bloodfist VII: Manhunt | Running Officer | Video | |
1996 | Baby Face Nelson | Reporter | |
Carnosaur 3: Primal Species | Police Officer Wilson | ||
1997 | Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery | Steve Harmon the Evil Henchman | |
Casper: A Spirited Beginning | Sarcastic Protester | Video | |
1998 | Casper Meets Wendy | Spike-Stretch | Video |
Richie Rich's Christmas Wish | Montgomery | Video | |
1999 | Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me | NATO Soldier | |
2000 | Chump Change | Dack | |
2002 | Slackers | Economics Professor | |
Austin Powers in Goldmember | Royal Guard | ||
2003 | Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star | Maitre d' | |
2004 | Outing Riley | Andy | |
2006 | Moonpie | Mitch Henderson | |
2013 | The Heat | Julian | |
2014 | Minutes | John Feldman | Short |
2015 | Spy | Patrick | |
2016 | The Boss | Bryce Crean | |
Ghostbusters | Jonathan | ||
2018 | The Happytime Murders | Ronovan Scargle | |
The Loud House: Clyde and His Dads | Howard McBride | Voice, short | |
2021 | Halloween Kills | Little John | |
2024 | Mother of the Bride | Clay | Post-production |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1987 | Nightlife | Himself | Episode: "Episode #1.144" |
Stand Up America | Himself | ||
1992 | An Evening at the Improv | Himself | Episode: "Episode #9.9" |
Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation | Disc Jockey | Television film | |
1993 | Family Matters | Manager | Episode: "Buds 'n' Buns" |
The John Larroquette Show | Phil | Episode: "The Past Comes Back" | |
1994 | Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love | Party Guest | Television film |
1995 | Sherman Oaks | Jules | Episode: "Golf, Dating, and the Devil" |
Sawbones | Prostitute | Television film | |
Virtual Seduction | Disoriented Man | Television film | |
A Bucket of Blood | Dancer | Television film | |
1995–96 | Seinfeld | Player #2/Jesse | Episode: "The Understudy" & "The Wig Master" |
Night Stand | Ray | Episode: "So You Think You're a Lesbian" & "Clip Show" | |
1997 | Ellen | The Guy | Episode: "Alone Again... Naturally" |
NewsRadio | Lee | Episode: "Airport" | |
Night Stand | Chuckie MacDougal | Episode: "Pushy Parents" | |
1998 | Instant Comedy with the Groundlings | Himself | Episode: "Episode #1.1 & #1.2" |
Just Shoot Me | Reg | Episode: "The Emperor" | |
The Drew Carey Show | The Parking Attendant | Episode: "From the Earth to the Moon" | |
1998 | National Lampoon's Men in White | Secret Service Agent | Television film |
1998–2008 | MADtv | Himself/Cast Member | Main cast: season 4–13, guest: season 14 |
1999 | Banned in America: The World's Sexiest Commercials | Host | TV special |
2001 | Passions | The Face in the Pool | Episode: "Episode #1.516-#1.518" |
2001–03 | Invader Zim | RoboDad | Voice, recurring role |
2001–09 | Scrubs | Mike Davis | Recurring cast: season 1, guest: season 2, 6-8 |
2002 | Greg the Bunny | Leo | Episode: "The Singing Mailman" |
2002–03 | Clone High | Gandhi | Voice, main role |
2005 | Fat Actress | Sam Rascal | Recurring role |
2005–06 | 7th Heaven | Edward Jameson | Recurring cast: season 10 |
2005–09 | Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List | Himself | Recurring cast: season 1-5 |
2006 | Talkshow with Spike Feresten | Himself | Episode: "Michael McDonald" |
Desperate Housewives | Steven | Episode: "Silly People" | |
Lovespring International | Drake | Episode: "The Demuler" | |
2008 | My Boys | Paul | Episode: "Spit Take" |
Hannah Montana | Chef Duncan Keats | Episode: "Don't Go Breakin' My Tooth" | |
2009 | Pushing Daisies | Galveston Gus | Episode: "Kerplunk" |
Kath & Kim | Neil | Episode: "Home" | |
Head Case | Stanley | Episode: "Twinkle, Twinkle..." | |
Reaper | Mr. Elliott Sprong | Episode: "To Sprong, with Love" | |
Rita Rocks | Rob Boone | Recurring cast: season 2 | |
2011 | Cougar Town | Wayne Gibbons | 2 episodes |
2012–13 | Web Therapy | Ben Tomlund | Recurring cast: season 2-3 |
2013 | House of Lies | Carl Criswell | Recurring cast: season 2 |
Save Me | Randall | Episode: "Heavenly Hostess" | |
2014 | Community | Ronald Mohammed | Episode: "Basic Story" |
2015 | Newsreaders | James Jordan | Episode: "A Billionaire Goes to Hell; Sitcom Family" |
2016–present | The Loud House | Howard McBride | Voice, recurring role [2] |
2017 | Superior Donuts | Manfred | Episode: "Painted Love" |
Rhett & Link's Buddy System | Enrique | Episode: "Spa Trip" | |
2017–18 | Nobodies | Blaine Kaine | Recurring cast |
2019 | Crazy Ex-Girlfriend | Open Mic MC | Episode: "I'm in Love" |
2020 | Brooklyn Nine-Nine | Adam Jarver | Episode: "Ding Dong" |
2022 | God's Favorite Idiot | Leviathan | Episode: "God, Satan and All the Good Smells" |
What We Do in the Shadows | Gustave Leroy | Episode: "Freddie" | |
2023 | How I Met Your Father | Warren | Episode: "The Reset Button" |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | Michael McDonald: Model Citizen | Himself | TV special |
The Groundlings is an American improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school based in Los Angeles, California. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin, whose improvisational theater techniques were taught by Del Close and other members of the Second City, located in Chicago and later St. Louis. They used these techniques to produce sketches and improvised scenes. Its name is taken from Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act III, Scene II: "...to split the ears of the groundlings, who for the most part are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumbshows and noise." In 1975 the troupe purchased and moved into its current location on Melrose Avenue.
Mad TV is an American sketch comedy television series created by David Salzman, Fax Bahr, and Adam Small. Loosely based on the humor magazine Mad, Mad TV's pre-taped satirical sketches were primarily parodies of popular culture and occasionally politics. Many of its sketches featured the show's cast members playing recurring original characters and doing celebrity impressions. The series premiered on Fox on October 14, 1995, and ran for 14 seasons. Its final episode aired on May 16, 2009.
Christopher Lee Kattan is an American actor and comedian. First breaking through as a performer with the Los Angeles comedy troupe The Groundlings, Kattan found wider success during his tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1996 to 2003. He also played Doug Butabi in A Night at the Roxbury, Bob on the first five seasons of The Middle, and Bunnicula in Bunnicula.
Matthew Gregory Besser is an American actor, comedian, director, producer, writer, and one of the four founding members of the Upright Citizens Brigade sketch comedy troupe, who had their own show on Comedy Central from 1998 to 2000. He hosts the improvisation-based podcast Improv4humans on the Earwolf podcasting network.
Orville Willis Forte IV is an American comedian and actor. He was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live for eight seasons between 2002 and 2010. During his time on the show, he played a recurring character that led to a feature film adaptation, MacGruber (2010), and a streaming television, MacGruber, limited series in 2021. Forte also created and starred in the sitcom The Last Man on Earth (2015–2018). For the series, he received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations: two for acting and one for writing.
Orlando Jones is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is known for being one of the original cast members of the sketch comedy series MADtv, for his role as the 7 Up spokesman from 1999 to 2002, and for his role as the African god Anansi on Starz's American Gods.
Aries Spears is an American stand-up comedian, impressionist, and actor from New Jersey. Spears was a regular on Fox's sketch comedy series MADtv, appearing in 198 episodes, making him the second longest-serving cast member on the show behind Michael McDonald. In 2011, he released a special called Aries Spears: Hollywood, Look I'm Smiling. He co-hosted for the AVN Awards twice in 2018 and 2020.
Ike Barinholtz is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer. He is best known for his starring roles in the comedy series MADtv (2002–2007), Eastbound & Down (2012), The Mindy Project (2012–2017), Bless the Harts (2019–2021), The Afterparty (2022), and History of the World, Part II (2023). In February 2023 he won the inaugural primetime season of Celebrity Jeopardy!, winning US$1,000,000 for charity.
Jeffrey Hanson Richards is an American actor, stand-up comedian, and impressionist. Richards was the first person to be a cast member on both FOX's MADtv and its rival sketch show, NBC's Saturday Night Live, appearing on the former in 2000, and the latter from 2001 to 2004. He is perhaps best known for his frequent SNL character "Drunk Girl".
Patrick F. Kilbane is an American actor, comedian, and screenwriter best known for his three seasons as a cast member on MADtv (1997–2000), as well his memorable appearance in the 1996 "The Bizarro Jerry" episode of Seinfeld, in which he played Bizarro Kramer. Kilbane's first book, The Brain Eater's Bible: Sound Advice for the Newly Reanimated Zombie, was released on March 18, 2011.
Daniele Gaither is an American actress and comedian. Gaither is most notable for her membership in the recurring cast of comedians on sketch comedy series MADtv.
Nicole Randall Johnson is an American actress, writer and producer. Johnson is most notable for her membership in the recurring cast of performers on the sketch comedy series MADtv.
Nelson Ascencio is a Cuban-American actor and comedian. Ascencio is most notable for his membership in the recurring cast of comedians on sketch comedy series MADtv and for playing Flavius in The Hunger Games film series.
Christian Duguay is an American actor and comedian. Duguay is most notable as one of the recurring cast of sketch comedy series MADtv. Creator of the Valley Heat podcast.
Michael Hitchcock is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and television producer.
Daniel Wheatley Oster is an American actor and comedian. He is most famous for being a member of Boom Chicago and a member of the MADtv cast.
John Rene Crane is an American writer and actor, best known as the head writer, executive producer and occasional performer on Fox's Saturday late night sketch comedy program, MADtv, and as the Dad from Nickelodeon’s Roundhouse.
The Fracas! Improv Festival is a three-day annual improvisational theatre festival held at The University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. The festival is hosted by Second Nature Improv, one of USC's improv troupes. In addition to performances, the festival hosts discussion panels with professional improvisers currently working in television, film, and/or theatre, as well as improv workshops. While the performances and panels are open to the public, workshops are available only to registered festival participants.
The ACME Comedy Theatre is an American sketch comedy and improvisational theater located near Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, on La Brea near Wilshire's "Miracle Mile".
Saturday Night Live is an American sketch comedy series created and produced by Lorne Michaels for most of the show's run. The show has aired on NBC since 1975.