Canada's Walk of Fame
Lorne Michaels is the creator and executive producer of Saturday Night Live, the longest-running and highest-rated weekly late-night television program in history.
Over the last two and a half decades, SNL has launched the careers of many of the brightest comedy stars in America. The program has been nominated for scores of Emmy Awards and has won 18 Emmys in total. Most recently, Michaels and the show were honored with a 2002 Emmy for "Best Writing in a Variety/Comedy Series". Michaels has personally won ten Emmys as a writer and producer for television.
In addition to his weekly duties on SNL, Michaels is executive producer of NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
Michaels' past television credits also include The Kids in the Hall and Night Music, as well as specials with Lily Tomlin, Steve Martin, Paul Simon, The Rutles, Flip Wilson, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, Randy Newman, Neil Young, and Simon and Garfunkel in Central Park.
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On Broadway, he produced and directed Gilda Radner Live from New York and the subsequent motion picture Gilda Live. He also worked with Randy Newman on the stage musical Faust at the La Jolla Playhouse and produced Colin Quinn's one-man show, An Irish Wake on Broadway.
Michaels began his career in Toronto, where he attended the University of Toronto and worked as a writer and producer for the Canadian Broadcasting Company. He also starred in the comedy series The Hart & Lorne Terrific Hour. In 1968, he moved to Los Angeles and worked as a writer for NBC's Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In and other television series until he left in 1975 to begin SNL in New York.
In 1979, Michaels founded the New York-based production company Broadway Video Inc.
Interesting note
Dr. Evil, a character of Mike Myers's in the Austin Powers films, has been rumored to be partly based on Michaels. Myers has denied the rumors, saying that the two share only a voice.Inductees
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Lorne Michaels
Year of Induction: 2003
Area of Recognition: Television
Born: November 17, 1944
Where: Toronto, ON
Notable Achievements
- In 1975, Michaels created the American TV show, Saturday Night Live, for which he was also the executive producer and a writer.
- In 1999, Michaels was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. In 2002, Michaels was made a member of the Order of Canada for lifetime achievement, and awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- In 2004, he was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Speaking at the awards ceremony, original Saturday Night Live cast member Dan Aykroyd described Michaels as "the primary satirical voice of the country."
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- In Canada, Michaels also received a 2006 Governor General's Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.
