Dana Carvey (born June 2, 1955 in Missoula, Montana) is an American actor and comedian best known for his work on Saturday Night Live and the spin-off movie Wayne's World.
When Carvey was three years old, his family moved to San Carlos, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. He attended Carlmont High School in Belmont, California, and received his Bachelor's degree in communications from San Francisco State University.
Carvey's first movie role was a small part in the 1981 horror film Halloween II. He then costarred on One of the Boys in 1982, a short-lived television sitcom that also starred Mickey Rooney, Nathan Lane, and Meg Ryan. In 1984, Carvey had a small role in Rob Reiner's This Is Spinal Tap film, where he played a mime, with fellow comedian Billy Crystal.
In 1986, Carvey became a household name when he joined the cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live. Carvey's SNL impressions and characters included Johnny Carson, Garth Algar (from Wayne's World), President George H. W. Bush, Ross Perot, The Church Lady, Hans (from Hans and Franz), The Grumpy Old Man (from Weekend Update appearances), President Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale, John McLaughlin, Charles Grodin and Woody Allen. Garth Algar is actually an affectionate caricature of Dana's brother, Brad Carvey, an accomplished electrical engineer who invented the Video Toaster. Carvey left the show in 1993.
In 1992, Carvey joined Mike Myers to bring their popular Wayne's World sketch to the silver screen. A sequel was filmed and released in 1993, titled Wayne's World 2. Carvey actually learned how to drum for his role as Garth, and has been seen performing well on the drums on various occasions since.
In 1994, he starred in Clean Slate.
In 1996, he reprised many of his SNL characters for The Dana Carvey Show.
In 1997, he underwent open-heart surgery for a blocked artery. Unfortunately, the doctors operated on the wrong artery. Carvey later sued for medical malpractice and was awarded $7.5 million. Carvey has had to undergo a total of five operations to correct his heart problems.
In 2002, he returned to the silver screen in the comedy, Master of Disguise.
He is number 90 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest standups of all time.
A very private person, Carvey withdrew from the limelight to focus on his family. He later said in an interview that he doesn't want to be in a career where his kids are already grown up, and he neglected all those moments beforehand.
The Master of Disguise (2002)
