One of SNL's most talented alumni, comedian Dana Carvey reigned supreme during his six-season run creating some of the show's most memorable characters, including "Church Lady", "Garth" of Wayne & Garth fame, Grumpy Old Man and bodybuilding "Hans" of Hans & Franz notoriety. So it is quite bewildering that this sharp and witty writer, actor and impressionist failed to hatch a successful career in films as some of his SNL cohorts -- 'Mike Myers . Like most of his others, it fell flat and exited early from the theaters. Where Dana's brilliance IS captured is on the live comedy stage and in his numerous TV cable specials and standup concert appearances. To see Dana perform live is to witness an ideal blend of wit, style, personality and unrestrained, racy humor, something he was not afforded to do on film. He lives with wife Paula in Southern California.
Celebrity impersonations include John McLaughlin , Charles Grodin , Woody Allen , and Johnny Carson.
Brother of Brad Carvey.
Has two sons, Dex and Thomas.
Impersonations include George Bush , Jimmy Carter , Ross Perot , and Walter Mondale on "Saturday Night Live" .
Formerly worked as a busboy at a Holiday Inn.
Underwent open-heart surgery for a blocked artery in 1997 but had the wrong artery operated on. Later sued for medical malpractice and was awarded 7.5 million dollars. Hes had to undergo five operations in total to correct his heart problem.
His ancestry is seven sixteenths (7/16ths) Norwegian, with his other roots being English, German, Swedish, and Irish.
Also a very talented drummer
Biography in: "Whos Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. Pg. 98-99. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387
From the same hometown as David Lynch.
His older brother Mark Carvey was his assistant on Waynes World 2 .
David Letterman publicly suggested Carvey as his replacement on "Late Show with David Letterman" after he left for CBS.
Attended Carlmont High School in Belmont, CA.
Holds the record for having said "Live from New York, its Saturday Night!" most often.
Appeared on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" in 2000 and won $32,000 for his charity.
Is a fan of the band The Village People.
Living in Southern California with wife Paula, he fills his house with grown-up toys, likes to shoot baskets and play guitar and drums.
Danas brother Brad is an engineer and a pioneer in the video production field. He developed "Video Toaster", an inexpensive setup for Hollywood quality video making. The character "Garth" from Waynes World is based on Danas brother.
Credits Kirk Douglas is his favorite acting mentor/best friend.
His acting teacher was Kirk Douglas.
When Carvey was a kid, he was a Kirk Douglas fan.
As an actor, he was highly influenced by Kirk Douglas.
I used to sneak up to the 8th floor [at NBC] and watch Eddie Murphy and,Joe Piscopo rehearsing Saturday Night Live and could only wonder if I,would ever have the chance to be funny. It took me five years to go up,the two stories, but it is such a sense of fulfillment to be able to,show what I can do on national television.
When people come to see my stand-up, they get a chance to see my,characters interact with each other. I enjoy pushing my characters to,the limit. No matter how far out there I go, I look for things that,make the characters human. While many comics have a secret persona, I,fundamentally want to be myself.
I tried to go out for theater or theater arts, but I was too scared or too intimidated. But I had a lot of friends on the cross country team that had great senses of humor.
I grew up middle class - my dad was a high school teacher; there were five kids in our family. We all shared a nine-hundred-square-foot home with one bathroom. That was exciting. And my wife is Irish Catholic and also very, very barely middle class.
