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Background:
“I think I do about 12 regular characters, but I’ve been able to pad the resume with God, The Devil and Hitler.” Harry Shearer on how many Simpsons’ characters he voices
An American multi-talented actor, director and writer whose talents have graced film, television, radio, stage and many publications, Harry Shearer achieved national appreciation for his role as one of the creators and stars of the classic This is Spinal Tap (1984), where he memorably portrayed bass player Derek Smalls. He played Mark Shubb and jointly received a Florida Film Critics Circle Award and a Seattle Film Critics Award for his work in the 2003 acclaimed parody A Mighty Wind, directed by Christopher Guest and co-written by Guess and Eugene Levy. Recently, Shearer was cast as Victor Allan Miller in Guest’s film For Your Consideration (2006) and has appeared in such movies as Cracking Up (1977), The Fisher King (1991), A League of Their Own (1992), Wayne’s World 2 (1993), My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997), Godzilla (1998), The Truman Show (1998), Dick (1999), Teddy Bears’ Picnic (2002) and Chicken Little (2005). On the small screen, Shearer is perhaps best recognized for his prolific work as a voice actor on “The Simpsons” (1989 to present), in which he voices Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders, Reverend Timothy Lovejoy, Kent Brockman, Dr. Julius Hibbert, Dr. Marvin Monroe, Lenny Leonard, Principal Seymour Skinner, and Rainier Wolfcastle, among others. Before, he became famous as a writer/performer on “Saturday Night Live,” a gig he had from 1979-1980 and 1984-1985. Shearer has also written and starred in the syndicated uproarious public radio program, “Le Show.”
Shearer has been married to Judith Owen, a singer-songwriter, since 1993. He was formerly married to Penelope J. Nichols, with whom he shared his life outside the limelight from 1974 to 1977.
Mix of Austrian and Polish
Childhood and Family:
In Los Angeles, California, Harry Julius Shearer was born on December 23, 1943, to a father of Austrian Jewish ancestry and a mother of Polish Jewish ancestry. He started acting as a child, but put it on the backburner to grow up, attend UCLA and begin graduate work at Harvard University. He returned to acting at age 33.
On June 12, 1974, Harry married Penelope J. Nichols, but they were divorced in 1977. He married his present wife, singer-songwriter Judith Owen, on March 28, 1993.
The Simpsons
Career:
Harry Shearer began acting at the age of seven and made his feature film debut in the classic Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953). He also had an unaccredited part in the first Cinemascope movie, The Robe, that same year. On television, Shearer nabbed his first guest starring role on “The Jack Benny Show” (1953), which was followed with appearances in such series as “Private Secretary,” “Leave It to Beaver,” and after “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” (1957).
After college, Shearer found work as a freelance journalist and high school teacher and returned to acting as a hippy in the made-for-TV film Serpico, in 1976. He co-founded the Los Angeles radio comedy group The Credibility Gap, with whom he re-entered movies in the little-seen independent comedy Cracking Up (1977). Two years later, he joined writer/director/actor Albert Brooks to pen and act in the comedy film Real Life before revisiting the small screen for “Saturday Night Live,” in which he served as writer/performer from 1979 to 1980, and later rejoined the show during the 1984-1985 seasons. During his time on “SNL,” Shearer became famous for his recurring characters of Tom Clay, a spokesperson for numerous fake commercials on SNL, and Vic Raker, a Weekend Update reporter, as well as for impersonating such celebrities as Franklin Roosevelt, Carl Sagan, Ronald Reagan and Jack Perkins.
Shearer also found himself co-producing, co-writing (with Rob Reiner) and costarring (with Reiner, Christopher Guest, Billy Crystal and Michael McKean) in a sketch comedy spoof show called “The TV Show.” He continued to act in several films, including Paul Simon’s drama One Trick Pony (1980), but the actor did not reach cult celebrity status until 1984, when he was cast as bassist Derek Smalls in the side-splitting and prominent This Is Spinal Tap, costarring Guest, McKean and Reiner (who also directed). A massive cult hit, the movie became a model for future mock documentary features.
Shearer directed, wrote and starred in his own TV special, “It’s Just TV!” in 1985 and wrote, produced, directed and appeared in Paul Shaffer’s fantasy special for HBO, Viva Shaf Vegas, the next year. A frequent voice-over actor, Shearer scored work with the Fox Network cartoon series “The Simpsons,” where he supplies voices for a number of characters, such as Reverend Timothy Lovejoy, Kent Brockman, Dr. Julius Hibbert, Dr. Marvin Monroe, Lenny Leonard, Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders, Principal Seymour Skinner, and Rainier Wolfcastle.
In the early 1990s, the Los Angeles native performer could be seen playing small roles in some wide screen hits like the Jeff Bridges-Robin Williams comedy The Fisher King (1991), the Penny Marshall-directed A League of Their Own (1992) and Wayne’s World 2 (1993), starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey. Shearer, however, saved his innovative juices for his own TV and radio projects, most notably “Le Show,” a weekly syndicated radio comedy potpourri he has hosted and co-written since 1992. From 1994 to 1999, Shearer found himself appearing in movies like I’ll Do Anything (1994), State of the Union: Undressed (1996, TV), My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997), Godzilla (1998), The Truman Show (1998), Edtv (1999) and Dick (1999). In 1998, he also co-wrote with Guest and Reiner the short Spinal Tap: The Final Tour.
Entering the new millennium, Shearer kept busy with small performances in Haiku Tunnel (2001), Out There (2001), Haunted Castle (2001, voiced Mr. D/Mephisto) and Teddy Bears’ Picnic (2002) before reuniting with the director/writer Christopher Guess for the highly praised spoof A Mighty Wind (2003), playing the small role of Mark Shubb. He jointly won a Florida Film Critics Circle for Best Ensemble Cast and a Seattle Film Critics for Best Music for his work in the film. In 2005, the actor provided the voice of Dog Announcer in the animated feature Chicken Little and appeared as a Promo Announcer in the comedy Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School. He again collaborated with Guest to play Victor Allan Miller in the 2006 comedy For Your Consideration.
Shearer is set to portray a psychiatrist in the David Lee Miller-directed comedy My Suicide, which was in post-production as of February 1, 2007. He will also costar with Shelley Long and Deborah Theaker in the upcoming comedy A Couple of White Chicks at the Hairdresser (2007). Additionally, Shearer will voice Seymour Skinner/Lenny Leonard/Dr. Hibbert in the 2007 The Simpsons Movie.
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