Rick Moranis

Infobox actor
name = Rick Moranis

---

imagesize =
caption = Moranis at the 62nd Academy Awards, 1990
birthname = Frederick Alan Moranis
birthdate = birth date and age|1953|4|18
birthplace = Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
othername =
yearsactive = 1976 - 2006
occupation = actor, comedian, musician
spouse =
homepage =
academyawards =
emmyawards =
tonyawards =

Frederick Alan "Rick" Moranis (born April 18, 1953) is a retired Canadian actor, comedian and musician, known for his comedy work on "SCTV" and appeared in several Hollywood films including "Ghostbusters", "Little Shop of Horrors", "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids", "Spaceballs", "Parenthood" and "My Blue Heaven". [ [http://www.celebritypro.com/bio/rick_moranis_bio.htm Rick Moranis Bio ] ]

Biography

Early life

Moranis was born to a Jewish family in Toronto, Ontario. In the 1970s, he worked (using the stage name Rick Allen) as a disc jockey at various radio stations in Toronto, including CFTR, CKFH, and CHUM-FM. Together with Ken Finkleman, he tried his hand at stand-up and did some comedy for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. As a boy, he spent his summers at Camp New Moon in Baysville, Ontario, north of Toronto. During his last summer as a camper, Moranis achieved his Master Canoeist's award, qualifying him to teach canoeing.

"SCTV"

He followed that with his work at "SCTV", enjoying particular success portraying "Bob" of Bob and Doug McKenzie. Doug was played by Canadian actor Dave Thomas.

His other memorable SCTV characterizations include motor-mouthed film producer Larry Siegel, terminally-ill rock star Clay Collins, smooth-voiced video deejay Gerry Todd, cool Leutonian pop star Linsk Minyk, kid-brother amateur comic Skip Bittman, head cheese butcher Carl Scutz, and morning homily intellect Rabbi Karlov.

Feature films

After his "SCTV" work, Moranis had a busy film career that lasted over a decade. In an August 2004 interview with Sound & Vision magazine, Moranis talked about the kinds of films he enjoyed the most:

He starred in the music video for Donald Fagen's 1993 song "Tomorrow's Girls" from the album Kamakiriad and in the "Making of Kamakiriad" documentary. As a fan of Fagen's previous album The Nightfly, Moranis said in the documentary that he ran into Fagen in New York City, Fagen offered him an advanced copy of his album which Moranis insisted that he'd wait for. Later, Fagen offered him the part in his music video.

Recent activities

As of 2004, Moranis was on the Advisory Committee for the at Humber College, the only such diploma program in the world.

In an October 2005 interview in "USA Today", Moranis talked about getting away from the movie business:

In 2005, Moranis released an album entitled "The Agoraphobic Cowboy", featuring country songs with lyrics which Moranis says follow in the comic tradition of songwriters/singers such as Roger Miller and Jim Stafford. The album was produced by Tony Scherr, and is distributed through ArtistShare, as well as Moranis' official Web site. In the "Sound & Vision" interview done before he decided to release the album, he commented on the origins of some of the songs:

On December 8, 2005, "The Agoraphobic Cowboy" was announced as a nominee for the 2006 Grammy for Best Comedy Album. (A previous album by Moranis was entitled "You, Me, The Music, and Me" (1989). On February 3, 2006, Moranis performed "Press Pound" on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and discussed the development of his music career.

Discography

Albums

* "The Great White North" (1981)
* "You, Me, the Music and Me" (1989)
* "The Agoraphobic Cowboy" (2005)

Filmography

"SCTV" impressions

*David Brinkley
*Dick Cavett
*Merv Griffin
*Woody Allen
*Richard Dreyfuss
*Al Waxman
*George Carlin
*Neil Young
*Ringo Starr

*Anson Williams
*Al Pacino as Michael Corleone
*Jim Bakker
*Brent Musburger
*Elton John
*Henry Moore
*Phil Silvers
*John Denver
*Gordon Lightfoot's voice

Films

References

External links

*
* [http://www.nndb.com/people/793/000022727/ Rick Moranis] at the Notable Names Database
* [http://www.artistshare.com/artist_project_join.aspx?projectID=95&artistID=25&salesTypeID=6&selection=1 His ArtistShare projects]
* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5036930 Rick Moranis, Singing 'Cowboy'] , a December 2005 story from "Weekend Edition"
* [http://rockradioscrapbook.ca/air1973.html Rock Radio Scrapbook 1973] , with a [http://rockradioscrapbook.ca/rickallen.rm RealAudio clip of Rick Allen] from June 1973
* [http://www.cmt.com/news/articles/1514480/20051123/index.jhtml Review of "The Agoraphobic Cowboy"] from the "Country Music Television" website
* [http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/article.asp?article_id=650 An Hour with SCTV's Rick Moranis] , an August 2004 interview with Sound & Vision magazine
* [http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-10-12-rick-moranis_x.htm October 2005 Interview with Moranis] from the "USA Today" website
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/22/opinion/22moranis.html?em&ex=1164344400&en=8fdb123b0d5f6bd5&ei=5087%0A OpEd Piece by Moranis] from the "NY Times" website
* [http://www.chriscomerradio.com/rick_moranis/rick_moranis4-18-06.htm Rick Moranis Radio Interview] with Chris Comer & Rob Ervin April 18, 2006
* [http://protoncharging.com/gb/2006/05/27/interview-rick-moranis/ Rick Moranis Interview] Proton Charging May 27, 2006
* [http://www.thefilmfiend.com/2008/02/feature-top-10-rick-moranis-flicks.html Top 10 Rick Moranis Flicks] from The Film Fiend
* [http://rickmoranisfanpage.com/moranis.html Rick Moranis Fan Page]