Rick Moranis
Rick Moranis | |
---|---|
![]() Moranis at the 1990 Academy Awards | |
Born |
Frederick Allan Moranis April 18, 1953 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Other names | Richard Moranis |
Occupation | Actor, comedian, screenwriter, songwriter |
Years active | 1976–present[1] |
Spouse(s) | Ann Belsky (m. 1986; died of breast cancer 1991)[2] |
Children | 2 |
Frederick Allan "Rick" Moranis (born April 18, 1953) is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter and songwriter. He came to prominence in the sketch comedy series Second City Television (SCTV) in the 1980s and later appeared in several Hollywood films, including Strange Brew (1983), Ghostbusters (1984), Spaceballs (1987), Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989, and its 1992 and 1997 sequels), Parenthood (1989), My Blue Heaven (1990), and The Flintstones (1994).
In 1997, Moranis began a long hiatus from acting to raise his children as a widowed father.[3] He has not appeared in a live-action film since, although he has provided voice-over work for a few animated films, notably Walt Disney Animation Studios' Brother Bear (2003), released comedy albums and made appearances at fan conventions.
Early life
Moranis was born in Toronto, Ontario, to a Jewish family.[4] He went to elementary school with Geddy Lee, frontman of the rock band Rush.[5]
Career
His career as an entertainer began as a radio disc jockey in the mid-1970s, using the on-air name "Rick Allan" at three Toronto radio stations.[5]
In 1977 he teamed up with Winnipeg-born writer/director and performer Ken Finkleman on a series of live performances on CBC's 90 Minutes Live, comedy radio specials and television comedy pilots including one called Midweek and one called 1980 (produced at CBC Toronto in 1979). Both pilots starred Finkleman and Moranis in a series of irreverent sketches including an early mockumentary sketch featuring Moranis as a Canadian movie producer and another featuring the dubbed in voiced overs of Nazi war criminals as they appear to be discussing their Hollywood agents and the money one can earn being interviewed on major documentary series like The World At War.
In 1980, Moranis was persuaded to join the third-season cast of Second City Television (SCTV) by friend and SCTV writer/performer Dave Thomas.[6] At the time, Moranis was the only cast member who had not come from a Second City stage troupe. He is known for such impressions as Woody Allen, Merv Griffin and David Brinkley.
With SCTV moving to CBC in 1980 (and syndicated to the United States), Moranis and Thomas were challenged to fill two additional minutes with "identifiable Canadian content", and created a sketch called The Great White North featuring the characters Bob and Doug McKenzie. By the time NBC ordered 90-minute programs for the U.S. in 1981 (the fourth season of SCTV overall), there had been such positive feedback from affiliates on the McKenzies that the network requested that the duo have a sketch in every show.[7]
Bob and Doug became a pop culture phenomenon, which led to a top-selling and Grammy nominated album, Great White North,[8] and the 1983 movie Strange Brew, Moranis's first major film role.
Feature films
![](../I/m/Rick_Moranis_handprints.jpg)
After his SCTV work and the Strange Brew movie, Moranis had a busy career in feature films that lasted over a decade, most notably Ghostbusters, Spaceballs, Little Shop of Horrors (film), and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and its sequels. He also did the voice-over for a short lived cartoon series on NBC called Gravedale High (1990).
In a 2004 interview, Moranis talked about his favorite kinds of films:
On the last couple of movies I made—big-budget Hollywood movies—I really missed being able to create my own material. In the early movies I did, I was brought in to basically rewrite my stuff, whether it was Ghostbusters or Spaceballs. By the time I got to the point where I was "starring" in movies, and I had executives telling me what lines to say, that wasn't for me. I’m really not an actor. I'm a guy who comes out of comedy, and my impetus was always to rewrite the line to make it funnier, not to try to make somebody’s precious words work.[9]
Moranis's last film roles were Barney Rubble in The Flintstones (1994) and the box-office flop Big Bully (1996). Other than the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids sequels, by the mid-1990s his only appearance in that genre was a 1993 music video, Tomorrow's Girls by Donald Fagen, in which he played a man married to an extraterrestrial woman. Disney's final film in the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids franchise is 1997's direct-to-video film Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves, in which Moranis is the final remaining original cast member. The series Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show also launched in 1997 but without Moranis, then concluding in 2000. He worked for Disney twice more (with his fellow SCTV alumnus Dave Thomas), voicing Rutt the moose in the 2003 animated film Brother Bear and its direct-to-video sequel.
Moranis was also slated to appear in The Breakfast Club, but was released by John Hughes because his interpretation of the role was not what Hughes was looking for.[10]
In 2000, Moranis received his first film credit since 1997 when he provided voice work in the animated film, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys. In 2003, he provided his voice to the animated film Brother Bear.
As of 2004, Moranis was on the Advisory Committee for the comedy program at Humber College.[11]
In 2005, Moranis released an album titled The Agoraphobic Cowboy, featuring country songs with lyrics which Moranis says follow in the comic tradition of songwriters/singers such as Roger Miller, Kinky Friedman, and Jim Stafford. The album was produced by Tony Scherr and is distributed through ArtistShare, as well as Moranis's official web site. Commenting on the origins of the songs, he said that in 2003, "Out of the blue, I just wrote a bunch of songs. For lack of a better explanation, they’re more country than anything. And I actually demoed four or five of them, and I'm not sure at this point what I’m going to do with them—whether I’m going to fold them into a full-length video or a movie. But, boy, I had a good time doing that."[9]
On December 8, 2005, The Agoraphobic Cowboy was announced as a nominee for the 2006 Grammy for Best Comedy Album. On February 3, 2006, Moranis performed "Press Pound" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and discussed the development of his music career.
In 2006, Moranis reprised his role in the animated film Brother Bear 2.
In November 2007, Moranis reunited with Dave Thomas for a 24th anniversary special of Bob and Doug McKenzie, titled Bob and Doug McKenzie's 2–4 Anniversary. The duo shot new footage for this special. Thomas subsequently created a new animated Bob and Doug McKenzie series, Bob & Doug, for his company Animax Entertainment. Moranis declined to voice the role of Bob, which was taken over by Dave Coulier, but remained involved in the series as an executive producer.[12]
In May 2013, Moranis announced that he would release a brand new comedy album titled My Mother's Brisket & Other Love Songs, his first album in eight years. The album was released on June 18, 2013.[13] Moranis said of the release "When I first began writing jokes and sketches with various Jewish partners one of us would inevitably stop at some point and announce, "Too Jewish!" Too Jewish for the star, the show, the network, or the audience. The songs on this album are all in that category. I grew up hearing the Allan Sherman and the You Don't Have To Be Jewish albums in the 60s. Now I am in my 60s."[14]
In June 2013, Moranis gave an interview where he talked about reprising his role as Louis Tully in a third Ghostbusters film and his disappointment with the sequel. Moranis said "I haven't talked to Dan Aykroyd about it. Somebody he's associated with called me and I said, 'I wouldn't not do it, but it's got to be good.' You know, I'm not interested in doing anything I've already done, and I thought the second one was a disappointment. But I guess I'm interested in where that guy is now. I sort of see him as being Bernie Madoff's cellmate in jail. Both of them being so orderly that they race to get up and make their beds."[15] In 2015, regarding an offer for a brief appearance in the film, he concluded: "[Ghostbusters] didn't appeal to me. ... I wish them well. ... I hope it's terrific. But it just makes no sense to me. Why would I do just one day of shooting on something I did 30 years ago?"[3]
Acting hiatus
Moranis took a hiatus from working in the film industry in 1997 after the death of his wife Ann from breast cancer in 1991. He later explained that he began to pull out of making movies in about 1996 or 1997. "I'm a single parent and I just found that it was too difficult to manage raising my kids and doing the traveling involved in making movies. So I took a little bit of a break. And the little bit of a break turned into a longer break, and then I found that I really didn't miss it."[16] After having declined an invitation to do a cameo appearance in 2016's Ghostbusters reboot, Moranis clarified in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that he had not, in fact, retired from film acting, but instead had become selective about future roles, or as he put it, "picky".[3]
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | Strange Brew | Bob McKenzie | Also co-writer and co-director |
1984 | Streets of Fire | Billy Fish | |
1984 | Ghostbusters | Louis Tully | |
1984 | Wild Life, TheThe Wild Life | Harry | |
1985 | Brewster's Millions | Morty King | |
1985 | Head Office | Howard Gross | |
1986 | Club Paradise | Barry Nye | |
1986 | Little Shop of Horrors | Seymour Krelborn | |
1987 | Spaceballs | Lord Dark Helmet | |
1989 | Ghostbusters II | Louis Tully | |
1989 | Honey, I Shrunk the Kids | Wayne Szalinski | |
1989 | Parenthood | Nathan Huffner | |
1990 | My Blue Heaven | Barney Coopersmith | |
1991 | L.A. Story | Gravedigger | Uncredited cameo[17] |
1992 | Honey, I Blew Up the Kid | Wayne Szalinski | |
1993 | Splitting Heirs | Henry Bullock | |
1994 | Flintstones, TheThe Flintstones | Barney Rubble | |
1994 | Little Giants | Danny O'Shea | |
1996 | Big Bully | David Leary | |
1997 | Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves | Wayne Szalinski | Direct-to-video |
2001 | Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys | The Toy Taker / Mr. Cuddles | Voices Direct-to-DVD |
2003 | Brother Bear | Rutt | Voice |
2006 | Brother Bear 2 | Rutt | Voice Direct-to-DVD |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1980–1981 | SCTV | Various roles | 25 episodes; also writer |
1981–1982 | SCTV Network | Various roles | 26 episodes; also writer |
1983, 1989 | Saturday Night Live | Himself (host) | 2 episodes |
1984 | Hockey Night | Coach | Television film |
1985 | The Last Polka | Linsk Minyk | Television film |
1989 | Rocket Boy, TheThe Rocket Boy | Automatic Safety System | Television film |
1990 | Gravedale High | Max Schneider | Voice 13 episodes |
1990 | The Earth Day Special | Vic's Buddy | Television special |
2003 | Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids | Holley | Voice Television special |
2007 | Bob & Doug McKenzie's Two-Four Anniversary | Bob McKenzie | Television special |
2009 | Bob & Doug | Co-creator and executive producer |
Discography
Albums
- 1989: You, Me, the Music and Me
- 2005: The Agoraphobic Cowboy
- 2013: My Mother's Brisket & Other Love Songs
Bob and Doug McKenzie
- 1981: The Great White North
- 1983: Strange Brew soundtrack
Other soundtrack appearances
Year | Film | Songs | Artist(s)/Writer(s) | Role |
---|---|---|---|---|
1986 | Little Shop of Horrors | "Skid Row Downtown" "Da-Doo" "Grow For Me" "Feed Me (Git It!)" "Suddenly, Seymour" "The Meek Shall Inherit" | Howard Ashman, Alan Menken | Seymour Krelborn |
1997 | Muppets Tonight | "High Hopes" "Salute to the late fifties crooners, obscure British bands and Bill Withers" | Various artists | Himself |
Audio/video
- 1973: "Rock Radio Scrapbook" (as Rick Allen)[18]
Awards and nominations
Year | Association | Category | Work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1982 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program | SCTV (shared with other writers) | Nominated |
1990 | American Comedy Awards | Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture | Parenthood | Won |
1995 | Gemini Awards | Earle Grey Award for Best Cast | SCTV | Won |
2006 | Grammy Awards | Best Comedy Album[19] | The Agoraphobic Cowboy | Nominated |
References
- ↑ Parker, Ryan. "Rick Moranis Reveals Why He Turned Down 'Ghostbusters' Reboot: "It Makes No Sense to Me"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ↑ Parker, Ryan. "Rick Moranis Reveals Why He Turned Down 'Ghostbusters' Reboot: "It Makes No Sense to Me"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- 1 2 3 Parker, Ryan (October 6, 2015). "Rick Moranis Is Not Retired". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ↑ "Rick Moranis, going from 'Ghostbusters' to mom's brisket, draws on Jewish roots in new album". JNS.org. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
- 1 2 "Rick Moranis". Yuddy.com.
- ↑ "SCTV Guide - People - Cast". sctvguide.ca. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
- ↑ Plume, Kenneth. "Interview with Dave Thomas (Part 1 of 5)" at movies.img.com, February 10, 2000.
- ↑ Hanna, Erin (2009). "Second City or Second Country?". cineaction.ca.
- 1 2 Mettler, Mike. "An Hour with SCTV's Rick Moranis – Web Exclusive, eh: The popular Canadian comedian welcomes SCTV to DVD", Sound & Vision, August 2004
- ↑ "The Lost Roles of Rick Moranis". Splitsider. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
- ↑ Peterson, Dean. "HEY, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO RICK MORANIS?". mydamnchannel.com. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
- ↑ Rob Salem, "Bob & Doug taking off again". Toronto Star, April 19, 2009.
- ↑ Dionne, Zach. "Rick Moranis Is Ready to Return to the World". Vulture. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
- ↑ "Rick Moranis - My Mother's Brisket & Other Love Songs - Amazon.com Music". amazon.com. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
- ↑ Plumb, Ali (June 25, 2013). "Exclusive: Rick Moranis On Ghostbusters 3". Empire. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
- ↑ "Rick Moranis: From 'Spaceballs' to country 'Cowboy'". USA Today. October 13, 2005.
- ↑ "L.A. Story (1991) Acting Credits". The New York Times.
- ↑ Rock Radio Scrapbook Airchecks: 1973
- ↑ Gerstein, Ted; Berman, John (February 5, 2006). "Rick Moranis on His Transformation Into a Grammy-Nominated Country Western Singer". ABC News.
External links
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