
Once upon a time, Michael McKean portrayed the character of Lenny on the sitcom "Laverne and Shirley." That was back in 1976, and his resume has grown by leaps and bounds since then, though he remains one of the most gifted, and underappreciated, character actors of his generation.
McKean was born in 1947. He grew up in New York where he attended Carnegie Mellon Institute and later New York University. After graduating, he cut his teeth acting in summer theater productions before joining the comedy group The Credibility Gap, which also boasted future SNL cast member and Spinal Tapper Harry Shearer. This lead to a writing job on "Laverne and Shirley," which lead to his role as the greaser Lenny.
In 1984, he played a completely different character: guitarist David St. Hubbins in the documentary spoof "This Is Spinal Tap" - he also worked on the script and songs for the movie. Since "Tap," McKean has gone on to become an extremely versatile character actor, showing up in such TV shows as "Dream On," "The X-Files," and, of course, Saturday Night Live. In addition, he continues to work with fellow Spinal Tappers, most recently in the film "A Mighty Wind."