cast by season

Fred Armisen is in his ninth season on "Saturday Night Live."

In his first year, Armisen scored with his character "Fericito." The Venezuelan comedian coached Senator John McCain through his opening monologue and brought big laughs to "Weekend Update" along with the recurring sketch "Showbiz Grande Explosion" with his Latin style and catchphrase "I'm just keeeeeeding."

Armisen recently took on the role of then Democratic Presidential nominee and now U.S. President Barack Obama. His impression of New York Governor Patterson has also garnered its fair share of controversy. Other characters include the distracted court stenographer “Elinda Nade," the political comedian “Nicholas Fehn,” “Mr. Vogelcheck” in the ‘too close for comfort' kissing family, and the Native American comic “Billy Smith.” Armisen has also contributed memorable impressions of Larry King, Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Iranian President Mahmoud Amadinejad in the popular Digital Short "Iran So Far Away," and Prince, the often-silent host of the musician's talk show "The Prince Show."

Armisen has landed on Rolling Stone's "Hot List" as well as several times on Entertainment Weekly's "Must List" (for his performance as a politically incorrect deaf comedian and his witty iTunes playlist). He recently appeared in the feature films “Cop Out” alongside Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, "Confessions of a Shopaholic" opposite Isla Fisher, "The Rocker" opposite Rainn Wilson and "The Promotion" with John C. Reilly. He has also appeared in the films "Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny" (with Jack Black), "The Ex" (with Zach Braff and Jason Bateman), as well as "Eurotrip," and Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy." Armisen can next be found lending his voice to the animated features “The Smurfs” and “Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore.”

Armisen began his career as a musician in the Chicago-based post-punk band Trenchmouth as well as playing with Blue Man Group. His transition to comedy came with the 1998 underground short film "Fred Armisen's Guide to Music and SXSW" which followed him through the Austin, Texas "South By Southwest Music Festival" posing as a music journalist. In 2006, he tried his hand at actual musical journalism, profiling the indie darling Cat Power for the influential music website Pitchfork.com. He married music and comedy, becoming drummer Jens Hannemann and releasing an instructional DVD "Complicated Drumming Technique" in 2007.

He has made guest appearances on NBC's "30 Rock," the cable comedy shows "The Sarah Silverman Show," "Human Giant" and "Tim & Eric, Awesome Show, Great Job," the smash kids show, "Yo Gabba Gabba," and NBC's "Parks and Recreation."

Armisen lives in New York City. His birthday is December 4.