Kevin Hamilton McDonald was born on May 16, 1961 (which makes him a Taurus) in Montreal, Canada. He lived there until age 7 when his father, a dental supplies salesman, was transferred to Los Angeles, CA. He later moved to Toronto, Canada, where he still resides today. Kevin has described himself as an overweight, asthmatic child who spent most of his time planted in front of the TV, studying up on all forms of comedy. His mother is a homemaker and he has one older sister. Kevin was married once, to Tiffany Lacey, in 1993, but the couple divorced in 1995.
~School days~
Kevin began his acting career early, taking theater classes in high school. He said that he both loved these classes ("because of the girls in tights") and hated them ("because of me in tights"). He later attended Humber College as a theater major, but was kicked out because he was not well rounded enough - he could only do comedy. However, one of his teachers took a liking to him and enrolled him in the famed Second City improv workshops. It was there that fate kicked in ... Kevin met Dave Foley. The two quickly became good friends and colleagues. They worked together as ushers in an art house theater and dreamed of a career in comedy. Soon after, they joined up with fellow Second City alumnus Luciano Casimiri and formed the first draft of The Kids In the Hall. The group performed in various small clubs in the Toronto area.
ACTOR FILMOGRAPHY
The Ladies Man (2000) ... Role Unknown
Galaxy Quest (2000) ... Announcer
The Martin Short Show (1999) ... Various characters
Boy Meets Girl (1998) ... Jack
The Godson (1998) ... Guppy Calzone
The Wrong Guy (1998) ... Motel manager **So far, TWG has only been released in Canada. Grrr ...**
Dinner at Fred's (1998) ... Fred
Kids In the Hall Brain Candy (1996) ... Various characters
National Lampoon's Senior Trip (1995) ... Travis the crossing guard
Saving Souls (1995) ... Featured Church Follower
The Adventures of Hyperman(1995) ... Studd Puppy **TV Series**
The Kids In the Hall (1989-1994) ... Various characters
WRITER FILMOGRAPHY
Kids In the Hall Brain Candy (1996)
The Kids In the Hall (1989-1994) **for which he and the other Kids and writers received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing for a Variety or Music Program in 1995.
DIRECTOR FILMOGRAPHY
Donald Cammell : The Ultimate Performance (1998)
PRODUCER FILMOGRAPHY
Donald Cammell : The Ultimate Performance (1998)
TV GUEST APPEARANCES
The Drew Carey Show ... one of Drew's "evil" co-workers in the 1998 season premiere episode
Late Night with Conan O'Brien ... Various appearances
NewsRadio ... Throwdini in the "Corporate Talent Show" episode
Seinfeld ... Denim Vest in episode "The Strike"
Ellen ... Chuck in episodes "All Ellen, All the Time" & "When Ellen Talks, People Listen", which aired in 1994. (Thanks to Tammie Howarth for the info)
Friends ... Guru Saj in episode "The One With Ross's Thing"
KEVIN'S COOLEST KITH CHARACTERS
* Sir Simon Milligan ... host of the Pit of (Pen)Ultimate Darkness
* Dean Deen ... "will do" - the king of empty promises
* Darcy Pennel ... host of "The Darcy Pennel Show"
* Francois ... a canoe rowing "pelt" trapper
* Rudy ... a pimp
* Sex Boy ... of the "Sex Girl Patrol"
* Mr. Tisane ... he wants a tea, ya bastard
* Smitty ... a gay guy from "STEPS"
* the Bearded Lady ... a freak
* "Nobody like us" guy ... one of a pair of whiny, pouty guys
* Jerry Sizzler ... a "clearly insane" person
ASSORTED INFO, TIDBITS, AND FACTOIDS
* Kevin is 5'9" tall.
* Kevin's family pops up quite often on KITH, if you know where to look. A snapshot of his parents and sister is flashed in the "McDonald family/Airport series" sketch. His mom plays herself at the end of the "middle of a sketch" sketch. And finally, Kevin's ex-wife, Tiffany, plays his girlfriend in the "pary around the world" sketch.
* Although he says he was too young to remember, Kevin's family once lived across the street from the studio where the game show "Let's Make A Deal" was filmed. Every day, crowds of people dressed in crazy costumes would pass by his house, on the way to a taping.
* Kevin claims that he went into comedy because "that's all I could really do". He says he was too clumsy to work with his hands and didn't study enough to be a lawyer, doctor, etc. He was the class clown, which led him to "stop working on my homework and work on my jokes for the next day instead".
* Kevin has mentioned in several interviews that his favorite KITH character he has played is Dean, the "will do" king of empty promises. He says that he based Dean largely on himself, and his behavior on the set. He would often promise the other Kids or writers certain material and then forget to bring it the next day saying it "slipped his mind, but he felt terrible about it".
* When he first wrote the "Pit of Ultimate Darkness" sketch, he was supposed to play Hecubus and Mark played Sir Simon Milligan. However, after some consideration, and in what he called an "act of strength", he took the part of Milligan from Mark and gave Hecubus to Dave.
* The Kids have often called Kevin the easiest of the troupe to collaborate with because he rarely says no to any idea.
* Kevin has named Gene Wilder and Phil Silvers among his comic inspirations. He calls his brand of comedy as "sort of mindless, a mixture of attitude and funny faces ... I don't really say funny things, I say things funny".