Michael McDonald (comedian)

For other people named Michael McDonald, see Michael McDonald (disambiguation).

Michael James McDonald (born December 31, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for starring in the sketch comedy show MADtv. McDonald joined the show during the fourth season (1998) and remained in the cast until the end of the thirteenth and penultimate season, having become the longest-tenured cast member.

Michael McDonald
McDonald in 2010
Birth name	Michael James McDonald
Born	(1964-12-31) December 31, 1964 (age 58) Fullerton, California, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, film, television
Years active	1987–present
Genres	Sketch comedy, improvisational comedy

Early life

McDonald was born in Fullerton, California. He graduated from St. Juliana Catholic Elementary School in Fullerton, and later went to Servite High School in Anaheim, California, and graduated from the University of Southern California with a business degree.

After college, a friend took McDonald to see an improv comedy show at The Groundlings Theater. McDonald quit his job at the bank and enrolled in The Groundlings improv program. He was a member of the troupe from 1992 to 1997. During that time, he was also involved in writing and directing films for Roger Corman.

Later on, McDonald would guest star in such shows as Seinfeld (in two episodes playing two different parts), Just Shoot Me!, Family Matters, Scrubs and NewsRadio. He also made brief cameos in all three Austin Powers films. McDonald had a starring role with Will Forte and Nicole Sullivan on the short-lived MTV show Clone High as the voice of Gandhi.

Career

Stand-up comedy

McDonald has toured at stand-up comedy clubs across the country. His stand-up comedy special Michael McDonald: Model Citizen premiered on Showtime on October 9, 2010. Filmed in Orange County at the OC Pavilion, it has been described as "Part stand-up comedy, part one man show, this special is for anyone who – like Michael – finds humor in the strange world all around us."

Cougar Town

McDonald was also a writer, director, and producer of the ABC TV series Cougar Town. He directed a number of episodes of the show, including "Letting You Go", "Everything Man", "When a Kid Goes Bad", "Stop Dragging My Heart Around", and "Don't Come Around Here No More". McDonald also wrote the episode "Wake Up Time".

MADtv

McDonald joined the cast of MADtv in 1998, eventually becoming the longest-standing cast member in the show's history (10 seasons). He performed several recurring characters, including Stuart Larkin, Rusty Miller, Marvin Tikvah, Sean Gidcomb, Bible Dude, the Depressed Persian Tow Truck Man, Fightin' Ron, and F. Michael McKrofsky of "Real M*********ing Talk" (replacing Andrew Daly's token white commentator on that sketch).

After 10 years on MADtv, McDonald left the cast, but was a contributing writer and director for the show's final season. McDonald was the last member of the cast to be hired in the 1990s, and the last cast member to have been born in the 1960s, and is the only cast member to have a "best of" clip show special dedicated to him.

Something So Right

McDonald appeared as the lead Carly's assistant in the 1996 sitcom, first appearing in season one episode four, Something About a Family Photo.^[1]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Uncaged	Clean Cut John
1992	In the Heat of Passion	Nick
	Dance with Death	Henry
	Body Waves	Squirrely
	Final Judgement	Rainy	Video
	Bloodfist IV: Die Trying	Newscaster	Video
1993	Full Contact	-
1994	Bloodfist V: Human Target	Jewelry Store Manager	Video
	Revenge of the Red Baron	Psychiatrist
	The Unborn II	Welfare Worker #1
	Leprechaun 2	Waiter
	No Dessert, Dad, Till You Mow the Lawn	Evil Hypnotist
	In the Heat of Passion II: Unfaithful	Bartender
	The Crazysitter	Mr. Smith
1995	Carnosaur 2	Evac. Team Pilot
	Bloodfist VI: Ground Zero	Corey	Video
	Hideaway	Young cop
	Criminal Hearts	Tierney
	Twisted Love	Stoned kid
	Bloodfist VII: Manhunt	Running Officer	Video
1996	Baby Face Nelson	Reporter
	Carnosaur 3: Primal Species	Police Officer Wilson
1997	Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery	Steve Harmon the Evil Henchman
	Casper: A Spirited Beginning	Sarcastic Protester	Video
1998	Casper Meets Wendy	Spike-Stretch	Video
	Richie Rich's Christmas Wish	Montgomery	Video
1999	Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me	NATO Soldier
2000	Chump Change	Dack
2002	Slackers	Economics Professor
	Austin Powers in Goldmember	Royal Guard
2003	Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star	Maitre d'
2004	Outing Riley	Andy
2006	Moonpie	Mitch Henderson
2013	The Heat	Julian
2014	Minutes	John Feldman	Short
2015	Spy	Patrick
2016	The Boss	Bryce Crean
	Ghostbusters	Jonathan
2018	The Happytime Murders	Ronovan Scargle
	The Loud House: Clyde and His Dads	Howard McBride	Voice, short
2021	Halloween Kills	Little John

Television

Television appearances by Lyric Bent

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Nightlife	Himself	Episode: "Episode #1.144"
	Stand Up America	Himself
1992	An Evening at the Improv	Himself	Episode: "Episode #9.9"
	Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation	Disc Jockey	Television film
1993	Family Matters	Manager	Episode: "Buds 'n' Buns"
	The John Larroquette Show	Phil	Episode: "The Past Comes Back"
1994	Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love	Party Guest	Television film
1995	Sherman Oaks	Jules	Episode: "Golf, Dating, and the Devil"
	Sawbones	Prostitute	Television film
	Virtual Seduction	Disoriented Man	Television film
	A Bucket of Blood	Dancer	Television film
1995–96	Seinfeld	Player #2/Jesse	Episode: "The Understudy" & "The Wig Master"
	Night Stand	Ray	Episode: "So You Think You're a Lesbian" & "Clip Show"
1997	Ellen	The Guy	Episode: "Alone Again... Naturally"
	NewsRadio	Lee	Episode: "Airport"
	Night Stand	Chuckie MacDougal	Episode: "Pushy Parents"
1998	Instant Comedy with the Groundlings	Himself	Episode: "Episode #1.1 & #1.2"
	Just Shoot Me	Reg	Episode: "The Emperor"
	The Drew Carey Show	The Parking Attendant	Episode: "From the Earth to the Moon"
1998	National Lampoon's Men in White	Secret Service Agent	Television film
1998–2008	MADtv	Himself/Cast Member	Main cast: season 4–13, guest: season 14
1999	Banned in America: The World's Sexiest Commercials	Host	TV special
2001	Passions	The Face in the Pool	Episode: "Episode #1.516-#1.518"
2001–03	Invader Zim	RoboDad	Voice, recurring role
2001–09	Scrubs	Mike Davis	Recurring cast: season 1, guest: season 2, 6-8
2002	Greg the Bunny	Leo	Episode: "The Singing Mailman"
2002–03	Clone High	Gandhi	Voice, main role
2005	Fat Actress	Sam Rascal	Recurring role
2005–06	7th Heaven	Edward Jameson	Recurring cast: season 10
2005–09	Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List	Himself	Recurring cast: season 1-5
2006	Talkshow with Spike Feresten	Himself	Episode: "Michael McDonald"
	Desperate Housewives	Steven	Episode: "Silly People"
	Lovespring International	Drake	Episode: "The Demuler"
2008	My Boys	Paul	Episode: "Spit Take"
	Hannah Montana	Chef Duncan Keats	Episode: "Don't Go Breakin' My Tooth"
2009	Pushing Daisies	Galveston Gus	Episode: "Kerplunk"
	Kath & Kim	Neil	Episode: "Home"
	Head Case	Stanley	Episode: "Twinkle, Twinkle..."
	Reaper	Mr. Elliott Sprong	Episode: "To Sprong, with Love"
	Rita Rocks	Rob Boone	Recurring cast: season 2
2011	Cougar Town	Wayne Gibbons	2 episodes
2012–13	Web Therapy	Ben Tomlund	Recurring cast: season 2-3
2013	House of Lies	Carl Criswell	Recurring cast: season 2
	Save Me	Randall	Episode: "Heavenly Hostess"
2014	Community	Ronald Mohammed	Episode: "Basic Story"
2015	Newsreaders	James Jordan	Episode: "A Billionaire Goes to Hell; Sitcom Family"
2016–present	The Loud House	Howard McBride	Voice, recurring role^[2]
2017	Superior Donuts	Manfred	Episode: "Painted Love"
	Rhett & Link's Buddy System	Enrique	Episode: "Spa Trip"
2017–18	Nobodies	Blaine Kaine	Recurring cast
2019	Crazy Ex-Girlfriend	Open Mic MC	Episode: "I'm in Love"
2020	Brooklyn Nine-Nine	Adam Jarver	Episode: "Ding Dong"
2022	God's Favorite Idiot	Leviathan	Episode: "God, Satan and All the Good Smells"
	What We Do in the Shadows	Gustave Leroy	Episode: "Freddie"
2023	How I Met Your Father	Warren	Episode: "The Reset Button"

Stand-up specials

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Michael McDonald: Model Citizen	Himself	TV special

References

1. Something So Right Season 1 Episode 4, archived from the original on 2021-12-12, retrieved 2021-10-21
2. Roshanian, Arya (July 18, 2016). "Nickelodeon's 'Loud House' to Feature Married Gay Couple". Variety.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Michael McDonald (actor).

• Michael McDonald at IMDb