Christopher Lee Kattan (/kəˈtæn/ kə-TAN; born October 19, 1970)[1] is an American actor and comedian. First breaking through as a performer with the Los Angeles comedy troupe The Groundlings, Kattan found wider success during his tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1996 to 2003. He also played Doug Butabi in A Night at the Roxbury, Bob on the first five seasons of The Middle, and Bunnicula in Bunnicula. He's also known for playing the main antagonist Mr. Feather in Undercover Brother (2002).
Chris Kattan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Christopher Lee Kattan October 19, 1970 |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, comedian |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Television | |
| Spouse |
Sunshine Deia Tutt
(m. 2008; div. 2009) |
| Parent | Kip King (father) |
Early life
Kattan was born in Culver City, California.[2] His father, Kip King (né Jerome Kattan; 1937–2010), was born to Jewish parents from Iraq and Poland and worked as an actor and voice artist. His mother, Hajnalka Biro (born 1944), was once photographed for Playboy and worked as a model in London. She is a native of Budapest, Hungary and is a Buddhist.[3][4] His stepfather was a Buddhist therapist and monk.[5] His half-brother, Andrew Joslyn, is a professional musician and composer.[6]
Kattan was raised on a Zen retreat on Mount San Antonio, outside Los Angeles.[5] He and his mother moved to Bainbridge Island, Washington, where he attended Bainbridge High School, graduating in 1989.[citation needed]
Career
This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (December 2022) |
Kattan was a member of several improvisational comedy (improv) and sketch comedy troupes, one of them being The Groundlings in Los Angeles. His father was an original member of the troupe.[7] Kattan also did some minor roles on TV, including the second episode of the second season of NewsRadio, "No, This Is Not Based Entirely on Julie's Life", as a photo shop employee.
He moved to New York City to work on Saturday Night Live from 1996 to 2003. His recurring characters included Mr. Peepers, Mango, Azrael Abyss, Kyle DeMarco from The DeMarco Brothers, Gay Hitler, and, most notably, one half of the Butabi Brothers with fellow SNL (and Groundlings) cast member Will Ferrell, known for their trademark head-bobbing. Kattan and Ferrell continued the characters in the 1998 film, A Night at the Roxbury.
SNL celebrity impersonations
- Clay Aiken
- Christiane Amanpour
- Antonio Banderas
- Andy Dick
- Larry Fine
- Bill Gates
- Ben Affleck
- David Gest
- Elián González
- Anne Heche
- Julio Iglesias Jr.
- Steve Irwin
- Chris Kirkpatrick
- Ricky Martin
- Al Pacino
- Kid Rock
- David Lee Roth
- Paul Shaffer
- David Spade
- Kerri Strug (also appeared in Weekend Update with Strug as her fictional brother, Kippy)
- Geraldo Rivera
- Robert Downey Jr.
- Anthony Fauci
2007–2017: Post-SNL work
Kattan appeared in a Diet Pepsi Max commercial during Super Bowl XLII in 2008 that featured the song What Is Love and had many actors in the commercial performing the head bob from A Night at the Roxbury.
In August 2009, Kattan starred in the Independent Film Channel (IFC) miniseries Bollywood Hero, where he portrays himself and the difficulties he faces after a career as a comic actor, trying to attain leading man status.[8] Starting in late 2009, Kattan appeared in a supporting role in The Middle. Kattan played Bob, a colleague of Frankie Heck's at Mr. Ehlert's car dealership. Kattan appeared in an episode of How I Met Your Mother as a star in "The Wedding Bride", a fictional movie within the show. He played himself portraying Jed Mosely, the film's villain, which the screenwriter bases on his girlfriend's ex-fiancé, series protagonist, Ted Mosby. He reappeared as the character in the fictional film's sequel, Wedding Bride 2.[9] On December 17, 2011, Kattan made a guest appearance on the Saturday Night Live Christmas show, hosted by Jimmy Fallon, and again briefly on the final episode of SNL's 37th season.
In June 2014, Kattan reprised his role as former SNL character Mango in a preview of the music video for Sharaya J's "Shut It Down", featured in a fashion campaign by Alexander Wang.[10]
In 2017, Kattan was a contestant on season 24 of Dancing with the Stars paired with professional dancer Witney Carson. He was the first celebrity dancer eliminated.[11]
Kattan reunited with fellow SNL alumni Jimmy Fallon, Horatio Sanz, and Tracy Morgan during the December 18, 2018 cold open of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, which also featured Ariana Grande, in a reprisal of their performance of "I Wish it Was Christmas Today".[12] It was the first time since 2011 that Fallon, Sanz, Kattan, and Morgan were all present for a performance of the song.
In 2022, Kattan was announced as a HouseGuest competing on the third season of Celebrity Big Brother.[13]
In 2023, Kattan did voice work in the film Leo as Alligator #1.[14]
Personal life
Kattan married model Sunshine Deia Tutt on June 28, 2008, in Oakhurst, California, after proposing to her on Christmas Eve 2006.[15] The couple separated 44 days later on August 10, 2008, and divorced in February 2009.[16]
On March 25, 2023, Kattan proposed to his girlfriend, Maria Libri, a writer and former on-air personality, and a Springfield, Illinois, native, in front of the stage at a Wilco concert held at the Riviera Theatre, while the Chicago band played “I’m the Man Who Loves You.” The band members knew about the proposal. Kattan and Libri met 18 months before the proposal when Kattan was performing a stand-up comedy show at Boondocks Pub in Springfield. They have since collaborated on writing projects, including a romantic comedy, and have also appeared together on the YouTube channel, Hey Kattan![17]
Neck injury
Kattan competed in Dancing with the Stars in 2017, and was criticized for his stiff upper body movement by the Dancing judges. Afterward, Kattan revealed that he had broken his neck doing a stunt 14 years prior and that the injury and subsequent surgeries were the reasons for his lack of mobility. Kattan also revealed that the pain medication he began taking following his fourth surgery led to a 2014 DUI arrest.[18] Kattan revealed more details of the injury in his memoir claiming that it was the result of a SNL sketch, in which he threw himself backwards on a chair while doing a Golden Girls parody, adding that NBC paid for two of five surgeries to repair the spinal injuries.[19]
Memoir
In 2019, Kattan published a memoir, entitled Baby Don’t Hurt Me: Stories and Scars from Saturday Night Live, that included the accident on SNL.[20]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | The Making of '...And God Spoke' | Moviegoer #1 | |
| 1998 | A Night at the Roxbury | Doug Butabi | |
| 1999 | House on Haunted Hill | Watson Pritchett | |
| 2000 | Any Given Wednesday | Al Pacino | Short film |
| 2001 | Monkeybone | Organ Donor Stu | |
| Corky Romano | Corky Romano | ||
| 2002 | Undercover Brother | Mr. Feather | |
| 2005 | Adam & Steve | Michael | |
| Santa's Slay | Jason Mason | ||
| Enough About Me | Chris Adams | TV film | |
| 2006 | Totally Awesome | Gabriel | TV film |
| The Year Without a Santa Claus | Sparky | TV film | |
| 2007 | Undead or Alive: A Zombedy | Luke Rudd | |
| Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters | Walter Melon (voice) | ||
| Nancy Drew | Burglar | ||
| Two Dreadful Children | Chet Dunbar (voice) | TV film | |
| Christmas in Wonderland | Leonard Cardoza | ||
| 2008 | Delgo | Filo (voice) | |
| Gym Teacher: The Movie | Sploopers Show Host/ESPN Announcer | TV film | |
| 2009 | Scouts Honor: Badge to the Bone | Brandon | |
| Tanner Hall | George Middlewood | ||
| 2010 | Hollywood & Wine | Jack Sanders | |
| Devolved | Coach Papillion | ||
| 2011 | Hard Breakers | Hertz Waters | |
| A Holiday Heist | Uncle Harry | ||
| 2012 | Foodfight! | Polar Penguin (voice) | |
| Crazy Enough | Fred/Teddy | ||
| Guns, Girls and Gambling | Gay Elvis | ||
| 2013 | Slightly Single in L.A. | Drew | |
| 2015 | Troop Hood | Phil Neffler | Short film |
| Hotel Transylvania 2 | Kakie (voice) | ||
| The Ridiculous 6 | John Wilkes Booth | ||
| The Passenger | Sebastian | Short film | |
| ImagiGARY | Officer Jones | ||
| 2016 | The Last Film Festival | Harvey Weinstein | |
| 2017 | Desiderata | Man | Short film |
| Walk of Fame | Alejandro | ||
| Breaking Legs | Robby | ||
| How to Get Girls | Mr. Fox | ||
| Sharknado 5: Global Swarming | Prime Minister | TV film | |
| 2018 | The Time Capsule | Rod | TV film |
| Mr. Malevolent | Mr. Preevy | ||
| The Bobby Roberts Project | Self | Mockumentary | |
| Lent! | Conrad | TV film | |
| 2019 | The Soviet Sleep Experiment | Subject 3 | |
| 2020 | Guest House | Delivery Guy Ricky | |
| In Other Words | Maximillion Woods | ||
| 2021 | 40-Love | Bootman | |
| Famous | Lawrence Nichols | ||
| 2023 | Leo | Alligator #1 (voice) |
Television
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | NewsRadio | Employee #3 | Episode: "No, This Is Not Based Entirely on Julie's Life" |
| 1996 | Grace Under Fire | Carnival Barker | Episode: "Guess Who's Not Coming to Lunch?" |
| 1996-2003; 2006; 2011 | Saturday Night Live | Various roles | Series regular: 1996-2003
Guest: 2006 & 2011 148 episodes |
| 2009 | AllaKattan! | Self | |
| 2009-2014 | The Middle | Bob Weaver | Series regular, 56 episodes |
| 2010-2014 | How I Met Your Mother | Jed Mosely | 2 episodes |
| 2011 | Late Night with Jimmy Fallon | Casey Madisenn/Bill Fisk | Episode: "28 July 2011" |
| 2014 | The (206) | Various roles | Episode: "Season 2, Episode 12" |
| The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | Craig Newton | Episode: "Kevin Spacey/Lewis Black" | |
| 2014-2015 | Jake and the Never Land Pirates | King Zongo (voice) | 3 episodes |
| 2015 | The Awesomes | Indiana Johnson (voice) | Episode: "Indiana Johnson and the Nazi Granddaughters " |
| 2016 | Jingle Ballin' | DJ Booth | |
| 2016-2018 | Bunnicula | Bunnicula, Arthur Monroe (voice) | Series regular, 69 episodes |
| 2017 | Real Rob | Mitch | Episode: "Acupuncture & Spring Rolls" |
| 2017-2018 | Voltron: Legendary Defender | Blaytz (voice) | 3 episodes |
| 2022 | Celebrity Big Brother 3 (American season) | Himself | |
| The Cuphead Show | Werner Werman | Episode: "Rat's All, Folks" |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV Personality | Saturday Night Live | Nominated |
| 2001 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Comedian | — | Nominated |
| 2013 | Bonehead Award | Best Actor | Just Crazy Enough | Won |
| 2016 | Hoboken International Film Festival Award | Best Supporting Actor | Breaking Legs | Nominated |
References
- ^ Chris Kattan [@ChrisKattan] (October 19, 2020). "I'm 50 years old today everybody everybody!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Kattan, Chris (October 8, 2001). "Interview with Chris Kattan". The Howard Stern Show (Interview). Interviewed by Howard Stern. Event occurs at 3:00.
I was born in Culver City.
- ^ Parsi, Novid (August 5, 2009). "Kattan can…". Time Out Chicago. Archived from the original on 2012-10-17. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
- ^ Bloom, Nate (April 15, 2008). "Celebrity Jews". J. The Jewish News of Northern California. Archived from the original on April 15, 2008.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b Rhodes, Joe (July 31, 2009). "Chris Kattan, Reincarnated in Mumbai for 'Bollywood Hero' on IFC". The New York Times.
- ^ Zwickel, Jonathan (January 25, 2017). "Pop Intuition". CityArts. Archived from the original on January 27, 2017.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Gardner, Elysa (October 3, 2004). "After 30 years, The Groundlings still dig up yuks". USA Today.
- ^ *Bollywood Hero at IMDb
- ^ Stanhope, Kate (April 1, 2010). "How I Met Your Mother Taps Malin Akerman, Jason Lewis, Chris Kattan". TV Guide. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
- ^ "Watching The Week: T by Alexander Wang 2014 Campaign". Hunger TV. 8 June 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-06-17. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
- ^ "'Dancing With the Stars' 2017: Season 24 celebrity cast and partners revealed on 'GMA'". ABC News. March 1, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
- ^ ""I Wish It Was Christmas Today" with Ariana Grande (Cold Open)". NBC. December 18, 2018.
- ^ "Celebrity Big Brother Season 3 Cast Revealed: Meet the New Famous Houseguests". January 26, 2022. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
- ^ Luciani, Kim (November 22, 2023). "Adam Sandler plays emotional support lizard from Florida school in new Netflix movie "Leo"". News Press. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
- ^ "Chris Kattan Engaged to Sunshine Tutt". Celebrific. August 1, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-10-24.
- ^ "Chris Kattan Divorced After 2-Month Marriage". People. October 15, 2008. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
- ^ "Chris Kattan proposes to Maria Libri at Wilco concert in Chicago". The State Journal-Register. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
- ^ Gomez, Patrick (March 28, 2017). "Chris Kattan Tells All About His Secret 20-Year Health Nightmare After Breaking His Neck". People. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
- ^ Schneider, Michael (May 3, 2019). "Chris Kattan Claims He Broke His Neck During 'Saturday Night Live' Sketch". Variety. Retrieved 2019-05-12.
- ^ Schneider, Michael (May 3, 2019). "Chris Kattan Claims He Broke His Neck During 'Saturday Night Live' Sketch". Variety. Retrieved 2019-05-12.
External links
