Chris Kattan

Christopher Lee Kattan (/kəˈtæn/) (born October 19, 1970)[1] is an American actor, comedian, and author. He is best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, his role as Bob on the first four seasons of The Middle, for playing Doug Butabi in A Night at the Roxbury and Bunnicula in Bunnicula.

Chris Kattan
Kattan at the premiere of Baby Mama in New York City at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival
Born
Christopher Lee Kattan

(1970-10-19) October 19, 1970
Culver City, California, U.S.
OccupationActor, comedian
Years active1993–present
Television
Spouse(s)
Sunshine Deia Tutt
​
​
(m. 2008; div. 2009)​
Parent(s)Kip King (father)
Hajnalka E. Biro (mother)

Early life

Kattan was born in Culver City, California.[2] His father, Kip King (originially Jerome Charles Kattan; 1937–2010), was an actor and voice actor. His mother, Hajnalka E. Biro, was once photographed for Playboy and worked as a model in London.[3] His father was born to Jewish parents from Iraq and Poland. His mother, a native of Budapest, Hungary, 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 (Mount Baldy), outside Los Angeles.[5] He lived on Bainbridge Island, Washington, where he attended Bainbridge High School, and graduated in 1989.

Early work and SNL

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, Suel Forrester (known for the term "dagitybo") 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
Kattan on August 19, 1999 (after Lorne Michaels received his star on the Walk of Fame)

2007–2017: Post-SNL activities

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 fall of 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 acting as Jed Mosely, a character based on the main character Ted with an arrogant personality. He reappeared as the character while the gang was watching its 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 Missy Elliott protégée Sharaya J's "Shut It Down" via a T by Alexander Wang campaign.[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 along with special guest Ariana Grande in December 2018 during the cold open of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The foursome (and Grande) reprised their iconic 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.

Personal life

Kattan married model Sunshine Deia Tutt on June 28, 2008, in Oakhurst, California, after proposing to her on Christmas Eve 2006.[13] The couple separated on August 10, 2008, and divorced in February 2009.[14]

Neck injury

Kattan competed in Dancing with the Stars in 2017, and was criticized about his stiff upper body movement from the Dancing judges and many fans on social media. Afterward, Kattan revealed that he had broken his neck doing a stunt almost 20 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 his 2014 DUI arrest.[15] Kattan revealed more details of the injury in his memoir claiming that it was the result of a SNL sketch that aired on May 12, 2001 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.[16]

Filmography

Feature films

Television

References
  1. Chruis Kattan [@ChrisKattan] (October 19, 2020). "I'm 50 years old today everybody everybody!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. 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."
  3. Parsi, Novid (August 5, 2009). "Kattan can…". Time Out Chicago. Archived from the original on 2012-10-17. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
  4. Bloom, Nate (April 15, 2008). "Celebrity Jews". J. The Jewish News of Northern California. Archived from the original on 15 April 2008.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. Rhodes, Joe (July 31, 2009). "Chris Kattan, Reincarnated in Mumbai for 'Bollywood Hero' on IFC". The New York Times.
  6. Zwickel, Jonathan (January 25, 2017). "Pop Intuition". CityArts.
  7. Gardner, Elysa (October 3, 2004). "After 30 years, The Groundlings still dig up yuks". USA Today.
  9. "How I Met Your Mother Taps Malin Akerman, Jason Lewis, Chris Kattan". TV Guide. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
  10. "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.
  11. "'Dancing With the Stars' 2017: Season 24 celebrity cast and partners revealed on 'GMA'". ABC News. March 1, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  12. ""I Wish It Was Christmas Today" with Ariana Grande (Cold Open)". NBC. December 18, 2018.
  13. "Chris Kattan Engaged to Sunshine Tutt". Celebrific. August 1, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-10-24.
  14. "Chris Kattan Divorced After 2-Month Marriage". People. October 15, 2008. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
  15. 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.
  16. Schneider, Michael (May 3, 2019). "Chris Kattan Claims He Broke His Neck During 'Saturday Night Live' Sketch". Variety. Retrieved 2019-05-12.
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