Background

Harry Julius Shearer was born on December 23, 1943 in Los Angeles, California, United States; the son of Mack Shearer and Dora Warren (Kohn) Shearer, a bookkeeper. Both of his parents were Jewish emigrants from Austria and Poland.

Education

Harry Shearer has been involved with show business since early childhood when he appeared on "The Jack Benny Show" at the age of seven and in the movie Abbott and Costello Go to Mars in 1953. In 1957, Shearer played the precursor to the Eddie Haskell character in the pilot episode of the television series Leave It to Beaver. After the filming, Shearer's parents made the decision not to accept the role in the series.

Harry studied political science at the University of California, Los Angeles. During this time, he was editor of the college humor magazine, Satyr, including the June 1964 parody Preyboy. He also worked as a newscaster at KRLA, a top 40 radio station in Pasadena. After graduation from university, Harry pursued graduate work at Harvard University in urban government.

In May 2006, Shearer received an honorary doctorate from Goucher College.

Career

After his graduate work at Harvard University, Harry Shearer soon returned to California, contributing freelance articles to Newsweek and Los Angeles Times as well as New West, Los Angeles Magazine, and Film Comment. Shearer also taught English and social studies in high school and worked in the California State Legislature. But his true calling proved to be satire.

Shearer was a founding member of the comedy group the Credibility Gap, with whom he began to build his writing and performing career. He co-wrote, co-produced, and performed on their albums A Great Gift Idea and The Bronze Age of Radio. He went on to co-write and co-produce Albert Brooks's album A Star Is Bought and to host the Los Angeles radio program Le Show. In 1979 he joined the hit TV show Saturday Night Live as a writer and regular cast member. Though he left the show after his first season, he returned for another season in 1984.

Shearer has worked on several films as an actor and screenwriter. He has appeared in Cracking Up, Real Life (for which he co-wrote the screenplay), One-Trick Pony, The Right Stuff, The Fisher King, A League of Their Own, Wayne's World Two, I'll Do Anything, and Speechless. He has also played voice roles in Animalympics and My Stepmother Is an Alien. Shearer has also done voice roles for the popular animated television series The Simpsons and has appeared in such television programs as Harry Shearer's News Quiz and Likely Stories. This Is Spinal Tap, however, remains Shearer's best-known work.

The film, directed by Rob Reiner in 1984, is a spoof of such music classics as Woodstock, 1970 - which chronicled the famed rock concert that gave its name to a generation - and The Last Waltz, 1978, which was a farewell tribute to The Band. This Is Spinal Tap, structured as a mock-documentary, follows the career of the fictional English band Spinal Tap from their genesis as 1960s-era flower children to their transformation into heavy metal stars. Shearer, who plays the role of bass player Derek Smalls, wrote the script with partners Michael McKean (lead singer David St. Hubbins) and Christopher Guest (lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel). This Is Spinal Tap, which gained an immediate following among the baby boomer generation and other rock fans, also impressed serious critics.

In 1993 Shearer published a collection of his newspaper columns titled Man Bites Town. His first book, it received favorable reviews for its consistent humor.

Also in 1993 Shearer joined the Spinal Tap gang once more for TV's much-welcomed A Spinal Tap Reunion. This special featured the band's reunion concert at London's Royal Albert Hall. Like the film, the television special achieved a high level of satire.

In his 1999 book It's the Stupidity, Stupid: Why (Some) People Hate Clinton and Why the Rest of Us Have to Watch, Shearer examines the extremely negative feelings many people had at the time about then-President Bill Clinton.

Shearer's unbounded creativity has also led him to novel writing. His first novel, Not Enough Indians, is a satire about the locals of Gammage, NY, who, in an effort to keep their town alive, petition the government to recognize them as an Indian tribe named the Filaquonsett so they can go into the casino business. After building the casino, they find themselves in a feud with a neighboring tribe that has a casino. For impinging on their casino business, the neighboring tribe builds a toxic dump next to the casino built by the Filaquonsett tribe.

Shearer mixed music and comedy again in the 2003 film A Mighty Wind, in which he played Mark Shubb, bassist with the folk group the Folksmen. He also directed a feature film, 2002's Teddy Bears' Picnic, as well as several projects for television. In 2008 he released the presidential and politically minded Songs of the Bushmen with the Wall Street-themed album Greed and Fear following in 2010.

Shearer spent most of 2011 touring with his film The Big Uneasy, a serious documentary about Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath but returned to the comedy album format in 2012 with Can't Take a Hint. The album featured guest appearances from Fountains of Wayne, Dr. John, and comedian Jane Lynch.

Achievements

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  Shearer has over 150 works in film and television. He is best known for his participation in the Spinal Tap and related projects, as well as the voice acting of various characters in the animated series The Simpsons. He has received several Primetime Emmy Award and Grammy Award nominations and in 2008 it was announced that Shearer would receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the radio category. Harry is also the recipient of two CableACE Awards. In 2014 Harry received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance.

Works

More photos

• book

  • It's the Stupidity, Stupid: Why (Some) People Hate Clinton and Why the Rest of Us Have to Watch

    (In this shrewd, on-target, wickedly funny book, Harry She...)

    1999
  • Not Enough Indians

    (Not Enough Indians is the bitingly funny satire about a d...)

    2006
  • Man Bites Town

    (The well-known humorist presents a collection of his colu...)

    1993

• movie

  • The Truman Show

    (Truman doesn't realize that his quaint hometown is a gian...)

    1998
  • Plain Clothes

    ("Whodunnit'" might be grammatically incorrect, but it's a...)

    1988
  • Godzilla

    (The enormous monster descends upon New York, and it's up ...)

    1998
  • Dick

    (High school students Betsy Jobs (Kirsten Dunst) and Arlen...)

    1999
  • Father Figures

    (Upon learning that their mother has been lying to them fo...)

    2017
  • A Mighty Wind

    (The newest "mockumentary" from the inimitable Christopher...)

    2003
  • My Best Friend's Wedding

    (Two friends (Julia Roberts and Dermot Mulroney) go from a...)

    1997
  • The Right Stuff

    (From Chuck Yaeger - the first man to break the sound barr...)

    1983
  • Pure Luck

    (The daughter of a wealthy businessman has disappeared in ...)

    1991
  • Wayne's World 2

    (Everyone's favorite headbangers from Aurora, Illinois, ar...)

    1993
  • For Your Consideration

    (The film focuses on the making of an independent movie an...)

    2006
  • One Trick Pony

    (An aging folk singer who has passed the peak of his popul...)

    1980
  • This Is Spinal Tap

    (Mock rockumentary about a Heavy Metal band on the verge o...)

    1984
  • Oscar

    (Promising to quit a life of crime is a lot easier said th...)

    1991
  • Real Life 1979
  • The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh 1989
  • Blood & Concrete 1991

Religion

Harry Shearer said: "I never deal with matters of religion. I don't think it's a good idea to make fun of the stuff that people appear to need in their lives."

Politics

Politics is appealing to the actor. Shearer has kept a close eye on the Republican presidential field and examined past American presidents for inspiration. He is also interested in Trump, not only as a satirist but because he seems genuine in his boorishness. He said: "He's a blowhard, he's an egomaniac, he's a fabulist about his own wealth, but you know he's unashamed about it, and he's untrammelled, and he's unplanned, and he's not premeditated."

Views

Shearer writes about the failure of the Federal levee system which flooded New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. He covers it in the mainstream media. Harry also criticizes the role of the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Quotations: "If absolute power corrupts absolutely, does absolute powerlessness make you pure?"

"I am one of those people who thrive on deadlines. Nothing brings on inspiration more readily than desperation."

"The hardest work most of us do is maintaining the appearance of normality."

"I wasn't playing Nixon's satirical stick figure. I was playing Nixon the man. As an actor, I felt I had to get to the deeply flawed humanity of the guy."

"You're not just looking for laughs, but you're trying to do the characters first, and then the laughs come afterward."

"You have to do real acting, not just do a voice."

"If you're going to do something that lasts 90 minutes, you can't really do it with stick figures."

"When it moved to Friday night it disappeared, when they find another show that can do what The Simpsons does, they will be delighted to do cancel The Simpsons."

"I didn't have a lot of independent film connections. It really took until the digital film revolution came along that I realized that I could do it myself."

"Privilege has its own way of seeing the world. It's not about the kind of people they are; it's about the situation they're in."

Personality

Harry Shearer is a wry provocateur who delights in exposing folly. He has always been naturally optimistic. Harry tries not to lie. He is also a fan of control.

Shearer is known for his wide voice range and deep resonant tones, which disappear when he voices 'Simpsons' characters like Mr. Burns, Ned Flanders, Lenny etc.

Physical Characteristics: Harry's height is 5 ft 5 in (1.67 m). He has green eyes and black hair.

Quotes from others about the person

• Joe Collins: "Shearer is at his funniest when marveling at the world's absurdities."

Interests

• rebuilding of New Orleans, music

• Music & Bands

  Hoagy Carmichael

Connections

Harry Shearer married Penelope Joyce Nichols on June 12, 1974. They divorced in 1977. On March 28, 1993 he married Welsh singer-songwriter Judith Owen.

Father:

Mack Shearer

Mother:

Dora (Kohn) Warren

(died in 2008)

Spouse:

Judith Owen

(born in 1969)

Judith Owen is a Welsh singer-songwriter.

ex-spouse:

Penelope Joyce Nichols

(December 26, 1947 - October 29, 2017)

Penelope Joyce Nichols was an American folk musician and songwriter.

References

• Harry Shearer's Official Website