- published: 28 Jun 2012
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Michael John McKean (born October 17, 1947) is an American actor, comedian, writer, composer and musician, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Squiggy's friend, Leonard "Lenny" Kosnowski, on the sitcom Laverne & Shirley; and for his work in the Christopher Guest ensemble films, particularly as David St. Hubbins of Spinal Tap.
McKean was born in New York City, New York, the son of Ruth and Gilbert McKean. As a teenager, he played as a session musician on the Michael Brown single, "Ivy, Ivy" b/w "And Suddenly" which he released under the name of his group, The Left Banke. This action by Brown sparked a lawsuit that basically ended the Left Banke. He began his career (as well as the characters of Lenny and Squiggy) in Pittsburgh while a student at Carnegie Mellon University; David Lander was a fellow student at CMU. Their partnership grew after graduation as part of the comedy group The Credibility Gap with Harry Shearer in Los Angeles, but McKean's breakthrough came in 1976 when he joined the cast of Laverne and Shirley. McKean directed one episode, and the characters became something of a phenomenon, even releasing an album as Lenny and the Squigtones in 1979, which featured a young Christopher Guest on guitar (credited as Nigel Tufnel; the name Guest would use a few years later as part of the spoof rock band, Spinal Tap). "Foreign Legion of Love" was a big hit for the Squigtones, with frequent play on the Dr Demento Show. McKean also played his character in an episode of Happy Days. After leaving Laverne and Shirley in 1982, McKean played David St. Hubbins in the cult spoof documentary movie This is Spinal Tap with both Guest and Shearer, and appeared in the soap opera spoof Young Doctors in Love.
Actors: Paul Carpenter (actor), Patrick Holt (actor), Russell Napier (actor), Paulette Goddard (actress), Michael Carreras (producer), Michael Carreras (writer), George Sanders (writer), Terence Fisher (director), Renée Glynne (miscellaneous crew), Bill Lenny (editor), Patricia Owens (actress), Jack Taylor (actor), William Sylvester (actor), Kay Callard (actress), Jeremy Hawk (actor),
Plot: Philip Vickers mysteriously reappears to his wife and friends during a party at her upscale country estate after an absence of four years. He had been presumed dead after he disappeared on a fishing trip in Portugal with three friends. He was knocked unconscious and pushed overboard by an unknown assailant. In the interim, he had suffered from amnesia but now has regained his faculties. All the potential suspects, including his wife, are at the party. When one of them is killed, the police are called in, and suspicion for the crime falls on the vengeful Vickers.
Keywords: accidental-killing, accountant, amnesia, automobile, bad-dream, based-on-novel, blackmail, bleeding-mouth, blood-on-handkerchief, blood-on-shoe