Mike Myers

Born: 25 May 1963
Where: Ontario, Canada

The former Saturday Night Live stalwart is best known for snaggle toothed spoof spy Austin Powers.

Other career highlights include Wayne's World and he also played the lead in the live action version of The Cat in the Hat.

The son of an encyclopaedia salesman ("My dad was a guy who loved to be silly") and an actress mother, he began his acting career as a child in TV adverts in Canada.

A British passport holder, he regards himself as British (as a youth he was convinced he was related to The Beatles) and cites Peter Sellers, Monty Python and Peter Cook and Dudley Moore as prime influences.

Growing up in a household revolving around Scouse wit, he began his professional career the day he graduated from high school.

After taking his final exams at nine o'clock in the morning, he auditioned for Toronto's famed Second City comedy troupe at noon and was hired at three in the afternoon.

This ultimately led to Myers joining Chicago's Second City Troupe, where he was spotted by Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels.

For his work on SNL, Myers was nominated for an Emmy for Best Performance in a Comedy or Variety Show and won an Emmy for Best Writing for Comedy or Variety Show.

Among the characters that Myers made popular were Dieter, the host of the avant-garde German television show Sprockets and Linda Richman in Coffee Talk.

He also brought his SNL character, Wayne Campbell to the big screen in Wayne's World, which he also wrote (his first appearance was in the Ben Stiller short Elvis Stories).

The film, in which he starred alongside Dana Carvey as Garth, broke box office records and spawned a sequel - Wayne's World 2 - which he also scripted.

Between Wayne's World releases, Myers starred in the romantic comedy So I Married an Axe Murderer where he gained critical acclaim by playing dual roles as an eccentric Scottish father and his first-generation Scottish-American son.

In 1998 he appeared in the ensemble drama 54 with Ryan Phillipe, Salma Hayek and Neve Campbell in which he gained critical notice for his portrayal of club owner Steve Rubell.

In 1997 Myers created, wrote, produced and starred in the smash hit Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

It featured the fashion photographer/spy who is cryogenically frozen in the 60s and unthawed in the 90s in order to capture his nemesis, a diabolical Dr Evil, also played by Myers.

In 1999, Myers returned to write, produce and star in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, introducing the overweight Scottish double agent Fat Bastard.

The film enjoyed the biggest opening weekend for a comedy in history and in the first weekend out-grossed what the original Austin Powers made in its entire domestic theatrical run.

Myers subsequently lent his voice to the animated feature Shrek, a modern-day fairy tale about a misunderstood ogre.

He returned as the snaggle-toothed superspy in Austin Powers in Goldmember and also played the mischievous moggie in the live action adaptation of Dr Seuss' Cat in the Hat.

Recent work includes voice work for Shrek 2.