Early career Carvey had a minor role in
Halloween II in 1981, and co-starred in
One of the Boys in 1982, a short-lived television sitcom that also starred
Mickey Rooney,
Nathan Lane, and
Meg Ryan. In 1984, Carvey appeared in the short-lived film-based action television series
Blue Thunder and also had a small role in
Rob Reiner's film
This Is Spinal Tap, in which he played a
mime, with fellow comedian
Billy Crystal (who tells him "
Mime is money!"). He appeared in the music video for the
Greg Kihn song "Lucky" in 1985. His big break came in 1986, when he co-starred opposite
Kirk Douglas and
Burt Lancaster in
Tough Guys. As a lifelong Douglas fan, Carvey threw in an affectionate impression of his mentor, while describing a hairy scene they did together on a moving train. Carvey was a finalist for the hosting role on the
Nickelodeon television game show
Double Dare. He ultimately withdrew his name from consideration after he was cast on
Saturday Night Live. The job would go to
Marc Summers.
Saturday Night Live In 1986, Carvey became a household name when he joined the cast of
NBC's
Saturday Night Live. He, along with newcomers
Phil Hartman,
Kevin Nealon,
Jan Hooks, and
Victoria Jackson, helped to reverse the show's declining popularity and made
SNL "must-see" TV once again. An important part of the show's revival was Carvey's breakout character,
the Church Lady, the uptight, smug, and pious host of
Church Chat. Carvey said he based the character on women he knew from church while growing up, who would keep track of other churchgoers' attendance. He became so associated with the character that later cast members such as
Chris Farley referred to Carvey simply as "The Lady". The Church Lady's discontinuation was mentioned in a sketch which satirized the film
Misery with host
Roseanne Barr playing the role of
Annie Wilkes. Carvey's other original characters included Garth Algar (from ''
Wayne's World), who was based on his brother; Hans (from "Hans and Franz"); the Grumpy Old Man (from Weekend Update appearances); and Ching Chang, a Chinese poultry store owner. Throughout the election and presidency of George H. W. Bush, he was the designated impersonator of the president, making him the lead actor of the regular political sketches on SNL''. During the
1992 US presidential election campaign, Carvey also did an impression of independent candidate
Ross Perot; in a prime-time special before the election, Carvey played both George H. W. Bush and Perot in a three-way debate with
Bill Clinton, played by
Phil Hartman. As Perot—recorded and timed to give the appearance of interacting with the live Bush and Clinton—Carvey eschewed the show's signature "Live from New York" opening line, telling Bush "Why don't you do it, live-boy?" Carvey left
SNL in 1993, after seven years. In 1992, Carvey joined
Mike Myers in ''
Wayne's World, the film. A sequel, Wayne's World 2, was filmed and released in 1993. Other films Carvey appeared in during his time on SNL
include Moving (1988) and Opportunity Knocks'' (1990). Carvey's
SNL work won him an
Emmy Award in 1993 for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program. He has a total of six Emmy nominations. Carvey has returned to host
SNL four times, in 1994, 1996, 2000, and 2011 in addition to numerous cameo appearances. Carvey nearly rejoined the SNL cast for
season 20 in 1994, but ultimately did not, although he would host an episode early in that season. Carvey made more regular appearances in 2024 to play
Joe Biden and
Elon Musk in the immediate lead-up and aftermath to the
2024 presidential election.
After SNL In 1994, Carvey starred in the films
Clean Slate and
Trapped in Paradise. The following year, Carvey filmed his first
HBO stand-up special ''Critic's Choice
. The show featured Carvey doing many of his SNL'' impersonations, as well as making fun of the premium channel's name, pronouncing it "hobo". He turned down a role in
Bad Boys because he felt overwhelmed as a new father. Comedian and former
Mystery Science Theater 3000 host
Michael J. Nelson named the film the
third-worst comedy ever made. Carvey did not appear in a film again until 2011's
Jack and Jill. In 2004, he ranked number 90 on
Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time.
After The Master of Disguise at the
Laugh Factory in Hollywood, August 2015 Carvey eventually withdrew from the limelight to focus on his family. He later said in an interview that he did not want to be in a career in which his kids would already be grown with him having neglected spending time with them, a major reason for his declining the hosting spot for
Late Night that ultimately went to Conan O'Brien. Carvey has said that he generally prefers stand-up comedy to acting in movies and regularly performs lucrative corporate dates, boasting of "a few million-dollar months" during a 2016 Howard Stern interview. Carvey made an appearance at the
2008 MTV Movie Awards, reprising his
SNL character Garth Algar with host Mike Myers for a "Wayne's World" sketch. On June 14, 2008, Carvey filmed a second HBO stand-up special, the first in 13 years, entitled
Squatting Monkeys Tell No Lies. In 2010, Carvey appeared in the
Funny or Die original comedy sketch
Presidential Reunion. He played the role of President George H. W. Bush alongside other current and former
SNL president impersonators. Also that year, Carvey and comedian/writer
Spike Feresten created and starred together in
Spoof, a sketch comedy pilot for
Fox. This included a sketch of a trailer for "Darwin", a mock film in which he played the evolutionary biologist, as well as a spoof of the hit TV series
Lost. Both of these sketches can be seen on
YouTube. On the animated TV series
The Fairly OddParents, Carvey voiced
Cosmo Cosma's con artist brother Schnozmo. Carvey voiced Dana, the Camp Director in
Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015), and was the voice of Pops in
The Secret Life of Pets (2016) and its sequel
The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019). In 2016, Carvey recorded two live performances at the
Wilbur Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts for a Netflix special. His two sons, Tom and Dex, opened the show for him. Carvey was a guest on
Conan O'Brien's podcast, ''
Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend'', on January 27, 2019. Carvey was subsequently featured in a six episode mini-series of the podcast titled "
Deep Dive with Dana Carvey", released in August 2019. Carvey has regularly done sketch impressions on
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert playing, among others,
President Joe Biden and former national security advisor
John Bolton. In 2019, Carvey appeared on the guest panel of the fourth episode of
Lights Out with David Spade and also in costume as
Tony Montana in a number of later episodes.
Podcasts In 2021, Carvey began hosting the comedy podcast "Fantastic! with Dana Carvey". The podcast features mini sketches involving Carvey's many celebrity impressions, as well as interview segments with Carvey's family members and other friends from the stand-up comedy world. That same year, Carvey reprised his role of Garth Algar alongside Myers' Wayne Campbell in a series of commercials for
Uber Eats. The original spot first ran during
Super Bowl LV. In 2022, Carvey began co-hosting the Fly on the Wall podcast with fellow
Saturday Night Live alum
David Spade. Guests include former cast members and hosts of
SNL. In 2024, the
Superfly video podcast (a spinoff of
Fly on the Wall) co-hosted by Spade was launched. ==Personal life==