Other works

Part of Los Angeles radio comedy group The Credibility Gap, which produced comedy shows and albums from the late 1960s into the mid-'70s. Other members included Harry Shearer, David L. Lander and the late Richard Beebe. They even appeared in nightclubs and on television. They did an episode of the "National Lampoon Radio Hour." Also, their voices were heard in an educational film titled "Statistics At A Glance." The surviving members have even reunited twice. One of those times was at the US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado.

1998: Hosted a Laverne & Shirley (1976) marathon with David L. Lander.

1996: TV commercial for IBM, as David St. Hubbins.

2003: With David L. Lander, a theatrical PSA for multiple sclerosis.

2004: Played Edna Turnblad in the Tony-winning Broadway musical "Hairspray." The role was originated by Harvey Fierstein in late 2002. The show was reviewed again by the critics after McKean took over for Fierstein. Michael even appeared with his fellow "Hairspray" cast members as part of a cabaret event at Joe's Pub in New York City before the end of his run as Edna. His "Hairspray" stint was his Broadway musical debut.

2001: Host of audio commentary track for Little Nicky (2000) DVD.

2004: TV commercial for Sierra Mist Free with Fred Willard.

11/04: Plays Phil Wellman in "A Second Hand Memory" written and directed by Woody Allen (Atlantic Theater Company, New York City).

5/24/05-6/4/05: Performed cabaret act "No Standards" with wife Annette O'Toole and stepdaughter Nell Geisslinger at the Feinstein's At the Regency nightclub in New York City.

8/05: Appeared as Zangler in the Tom Stoppard play, "On the Razzle," at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown, MA.

2/06: Plays Vernon Hines in the hit Broadway musical revival of "The Pajama Game" by Richard Adler, Jerry Ross, George Abbott and Richard Bissell (American Airlines Theater, New York City).

Late 1970s: Was a music coordinator for Laverne & Shirley (1976) Sing, an album that featured Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams singing. He even wrote two of the cuts on that LP. The two songs were titled "Oh Gee" and "Five Years On."

His singing and musicianship can be heard on the soundtracks for This Is Spinal Tap (1984), The Producers (2005), A Mighty Wind (2003) and Light of Day (1987). He plays the role of Hines, which is part of the new cast recording of "The Pajama Game" on the "Harry On Broadway" two-CD set. He even recorded "Break Like The Wind," a new Spinal Tap recording. When the heavy metal band went on tour in 2001, they released "Back From The Dead," a new song on the Internet. For Live Earth (2007) and a short film directed by Rob Reiner which features the band members and Reiner himself, the group wrote "Warmer Than Hell."

1985: McKean and Harry Shearer, as their Spinal Tap characters of David St. Hubbins and Derek Smalls, participated with other heavy metal stars as part of "Hear-N-Aid," a "We Are The World" recording session.

McKean and Harry Shearer did a Spinal Tap interview for "Live'N'Loud," a local cable access show in Dallas that focused on heavy metal bands.

His voice can be heard on audio books such as the novelization of The Paper (1994), "Green Eggs And Ham," "Where The Truth Lies" and the first two volumes of R.L. Stine's "Rotten School" series.

12/06: Plays Harry in the European premiere of John Kolvenbach's romantic comedy "Love Song" at the New Ambassadors Theatre in London's West End.

He has participated in charity events on behalf of such causes as Multiple Sclerosis, Myeloma, Autism, The Actors Fund, Planned Parenthood, New York's Second Stage Theatre, New York's MCC Theatre, The Children's Aid Society, Lou Gehrig's Disease, National Corporate Theatre Fund, the Los Angeles AIDS Walk, Wendy Wasserstein's Open Doors program, animal welfare and Broadway Cares: Equity Fights AIDS by himself and with wife Annette O'Toole and stepdaughter Nell Geisslinger.

Has written jingles for TV commercials. He sang one of them in the style of Leon Russell. It was for blue jeans.

(2013) He is the only one to win both "Celebrity Jeopardy" and "Celebrity Rock & Roll Jeopardy." He even has appeared as a clue giver on both versions.

2001: Wrote the introduction for This Is Spinal Tap (1984): The Official Companion.

TV commercial (voiceover) for Magnavox.

Played several roles in "J. Edgar!," an original musical about the late FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, written by Harry Shearer and Tom Leopold for National Public Radio Station KCRW in Santa Monica back in 1995. Later he performed in a staged reading of the play at the Aspen Opera House as part of the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival back in 2003. Annette O'Toole, McKean's wife, was in the stage version also.

Can be seen on an Easter Egg on the DVD release of The Spirit of '76 (1990), a comedy directed by Lucas Reiner. It's a clip from a TV special about the '70s. Originally, McKean was supposed to be in the film himself.

He was hired to do the voice of Mr. Bradley in "Doomsday," a UPN animated series about a family coping with the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust. The show, produced by Howard Stern and created by Tracy Tormé, never saw the light of day because they could not get good writers.

1970s: He was part of the Pitchell Players, a Los Angeles-based comedy improvisational group.

1990: Was a recipient of a Theatre World Award for making his Broadway debut in "Accomplice," which originated at the Pasadena Playhouse during the previous year. The comedy thriller had a short run in New York.

May 24, 2005: Was a guest programmer for Turner Classic Movies that night. Along with Robert Osborne, film critic and TCM host, he presented four of his favorite films: Paths of Glory (1957), North by Northwest (1959), The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1943) and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954).

Attended Carnegie-Mellon with David L. Lander, where they created the Lenny and Squiggy characters. Both Michael and David have made appearances as themselves and their characters on awards shows as well as doing charity benefits. One of those benefits was for California's Cabrillo Music Theatre. The twosome emceed a concert headlined by Polly Bergen, Lander's mother-in-law. It raised money for the theatre. As far as award shows are concerned, McKean and Lander did the Eddies which celebrates the best editing of movies and TV shows. That same night the comic duo and others saluted Garry Marshall for his contributions to entertainment.

Annette O'Toole and him have written songs with Michael O'Keefe, an actor and good friend of theirs. If you go to www.michaelokeefe.com, you can click the "Lyrics" link. You can read the words to "Emmeline" and "Looking For the Medicine." Also, you can download the McKeans singing these original works.

5/23/05: Annette O'Toole and him did a celebrity roast of actor Fisher Stevens. He was the roastmaster; she was one of the participants. The roast raised money for Naked Angels, a New York theater group that Stevens founded.

Can be heard as David St. Hubbins at the beginning and the end of "Little Worlds," a 2003 CD that featured Bela Fleck and The Flecktones.

He did promos in character for ESPN. The first one featured him as David St. Hubbins explaining how he wrote the theme for SportsCenter (1979). The remaining ones had him playing the Queen of England talking about British soccer. He kept the dress that he wore. Christopher Guest directed those spots.

He was a member of The Left Banke, the 1960s musical group, for a while.

2001: Live broadcast for QVC. It was done in connection with the MusiCares charity dinner and concert that paid tribute to singer/songwriter Paul Simon. McKean interviewed such artists as Stevie Wonder and The Dixie Hummingbirds. This was done prior to the Grammy Awards. He even hosted MusiCares along with Steve Martin and Chevy Chase. The event raised funds to benefit the health and welfare of musicians.

Began singing with Annette O'Toole before they were married. The couple have performed twice at The Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles as well as parties in their home and other events. Those other events have included the 2004 edition of "Miscast" to raise funds for New York's MCC Theater, Standing Ovations 2 (2004) at Joe's Pub in New York City, an after hours cabaret hosted by Kelsey Grammer during the 2003 US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, the 8th Annual Art Directors Guild Awards held in Beverly Hills in 2004 and a Los Angeles school event that emphasized the importance of music education. The McKeans even performed at a English nightclub with Harry Shearer and Judith Owen after their Live Earth (2007) appearance the same day.

Christopher Guest and him were part of a backup choir on "Play," a 1991 CD by Squeeze, a British pop music group.

2000: Appeared on a Comedy Central behind-the-scenes special that was done in connection with the Friars Club Roast of Rob Reiner in New York City.

4/05 and 6/05: Performed with Harry Shearer and Christopher Guest out of character for acoustic gigs at New York City's Museum Of Modern Art and the Newport Blues Cafe. Wife Annette O'Toole joined him onstage for the latter. The first gig was part of a discussion/tribute to Guest that was part of a two-week event dedicated to his work. The latter was part of a discussion/question and answer session on the day Michael received his lifetime achievement award from the Newport International Film Festival.

1995: Appeared on "E! Features" and "Q and E!," two E! Entertainment Television shows.

1999: Appeared as a guest on the WTBS cable network's "Movie Lounge." The show had a Politically Incorrect (1993)-type format.

Attended New York University with Christopher Guest. Began writing songs with Guest. Guest and McKean were part of "Our Lady of Food and Maritime," a psychedelic rock and roll band, while they lived in Greenwich Village. The band was named after two churches.

The 2006 Independent Spirit Awards Nominations Show on the Independent Film Channel had a brief archive clip of Michael performing the Kinsey (2004) number with Annette O'Toole and Jane Lynch.

2002: McKean wrote, directed and starred in the Independent Film Channel's Image Campaign titled "Independent Film: A Documentary." Ed Begley Jr., Bijou Phillips and Annette, his actress-wife, were featured in one of the vignettes. These spots, along with audio commentary, were featured on the IFC site also.

Played Lionel Cheese, a celebrity interviewer, in "I'm On Your Side," an award-winning country music video starring country music singer Kathy Mattea.

1992: Christopher Guest and himself appeared as Nigel Tufnel and David St. Hubbins on AM Northwest (1976) a morning talk show in Portland, Oregon, in connection with an album signing.

1979: David L. Lander and himself put out an album recorded as Lenny and The Squigtones on the Casablanca label. It was done live at the Roxy in Los Angeles. The twosome appeared on television and toured across the country to promote the release.

Can be seen in three bits on the "Harry Shearer: Now You See It" DVD. One of the bits is a never seen sketch from NBC's short-lived Sunday Best (1991) program. The bit is titled "Astounding Innovations." The others are "Pledge-A-Bration" from Saturday Night Live (1975) and "The Making Of You Wouldn't Believe Our World" from David Letterman's Holiday Film Festival (1985).

Was interviewed by DIRECTV at the 2004 Independent Spirit Awards.

2001: Was featured, along with Noah Baumbach, Kenneth Bowser and Christopher Guest, on the audio commentary track for the Criterion DVD release of Sullivan's Travels (1941).