Last Member Drive of 2025!

Your year-end tax-deductible gift powers our local newsroom. Help raise $1 million in essential funding for LAist by December 31.
$881,541 of $1,000,000 goal
A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right
Audience-funded nonprofit news
radio tower icon laist logo
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Subscribe
  • Listen Now Playing Listen
NPR News

The Long and Rich Career of Michael McKean

Truth matters. Community matters. Your support makes both possible. LAist is one of the few places where news remains independent and free from political and corporate influence. Stand up for truth and for LAist. Make your year-end tax-deductible gift now.

Listen 0:00
Listen

Actor, comedian, composer and musician Michael McKean is best known for co-starring in the spoofs This Is Spinal Tap, Best in Show and A Mighty Wind. McKean got his start playing Lenny in the 1970s sitcom Laverne and Shirley. He is currently co-starring in the Broadway revival of The Pajama Game.

As the rocker David St. Hubbins, McKean carved out a lasting spot in movie and music culture, as his spiky hair, British accent and spirit of excess lampooned stars of heavy metal. He helped write both the music and the screenplay of the film, which was directed by Rob Reiner.

McKean has worked on a multitude of projects. His Internet Movie Database entry for work as an actor runs to some 140 listings. He has continued to write music, as well. In 1996, McKean teamed with Spinal Tap co-star Christopher Guest to write several songs for Waiting for Guffman.

In 2004, a song McKean wrote with Annette O'Toole for A Mighty Wind, "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow," was nominated for an Oscar. The film was written and directed by Guest.

Copyright 2022 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.

You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our connected community. We are free to tell the full truth, to hold power to account without fear or favor, and to follow facts wherever they lead. Our only loyalty is to our audiences and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen our community.

Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive before year-end will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.

If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.

Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief

Make your tax-deductible year-end gift today

A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right