Adam McKay
Encyclopedia
Adam McKay is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 screenwriter, director, comedian, and actor. He is most famous for his partnership with comedian Will Ferrell
Will Ferrell
John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...

, with whom he co-wrote the films Anchorman
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, or simply Anchorman, is a 2004 American comedy film, directed by Adam McKay and starring Will Ferrell. The film, which was also written by Ferrell and McKay, is a tongue-in-cheek take on the culture of the 1970s, particularly the then-new Action News format...

, Talladega Nights
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is a 2006 American comedy film, directed by Adam McKay and starring Will Ferrell. The film also features John C. Reilly, Michael Clarke Duncan, Leslie Bibb, Amy Adams, Gary Cole, Jane Lynch, and Sacha Baron Cohen. Various Saturday Night Live alumni also...

, and The Other Guys
The Other Guys
The Other Guys is a 2010 American action comedy film directed and co-written by Adam McKay, starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, and featuring Dwayne Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton, Eva Mendes, Steve Coogan, and Ray Stevenson...

.

Early life

McKay was born in Long Island, New York, graduated from Great Valley High School
Great Valley High School
Great Valley High School is a high school in eastern Chester County. It is located near Malvern, Pennsylvania. It is located on the same campus as Great Valley Middle School. It is the only high school of the Great Valley School District....

 in Malvern
Malvern, Pennsylvania
Malvern is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,998 at the 2010 census. The main road through the borough is King Street, although the borough is also bordered by Paoli Pike on the south, and is near US 30 on the north. The primary cross street is Warren...

, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, in 1986, and attended Penn State
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...

 and Temple
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...

 universities. He is one of the founding members of the Upright Citizens Brigade
Upright Citizens Brigade
The Upright Citizens Brigade is an improvisational comedy and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The most recent incarnation consists of Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh...

 improv comedy group and a former performer at Chicago's Improv Olympic, where he was a member of the improv group, The Family, whose members included Matt Besser
Matt Besser
Matthew Gregory "Matt" Besser is an American actor and comedian best known as one of the founding members of the Upright Citizens Brigade sketch comedy troupe who also had their own show on Comedy Central from 1998-2000....

, Ian Roberts
Ian Roberts (actor)
Ian Michael Roberts is an American actor, comedian and writer best known as a founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade sketch comedy troupe.-Life and career:...

, Neil Flynn
Neil Flynn
Neil Richard Flynn is an American actor and comedian, known for his role as Janitor in the medical comedy-drama Scrubs. He currently portrays Mike Heck in the ABC sitcom The Middle.-Early life:...

, Miles Stroth
Miles Stroth
Miles Stroth is an American actor, comedian, and teacher. He is best known for his work with the improvisational theatre, Improv Olympic and Del Close and for creating the improvisational form "The Deconstruction." -Early life:...

, and Ali Farahnakian, and Child's Play Touring Theatre
Child's Play Touring Theatre
Child's Play Touring Theatre is a non-profit arts-education touring theatre company based in Chicago. Founded in 1978 by June and Victor Podagrosi, CPTT was the first theatre company where professional actors take original works written by children and perform them on stage...

. While a member of the mainstage cast at Second City
The Second City
The Second City is a improvisational comedy enterprise which originated in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.The Second City Theatre opened on December 16, 1959 and has since expanded its presence to several other cities, including Toronto and Los Angeles...

, he wrote and performed in that company's landmark revue, Pinata Full of Bees. In several politically charged sketches, McKay played characters like Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...

 as a substitute kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

 teacher, and a hapless personnel manager trying to inform a corporate vice president
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...

 (Scott Adsit
Scott Adsit
Scott Adsit is an American actor, writer and improvisational comedian. He is currently co-starring as Pete Hornberger in the hit NBC comedy 30 Rock and worked in the Adult Swim stop-motion animation programs Moral Orel and Mary Shelley's Frankenhole.-1990s:After attending Columbia College Chicago,...

) of some disastrous IQ test results without losing his own job. The latter performance was excerpted in Second City's 40th anniversary
Anniversary
An anniversary is a day that commemorates or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event...

 compilation.

Career

McKay originally auditioned for Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

to be an onscreen performer, but did not make the cut. However, the scripts he submitted to the long-running sketch show earned him a job as writer from 1995 to 2001, including three seasons as head writer. He also directed a number of short films for the show, including the original SNL Digital Shorts. McKay encouraged his Second City idol Tina Fey
Tina Fey
Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live , the NBC comedy series 30 Rock, and films such as Mean Girls and Baby Mama .Fey first broke into comedy as a featured player in the...

 to submit some of her scripts to Saturday Night Live, and she later succeeded him as head writer on the show. Though McKay was never an actual SNL cast member, he did make several on-camera appearances over the years and had a recurring role as an obnoxious audience member named "Keith" who would often shout insults at the celebrity hosts during their opening monologue.

After leaving SNL, McKay teamed up with comedian Will Ferrell
Will Ferrell
John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...

 to write the comedy films Anchorman
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, or simply Anchorman, is a 2004 American comedy film, directed by Adam McKay and starring Will Ferrell. The film, which was also written by Ferrell and McKay, is a tongue-in-cheek take on the culture of the 1970s, particularly the then-new Action News format...

, Talladega Nights
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is a 2006 American comedy film, directed by Adam McKay and starring Will Ferrell. The film also features John C. Reilly, Michael Clarke Duncan, Leslie Bibb, Amy Adams, Gary Cole, Jane Lynch, and Sacha Baron Cohen. Various Saturday Night Live alumni also...

, and The Other Guys
The Other Guys
The Other Guys is a 2010 American action comedy film directed and co-written by Adam McKay, starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, and featuring Dwayne Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton, Eva Mendes, Steve Coogan, and Ray Stevenson...

. In April 2007, Ferrell and McKay launched the user-submitted comedy video site Funny or Die
Funny or Die
Funny or Die is a comedy video website founded by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's production company, Gary Sanchez Productions with original and user-generated content. Funny or Die contains exclusive material from a number of famous contributors and also has its own Funny or Die Team, which creates...

. A video on the site, titled The Landlord features both him and his young daughter, Pearl, whom Ferrell and his wife bait to say curse words. Pearl also starred in a second video titled "Good Cop, Baby Cop". Ferrell and McKay co-produce the HBO series Eastbound & Down
Eastbound & Down
Eastbound & Down is an American comedy television series broadcast on HBO, starring Danny McBride as Kenny Powers, a former professional baseball pitcher, who after an up and down career in the major leagues is forced to return to his hometown middle-school in Shelby, North Carolina, as a...

. He directed and co-wrote with Ferrell the George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 Broadway show, You're Welcome America
You're Welcome America
You're Welcome America. A Final Night with George W Bush is a comedic Broadway play starring Will Ferrell as George W. Bush. It was broadcast live on the HBO cable channel, as well as in Canada, on March 14, 2009, at 9:00PM EST. Ferrell, who has famously depicted Bush on Saturday Night Live, also...

. He is scheduled to co-star in the horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...

-comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 film Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters is an upcoming American action horror comedy film directed by Tommy Wirkola. The film will be made in 3-D and is slated for release on March 2, 2012....

.

Filmography

Year Film Credited as
Director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

Producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...

Writer
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

1995–2001 Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

2004 Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, or simply Anchorman, is a 2004 American comedy film, directed by Adam McKay and starring Will Ferrell. The film, which was also written by Ferrell and McKay, is a tongue-in-cheek take on the culture of the 1970s, particularly the then-new Action News format...

Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie
Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie
Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie is an American comedy film assembled from abandoned subplots and unused alternate takes from the film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy...

2006 Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is a 2006 American comedy film, directed by Adam McKay and starring Will Ferrell. The film also features John C. Reilly, Michael Clarke Duncan, Leslie Bibb, Amy Adams, Gary Cole, Jane Lynch, and Sacha Baron Cohen. Various Saturday Night Live alumni also...

2008 Step Brothers
Step Brothers (film)
Step Brothers is a 2008 American slapstick buddy-comedy film directed by Adam McKay, produced by Judd Apatow and Jimmy Miller, and stars Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, who originally teamed up in Talladega Nights . The screenplay was written by Ferrell and McKay, from a story written by Ferrell,...

2009 Land of the Lost
Land of the Lost (film)
Land of the Lost is a 2009 American science-fiction comedy film directed by Brad Silberling and starring Will Ferrell, Danny McBride and Anna Friel, based on the 1974 Sid and Marty Krofft TV series of the same name.-Plot:...

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard is a 2009 comedy film directed by Neal Brennan, starring Jeremy Piven and Ed Helms. The film was released on August 14, 2009.- Plot :...

Eastbound & Down
Eastbound & Down
Eastbound & Down is an American comedy television series broadcast on HBO, starring Danny McBride as Kenny Powers, a former professional baseball pitcher, who after an up and down career in the major leagues is forced to return to his hometown middle-school in Shelby, North Carolina, as a...

2010 Big Lake
Big Lake (TV series)
Big Lake is an American comedy television series on the Comedy Central network. It premiered August 17, 2010. The first season ended on September 14, 2010.-Premise:...

Funny or Die Presents
Funny or Die Presents
Funny or Die Presents is a half-hour sketch comedy show that spawned from the Will Ferrell & Adam McKay created comedy website Funny or Die. It premiered on HBO on February 19, 2010...

The Other Guys
The Other Guys
The Other Guys is a 2010 American action comedy film directed and co-written by Adam McKay, starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, and featuring Dwayne Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton, Eva Mendes, Steve Coogan, and Ray Stevenson...

The Virginity Hit
The Virginity Hit
The Virginity Hit is a 2010 comedy film produced by Adam McKay and Will Ferrell, and directed by Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland. It stars Matt Bennett, Zack Pearlman, Jacob Davich, Justin Kline and Nicole Weaver....

2011 Fully Loaded
Casa de Mi Padre
Casa de Mi Padre
Casa de Mi Padre , previously titled Untitled Spanish Comedy, is an upcoming Spanish-language American comedy film. The film stars Will Ferrell, Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna and Génesis Rodríguez with Matt Piedmont directing...

Trafiq
The Last Janitor
2012 Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters is an upcoming American action horror comedy film directed by Tommy Wirkola. The film will be made in 3-D and is slated for release on March 2, 2012....

Bachelorette
Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie
Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie
Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie is an upcoming comedy film written and directed by Tim and Eric creators of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!. The film stars both Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim. Supporting actors include Zach Galifianakis, Will Ferrell, Jeff Goldblum, John C...

Dog Fight
Dog Fight (film)
Dog Fight is an upcoming comedy film directed by Jay Roach, starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, as two Southerners vying for a seat in congress to represent their small district...

2013 Bouncers

External links

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