Mark McKinney

The tallest member of sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall, comedian Mark McKinney has a signature style and range of unique character voices. Born in the Canadian capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, McKinney started doing comedy with the Loose Moose Theatre Company where he met Bruce McCulloch and formed a comedy team called "The Audience." Together they moved to Toronto and met Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald, who were in the process of forming a comedy troupe. Along with fifth member Scott Thompson and producer Lorne Michaels, the sketch comedy show The Kids in the Hall started in 1989. During the show's five-year run, McKinney created memorable characters like the Chicken Lady, the Headcrusher, Tanya the Temp, and the ever-annoying Darrill. After the series ended, he reunited with the group for the 1996 feature film Brain Candy and the 2000 live tour and subsequent documentary Same Guys, New Dresses. In 1995, he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live for two seasons, where he did a splendid impression of Presidential candidate Steve Forbes. He then had small roles in SNL-related movies A Night at the Roxbury and The Ladies Man, the 1999 remake The Out-of-Towners, and the New York stage production Fuddy Meers at the ~Manhattan Theater Club. He can also be seen in Bruce McCulloch's films Dog Park and Superstar, along with numerous independent films. Living with his wife and two kids in N.Y.C., McKinney also finds work back in his home country. After appearing in the Canadian sitcom Twitch City, he played leading roles in Guy Maddin's The Saddest Music in the World and Scott Smith's Falling Angels, both of which were shown at the ~2003 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur Full Biography »