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The cast of Saturday Night Live mocked US President-elect Donald Trump in the series’ first episode after the presidential election results, introducing comedian Dana Carvey, who was previously playing Joe Biden, in a new avatar: Elon Musk. Also read: SNL tries to ‘Musk’ its way into Trump’s good graces, begging not to be his ‘political enemies’
Wondering who is Dana Carvey? Here’s everything you need to know about him:
Family life
Born in Missoula, Montana, he moved to San Carlos, California when he was three years old. He is the son of Billie Dahl and Bud Carvey. Both of his parents had a career in education. He married Paula Zwagerman in 1983. Together they have two children, Dex and Thomas Carvey.
Dana’s educational background
He has a bachelor’s degree in broadcast communications from San Francisco State University. It is reported that in his high school years, he was a member of the Central Coast Section champion cross-country team.
Personal loss
Last year, Dana Carvey’s son Dex Carvey passed away at the age of 32 due to “accidental drug overdose”. Two months after the passing, the family received official information from authorities about the cause of his death. Medical examiners concluded that Dex’s passing was accidental, resulting from a combination of medications. Dex was a comedian, just like his father; in 2016, he even opened for his father’s Netflix special, Straight White Male.
A SNL regular
Dana Carvey is responsible for several of the funniest recurring characters on SNL from his seven-year stint on the show. He is one of the most popular SNL cast members of all time. He is one of only three people to win an Emmy for his tenure on the show in 1993 (joining Chevy Chase and Gilda Radner, who received the award in 1976 and 1978, respectively).
The SNL start
Dana Carvey is famous for his impressions. At his audition for Saturday Night Live, he did an impression of Robin Leach, Jimmy Stewart, Robin Williams, and John Travolta.
Stint in Hollywood
Before landing his star-making gig on Saturday Night Live in 1986, he picked brief roles in many films. His first movie was Halloween II, in which he played a news crew assistant with zero lines. He also worked in Rob Reiner’s mockumentary, This Is Spinal Tap.
He had a show of his own
He left SNL for a short duration in 1993, during this time Dana Carvey made a few movies, like Clean Slate and Trapped in Paradise. In 1996, he debuted his own sketch show—The Dana Carvey Show. Saturday Night Live veteran Robert Smigel co-created the show, Louis CK was the head writer, Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell wrote and performed on the show. The show struggled with ratings and was cancelled before the eighth episode even aired.
He turned down a hosting gig
Before Dana Carvey developed his series, he was approached with an intriguing offer. David Letterman’s jump from NBC to CBS left a hosting vacancy on the Late Night show. he was offered the job but turned it down because he thought it was too big of a commitment.
