Chris Elliott

Christopher Nash Elliott (born May 31, 1960) is an American actor, comedian and writer known for his surreal sense of humor. He was a regular performer on ''Late Night with David Letterman'' while working as a writer there (1983–1988), created and starred in the comedy series '' Get a Life'' (1990–1992) on Fox, and wrote and starred in the film ''Cabin Boy'' (1994). His writing for ''Letterman'' won four consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards.

His other television appearances include recurring roles on ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' (2003–2005) and ''How I Met Your Mother'' (2009–2014), and starring roles as Chris Monsanto in Adult Swim's '' Eagleheart'' (2011–2014) and Roland Schitt in ''Schitt's Creek'' (2015–2020). He appeared in many films, including ''Groundhog Day'' (1993), ''There's Something About Mary'' (1998), '' Snow Day'' (2000), and '' The Rewrite'' (2014).

Early life

Elliott was born in New York City, and is the youngest of five children of Lee (née Peppers), a model and TV director, and Bob Elliott, who was part of the comedy team Bob and Ray. He grew up on the Upper East Side. He attended the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center for a semester.

Career

Letterman years

Elliott was hired as a production assistant on ''Late Night with David Letterman'', and was with the show from its beginning in February 1982. In the middle of 1983, Elliott became a writer on the show and his on-camera appearances became more frequent. Elliott became best friends and writing partners with Matt Wickline, another ''Letterman'' crew member who was promoted to the writing staff in 1983. Wickline and Elliott pitched ''Late Nights first theme show, an Emmy-winning interactive episode called "The Custom-Made Show, leading the program to do a series of ambitious experimental one-off episodes. Along with the rest of the writing staff, he won four Emmys for his work on the show and was nominated for an additional six.

Elliott became known in the mid-1980s for playing an assortment of recurring quirky, oddball characters on ''Late Night'', each of which would usually last for a few weeks to a few months, before being retired amidst much mock-fanfare on the show. Elliott and Wickline co-wrote his early pieces on the show, often about characters who had "Guy" in the name, including The Conspiracy Guy, The Panicky Guy, '' Terminator'' parody The Regulator Guy, '' The Fugitive'' parody "The Fugitive Guy," and most famously, The Guy Under The Seats, a man who lived under the studio audience seating and would get mad at and threaten Letterman.

In 1987, while still working at ''Letterman'', Elliott starred in two Cinemax Comedy Experiment TV specials called ''FDR: A One Man Show'' and '' Action Family''. He co-wrote both specials with ''Letterman'' writers Matt Wickline and Sandy Frank. ''FDR: A One Man Show'' was a fake play about the life and times of Franklin D. Roosevelt (influenced by Frank Perry's 1984 TV movie ''J.F.K.: A One-Man Show''). Elliott looked and sounded nothing like Roosevelt; he portrayed events from his life that never happened, such as a Japanese bombing of the White House, and his crossing the Potomac in a rowboat. By the end of the show, he had performed Gallagher's shtick of smashing watermelons and other soft fruits on stage.

Following these specials, Elliott and Wickline had a falling-out and ceased working together, with Wickline frustrated with Elliott's lust for stardom. Elliott switched to collaborating on his ''Letterman'' character bits with Adam Resnick, also a writer. Elliott and Resnick's character bits found him playing self-involved show business people, both real and fake. These characters include Rip Taylor-esque Las Vegas lounge lizard Skylark, talk show host Chris Elliott Jr. (a la Morton Downey Jr.), and exaggerated surreal impressions of Marlon Brando, Jay Leno, and Marv Albert.

As his career on ''Late Night'' blossomed, Elliott auditioned to join the cast of ''Saturday Night Live'' when Lorne Michaels returned to the program in 1985. He was offered the job but turned it down to stay at ''Letterman''. He began taking small film roles, often as a supporting actor in films such as Michael Mann's '' Manhunter'' and James Cameron's ''The Abyss''. He had a small supporting role in an episode of ''Miami Vice''.

1990s

Elliott left ''Late Night'' in early 1990 and moved to Los Angeles, though he would return as a guest interview subject many times on ''Late Night'' and Letterman's subsequent talk show '' The Late Show with David Letterman''.

In 1990, Elliott starred in his own sitcom, '' Get a Life'', which he co-created with Adam Resnick. The show was about a 30-year-old paperboy named Chris Peterson who lived at home with his parents. Elliott's real-life father, Bob Elliott, appeared in the show as Chris's father. The January 1999 issue of ''TV Guide'' called the "Zoo Animals on Wheels" episode the 19th funniest TV moment of all time.

In 1993, Elliott teamed up with producer Brad Hall and directed a series of critically acclaimed short films that Elliott showed when appearing on ''Late Show with David Letterman''. That year he appeared in a prominent supporting role as Bill Murray's cameraman in the Harold Ramis film ''Groundhog Day''.

In the early 1990s, director Tim Burton became a fan of ''Get a Life'', and, in an attempt to re-create the success of his film ''Pee-Wee's Big Adventure'', hired Elliott and Resnick to write a movie for Elliott to star in. The two scripted ''Cabin Boy'', which Burton was set to direct. Burton bowed out of his role as director so he could make ''Ed Wood'', and Resnick became ''Cabin Boys director. Although it has since garnered a cult following, ''Cabin Boy'', which featured a short appearance by Elliott's old boss, David Letterman, opened in 1994 to bad reviews and scant box office returns., and netted Elliott a Razzie Award for Worst New Star.

Following ''Cabin Boy''s dismal reception, Elliott accepted an offer to join the cast of Saturday Night Live for the 1994 season and moved back to New York City. He had a "terrible time" on the show, finding himself to be "too old," and disliking the toxic environment and late hours. The season was critically-reviled, and a ''New York'' magazine reporter who embedded with the show for four weeks wrote an infamously-scathing piece called "Comedy Isn't Funny", in which Elliott was quoted expressing his unhappiness at the show. At the end of 94-95 season, Elliott left the show amidst a major overhaul in the cast and writing team.

Following his departure from ''SNL'', Elliott continue to appear in supporting parts in films and TV shows. He joined the ensemble cast of the NBC sitcom '' The Naked Truth'' for its third season. The show was subsequently canceled. He played Ben Stiller's best friend in the Farrelly Brothers hit comedy ''There's Something About Mary'', reinvigorating his film career.

2000s

Elliott began the decade with a major role as the villain in the Nickelodeon movie '' Snow Day''. In the fall of 2000, he returned to a series regular role on television, starring alongside Steven Weber in the NBC sitcom '' Cursed''. ''Cursed'' was given the coveted Must See TV timeslot post-''Friends'', but after being retooled and retitled ''The Weber Show'', the program was canceled.

Next, Elliott played prominent supporting parts in '' Scary Movie 2'' and ''Osmosis Jones'', which reunited him with Bill Murray and frequent collaborators The Farrelly Brothers. From 2003 to 2005, he had a recurring role as Robert's strange brother-in-law Peter MacDougall in the last three seasons of ''Everybody Loves Raymond''.

Elliott spent much of the decade attempting to create another show for himself, selling a family sitcom to Fox in 2004 and one to CBS in 2006. Neither made it to air. In 2007, he starred in ''Chrissy: Plain & Simple'', a pilot for his own sketch show for Comedy Central. Elliott had a recurring role on ''How I Met Your Mother'', playing the estranged father of character Lily Aldrin from 2009 to 2014.

2010s-present

In 2011, Elliott returned to a leading role on TV for the first time since ''Get a Life'', starring in the Adult Swim series '' Eagleheart''. Created by Michael Koman and Andrew Weinberg and produced by Conan O'Brien, '' Eagleheart'' found Chris Elliott starring as U.S. Marshal Chris Monsanto in an exaggerated, dark version of a fake ''Walker, Texas Ranger''-esque TV procedural. The show aired for three seasons and became a cult hit.

In 2015, Elliott became part of the ensemble cast of ''Schitt's Creek'', starring alongside Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara as town mayor Roland Schitt. The series ran for six seasons, winning nine Emmys, and netting Elliott a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2022, he was part of the cast of the short-lived Hulu series ''Maggie''.

Author

Elliott has written four books spoofing history or pseudo-history. '' Daddy's Boy: A Son's Shocking Account of Life with a Famous Father'' is a comedic fictionalized biography about growing up with his famous father, spoofing Christina Crawford's ''Mommie Dearest''. '' The Shroud of the Thwacker'' is a historical novel about Elliott's investigation of a serial killer in 1882 New York City, spoofing London's infamous Jack the Ripper case. '' Into Hot Air'' tells the story of Chris climbing Mount Everest with a group of celebrities tagging along to underwrite the trek as he investigates his Uncle Percy's failed Everest expedition. And ''The Guy Under The Sheets'' is an "unauthorized autobiography" that tells a comedically fictional version of Elliott's life in which Elliott "reveals" that he is the son not of comedian Bob Elliott, but, rather, of playwright Sam Elliott and actress Bette Davis.

Personal life

Elliott has been married to Paula Niedert since 1986. Niedert worked as a talent coordinator on ''Late Night with David Letterman'' when they met. They have two daughters: Abby and Bridey. Abby was a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2008 until 2012, making her the first ''SNL'' cast member to be the child of a previous cast member. His father Bob Elliott, of the comedy duo Bob & Ray, co-starred on an ''SNL'' Christmas episode in the 1978–1979 season.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

Primetime Emmy Awards

* 1984 Outstanding Writing in a Variety, Comedy or Music Program for ''Late Night with David Letterman''
* 1985 Outstanding Writing in a Variety, Comedy or Music Program for ''Late Night with David Letterman''
* 1986 Outstanding Writing in a Variety, Comedy or Music Program for ''Late Night with David Letterman''
* 1987 Outstanding Writing in a Variety, Comedy or Music Program for ''Late Night with David Letterman''

Canadian Screen Awards

* 2016 Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role or Guest Role in a Comedic Series for ''Schitt's Creek''

Screen Actors Guild Awards

* 2020 Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for ''Schitt's Creek''

References

Books

*

External links

*

Boilerplate meets Chris Elliott

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Chris
1960 births
American male comedians
21st-century American comedians
American male film actors
20th-century American novelists
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American parodists
Chris Elliott
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Living people
Male actors from Manhattan
Waldorf school alumni
21st-century American novelists
American sketch comedians
American male novelists
Writers from New York City
American male television writers
American television writers
Novelists from New York (state)
Screenwriters from New York (state)
Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Canadian Screen Award winners
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
Comedians from Manhattan
People from the Upper East Side