Sir Austin Danger Powers is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...

from the '' Austin Powers'' series of films, and is created and portrayed by

Mike Myers Michael John Myers OC (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. His accolades include seven MTV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002, he was awarded a star on the Hollywoo ...

. He is the protagonist of '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' (1997), ''

The Spy Who Shagged Me ''Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'' is a 1999 American spy comedy film directed by Jay Roach. It is the second installment in the ''Austin Powers'' film series, after ''International Man of Mystery''. It stars franchise co-producer and wr ...

'' (1999) and ''

Austin Powers in Goldmember ''Austin Powers in Goldmember'' is a 2002 American spy comedy film directed by Jay Roach. It is the third in the ''Austin Powers'' film series and stars Mike Myers in four roles: Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Goldmember, and Fat Bastard. Myers a ...

'' (2002). He is a womanizing, hard partying

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

spy embodying the Swinging London

psyche Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" (ψυχή). Psyche may also refer to: Psychology * Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious * ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unconscious by Car ...

and hippie culture of the 1960s who, with his nemesis

Dr. Evil Douglas Powers, commonly known as Dr. Evil, is a fictional character portrayed by Mike Myers in the ''Austin Powers'' film series. He is the main antagonist and Austin Powers' nemesis (and secret twin brother). He is a parody of James Bond vill ...

, was frozen in a cryonics experiment. The series' humor follows his attempts to adjust to the modern world as he continues to try to save it from

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

Personality

Austin Powers was a character seen as a parody of

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

, and being influenced by Evelyn Tremble (played by

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

) in the spoof James Bond 1967 movie '' Casino Royale''. Other notable influences were

Harry Palmer Harry Palmer is the anti-hero protagonist of a number of films based on the unnamed main character, a secret agent, in the spy novels written by Len Deighton. Michael Caine played Harry Palmer in three of the four films based on the four pub ...

(played by

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...

who would go on to play Austin's father, Nigel, in Goldmember), especially his thick

horn-rimmed glasses Horn-rimmed glasses are a type of eyeglasses. Originally made out of either horn or tortoise shell, for most of their history they have actually been constructed out of thick plastics designed to imitate those materials. They are characterized ...

, and the flamboyant dress sense of Jason King (played by

Peter Wyngarde Peter Paul Wyngarde (born Cyril Goldbert, 23 August 1927 – 15 January 2018) was a British television, stage and film actor from the late 1940s to the mid 1990s. He was best known for portraying the character Jason King, a bestselling novelist ...

). The character of Austin Powers represents an archetype of 1960s Swinging London, with his advocacy for

free love Free love is a social movement that accepts all forms of love. The movement's initial goal was to separate the state from sexual and romantic matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It stated that such issues were the concern ...

, his use of obscure expressions and his clothing style (including crushed velvet suits and

Beatle boots A Beatle boot or Baba boot is a style of boot that has been worn since the late 1950s but made popular by the English rock group the Beatles in the 1960s. The boots are a variant of the Chelsea boot: they are tight-fitting, High-heeled footwea ...

Development

Myers,

Matthew Sweet Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 1990 ...

and Susanna Hoffs formed the faux British 1960s band Ming Tea after Myers' ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'' stint in the early 1990s. The band members all performed under pseudonyms with 1960s personas. Myers adopted the pseudonym and character of Austin Powers. This group made a number of live club and television performances in character. Myers' then wife, Robin Ruzan, encouraged him to write a film based on Austin Powers. Obituaries of

Simon Dee Cyril Nicholas Henty-Dodd (28 July 1935 – 29 August 2009), better known by his stage name Simon Dee, was a British television interviewer and radio disc jockey who hosted a twice-weekly BBC TV chat show, ''Dee Time'', in the late 1960s. Af ...

(1935–2009), the radio and BBC television presenter, stated that his "Sixties grooviness" made him the inspiration for the character. Heavily influenced by British pop culture growing up,

has claimed his British-born father was the inspiration behind Austin Powers.

Other media

* HBO purchased the rights to produce a cartoon series based on the ''Austin Powers'' films in May 1999. Despite announcing plans for a thirteen-episode season, HBO ultimately shelved the project. * Austin Powers has been used for advertising numerous products and endorsements, such as Pepsi Cola. * He also appears in the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

s for Madonna's "

Beautiful Stranger "Beautiful Stranger" is a song by American singer and songwriter Madonna. It was released on May 19, 1999, by Maverick and Warner Bros. Records as a single from the soundtrack of the film, '' Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me''. Madonna ...

", Beyoncé's " Work It Out" and Britney Spears' " Boys". * The video games he appears in are '' Austin Powers Pinball'', '' Austin Powers: Welcome to My Underground Lair!'', '' Austin Powers: Oh, Behave!'', and '' Austin Powers Operation: Trivia''. * Powers is feature in an episode of the web show ''

Epic Rap Battles of History ''Epic Rap Battles of History'' (ERB) is a YouTube web series and music project created by Peter "Nice Peter" Shukoff and Lloyd "EpicLLOYD" Ahlquist. The series pits historical and pop culture figures against one another in a rap battle format. ...

''. He is performed by the series co-creactor Nice Peter.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' International Man of Mystery'' (1997) * ''

'' (1999) * '' Goldmember'' (2002)

In popular culture

In November 2010, he was voted #23 in ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

''s list "The 100 Greatest Characters of The Last 20 Years."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powers, Austin Austin Powers characters Fictional cryonically preserved characters Fictional British secret agents Fictional people from London Fictional knights Fictional twins Fictional judoka Fictional writers Fictional photographers Film characters introduced in 1997 Male characters in film Time travelers