Paul Brittain (born February 16, 1977) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on ''

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. Michaels currently serves ...

'' from 2010 to 2012.

Early life and education

Brittain was born and raised in

Naperville, Illinois Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is in the Chicago metro area, west of the city. Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. The city was ...

.Moynihan, Rob. "''SNLs Fab Four", ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corporat ...

'', March 7, 2011, Pages 44-45 He graduated from

Naperville North High School Naperville North High School is a public four-year high school located at the corner of Ogden Avenue and Mill Street in the northern-central part of Naperville, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is the co ...

in 1995. He attended the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Un ...

, where he majored in finance and Spanish, graduating in 2000.

Career

He is a veteran performer at the iO Theater in Chicago where he trained with ''SNL'' castmate Vanessa Bayer and performed as a member with numerous improv and sketch groups. He has appeared on '' Sports Action Team''. Brittain is the nephew of actor

Bob Newhart George Robert Newhart (born September 5, 1929) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery style. Newhart came to prominence in 1960 when his album of comedic monologues, ''The Button-Down Mi ...

''Saturday Night Live''

Brittain joined the cast of ''

'' for the 36th season on September 25, 2010. His most memorable recurring characters included Lord Cecil Wyndemere (a childlike, 48-year-old lord), Goran "Funky Boy" Bogdan (a Croatian stand-up comic who punctuates his jokes with "Oooh, funky boy!"), and "Sex Ed" Vincent (a low-rent sex counselor who holds seminars in shady hotels). Brittain's popular celebrity impressions included

Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, physician and retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, as we ...

James Franco James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. For his role in '' 127 Hours'' (2010), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Franco is known for his roles in films, such as Sam Raimi's ''Spider-M ...

, and

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Awa ...

. Brittain's uncle,

hosted ''SNL'' in its fifth (1979–1980) and 20th (1994–1995) seasons, making Brittain the second ''SNL'' cast member to be the nephew of a celebrity who hosted ''SNL'' more than once (after

Jason Sudeikis Daniel Jason Sudeikis ( ; born September 18, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. In the 1990s, he began his career in improv comedy and performed with ComedySportz, iO Chicago (Improv Olympic), and The Second City. In 200 ...

, whose uncle is semi-frequent 1990s host

George Wendt George Robert Wendt Jr. (born October 17, 1948) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing Norm Peterson on the television sitcom ''Cheers'' (1982–1993), which earned him six consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emm ...

). Brittain exited ''SNL'' midway through his second season, making his final appearance on January 14, 2012.

Recurring characters

*Marius, one of French teens in "Les Jeunes de Paris" * Goran "Funky Boy" Bogdan, a Croatian stand-up comic * "Sex" Ed Vincent, a middle-aged "sex expert" who holds couples seminars * Lord Cecil Wyndemere, a foppish man-child who's actually 48 years old

Celebrity impressions

* Vili Fualaau *

Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Sena ...

* Dax Holt *

* Michael Gelman *

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until his death in 2011. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, his group is designated ...

* Tom Felton (as

Draco Malfoy Draco Lucius Malfoy is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' series. He is a student in Harry Potter's year belonging in the Slytherin house. He is frequently accompanied by his two cronies, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goy ...

)

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brittain, Paul 1977 births Living people Male actors from Naperville, Illinois American sketch comedians American male television actors University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni 21st-century American male actors American impressionists (entertainers) Comedians from Illinois 21st-century American comedians