Biography:
Kevin Nealon is an American comedian and actor. He first gained widespread attention during his tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1995, where he anchored the show’s news parody segment Weekend Update. After leaving SNL, he acted in several of the Happy Madison films, played Doug Wilson on the Showtime series Weeds, and provided the voice of the title character, Glenn Martin, on Glenn Martin, DDS.
Nealon played guitar in bands during high school and gravitated to comedy in college. In 1977, he moved to San Diego and then to Los Angeles, where he learned his craft at the Improv while tending bar there for a living. He had been doing stand-up for six years when he made his network television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1984. He later became a regular there and on Late Night with David Letterman.
In 1986, Saturday Night Live recruited his friend Dana Carvey, and Carvey, in turn, recommended Nealon. Both joined the cast that year, and Nealon became a full-time performer in the 1987–1988 season, and remained for nine seasons. Nealon’s SNL characters include Mr. Subliminal (which also became known as the “Subliminal Editorial” when Nealon was promoted to Weekend Update anchorman), Frank Gannon, P.I.P.I. (for Politically Incorrect Private Investigator), Bob Waltman (a male Barbara Walters), and Franz (of Hans and Franz) along with Carvey. He also anchored Weekend Update from 1991 to 1994. He stayed on SNL for one more season and left in 1995, after a then-record nine seasons. (His record was later surpassed by Tim Meadows, Darrell Hammond, and Kenan Thompson.)
In 1991, he had his first major film role, as boyfriend Tony Boer in All I Want for Christmas. Other films in which he has since appeared include Happy Gilmore, The Wedding Singer, Anger Management, Little Nicky, Just Go with It, Daddy Day Care, Good Boy!, and Aliens in the Attic (2009). He has a part in many of Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison films, including Grandma’s Boy (2006), You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (2008), and Father of the Year (2018), and made a cameo appearance in the 2008 film Get Smart.
In the mid-1990s, Nealon played himself in three episodes of The Larry Sanders Show. The most popular episode was titled “The New Writer” when he starts hanging around the office so much that Hank (played by actor Jeffrey Tambor) is worried Nealon is trying to steal his job. Garry Shandling and Nealon had a close relationship. In 1994, Nealon hosted the 13-part series Amazing America on the Discovery Channel.
Nealon had a recurring television role on the 2002–06 CBS comedy Still Standing playing Ted Halverson, the Millers’ competitive and religious neighbor. He also appeared as a patient in a mental institution on the first season of Monk. Nealon played Dr. Mark Crest in “Deja Vu”, an episode of The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on July 9, 1999, during the fifth season. From 2005 to 2012, Nealon had an ongoing supporting role as Doug Wilson on the show Weeds on Showtime. In 2009–2011 he voiced the title character in Nick at Nite’s animated series Glenn Martin, DDS.
In 2002, he hosted The Conspiracy Zone on The New TNN for 26 episodes plus an unaired pilot. In 2004, he hosted the first season of Poker Royale on the Game Show Network. Nealon also hosted several years of World’s Funniest Commercials specials on TBS in the 2000s.
In 2008, he published a book chronicling his experiences during his wife’s pregnancy, Yes, You’re Pregnant, But What About Me?
Starting in 2015, Nealon portrayed Captain Telstar in commercials for Charter Spectrum. From 2016 to 2020, he was a regular on the TV sitcom Man with a Plan,
Since 2017 he has also hosted a YouTube talk show called Hiking with Kevin where he hikes a trail with various celebrity guests; the idea came about when during a hike with Matthew Modine the two of them ran out of breath, and Nealon thought it’d be funny to record their inability to talk. As of 2022, the show is on its fourth season with over 100 episodes. Nealon produces and edits the entire show by himself, recording simply using a selfie stick and a camera drone.
