"My mom said 'you used to sleep in it' because I was kind of shy kid and I'd go hide and sleep in
this box". *
Chris Kattan was born October 19, 1970 (Southern California-
Sherman Oaks to be exact). His parents divorced at three
and he lived with his step-father and mom in Mt. Baldy, California. Chris was left alone alot and had nothing but his imagination, as Chris later recalled "I just want to run around and play frisbee and fall down. And nobody was there to watch that or care about that." 1
& "My stepfather Mark, became my father and was
like 'I want you to start creating something out of nothing'. So I did alot of that."2
On weekends he visited his dad-Kip King (birth name:
Jerome Kattan ), a well known improv actor and character
vocalist. Chris liked watching his dad's old movie collection and had appreciation for such greats as the Keystone Cops, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin
and Peter Sellers ("not for a second did they fall out of
character and something's a bit insane about them .. wrong
with them.") 3
At 14 he began acting classes and at 15 he moved to Seattle with his step father and mom where he attended High School (Bainbridge Island). He was said to be a goof-off (in his own words "I got
into trouble many a times. Authority and I did not
mix." 4). He also spent some time working at a video store.
After high school he moved back to California, where he attended Cal. state NorthRidge (studying Acting & Directing). He also took classes at the Groundlings a LA improv troupe famous for other SNLers such as:Phil Hartman, Laraine Newman, Julia Sweeney, &
Jon Lovitz. This is also where he met fellow SNLer Will Ferrell (his best friend on the cast)
Like a great many at the Groundlings, he was spotted by a talent scout, in this case SNL producer- Marci Klein who asked him to come to New York to audition. He auditioned once, and was asked back for a second audition where he got the job.
Chris made his debute towards the end of the 22nd season of SNL (March 16, 1996) with host John Goodman. Introducing his recurring character the gibberish guy Suel Forrester as a substitute teacher. Behind the scenes he had been advised to get all sketches in or he probally wouldn't return for the next season.
Chris returned the following season, followed by three more seasons (98-99, 99-2000 & 2000-01) introducing us to characters Mr. Peepers, Mango, The Demarco Brothers, Azrael Abyss & and Eddy Lewis (the
Shop at Home seller) along with numerous impressions.
Besides SNL, movie credits include "And God Spoke" (1993), "A Night at the Roxbury" (1998), "House on Haunted Hill" (1999), "Monkeybone" (2000) & "Corky Romano" (2001).
He currently resides in New York & L.A.
can be reached at:
Chris Kattan
c/o NBC Studios
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112
and has been known to wander the net aimlessly
3 times a week
Footnotes:
* The Rosie O'Donnell Show (11/09/00)
1 Schreiber, Brad:
Brad's Father & Son Page
2 The Rosie O'Donnell Show (11/09/00)
3,4 Big Star: Big Star Chat transcript (10/20/98)
------------------------
webibliography
alt.tv.snl
Big Star: Big Star Chat transcript (10/20/98)
Bradley, Sean: Saturday-Night-Live
Chriskattan.net
Fienberg, Daniel (Daily Pennsylvanian:)
An Afternoon at the Four Seasons
Globe.com,the: Chat Transcript (1998)
Groundlings, The
Hobson, Louis B. (Calgary Sun: Saturday September 26, 1998) Loser are winnwers with Roxbury Bros.
Hollywood.com:
Hollywood MovieTalk:
Real Audio Interview
Hollywood.com: Hollywood Spotight: chat transcript (July 19, 1998)
IMDB: Chris Kattan page
IMDB: Kip
King page
Mandel, Jeff and Reynolds, Bill:
Kip King's Online Acting Workshop
NBC: Official SNL
site
Schreiber, Brad:
Brad's Father & Son Page
Serpas III, Frank: Saturday Net
Swingster79: Realm of Chris Kattan
Talkcity: Talkcity Chat transcript (Jul-29-99)
Yahoo: Yahoo Chat transcript (Jul 18, 1997)
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