This significant figure in TV sketch comedy of the late 1970s and early 80s has been busy ever since as a producer, director and writer. Arguably the brightest light of the stellar cast of "SCTV", Thomas became known for his dead-on celebrity impressions--his Bob Hope and Walter Cronkite were uncanny if a bit harsh--and iconoclastic wit. His Hope was a mean-spirited egotist utterly dependent on his writers while his Cronkite was a borderline senile windbag. Thomas worked particularly well with fellow writer-performer Rick Moranis who played Woody Allen to Thomas's Hope in a splendid sketch entitled "Play It Again Bob". The pair created the popular brother act, Bob and Doug McKenzie, beer-driven co-hosts of a Canadian cable TV show "Great White North". Sort of a proto-"Wayne's World", this languid display of proletarian banality was "SCTV"'s wicked response to the CBC's dictum that all their TV shows contain a certain proportion of "Canadian content". Thomas left "SCTV" in 1982 and released a comedy album with Rick Moranis, "Bob and Doug McKenzie's Great White North". The lager-loving duo were also featured on the big screen in "Strange Brew" (1983), a cultish comedy co-written and co-directed by Thomas and Moranis (the characters would be reprised for "The Animated Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie" in 2003, the same year the actors parodied Bob and Doug as the moose duo Rutt and Tuke in Disney's animated "Brother Bear"). He received an excellent showcase in "The Dave Thomas Comedy Show" (CBS, 1990), a five-week summer replacement series, but somehow his amorphous personality failed to register as the main attraction. His mimetic skills remained as sharp as ever, as his impersonation of Edward Woodward in a hilarious takeoff of "The Equalizer" ("The Intimidator") displayed. Thomas' next project of note was "America's Funniest People" (ABC, 1990), a video compilation show, which he co-created and co-executive produced. He has also continued writing and directing other TV projects through the 90s. Thomas enjoyed a stint as a co-star of the popular Single Mom sitcom "Grace Under Fire" (ABC, 1993-98) starring Brett Butler. He proved much more than equal to the task of playing Russell Norton, a perpetually henpecked pharmacist friend of the protagonist, and he frequently appeared in such big screen comedies as "Boris and Natasha" (1992) as the villainous foreign spy Boris Badenov from the "Rocky & Bullwinkle" cartoons, "Coneheads" (1993), "Rat Race" (2001) and "The Aristocrats" (2005). Thomas continued to pop up in unexpected places: as a writer on Dennis Miller's short-lived pre-HBO late night talk show (1992); reprising his Bob Hope impression for Martin Short's "Primetime Glick" (2001, 2002); as a consulting producer on the short-lived animated series "The Mullets" (2003); as a writer and director on the series "Pet Star" (2003), Animal Planet's animal-centric "American Idol" talent show; and in a recurring role as the short-tempered Brit Trevor on the cult sitcom "Arrested Development" in 2005. Thomas also enjoyed a lucrative side career as a voice actor on several animated projects, including "The Simpsons," "King of the Hill," "Mission Hill" and "Justice League."
- Also Credited As:
David William Thomas
- Born:
May 20, 1948 in St Catherines, Ontario, Canada
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Job Titles:
Actor, Screenwriter, Director, Producer, Advertising copywriter
Family
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Daughter: Emily Samantha Thomas.
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Father: Jonathan Thomas.
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Mother: Moreen Thomas.
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Son: Harry Thomas.
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Son: Johnathan Michael Thomas.
Education
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McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, English, MA, 1973
Milestones
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1948 Born in St. Catherine s, Ontario, Canada
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1970 Began acting in college; met Martin Short
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1972 Early professional stage credit, Toronto production of Godspell starring Short and featuring Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy, Paul Shaffer, and Andrea Martin
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1972 TV debut, a regular on The David Steinberg Show , a CBS summer replacement comedy-variety series
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1973 Left show business and worked as an advertising copywriter at McCann-Erickson in Toronto
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1975 Left advertising at age 27 (date approximate)
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1975 Returned to acting; joined the Toronto company of Second City (date approximate)
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1977 Co-created, co-starred, and served as a head writer for the Toronto-based SCTV , a TV show comprised of talents from the Toronto and Chicago companies (syndicated in the USA) (date approximate)
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1978 US TV dramatic acting debut, Home to Stay , a CBS-TV movie shot in Canada
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1980 Wrote and acted in From Cleveland , an unsold pilot videotaped in Cleveland, Ohio
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1981 Feature acting debut, Stripes
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1982 Left SCTV
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1983 Feature debut as co-director and co-writer (with Moranis), Strange Brew (also co-starred)
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1984 Served as a performer and writer on The New Show , a short-lived NBC comedy-variety series from producer Lorne Michaels
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1985 Narrated The Last Polka , an HBO comedy documentary about a fictional polka team starring John Candy and Eugene Levy
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1985 Received story credit for the feature, Spies Like Us
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1985 TV producing debut, executive produced Steel Collar Man , an unsold pilot for an adventure series about a superhuman android (also scripted)
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1986 Executive produced, directed, wrote and starred in his first TV special, The Incredible Time Travels of Henry Osgood , an installment of Showtime Comedy Spotlight
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1989 Directed The Experts , a late Cold War comedy starring John Travolta
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1989 Executive produced and wrote B-Men , an unsold comedy adventure pilot aired on the CBS Summer Playhouse
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1990 Co-created and co-executive produced America s Funniest People for ABC
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1990 Executive produced, wrote, and hosted The Dave Thomas Comedy Show , a five-week CBS summer replacement series
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1990 Wrote and acted in episodes of Maniac Mansion , a fantasy comedy series on the Family Channel
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1992 Executive produced, wrote, and acted in Inside America s Totally Unsolved Lifestyles , an ABC comedy special spoofing reality-based TV shows
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1993 Directed and co-wrote Ghost Mom , a supernatural comedy TV-movie on Fox
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1997 Formed Maple Palm Productions
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Became head copywriter for Coca Cola, Canada
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Debut as a sitcom regular, Grace Under Fire (ABC), starring Brett Butler
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Performed with Short in Macbeth ; he was Banquo, Short was Lennox
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Raised in North Carolina (date approximate)
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Spent part of his youth in England
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With frequent collaborator Rick Moranis, released a comedy album, Bob and Doug McKenzie s Great White North , featuring their popular SCTV characters; the album went gold in the US and triple platinum in Canada
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Wrote a comedic commercial for Coca-Cola, Canada starring Tim Conway