Lorne Michaels

Lorne Michaels was born Lorne David Lipowitz on November 17, 1944, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He began his career in broadcasting as a writer for CBC Radio, working with Hart Pomerantz. In 1968, Michaels and Pomerantz relocated to Los Angeles to write for shows such as ‘Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In’ and ‘The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show’. They later returned to Canada to develop and star in ‘The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour’, a series of comedy specials for CBC in the early 1970s. This early work provided a foundation for his future endeavors in television production.
Michaels returned to the United States in 1973, gaining notice by writing for ‘The Burns and Schreiber Comedy Hour’. This led to Lily Tomlin hiring him to produce a series of specials, with the first special earning an Emmy Award. This collaboration with Tomlin was a turning point, providing Michaels with the credibility needed to secure a position at NBC. In 1975, Michaels, along with Dick Ebersol and Herb Schlosser, created ‘NBC’s Saturday Night’, which later became ‘Saturday Night Live’ (SNL). He served as the show’s producer and writer, and later became its executive producer, a role he has held for decades, with a hiatus in the early 1980s.
In addition to ‘SNL’, Michaels founded Broadway Video in 1979, which has produced ‘SNL’ since 1981, as well as ‘The Kids in the Hall’ (1988), ‘Late Night with Conan O’Brien’ (1993–2009), ’30 Rock’ (2006–2013), and ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ (since 2014). He has produced numerous films based on ‘SNL’ characters, including ‘Coneheads’ (1993) and ‘Mean Girls’ (2004, 2024). Michaels has received multiple awards for his contributions to television, including 24 Primetime Emmy Awards, becoming the most nominated individual in the award show’s history. He was also honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2004 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.