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'Laverne and Shirley,' 'Spinal Tap' actor takes his act to Broadway
Date published: 11/10/2009
By DANIEL BUBBEO Newsday NEW YORK --Michael McKean has had more good hair days than most actors.He shot to stardom as greaser doofus Lenny on the '70s TV favorite "Laverne and Shirley." In the '80s, he donned a blond shag wig and became a cult hero as a stoned rockers in "This Is Spinal Tap." Now he's sporting a ponytail and a beard to play Arthur, the withdrawn owner of a Chicago doughnut shop, in Tracy Letts' "Superior Donuts," the actor's fourth Broadway outing since 2002. McKean, 62, recently chatted in his dressing room about everything from "Donuts" to the Declaration of Independence, and shared sweet Scotch kisses from McKean's wife, actress Annette O'Toole (relax, they're her homemade candies). What attracted you to this role? It was a character I knew right away from my first introduction of reading the script. It was a person who had to deal with the possibility of being drafted in the Army during the Vietnam War. I was very lucky to get a high lottery number, so I became sort of irrelevant. Several people I knew said, "You know what, I'm going to Canada," and that's what Arthur did. Earlier this year, you were touring with Spinal Tap. What's it like to still do that character after 25 years? This time was very different, because we didn't put the wigs and the costumes on. It was just us And it was great fun--we played 30 cities. We did put the wigs back on and the Spandex for two big gigs in England. Any chance of a reunion of Lenny and the Squigtones (his group with "Laverne and Shirley" co-star David L. Lander)? Unfortunately, my partner is not getting around so good. He's got MS, but when we are together, we do sing
Date published: 11/10/2009
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