Mark Douglas Brown McKinney (born June 26, 1959) is a Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known as a member of the sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall, which includes starring in the 1989 to 1995 TV series The Kids in the Hall and 1996 feature film Brain Candy. He was a writer on Saturday Night Live from 1985 to 1986, and returned as a cast member from 1995 to 1997; and from 2003 to 2006, he co-created, wrote and starred in the series Slings & Arrows. He also appeared as Tom in FXX's Man Seeking Woman. From 2015 to 2021, he appeared as store manager Glenn Sturgis on NBC's Superstore.
Early life McKinney was born on June 26, 1959, in Ottawa, Ontario, to Chloe, an architectural writer, and Russell McKinney, a diplomat.
Career
He started performing comedy with the Loose Moose Theatre Company in Calgary, Alberta. There, McKinney met Bruce McCulloch. Together they formed a comedy team called "The Audience." Eventually, McKinney and McCulloch moved to Toronto, and met Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald, who were in the process of forming a comedy troupe. Along with Scott Thompson, who joined after coming to a stage show, The Kids in the Hall was formed in 1985.
After the Kids in the Hall caught the attention of Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels, Michaels offered McKinney and McCulloch places on the writing staff. They accepted the offer, joining the SNL writing staff for a single season, the infamous season 11, from 1985-1986, after which SNL was nearly cancelled. Sketches written by McKinney in season 11 include El Spectaculare De Marika (episode 1), Fishermen (episode 5), and One Shoe Emma (episode 14), as well as commercial parodies Drums, Drums, Drums (episode 2), Ad Council (episode 4), and Brim Decaffeinated (episode 16). McKinney also provided a number of uncredited voice-over lines.
The troupe appeared in their own TV series, The Kids in the Hall, which was co-produced by Lorne Michaels and ran from 1988 to 1995. Notable characters on the show played by McKinney include the Chicken Lady, Darill (pronounced da-RILL), bluesman Mississippi Gary, and Mr. Tyzik the Headcrusher, an embittered Eastern European who pretended to crush the heads of passers-by between his thumb and forefinger.
After The Kids in the Hall, McKinney returned to Saturday Night Live, in the cast this time, in the middle of the 1994–1995 season (season 20) as a repertory player. McKinney survived the cast overhaul that occurred at the end of season 20 and his firing was considered at the end of season 21, but he ultimately stayed on SNL until the end of the 1996–1997 (season 22). During his time on SNL, McKinney had six recurring characters (some of note include Ian Daglers from "Scottish Soccer Hooligan Weekly", Melanie, a Catholic schoolgirl, and Lucien Callow, a fop often paired with David Koechner's fop character Fagan) and twenty-seven celebrity impersonations (some of note include Mel Gibson, Barney Frank, Al Gore, Paul Shaffer, Mark Russell, Jim Carrey, Lance Ito, Tim Robbins, Steve Forbes, Wolf Blitzer, Bill Gates, and Ellen DeGeneres).
He has appeared in several films, including the SNL spinoffs Superstar, The Ladies Man and A Night at the Roxbury. McKinney also starred opposite Isabella Rossellini in Guy Maddin's tragicomedy The Saddest Music in the World. He also appeared in the Spice Girls' movie Spice World. In 1999 he appeared in the Canadian theatrical feature film adaptation Jacob Two Two Meets the Hooded Fang.
McKinney cowrote and starred in the Kids in the Hall movie Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy, in which, among other roles, he spoofed SNL and KITH executive producer Lorne Michaels.
Theatre His theatre appearances include The Ugly Man with One Yellow Rabbit at the Edinburgh Fringe festival and Glasgow. He was in the cast of The Roundabout theatre production of Flea in her Ear and David Lindsay Abaire's Fuddy Meers for the Manhattan theatre club. During the fall of 2001 McKinney performed the one-man show Fully Committed at the Wintergarden theatre in Toronto and again in the summer of 2002 at the Centaur Theatre in Montreal. In September 2022 he appeared in the European premiere of Eureka Day at The Old Vic theatre in London.
Later appearances He also appeared in the first season of Robson Arms, as well as on the Canadian comedy Corner Gas.
From 2003 to 2006, he co-created, co-wrote and starred in the TV series Slings & Arrows, about the backstage goings-on in a Canadian Shakespearean theatre company struggling with financial problems as they rehearse and present various productions.
In 2006–07, he both worked as a story editor on and a recurring role in NBC's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip as Andy Mackinaw, a humourless widowed writer/story editor for the show-within-a-show. He appeared as a cast member on the CBC comedy Hatching, Matching, and Dispatching and its 2017 follow up A Christmas Fury.
He directed the short film Not Pretty, Really for the 2006 anthology Shorts in Motion: The Art of Seduction.
As well, he directed and appeared on the CBC Radio post-apocalyptic comedy Steve, The First and its sequel, Steve, The Second, for his friend Matt Watts. He also wrote one episode of Watts' sitcom Michael, Tuesdays and Thursdays, which aired on CBC Television in fall 2011."Camelot & cover songs: Inside CBC's new fall lineup" . National Post, June 8, 2011.
In the summer of 2007, he became the show-runner and executive producer of Less Than Kind, a half hour comedy starring Maury Chaykin.
McKinney was in an episode of the Canadian children's TV show Dino Dan called "Prehistoric Zoo/Ready? Set? Dino!" He plays Dino Dan's track coach in the second part, "Ready? Set? Dino!", of this two-part episode released 4 October 2010 (Canada).
He co-wrote and starred in the Kids in the Hall 2010 reunion project Death Comes to Town."Nothing is sacred in new Kids in the Hall series" . Xtra!, December 28, 2009.
In 2011, he was an executive producer of Picnicface, a sketch TV series from the Halifax comedy troupe of the same name produced for The Comedy Network.
In 2013, he co-starred in Rocket Monkeys as the main antagonist, Lord Peel. In 2014, he appeared in the CBC television series The Best Laid Plans.Bill Brioux, "‘Best Laid Plans’ turns satiric focus on politics". Toronto Star, January 4, 2014. Beginning in 2015, he was a co-star on the NBC sitcom Superstore which was cancelled in 2021.
In 2020, he appeared as a guest on the Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip marathon fundraiser episode of The George Lucas Talk Show
In 2022, he joined the other Kids in the Hall for an eight-episode sixth season on Amazon Prime.
In 2024, he hosted the documentary series Mark McKinney Needs a Hobby for CTV.J. Kelly Nestruck, "In Mark McKinney Needs a Hobby, the Canadian actor finds out what fits". The Globe and Mail, October 9, 2024.
In 2025, he appeared in several episodes of the sketch comedy series This Hour Has 22 Minutes, as prime minister Mark Carney.Debra Yeo, "Kid in the Hall Mark McKinney plays Mark Carney on ‘This Hour Has 22 Minutes’". Toronto Star, April 8, 2025. According to McKinney, the idea was launched after a post he made to X was mistakenly attributed to Carney, with 22 Minutes writers Mike Allison and Mark Critch contacting him to offer him the role soon afterward.Vivian Rashotte, "How Mark McKinney became Mark Carney". CBC Arts, April 23, 2025.
Filmography Film +YearTitleRole Notes1994 The Passion of John RuskinJohn RuskinShort film1996Kids in the Hall: Brain CandyDon Roritor / Simon / Cabbie / Gunther / Cop #1 / Nina Bedford / Melanie / Drill sergeant / Sharisse (White-trash woman)Also writer1997 The Wrong GuyCameoUncreditedHayseedAlien DoctorSpice WorldGraydon1998FidelioMarkShort film The Last Days of DiscoRex The HerdUnknownDog ParkDr. Cavan, Dog Psychologist A Night at the RoxburyFather Williams1999 The Out-of-TownersGregNew Waterford GirlDoctor HoganJacob Two Two Meets the Hooded FangMr. FishSuperstarFather Ritley2000 The Ladies ManMr. WhiteThis Might Be GoodUnknownShort film2002ToothpasteHusband Short film2003 The Saddest Music in the WorldChester KentAlso additional camera operatorFalling AngelsReg and Ron2006Snow CakeNeighbourUncreditedNot Pretty, ReallyInterviewerShort film; also directorUnaccompanied MinorsGuard in the Hall #32008CarfuckersPayetteShort film; also writer2009High LifeJeremy2017Room for RentWarren Baldwin2018Seven Stages to Achieve Eternal BlissCultistDoozyClovis (voice)2024Scared Shitless Dr. RobertThis Too Shall PassBishop Hamolta
Television +YearTitleRole Notes1985–1990Saturday Night LiveVarious voices21 episodes; uncredited1987Seeing ThingsUnknownEpisode: "Another Point of View"1987–1990Street LegalStanley / Officer Robert Kaufman2 episodes1988DynamanDynablue (voice)Unknown episodes1988–1995; 2022 The Kids in the HallVarious109 episodes; also writer and director1995–1997Saturday Night LiveVarious48 episodes2000Twitch CityRex Reilly3 episodesStrangers with CandyLeeEpisode: "The Last Temptation of Blank" The IndustryDean SutherlandEpisode: "Wrongly Convicted"2001ClerksFreak #2 (voice)Episode: "The Last Episode Ever"3rd Rock from the SunGuyEpisode: "My Mother, My Dick"MentorsMack SennettEpisode: "Silent Movie"DiceSam Cutter6 episodesCriminal MastermindUnknown TV movie2003Wanda at Large Mark2 episodesLilo & Stitch: The SeriesBertley Pleakley (voice)Episode: "Fibber: Experiment 032" The Toronto ShowVariousEpisode #1.12003–2006Slings & ArrowsRichard Smith-Jones18 episodes; also creator and writer2004Puppets Who KillQuiz Show HostEpisode: "Rocko Gets a Lung"2005Corner GasBillEpisode: "An American in Saskatchewan"Kevin HillProfessor Xavier AmbroseEpisode: "Losing Isn't Everything"Robson ArmsTom Goldblum3 episodesBurnt ToastTrevorTV movieRick Mercer ReportDriver in Responsible Drinking CommercialEpisode #3.32005–2006Hatching, Matching and DispatchingTodd6 episodes; also writer2006Heyday!Bob HopeTV movie2006–2007Studio 60 on the Sunset StripAndy Mackinaw10 episodes; also writer2008-2012Less Than Kind(Writer)8 episodes2010 The Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to TownVarious8 episodes; also writerLess Than KindGunman / The Bear2 episodes; also writer, executive producer, and directorDino DanMr. Drumheller2 episodes2013–2016Rocket MonkeysLord Peel (voice)2013Mother Up!LelandEpisode: "Shoe I Am"2013–2014This Hour Has 22 Minutes Various 2 episodes; also writer2014 The Best Laid PlansGeorge Quimby6 episodesSpun OutAlastairEpisode: "Middle Aged Men in the Hall"Space Riders: Division EarthChair3 episodesOdd SquadGeneral PentagonEpisode: "Crime at Shapely Manor"2015–2017Man Seeking WomanTom18 episodes2015–2021SuperstoreGlenn SturgisMain cast, 113 episodes; also Director of “Love Birds” 2019Where's Waldo(Voice)Episode: "A Wanderer Christmas"2020 The George Lucas Talk ShowHimselfEpisode: "Stu-D2 1138 on the Binary Sunset Sith"2021–2023 The Great NorthMorris / Jobiathan (voice)2 episodes2021Corner Gas AnimatedFrank Shoddy (voice)Episode: "Parachute the Messenger"2023Son of a CritchHudaroEpisode: "Who Dares Dare Hudaro?"Jane Mr. HarrisonEpisode "Apis mellifera"American Dad!(Voice)Voice; Episode: "A Little Extra Scratch" 2024 Mark McKinney Needs a Hobby Self Documentary series hostLast Week Tonight with John OliverPeach (Voice)2025 This Hour Has 22 Minutes Mark Carney 5 episodes The Z-Suite George 4 episodes Wayward Maurice Episode "Build"
References
External links