• Actor and director Christopher Guest portrays guitarist Nigel Tufnel in Rob Reiner's classic heavy metal satire This is Spinal Tap. Guest has since directed a number of other "mockumentary" films, including Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show.

• Fast Facts

  1. Born February 5, 1948 in New York City, New York
  2. The 5th Baron Haden-Guest, a former member of the British House of Lords
  3. Wife: Jamie Lee Curtis
  4. Has two adopted children
  5. Frequently co-writes his films with Eugene Levy
  6. Spinal Tap: Michael McKean as David St. Hubbins, Harry Shearer as Derek Smalls, Christopher Guest as Nigel Tufnel

• Career Background

  Guest started his career in comedy as a contributor to The National Lampoon Radio Hour and an actor in the theatrical show National Lampoon's Lemmings, along with future Saturday Night Live players John Belushi and Chevy Chase.

  Guest would himself appear on SNL, but only for one season, from 1984 to 1985, the same year in which Spinal Tap was released. Guest would play another memorable role for director Rob Reiner a few years later, as the Six-Fingered Man in 1987's The Princess Bride.

  In 1996, Guest produced and directed the mockumentary Waiting for Guffman. Three more mockumentaries have followed, starring many of the same actors and all done in a similar style: 2000's Best in Show, 2003's A Mighty Wind (in which the members of Spinal Tap reunited as The Folksmen) and the 2006 show business parody For Your Consideration. Guest has played a role himself in each of the films.

• Stock Company

  Actors frequently appearing in Guest films include:

  • Bob Balaban
  • Ed Begley Jr.
  • Jennifer Coolidge
  • John Michael Higgins
  • Eugene Levy
  • Jane Lynch
  • Catherine O'Hara
  • Michael McKean
  • Parker Posey
  • Harry Shearer
  • Fred Willard

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Harry Shearer | Michael McKean | Spinal Tap | Best in Show | For Your Consideration | A Mighty Wind | Waiting for Guffman | Jamie Lee Curtis | Rob Reiner | Fred Willard | Eugene Levy | Parker Posey | Catherine O'Hara | Bob Balaban | Saturday Night Live

Categories

Would you like to become this page's manager? Mahalo pages can make up to $50 a month.

 

What is this?

View Top Managers

• View History
• Discuss on the Message Board
• Embed this Page
• Share this page