Biography: US born actor, director, writer, musician and composer best known for his hilarious "mockumentaries", poking fun at heavy metal music, small town theater, dog shows and folk music. Christopher Haden-Guest was born February 5th, 1948 in New York City, to an American mother and an English father, Peter Haden-Guest, the fourth baron of Saling in the County of Essex.
He received his dramatic arts t ... show all US born actor, director, writer, musician and composer best known for his hilarious "mockumentaries", poking fun at heavy metal music, small town theater, dog shows and folk music. Christopher Haden-Guest was born February 5th, 1948 in New York City, to an American mother and an English father, Peter Haden-Guest, the fourth baron of Saling in the County of Essex.
He received his dramatic arts training at New York City's High School of Arts and Music and Bard College, and Guest first appeared in minor film roles in a mixture of film genres including "The Hot Rock (1972)", "The Death Wish (1974)", _Lemmings (1973)_ and "Long Riders (1980)". However, he was also dabbling in writing for several TV shows, and when filming _Million Dollar Infield (1982)_ , Guest became acquainted with writer/director Rob Reiner and the two collaborated, along with Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, to pen the script and music for the sleeper hit "This Is Spinal Tap (1984)".
The "mockumentary" also starred Guest as dizzy lead guitarist "Nigel Tufnel" whose most famous line is surely, "These go to eleven", when referring to the volume settings on the band's rather unique Marshall amplifiers!!
Guest then busied himself for several years as a regular guest on "Saturday Night Live", and along with fellow Spinal Tap "band members" lead singer David St. Hubbins aka Michael McKean and bassist Derek Smalls aka Harry Shearer they regularly appeared as "Spinal Tap" and in 1992 they released _Spinal Tap: Break Like The Wind-The Videos (1992)_ , plus _A Spinal Tap Reunion: The 25th Anniversary London Sell Out (1992)_ . Guest had a minor acting role in the courtroom drama of _A Few Good Men (1992)_ , before returning to poke fun at wannabe actors in the howlingly funny _Waiting For Guffman (1996)_ with Guest taking center stage as highly string choreographer "Corky St. Clair". He made a return to heavy metal with "Spinal Tap: The Final Tour (1998)" and _Catching Up with Marty DiBergi (2000)_ , before turning his comedic pen to the world of championship dog shows for the sensational comedy "Best in Show (2000)". The latest "mockumentary" from Guest and co-writer/actor Eugene Levy was again met with critical praise, and movie fans just loved it too! In 2003, Guest and Levy took aim at the folk music world, and successfully collaborated to write the comedy "Mighty Wind, A (2003)" about the reunion of a 1960s folk music group, "The Folksmen".
Guest is married to well known actor Jamie Lee Curtis with two children, Anne and Thomas, plus he is the brother of actor Nicholas Guest. hide |
