From the sixties spy Austin Powers and his nemesis Dr. Evil, to metalhead Wayne, and the German pseudo-intellectual Dieter, Mike Myers has created some of the biggest characters in popular culture. While Myers is a huge movie star, his rise to fame is not well known. Best-selling biographer Martin Knelman chronicles Myers' early career from the first television appearance of Wayne's World (not on Saturday Night Live), to his breakthrough success on Saturday Night Live and movies such as Wayne's World and Austin Powers.
The road to success has not always been smooth. His first hit movies were followed by flops. Portraits of Myers as a vain control freak began to surface in the media including a vicious profile in Vanity Fair. Accusations intensified when Myers, facing a multi-million dollar lawsuit and intense criticism from the Hollywood establishment, stopped production on a movie based on his Dieter character because it wasn't funny enough. Only with the intervention of Jeffrey Katzenberg did Mike Myers' career and reputation bounce back with the overwhelming success of Shrek.
Mike's World explores the controversies and successes of Myers' career. This compelling portrait of a passionate artist who is devoted to his career, his family and wife. It is above all about a man who continues to live by his late father's advice: always be funny.
