HARRY SHEARER, a Los Angeles native, began acting at the age of seven at the suggestion of his piano teacher-turned-agent. He made his film debut in the classic Abbott and Costello Go To Mars and had a small role in the first Cinemascope movie The Robe. When the last days of network radio made way for the early days of live TV, the young thespian appeared often on The Jack Benny Program as well as on GE Theatre and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and played the role of Eddie Haskell in the pilot episode of Leave It To Beaver.

Shearer gained national recognition as one of the creators and stars of This Is Spinal Tap, where he portrayed heavy metalist Derek Smalls in the mock rockumentary. He was a writer and cast member of Saturday Night Live for two seasons. His on-screen performance as a NASA recruitment official in The Right Stuff showed that he can also support a convincing “establishment” persona. Shearer’s other film work includes Oscar, The Fisher King, Wayne’s World II, Pure Luck, The Truman Show, and Godzilla. More recently he has acted in A Mighty Wind and wrote and directed Teddy Bears’ Picnic.

In addition to his big screen performances, Shearer’s skills as an actor, director, and writer have been showcased on film, cable television, network television, radio, and personal appearances.

His television work has included Politically Incorrect, Martin Mull’s Portrait of a White Marriage, HBO Comedy Hour Live: The Magic of Live, Fernwood 2 Night, Ellen, Friends, Murphy Brown, LA Law, and The News Hole, for which he won his second Ace Award for Best Game Show. Shearer is now known to a new generation as the voice of Mr. Burns, Smithers, and Ned Flanders, among others, on the international hit series The Simpsons. He recently reunited with Michael McKean and David L. Lander for the 25th anniversary reunion of the classic comedy group The Credibility Gap.

Shearer’s theatrical production, co-written with Tom Leopold and Peter Matz, titled J. Edgar!, is a dark musical comedy about one of the most powerful men in 20th-century America. Shearer’s two-CD compilation entitled O.J. On Trial: (The Early Years and That Endless Summer) includes excerpts from his nationally syndicated radio program titled Le Show.

Shearer is currently at work writing an upcoming movie for Showtime entitled Saturday Night Dead, which he will direct next year. He is also developing a new computer animated series for HBO. Shearer has also reported on the 1996 Presidential Conventions and Election and the O.J. Simpson civil trial for Microsoft’s Slate Magazine.