Michael McKean took the Better Call Saul role for the surprise of it.

McGill has Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity, a kind of allergy to magnetic pulses.

Now hes cracking up intelligently in Albuquerque.

Hes already proven himself a genius in manipulating OCD, leaving hundreds of unfilled files in the mans apartment.

He is that dedicated.

He commits to the joke.

It is always a happy surprise to me when Michael McKean pops up on the credits.

McKean never got bogged into the straitjacket of his kind-of-iconic TV debut.

He transcended many career-defining roles that could have typecast him for life by creating more characters.

McKean is an accomplished ensemble player.

Sometimes he dribbles, but he always shoots his energy off for the assist.

The Guest ensemble play volleyball with their parts and they dont even care if the audience gets the joke.

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OnBetter Call Saul, McKean is a tragic, almost pathetic creature.

There is a comic performance under that drama that makes the character even more sympathetic while keeping his distance.

McKean has been doing this for years, turning an uncomfortable comic trait into an easy looking schtick.

A lot of fans winced when Lenny and Squiggy showed up onLaverne and Shirley.

Actors dont want people cringing when they show up on a screen.

McKeans characters flourish on the edge of likeability.

Michael McKean was born in New York City on Oct. 17, 1947.

His mom, Ruth, was a librarian.

Michael was a session musician in New York in the late 1960s.

He recorded a single with the Left Banke.

Michael was studying at Carnegie Tech, Lander was at CMU.

They took their schtick to the comedy group The Credibility Gap with Harry Shearer in Los Angeles.

McKean and Lander joined the cast ofLaverne & Shirleyin 1976.

McKean was originally hired as a writer.

McKean directed one episode.

McKean would step into Fox Mulders psyche for anX-Filesepisode called Jump the Shark.

Coincidence or another unsolved mystery fromUnsolved Mysteries?

Lenny and Squiggy released an album as Lenny and the Squigtones in 1979.

Criss has always denied it, but McKean couldnt keep a straight face on it.

The guitarist was Christopher Guest under the name Nigel Tufnel, which hed use again forSpinal Tap.

Up there with On Top of Spaghetti and Frosty The Dope Man.

The movie also starred Frank McRae, David L. Lander, Al Lewis, Dub Taylor and Dick Miller.

Jack Warden played everyone else.

David Ivor St. Hubbins was a play on the name of Ted Nugents rhythm guitarist Derek St. Holmes.

Rob Reiners mockumentaryThis Is Spinal Tapcame out in 1984.

In the introduction toThis Is Spinal Tap: The Official Guide,he calls David St. Hubbins mostly fictional.

The mostly fictional St. Hubbins was named for the Patron Saint of Quality Footwear.

He was part of the musical advocacy group Hear n Aid.

His cosmically challenged life was saved by the astrological maneuverings of his wife.

InA Mighty Windfrom 2003, The Folksmen are played by the acoustic Spinal Tap without wigs.

It was a comedy all-star board game, every line a punch line, even the set ups.

The movie was shot with three endings.

Depending on where you saw it, you saw a different killer, or victim, but usually both.

It got bad reviews at the time, but what did they know?

It is a classic.

AfterClue, McKean madeEarth Girls Are Easy, based on comedian Julie BrownsGoddess In Progressalbum in 1984.

He had a lead in the filmShort Circuit 2in 1988.

McKean was also part of the ensemble cast ofGrandon NBC.

It lasted one season in 1990.

McKean also directed the final episode of the show.

He played WBN band conductor Rick Rochester in the throwback screwball comedyRadioland Murdersin 1994.

McKean began maneuvering the orbit of theSaturday Night Livegalaxy in the late eighties.

He hostedSaturday Night Liveand appeared as a musical guest with Spinal Tap.

He set a record as the oldest person ever to join the Not Ready For Time Players in 1994.

Hed been offered a spot as a cast member spot by Dick Ebersol in 1984 but turned it down.

Ackroyd was already in the cast when hed appeared as Elwood Blues.

McKean stayed through 1995.

The only recurring character I remember is the Good Morning Brooklyn weatherman Anthony.

He inherited a lot of impressions, including Bill Clinton, from the late great Phil Hartman.

McKean wasnt the star, that was Brian Benben as Martin Tupper.

McKean was an irregular regular but I called the series Gibby at the time, as in Gibbys on.

He also appeared inTeaching Mrs. Tingle, Little NickyandMystery.

He played a great ethnic.

McKean returned toThe X-Filesin its final season for the aforementioned episode Jump the Shark, still a mystery.

He was band leader Adrien Van Voorhees inPrimetime Glickfrom 2001-2003.

One of McKeans must successful collaborations is with his wife Annette OToole.

Having played both Supermans girlfriend and Supermans mother, OToole has a sense of the perverse.

McKean played Perry White in the Perry episode ofSmallvillein 2003.

OnSmalleville, OToole and McKean only had one scene together and they were separated by about 200 yards.

McKean and OTool had already appeared together on a 1999 episode ofBoy Meets Worldcalled State of the Unions.

They also appeared together on an episode ofLaw & Orderand in the 1998 Lifetime movieFinal Justice.

My favorite of the couples collaborations, that Ive seen, is their musical partnership.

So she drove a rental car down.

So that was the first tune we wrote together.

A Mighty Winddirector Christopher Guest asked us to write a song to be Mitch and Mickeys signature tune.

Something romantic and fairly straight.

McKean appeared Christopher Guests HBO comedy seriesFamily Treein early 2013.

McKean played Dalboz of Gurth, the lead role in the video gameZork Grand Inquisitorin 1997.

McKean is just as comfortable on the stage as he is on screen.

He appeared in the Broadway production ofHairsprayin 2004.

McKean debuted on Londons West End inLove Songby American playwright John Kolvenbach.

In 2009, McKean starred in playwright Tracy LettsSuperior Donutsput on by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago.

Theater legends tell us that you should never say good luck before the start of a production.

In April 2012, McKean began performing on Broadway in a revival of Gore VidalsThe Best Man.

On May 22, 2012, McKean was hit by a car, breaking his leg.

His part was filled by James Lecesne.

McKean got out of the hospital on June 1, 2012 and underwent physical rehabilitation.

In late February 2014, McKean supportedBreaking Bads Bryan Cranston in Robert SchenkkansAll the Way.

Cranston starred as Lyndon B. Johnson and McKean played J. Edgar Hoover.

McKean had worked with Vince Gilligan onThe X-Files.

Gilligan asked McKean to join the originalBreaking Badcast, but the actor had stage commitments.

I did this play with Bryan [Cranston] in Cambridge and then in New York.

… Im offstage with Bryan, were about to make an entrance.

And I said, What are you talking about?

And he says, Well, Vince is going to call you.

I think he wants you to play the brother.

Itd be a cool thing to do because hes stuck in one place.

You could maybe do a couple episodes at a time, McKean said in an interview withIGN.

As he toldIGN, I like being surprised like everybody else.

I like when Vince calls me and says, Are you sitting down?

This is what happens here.

Okay, lets do this.

I didKing Learfour years ago, in New York, and played Gloucester.

This guy gets his eyes gouged out on stage.

And Im thinking, how can I play that scene?

And it wound up playing really well, all night, every night.

We love being given the impossible.

But no matter how bad they break, its all good, man.