Bruce Ian McCulloch is a Canadian actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

, writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

, comedian

Comedian

A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...

, and film director

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

. McCulloch is best known for his work as a member of The Kids in the Hall

The Kids in the Hall

The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy group formed in 1984, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson. Their eponymous television show ran from 1988 to 1994 on CBC in Canada, and 1989 to 1995 on CBS and HBO in the United States...

, a popular Canadian comedy troupe, and as a writer for Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

. McCulloch has also appeared on series such as Twitch City

Twitch City

Twitch City is a Canadian sitcom produced by CBC Television. The series aired as two short runs in 1998 and 2000. The series also aired in the United States on Bravo, and in Australia....

and Gilmore Girls

Gilmore Girls

Gilmore Girls is an American family comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. On October 5, 2000, the series debuted on The WB and was cancelled in its seventh season, ending on May 15, 2007 on The CW...

. He directed the films Dog Park

Dog Park (film)

Dog Park is a 1998 American/Canadian romantic comedy film written and directed by Bruce McCulloch.-Plot:Andy, is a writer for newspaper classifieds who has been bouncing from relationship to relationship since eighth grade. Throughout the film, he loses custody of his dog when his girlfriend,...

, Stealing Harvard

Stealing Harvard

Stealing Harvard is a 2002 crime comedy film directed by Bruce McCulloch, about a man who resorts to crime to pay for his niece's Harvard tuition....

and Superstar

Superstar (film)

Superstar is a 1999 comedy film and Saturday Night Live spin-off about a quirky, socially inept girl named Mary Katherine Gallagher. The character was created by SNL star Molly Shannon and appeared as a recurring character on SNL in numerous skits. The story follows Mary Katherine trying to find...

.

He has also written and directed the romantic comedy Comeback Season which toured film festivals before its release on DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 in 2007. He was the writer of ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

's Carpoolers

Carpoolers

Carpoolers is an American single-camera comedy series, which ran on ABC from October 2, 2007 to March 4, 2008. The show was created by Bruce McCulloch, who also executive produced alongside Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, David Miner, Marsh McCall, Joe Russo and Anthony Russo . Joe and Anthony Russo...

.

Early life

McCulloch was born in Edmonton

Edmonton

Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...

, Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

. He attended Strathcona Composite High School in Edmonton and competed in both track-and-field and swimming, winning two individual provincial titles. McCulloch is a graduate of Mount Royal College

Mount Royal College

Mount Royal University is a public university in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1910 as a primary and secondary school, Mount Royal became a post-secondary institution in 1931 as Mount Royal College offering transfer courses to the University of Alberta and later to the University of Calgary...

 located in Calgary

Calgary

Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

, Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

.

The Kids in the Hall

As a member of The Kids in the Hall

The Kids in the Hall

The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy group formed in 1984, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson. Their eponymous television show ran from 1988 to 1994 on CBC in Canada, and 1989 to 1995 on CBS and HBO in the United States...

comedy troupe, McCulloch frequently wrote surreal monologues, films or songs. He also directed several of the filmed sketches. Memorable characters included the Flying Pig, Cabbage Head, talkative schoolchild Gavin, pop starlet Tammy, and grumpy middle-aged man Gordon.

McCulloch appeared in The Kids in the Hall movie Brain Candy

Brain Candy

Brain Candy is a feature film by The Kids in the Hall, a Canadian comedy troupe. Directed by Kelly Makin, filmed in Toronto, and released in 1996, it followed the five season run of their television series, which had been successful in both Canada and the United States.The five man team plays all...

, released in 1996. McCulloch drew controversy with his Cancer Boy character, introduced on the series' final episode, in which he plays a dying young cancer

Cancer

Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

 patient using wheelchair who relates otherwise depressing news in a monosyllabic tone and with a cheerful smile, and even releases a hit single entitled "Whistle When You're Low." Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

 fought to edit out the offending scenes, yet they were still kept in. Among other characters, McCulloch also appeared as Grivo, a depressed rock star.

He co-wrote, starred in, and was executive producer of the Kids in the Hall 2010 reunion project Death Comes to Town

Death Comes to Town

Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town is an eight-episode Canadian mini-series that aired on CBC Television on Tuesdays between January 12 and March 16, 2010. The show takes place in a fictional Ontario town called Shuckton where their mayor has been murdered...

.

Music

McCulloch has released two albums: 1995’s Shame-Based Man

Shame-Based Man

Shame-Based Man, released on April 11, 1995 , was the first album by the comedian Bruce McCulloch. It has 20 tracks of McCulloch's comedic music.-Track listing:#"Grade 8"  – 2:59...

(praised by Allmusic as the “most remarkable of comedy albums: one that bears (frequent) repeated listenings”) and 2002’s Drunk Baby Project

Drunk Baby Project

Drunk Baby Project, released on October 1, 2002 , was the second album by the comedian Bruce McCulloch. It has 14 tracks of McCulloch's unique comedic music.-Track listing:#"Drunk Baby Project" – 3:09...

.

McCulloch also directed the music video for the Tragically Hip’s song “My Music at Work

My Music at Work

"My Music at Work" is a song by Canadian rock group The Tragically Hip. It is the first single and title track from the band's seventh studio album, Music @ Work...

,” for which he won the award of "Best Director" at the 2000 MuchMusic Video Awards

MuchMusic Video Awards

The MuchMusic Video Awards are annual awards presented by the Canadian music video channel MuchMusic to honour the year's best music videos....

. McCulloch has stated on his website that he is close friends with Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie. The video shares much in common with many The Kids in the Hall sketches, including its office setting, camera angles, and some thematic elements.

Movies

McCulloch played Fred Wright in the 1987 TV mini-series Anne of Avonlea

Anne of Avonlea (1987 film)

Anne of Avonlea is a 1987 television film. It is a sequel to the 1985 Anne of Green Gables film. The film dramatizes material from several books in the eight-novel "Anne" series by L. M. Montgomery; they are Anne of Avonlea , Anne of the Island and Anne of Windy Poplars...

. He also had a role in the 1999 comedy film Dick

Dick (film)

Dick is a 1999 American comedy film directed by Andrew Fleming from a script he wrote with Sheryl Longin. It is a parody retelling the events of the Watergate scandal which ended the presidency of Richard Nixon and features several cast members from Saturday Night Live.Kirsten Dunst and Michelle...

.

McCulloch also co-wrote and had a bit part in Superman's 50th Anniversary: A Celebration of the Man of Steel (1988). In the CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 primetime special, (also featuring Dana Carvey

Dana Carvey

Dana Thomas Carvey is an American actor and stand-up comedian, best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for playing the role of Garth in the Wayne's World movies.-Early life:...

, Al Franken

Al Franken

Alan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....

, Jan Hooks

Jan Hooks

Janet V. "Jan" Hooks is an American actress and comedienne best known for her work on NBC's Saturday Night Live , on which she appeared from 1986 to 1991...

, and others) he played a patron of a store that, among other things, sold counterfeit Kryptonite

Kryptonite

Kryptonite is a fictional material from the Superman mythos —the ore form of a radioactive element from Superman's home planet of Krypton. It is famous for being the ultimate physical weakness of Superman, and the word kryptonite has since become synonymous with an Achilles' heel —the one weakness...

.

External links

• Official Website
• http://www.kithfan.org/kith/bruce.html
• An Interview with Bruce McCulloch on the history of the troupe, ongoing collaboration with Kevin McDonald
  Kevin McDonald
  Kevin Hamilton McDonald is a Canadian comedian and actor, known as a member of the Canadian sketch comedy group The Kids in the Hall.-Early life:...
  
  , cross-dressing, and the business of comedy in Unlimited magazine