Colin Andrew Mochrie (born November 30, 1957) is a Scottish-Canadian actor and improvisational comedian.
Born in Kilmarnock, Scotland, he moved with his family to Canada in 1964. Mochrie graduated as a Valedictorian from Killarney Secondary School in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1975. He is an alumnus of Toronto's famous Second City comedy troupe, where he co-wrote and starred in three productions as well as directed three seasons of their national touring company.
After nine years as a regular on the British Channel 4 hit improvisation series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, he appeared in every episode of the American version hosted by Drew Carey on ABC. He was frequently mocked by his co-stars on the show for being Canadian and for his receding hairline, most notably the "Captain Hair" jokes. At the same time, he starred in the Canadian comedy series Blackfly and Supertown Challenge. More recently he appeared in This Hour Has 22 Minutes on CBC TV from 2001 through 2003, on The WB Television Network series Drew Carey's Green Screen Show in 2004, and starred in Getting Along Famously in 2006.
Mochrie was a guest star of The Drew Carey Show for three episodes: She's Gotta Have It (1999), Drew Live (1999), and Drew Live II (2000). He also appeared on Nickelodeon's Figure It Out as a celebrity guest panellist. He eventually ended up being slimed as an aspect of the show. He had a one-liner in the episode of Goosebumps titled Bad Hare Day.
Among his best known impressions are Peter Graves, Colonel Klink and CBC news anchor Peter Mansbridge. He is also known for his 'impression' of Craig T. Nelson. However, this is a joke, as he uses his own voice while calling himself 'Craig T. Nelson'.
Mochrie also played a minor role in the movie The Tuxedo (2002). He starred as the curator of a museum, which Jackie Chan's character frequently visited to see a female employee. At the end of the movie, Mochrie's character was tazed.
In 2003, Mochrie along with Leslie Nielsen, Wayne Gretzky, and Roy Halladay, appeared in print and television advertising to get people to visit Toronto again after the SARS outbreak that struck the city.
In May 2004, he hosted a tongue-in-cheek guide to surviving animal attacks on Animal Planet known as Wild Survival Guide. He has done a commercial supporting Habitat For Humanity. He appears briefly in a commercial for Buckley's Cough Syrup, and he was featured in a commercial for New York Fries, manning a steamroller. He has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as the superhero Overly Sensitive Man.
By 2004 Mochrie was appearing in so many media spots that a new Canadian television series, Corner Gas, made light of it by having him do a cameo appearance in the tenth episode. The gag had Mochrie appear shortly after the character of Brent mentioned that Colin Mochrie has a cameo in nearly everything. In March 2005, a Nabisco advertising campaign starred Mochrie as the "Snack Fairy", in which he wears a ballet tutu over ordinary slacks and a shirt. At the end of each commercial, he declares "Snack happy!" and waves his scepter with a smile. Also in 2005 Mochrie appeared in "Burnt Toast", a series of eight comedic mini-operas, each depicting a different stage of a romantic relationship in a contemporary setting, produced by Canada's acclaimed Rhombus Media.
Mochrie was a guest on the series Distinguished Artists. Teamed up with Brad Sherwood, he tours the United States and Canada performing classic improv games from Whose Line. He also sometimes is found touring with other Whose Line alumni in the Improv Allstar shows. Mochrie has also made two small guest appearances on The Red Green Show as Frank Kepke, an expert on all kinds of hot dogs and wieners.
Along with Rosie O'Donnell, Mochrie hosts a video introduction to a tour of the bakery in the Pacific Wharf area of Disney's California Adventure. In the video, he helps explain how sourdough bread is made. On December 25, 2005, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation premièred the TV movie The Magical Gathering. Mochrie starred in this and his son Luke co-starred as Mochrie's character at a younger age. In February 2007, he made a guest appearance as a priest in the seventh episode of Little Mosque on the Prairie, a Canadian television comedy series.
On March 28, 2007, Colin and fellow Whose Line is it Anyway? actor Brad Sherwood hosted part of the Press Correspondents' Dinner with the President. In that event, Brad and Colin featured Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove rapping. Rove's only line was "MC Rove". On August 29, 2007, Colin was announced to host the Canadian version of FOX's hit game show Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?, titled Are You Smarter Than a Canadian 5th Grader?. The first of five episodes aired on October 25, 2007. Colin would then become the fifth person of the American Whose Line? cast to become a game show host, after Wayne Brady (host of Don't Forget the Lyrics), Greg Proops (host of "Space Cadets" and Comedy Central's Versus), Brad Sherwood (host of "The Big Moment" and "The Dating Game"), and Drew Carey (host of The Price Is Right).
The image of Mochrie's face is used extensively in Animutation, a style of Flash animation. Neil Cicierega, the father of Animutation, would place Colin in almost every Animutation he made, making the inclusion of him in Animutation somewhat of a running gag. Mochrie is aware of his status among Animutation artists and fans, having been quoted, "It was very odd when I first saw the animutations. Obviously the animators are more than a little crazy, but I am very proud of my standing in the animutation arena and hope that some day I can make millions off of it."
