Dana Thomas Carvey (born June 2, 1955) is an Emmy-award winning American comedian and actor known for his work on Saturday Night Live and the spin-off movie Wayne's World.
In 1986, Carvey became a household name when he joined the cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live. He, along with newcomers Phil Hartman, Kevin Nealon, Jan Hooks and Victoria Jackson, helped to reverse the show's declining popularity and made SNL "must-see" TV once again. His breakout character was The Church Lady, the uptight, smug, and pious host of "Church Chat." Carvey said he based the character on women he knew from his church growing up who would keep track of his and others' attendance. He became so associated with the character that later cast members like Chris Farley referred to Carvey simply as "The Lady."
Carvey's other original characters included Garth Algar (from "Wayne's World"), Hans (from "Hans and Franz"), and The Grumpy Old Man (from Weekend Update appearances). Algar is actually an affectionate caricature of Dana's brother, Brad Carvey, an accomplished electrical engineer who invented the Video Toaster, and has been said by Carvey to have fixed the family clothes dryer using only a butter knife.
During the 1992 US presidential election campaign, he did a dead-on impression of independent candidate Ross Perot; in a prime-time special before the election, Carvey played both Bush and Perot in a three-way debate with Bill Clinton, who was played by Phil Hartman. As Perot, Carvey declined to say the show's signature "Live from New York" opening line because he was actually on tape.
Carvey left SNL in 1993. In 1992, Carvey joined Mike Myers to bring their popular "Wayne's World" sketch to the silver screen with Wayne's World the movie. A sequel was filmed and released in 1993, titled Wayne's World 2. Rumors abound that Mike Myers is writing a screenplay for Wayne's World 3 but nothing has been verified yet from either Myers' or Carvey's camp.
Carvey won an Emmy in 1993 for "Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program." He has received a total of six Emmy nominations.