Christopher Guest

U.S.-born actor, director, writer, musician, and composer best known for his mockumentaries, poking fun at heavy metal music, small town theatre, dog shows, folk music and film-making itself, Christopher Haden-Guest was born February fifth, 1948, in New York City. His mother, Jean Pauline (Hindes), was a vice president of casting at CBS. His father, Peter Haden-Guest, was a UN diplomat who was a member of the British House of Lords, and was the fourth Baron of Saling in the County of Essex. Christopher's mother, who was American, was the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants. Christopher's father, who was British, had English and Dutch-Jewish ancestry. Christopher's paternal great-grandfather, Colonel Albert Goldsmid, was a British officer.He received his dramatic arts training at New York City's High School of Arts and Music and at Bard College, and Guest first appeared in minor film roles in a mixture of film genres, including _The Hot Rock (1972)_ (qv), _Death Wish (1974)_ (qv), _National Lampoon Television Show: Lemmings Dead in Concert (1973)_ (qv), and _The Long Riders (1980)_ (qv). However, he was also dabbling in writing for several T.V. shows, and when filming _Million Dollar Infield (1982)_ (qv), Guest became acquainted with writer-director 'Rob Reiner' (qv) and the two collaborated, along with 'Michael McKean' (qv) and 'Harry Shearer' (qv), to pen the script and music for the sleeper hit _This Is Spinal Tap (1984)_ (qv).The mockumentary also starred Guest as dizzy lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel, whose most famous line is surely, "These go to eleven," when referring to the volume settings on the band's rather unique Marshall amplifiers!Guest then busied himself for several years in the 1980's as a regular performer on _Saturday Night Live (1975)_ (qv) and, along with fellow Spinal Tap band members lead singer David St. Hubbins, aka 'Michael McKean' (qv); and bassist Derek Smalls, aka 'Harry Shearer' (qv), they regularly appeared as Spinal Tap. In 1992, they released _Spinal Tap: Break Like the Wind - The Videos (1992)_ (qv), plus _A Spinal Tap Reunion: The 25th Anniversary London Sell-Out (1992)_ (qv).Guest had a minor acting role in the courtroom drama of _A Few Good Men (1992)_ (qv), before returning to poke fun at wannabe actors in the howlingly funny _Waiting for Guffman (1996)_ (qv) with Guest taking center stage as high-strung choreographer Corky St. Clair. He made a return to heavy metal with _Spinal Tap: The Final Tour (1998)_ (qv) and _Catching Up with Marty DiBergi (2000)_ (qv) before turning his comedic pen to the world of championship dog shows for the sensational comedy _Best in Show (2000)_ (qv). The latest mockumentary from Guest and co-writer-actor 'Eugene Levy' (qv) was again met with critical praise, and movie fans just loved it, too! In 2003, Guest and 'Eugene Levy' (qv) took aim at the folk-music world, and successfully collaborated to write the comedy _A Mighty Wind (2003)_ (qv) about the reunion of the Folksmen, a fictional 1960s folk music group.Guest is married to well-known actress 'Jamie Lee Curtis' (qv) with two children, daughter 'Annie Guest' (qv) and son 'Thomas Guest' (qv), plus he is the brother of actor 'Nicholas Guest' (qv).::[email protected]