Christopher Guest - Biography

Last Editor: czerwinskiv				Christopher Guest Biography -   Name : Christopher Guest Date of birth : 5 February 1948 Place of birth : New York, New York, USA Birth name : Christopher Haden-Guest Height : 5' 11

Christopher Guest Trivia -

Guest became the 5th Baron Haden-Guest, of Saling in the County of Essex, when his father died in 1996. Brother of actor Nicholas Guest, who is heir presumptive to the family title. (as Christopher's children are adopted, they cannot inherit the barony.) Half-brother of journalist Anthony Haden-Guest, the bibulous English socialite and journalist satirised by 'Tom Wolfe' in _The Bonfire Of The Vanities (1990). Has two adopted children Annie (December 1986) and Thomas (March 1996). Under the terms of the letters patent which created the Barony of Haden-Guest, they cannot inherit the title, but can use the courtesy title of "The Honourable" before their first names. His idol growing up was comedian Peter Sellers. When a publicity photo of Guest and his co-stars from This Is Spinal Tap (1984) ran in Rolling Stone magazine, Jamie Lee Curtis saw the picture, fell in love and gave her phone number to Guest's agent. They dated and eventually married. Brother-in-law of actress Kelly Curtis and Pamela Guest. Son-in-law of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. Guest shoots 10-minute scenes, to let the improvisations unfold organically, and ends up with about 60 hours of film, which is then edited down over a year and a half to 90 minutes. Guest's mother was American of Jewish descent, his father was an British hereditary lord (Peter Haden-Guest, an actor and dancer who ended up a UN diplomat). His character from This Is Spinal Tap (1984), Nigel Tuffnel, is partially a spoof of British rocker Jeff Beck In 2005, announced his intention to stop making "mockumentary" films, because he doesn't find them funny anymore. Lived in New York in the 60s. Was the muse for an Asian-American short comedic film entitled Pax Importi Modellus: The Rise of the Import Model (2004) which has gained international attention. Christopher dropped the Haden from his surname when he started going to acting auditions in his 20s; he thought it sounded long-winded and distracting.

Christopher Guest Detailed Biography -

US born actor, director, writer, musician and composer best known for his hilarious "mockumentaries", poking fun at heavy metal music, small town theater, dog shows and folk music. Christopher Haden-Guest was born February 5th, 1948 in New York City, to an American mother and an English father, Peter Haden-Guest, the fourth baron of Saling in the County of Essex. He received his dramatic arts training at New York City's High School of Arts and Music and Bard College, and Guest first appeared in minor film roles in a mixture of film genres including The Hot Rock (1972), Death Wish (1974), Lemmings (1973) (V) and The Long Riders (1980). However, he was also dabbling in writing for several TV shows, and when filming Million Dollar Infield (1982) (TV), Guest became acquainted with writer/director Rob Reiner and the two collaborated, along with Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, to pen the script and music for the sleeper hit This Is Spinal Tap (1984). 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 as a regular guest on "Saturday Night Live", and along with fellow Spinal Tap "band members" lead singer David St. Hubbins aka Michael McKean and bassist Derek Smalls aka Harry Shearer they regularly appeared as "Spinal Tap" and in 1992 they released Spinal Tap: Break Like the Wind - The Videos (1992) (V), plus A Spinal Tap Reunion: The 25th Anniversary London Sell-Out (1992) (TV). Guest had a minor acting role in the courtroom drama of _A Few Good Men (1992)_ , before returning to poke fun at wannabe actors in the howlingly funny _Waiting For Guffman (1996)_ with Guest taking center stage as highly string choreographer "Corky St. Clair". He made a return to heavy metal with Spinal Tap: The Final Tour (1998) and Catching Up with Marty DiBergi (2000) (V), before turning his comedic pen to the world of championship dog shows for the sensational comedy Best in Show (2000). The latest "mockumentary" from Guest and co-writer/actor Eugene Levy was again met with critical praise, and movie fans just loved it too! In 2003, Guest and Levy took aim at the folk music world, and successfully collaborated to write the comedy A Mighty Wind (2003) about the reunion of a 1960s folk music group, "The Folksmen". Guest is married to well known actor Jamie Lee Curtis with two children, Anne and Thomas, plus he is the brother of actor Nicholas Guest.