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Editor · Producer · Actor · Writer

1970-06-17 · Alameda County, California, USA · Male

69 series in the catalog

Orville Willis Forte IV ( FOR-tay; born June 17, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He was a cast member and writer on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live for eight seasons from 2002 to 2010. His most famous recurring character was a parody of MacGyver named MacGruber; he reprised that role in the film adaptation, MacGruber (2010); and the limited series of the same name in 2021.

Forte also created and starred in the sitcom The Last Man on Earth (2015–2018). For the series, he received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations: two for acting and one for writing. He played various roles in comedy films, before starring in the drama film Nebraska (2013). Forte has also voiced characters in numerous animated productions, including the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs films, Abraham Lincoln in Clone High and the Lego Movie franchise, and Shaggy Rogers in Scoob! (2020).

Early life

Orville Willis Forte IV was born on June 17, 1970, in Alameda, California, a city in the San Francisco Bay Area. His mother, Patricia, is an artist and former schoolteacher; his father, Orville Willis, "Reb" Forte III, was a financial broker. He is of Italian and Irish descent. Forte grew up in Moraga before the family moved to Lafayette when he was 13. He went by "Billy" in his early years until he was teased at school for it also being a girl's name. At that point, he chose to be known as "Will." Forte described himself as having been a "really happy little boy", whose parents were "wonderful" and created a "very loving environment." He was interested in comedy from a young age, growing up idolizing comedians Peter Sellers, David Letterman, and Steve Martin as well as the sketch-comedy television series Saturday Night Live. He often pulled pranks on his parents, and would record himself performing imaginary radio shows. He did not aim to be a comedian, but initially wanted to become a football player.

Forte was "a laid-back teen with a lot of friends." He was a member of the varsity football and swim teams at Acalanes High School in Lafayette, where he graduated in 1988. He served as freshman class president and was voted "Best Personality" by his graduating class. He had no ambitions for a television or film career, though his mother noticed a "creative streak" in him.

After high school, he attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where he was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and completed a degree in history. Forte wanted to become a financial broker like his father at Smith Barney Shearson, but felt "miserable" there. During that period, he co-wrote a feature-length script. Later he said that he discovered he loved writing "more than anything [he] had ever done in [his] life". During his time as an undergraduate, he had been encouraged to attempt comedy; he decided to change his career to do so.

Career

Forte began taking classes at The Groundlings in Los Angeles, an improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school, while tutoring children to make ends meet. His first successful foray into comedy was 101 Things to Definitely Not Do If You Want to Get a Chick, a comic book he produced about incompetent men. The comics landed him his first professional job writing for The Jenny McCarthy Show, a short-lived variety show starring Jenny McCarthy. Shortly thereafter, he was asked to submit a packet to the Late Show with David Letterman and was told Letterman responded favorably to animation. After only nine months at Letterman, he was "let go" from the job. He recalled his stint on the program as unpleasant, noting that he did not have enough experience in writing. "What an honor to work at that show but I don't think I was fully mentally prepared. [...] I always wonder what it would be like if I'd had a couple more years of experience before going there."

Forte left New York and returned to Los Angeles, where he began performing with the Groundlings' Main Company, with Cheryl Hines, Jim Rash, and Maya Rudolph. He tried stand-up comedy three times, mostly at open mic nights, but quit after being voted into the Main Company. He joined the writing teams of two failed sitcoms, including The Army Show and Action. Forte got jobs writing for 3rd Rock from the Sun and That '70s Show. He loved writing and had mostly given up on acting, aside from acting with the Groundlings. While performing with the troupe in 2001, he was spotted by Lorne Michaels, the creator of Saturday Night Live (SNL). Forte felt his confidence was higher than usual, as That '70s Show had been picked up for two more years. He was invited to audition for SNL, which he regarded as unexpected.

At his audition for SNL, he performed multiple original characters, including Tim Calhoun, a speed reader, a prison guard, in addition to impressions of singer Michael McDonald and actor Martin Sheen. His final character was an older piece from his days with the Groundlings, in which he portrays a gold-painted street performer who performs fellatio to pay for his face paint, which devolves into a song needlessly uttering the words "cock" and "face paint" dozens of times. He felt his time to shine as a performer was already over, as he was in his thirties when he auditioned. To his surprise, he was offered a chance to be on the show, but declined, opting instead for the financial stability of his work at That '70s Show. He felt working for SNL could not live up to the idealized version he had dreamed of, but he later realized he would be making a mistake.

After Will Ferrell left Saturday Night Live the following spring, Forte joined the cast, premiering at the beginning of the show's twenty-eighth season in the autumn. He was promoted to repertory player after his first year. His early years on the program were characterized by stage fright and an inability to properly interpret sketches that he did not write himself. He had to "re-learn" how to perform after years as a writer, and later felt his natural tendency to "overthink" things improved his performance. He was particularly uncomfortable portraying President George W. Bush, as he felt he was not the best impressionist and it paled in comparison to Ferrell's impersonation of Bush. His only role was often Bush, leaving him no chance for more "absurd" pieces he favored. He was nearly fired from the program following his third season (2004–05), but after two three-week extensions to decide his fate, he was brought back. Forte estimated it took five seasons for him to feel fully comfortable performing on the show. He made his film debut in Around the World in 80 Days.

His humor at SNL has been described as bizarre, and he became known for many "10-to-1" sketches—pieces that were considered odd, placed at the very end of the show. He was also well known for his characters Tim Calhoun, Greg Stink, and the Falconer. Forte's favorite sketch on the show was one in which he played a motivational coach alongside football star Peyton Manning. He also co-starred with Andy Samberg in the first SNL Digital Short, "Lettuce". He often spent long hours crafting his sketches for the program, missing deadlines, but his pieces were usually received warmly at table reads. During his time at the show, he co-starred in and wrote the 2007 film The Brothers Solomon. The film was originally a pilot for Carsey-Werner, and its creation was an extension of his agreement to terminate his contract to appear on SNL.

Forte's best-known character on SNL was MacGruber, a special operations agent who is tasked in each episode with deactivating a ticking bomb but becomes distracted by personal issues. The sketches were based on the television series MacGyver. It was created by writer Jorma Taccone, who relentlessly pitched the idea to Forte. He was initially reluctant to commit to the sketch, deeming it too dumb, but accepted after persuasion from Taccone. The first sketch aired in January 2007, and led to multiple more segments in the…