Bio
Tim Meadows is an American actor and comedian best known for being a regular cast member of the sketch comedy television Saturday Night Live, from 1991-2000.
He also had a starring role as Professor Haines in the short-lived comedy-drama television series Glory Daze, from 2010-2011.
One of the longest-running cast members in the 33-year history of Saturday Night Live, versatile comedian Tim Meadows crafted some of the series' most memorable characters during his 10 years on the popular late-night show.
His characters included Ladies Man Leon Phelps and Lionel Osbourne, host of the fictional public affairs show, Perspectives, as well as uncanny impressions of OJ Simpson, Ike Turner and Sammy Davis, Jr.
Meadows did impressions of the following celebrities during his run on Saturday Night Live:
Aaron Neville
Al Cowlings
Alan Keyes
Anwar Sadat
Bernard Shaw
Betty Currie
Bill Bellamy
Bill Clinton
Billy Dee Williams
Bryant Gumbel
Busta Rhymes
Christopher Darden
Clarence Thomas
Colin Ferguson
Colin Powell
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
D'Angelo
Danny Glover
Darius Rucker
David Dinkins
Deion Sanders
Dennis Rodman
Denzel Washington
Don King
Ed Bradley
Eddie Murphy
Erykah Badu
Flavor Flav
Greg Gumbel
Ike Turner
J.C. Watts
James Baldwin
John Conyers
Johnny Cochran
Julius Erving
Lenny Kravitz
Leo Turrell
Luther Vandross
Michael Jackson
Mike Espy
Montel Williams
Nat King Cole
Nelson Mandela
O.J. Simpson
Oprah Winfrey
P-Diddy
Rick James
Roderick Richards
Rodney Allen Rippy
RuPaul
Sammy Davis Jr.
Seal
Sean Combs
Snoop Dogg
Spike Lee
Stuart Scott
Ted Lange
Tiger Woods
Todd Bridges
Tracy Chapman
Vanessa L. Williams
Vernon Jordan
Whoopi Goldberg
Will Smith
Born in Highland Park, Michigan and raised in Detroit, Meadows studied television and radio broadcasting at Wayne State University before performing improvisational comedy at the Soup Kitchen Saloon.
In 1985, Meadows relocated to Chicago, where he first joined ImprovOlympic and then the legendary comedy troupe Second City.
During his three years at Second City, he wrote and starred in productions of The Gods Must Be Lazy, with Chris Farley; It Was Thirty Years Ago Today; and Flag Smoking Permitted in Lobby Only, gaining a loyal following with his sharp comedic talent.
In 1991, Meadows achieved the dreams of comics nationwide when producer Lorne Michaels asked him to join SNL as a featured player. Nominated for an Emmy as part of the show's writing team that same month, he made the transition to cast member status two years later.
Several years after appearing in a string of films based on Saturday Night Live sketches, including Coneheads and Wayne's World 2, Meadows was offered his own chance at features.
The 2000 release of Paramount's The Ladies Man gave the eponymous hero Leon Phelps the opportunity to bring his Courvoisier-drinking romantic adviser to the big screen.
That same year, he left SNL to join NBC's primetime lineup as a regular cast member on The Michael Richards Show. In 2002, he joined the cast of the NBC sitcom Leap of Faith.
Meadows played a school principal in the hit comedy Mean Girls and co-starred in the Revolution comedy Benchwarmers.
His films also include Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, with John C. Reilly; Semi-Pro, with Will Farrell; and Aliens in the Attic, with Kevin Nealon and Ashley Tisdale.
Meadows was also a regular on TBS's The Bill Engvall Show, and he is a regular correspondent on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on CBS and The Colbert Report on Comedy Central.
He also starred on the syndicated sitcom Mr. Box Office, which premiered in 2012.