See also Biography Index (F) :: Filmography Index (F) :: Discography Index (F)

Fred Armisen (born December 4, 1966) is an American musician, comedian, and actor, best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live.

Armisen began his career in 1988 when he moved from New York to Chicago to play drums for the punk rock band Trenchmouth. In the 1990s, he played background drums with Blue Man Group in Chicago, and in 1997, he toured with Those Bastard Souls, a project of David Shouse of The Grifters which also featured The Flaming Lips` Steven Drozd.

While playing with Trenchmouth, Armisen`s interests switched to performing. In a January 2006 interview with The AV Club, he explained it this way:

I wanted to be on TV somehow. For some reason, I always thought it would be an indirect route, I didn`t know that it would be comedy and Saturday Night Live. I just wanted to do something with performing that would lead me there.

Armisen`s subsequent television work, such as some "memorable Andy Kaufman-esque appearances" on Late Night with Conan O`Brien as well as work for Crank Yankers and Adult Swim, led in 2002 to a role as a featured player in the cast of Saturday Night Live. In the 2004 season, he was promoted to a repertory cast member. Armisen has done a handful of supporting roles in comedy films, such as the creepy Italian man in the film Eurotrip and roles in Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Deck the Halls, The Ex, The Promotion, and The Rocker.

Armisen has done impressions of political figures such as Hugo Chávez, Vicente Fox, Barney Frank, and Mike Gravel. He has also impersonated film and television celebrities past and present such as Martin Scorsese, Desi Arnaz, Joy Behar, Corbin Bleu, George Carlin, Dov Charney, David Gregory, Larry King, Penny Marshall, George H. W. Bush, Barney Frank, Efren Ramirez, David Lee Roth, Gene Simmons, and Lawrence Welk. His list of impressions has also included:

Barack Obama, Prince, Steve Jobs, Sam Waterston, and many more...