Lorne Michaels

Lorne Michaels was born in 1944 in Toronto

Michaels was born Lorne David Lipowitz on November 17, 1944, to a Jewish family in Toronto. His father Abraham worked as a furrier. He grew up in Toronto with two younger siblings.

He finished Forest Hill Collegiate Institute and studied at University College, University of Toronto. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1966.

He began as a writer and broadcaster for CBC Radio with partner Hart Pomerantz. In 1968 the two moved to Los Angeles to write for television, and he later produced specials for Lily Tomlin. In 1975 he created Saturday Night Live for NBC and stayed with it for most of its seasons.

In 1979 he founded Broadway Video, which produced SNL and The Kids in the Hall. He produced films based on SNL sketches such as Wayne's World, and served as executive producer of Late Night, 30 Rock and, from 2014, The Tonight Show.

He became an American citizen in 1987. He has been married three times and has three children. In 2025 he donated his career archive to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.