It's a long time since Mike Myers was at the peak of his powers, and because of it, it's quite easy to forget just what a great comedy actor he was during the 1990s and early part of the 2000s. He is one of the most obscure performers of his generation, and it's a shame his career has nosedived somewhat in recent times. It was the 1992 hit Wayne's World that saw Myers become a star, having been a popular Saturday Night Live member in the years prior to that. The film is one of the funniest of the 90s, and sees Myers playing Wayne Campbell, the rock music-loving co-host of the popular, eponymous cable TV show. The story is basic but the script is superb and hugely original, and Myers' performance is magnificent. He was born in England, and his humour has a definite sarcastic British feel to it. The sequel was equally good, and when Myers created the brilliant character Austin Powers, a buffoonish, sex-loving British spy, he became even more famous. The three Austin Powers movies - International Man Of Mystery, The Spy Who Shagged Me and Goldmember - made over $700m between them. Myers has also brilliantly voiced Shrek, a Scottish ogre with a hilariously pessimistic outlook on life. Its four films have made staggering amounts of money too. As mentioned, he is not the star he once was, and doesn't make many films at all these days, but in his prime he was a quite brilliant character actor.
