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Fred Armisen
Fereydun Robert Armisen (born December 4, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, musician, and television writer. With his comedy partner Carrie Brownstein, he co-created and co-starred in the IFC sketch comedy series Portlandia. He also co-created and starred in the mockumentary IFC series Documentary Now! and the Showtime comedy series Moonbase 8.
Armisen was the bandleader and frequent drummer for the Late Night with Seth Meyers house band, the 8G Band from 2014 to 2024. He is known as a cast member on the late-night sketch comedy and variety series Saturday Night Live from 2002 to 2013. He voiced Speedy Gonzales on The Looney Tunes Show. He also works as a voice actor in films, such as The Smurfs (2011), The Smurfs 2 (2013), The House of Tomorrow, The Lego Ninjago Movie (both 2017), The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021), The Super Mario Bros. Movie, The Contestant (both 2023), Thelma the Unicorn (2024) and Fixed (2025).
Armisen has acted in comedy films, including EuroTrip, Melvin Goes to Dinner, The Ex, and The Dictator. He is also notable for his guest-star appearances in television shows such as 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, New Girl, Broad City, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Difficult People, The Last Man on Earth, Toast of Tinseltown, Our Flag Means Death, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Modern Family, and Barry.
Armisen received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Comedy Album for Standup for Drummers in 2019. He has also won two Peabody Awards, one in 2008 as part of the Saturday Night Live political satire cast and one in 2011 for Portlandia. From 2019 to 2022, he co-starred and served as writer and executive producer on the Spanish-language series Los Espookys, which he co-created.
Armisen was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on December 4, 1966, the son of schoolteacher Hildegardt Mirabal Level and IBM employee Fereydun Herbert Armisen. He moved with his family to New York as a baby, and briefly lived in Brazil in his youth. He was raised in Valley Stream, New York, where he was a classmate of fellow SNL alumnus Jim Breuer. He attended the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan before dropping out to begin a career as a rock drummer. He said that he was inspired to perform after seeing the Clash and Devo perform on television, and wanted to be a performer since he was a child.
Armisen's mother was Venezuelan, born in San Fernando de Apure, while his father was born in Soltau, Germany, to a German mother and Korean father. For much of his life, Armisen thought his paternal grandfather Ehara Masami was Japanese. However, Masami (better known by his professional name Masami Kuni or birth name Park Yeong-in) was actually Korean and came from Ulsan; he adopted a Japanese name and persona after the massacre of Koreans in 1923 when he was a high school student. Park studied aesthetics at Tokyo Imperial University and became a professional dancer before moving to Germany. After the war, he returned to Japan, and formed a premier modern dance company. He eventually immigrated to the US, where he taught dance at what is now Cal State Fullerton from 1964 to 1975. Park Yeong-in's family were members of the Korean aristocracy, and Armisen's Korean lineage can be verifiably traced back to the 1600s.
In 1984, Armisen played drums in a local band along with his high school friends in Valley Stream, New York, but the group soon ended. In 1988, he moved to Chicago to play drums for the punk rock band Trenchmouth, and in the 1990s he played background drums with Blue Man Group.
Armisen played drums on three tracks for Les Savy Fav's 2007 album Let's Stay Friends, as well as tracks for Matthew Sweet's 2011 album Modern Art and Wandering Lucy's 1996 album Leap Year.
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Fred Armisen
Fereydun Robert Armisen (born December 4, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, musician, and television writer. With his comedy partner Carrie Brownstein, he co-created and co-starred in the IFC sketch comedy series Portlandia. He also co-created and starred in the mockumentary IFC series Documentary Now! and the Showtime comedy series Moonbase 8.
Armisen was the bandleader and frequent drummer for the Late Night with Seth Meyers house band, the 8G Band from 2014 to 2024. He is known as a cast member on the late-night sketch comedy and variety series Saturday Night Live from 2002 to 2013. He voiced Speedy Gonzales on The Looney Tunes Show. He also works as a voice actor in films, such as The Smurfs (2011), The Smurfs 2 (2013), The House of Tomorrow, The Lego Ninjago Movie (both 2017), The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021), The Super Mario Bros. Movie, The Contestant (both 2023), Thelma the Unicorn (2024) and Fixed (2025).
Armisen has acted in comedy films, including EuroTrip, Melvin Goes to Dinner, The Ex, and The Dictator. He is also notable for his guest-star appearances in television shows such as 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, New Girl, Broad City, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Difficult People, The Last Man on Earth, Toast of Tinseltown, Our Flag Means Death, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Modern Family, and Barry.
Armisen received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Comedy Album for Standup for Drummers in 2019. He has also won two Peabody Awards, one in 2008 as part of the Saturday Night Live political satire cast and one in 2011 for Portlandia. From 2019 to 2022, he co-starred and served as writer and executive producer on the Spanish-language series Los Espookys, which he co-created.
Armisen was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on December 4, 1966, the son of schoolteacher Hildegardt Mirabal Level and IBM employee Fereydun Herbert Armisen. He moved with his family to New York as a baby, and briefly lived in Brazil in his youth. He was raised in Valley Stream, New York, where he was a classmate of fellow SNL alumnus Jim Breuer. He attended the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan before dropping out to begin a career as a rock drummer. He said that he was inspired to perform after seeing the Clash and Devo perform on television, and wanted to be a performer since he was a child.
Armisen's mother was Venezuelan, born in San Fernando de Apure, while his father was born in Soltau, Germany, to a German mother and Korean father. For much of his life, Armisen thought his paternal grandfather Ehara Masami was Japanese. However, Masami (better known by his professional name Masami Kuni or birth name Park Yeong-in) was actually Korean and came from Ulsan; he adopted a Japanese name and persona after the massacre of Koreans in 1923 when he was a high school student. Park studied aesthetics at Tokyo Imperial University and became a professional dancer before moving to Germany. After the war, he returned to Japan, and formed a premier modern dance company. He eventually immigrated to the US, where he taught dance at what is now Cal State Fullerton from 1964 to 1975. Park Yeong-in's family were members of the Korean aristocracy, and Armisen's Korean lineage can be verifiably traced back to the 1600s.
In 1984, Armisen played drums in a local band along with his high school friends in Valley Stream, New York, but the group soon ended. In 1988, he moved to Chicago to play drums for the punk rock band Trenchmouth, and in the 1990s he played background drums with Blue Man Group.
Armisen played drums on three tracks for Les Savy Fav's 2007 album Let's Stay Friends, as well as tracks for Matthew Sweet's 2011 album Modern Art and Wandering Lucy's 1996 album Leap Year.