Don Lake

Don Lake
Born	(1956-11-26) November 26, 1956 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Writer Actor Director
Years active	1980–present
Spouse(s)	Claire Lake

Don Lake (born November 26, 1956) is a Canadian actor, film and television writer, and television producer. He is frequently cast by director Christopher Guest, and is also a close friend and the collaborative partner of Bonnie Hunt.

He had a role in The Bonnie Hunt Show, for which he received comedic praise. He also had roles in the comedy films Police Academy, Hot Shots!, Dumb & Dumber To, and Corner Gas: The Movie. He played more serious roles in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Super Mario Bros., along with a voice role in as Stu Hopps in Zootopia. He is also known as Dr. Carl Whitehorn on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Life and career

An actor, writer, and producer, Lake was born in Toronto, Ontario. He first arrived in Los Angeles to attend California Institute of the Arts, which counts John Lasseter, Ed Harris, Don Cheadle, and Tim Burton among its alumni. After graduating, Lake returned to Toronto to join the Second City Touring Company, and later was promoted to main stage as part of Second City, the world-famous improvisational theater company.

During this time, he was a regular on two series for Showtime: Bizarre and Super Dave, which ran for nine years total. He eventually returned to Los Angeles and became a series regular on Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures, The Building, and The Bonnie Hunt Show.

Feature film work has included roles in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Hot Shots!, RocketMan, Wagons East, and Super Mario Bros. Lake also appeared in and co-wrote the film Return to Me with Bonnie Hunt. He had a two-year run as co-creator and executive producer of Life With Bonnie and also appeared as a series regular on Watching Ellie with Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Lake continued his improvisational work in six Christopher Guest films, including Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and Almost Heroes. He has also done commentary for I Love the '80s Strikes Back and Best Week Ever. He and writing partner Bonnie Hunt worked on the screenplays for the animated Pixar feature Cars and the Mrs. Doubtfire sequel. In 2013 he appeared in Guest's Family Tree.

Starring roles

• Super Dave - Regular sidekick
• The Bonnie Hunt Show - Himself/Producer
• Don't Answer the Phone
• Life with Bonnie - Keith Jedzek
• The Building - Brad
• The Dave Thomas Comedy Show - Regular
• Watching Ellie - Dr. Don Zimmerman

Guest appearances

Film

• The Dating Game around 1979 - contestant (was not picked)
• Police Academy (1984) - Lou, or Mr. Wig
• Short Circuit 2 (1988) - Manic Mike
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) - Detective Mossberg
• Dumb and Dumber To (2014) - Dr. Meldmann
• Zootopia (2016) - Stu Hopps (voice)
• Downsizing (2017) - Leisureland Guide Matt

Television

• American Dragon: Jake Long - "Old School Training" - Stan the Sewer Troll
• SCTV Network (1982) - "Jane Eyrehead" - Troy
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1989) - "Diamonds Aren't Forever" - A.C. Boone
• Midnight Caller (1989) - "Do You Believe in Miracles?" - Big Bob Johnson
• The Golden Girls (1991) - "Older and Wiser" - Mr. Porter
• Blossom (1992) - "Three O'Clock and All Is Hell" - Cop #1
• Camp Wilder (1993) - "Career Day" - Ed
• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1995) - Dr. Whitehorn (recurring)
• Curb Your Enthusiasm - "Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm" - HBO Director
• Odd Job Jack (2003) - "The Man Who Smelled to Much" - Anton
• Committed (2005) - "The Morning After" - Richard
• The New Adventures of Old Christine (2006) - "Crash" - Carl
• How I Met Your Mother (2012) - "Twelve Horny Women" - Judge Albert Donovan
• Anger Management (2014) - "Charlie and the Mother of All Sessions" - James
• NCIS (2018) - Captain Phillip Brooks
• Pup Academy (2019) - Charlie
• Space Force (2020) - Brad Gregory

Writer

• Life with Bonnie - six episodes
• The Bonnie Hunt Show - pilot

Other

• The Second City - troup member of the Toronto Touring Company (1981)
• Life with Bonnie - creator, producer
• Maniac Mansion - "Trapped Like Rats" - story
• The Bonnie Hunt Show - creator, producer

External links

• Don Lake at the Internet Movie Database