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Born Name:
Taran Hourie Killam
Born Date:
April 1, 1982
Born Place:
Culver City, California
Died Date:
Died Place:
Occupations:
Actor, comedian
Brief Biography:
Taran Killam is best known for his six-season tenure on NBC's Saturday Night Live (2010–2016) and his leading roles in the ABC sitcom Single Parents and the ABC/Hulu series High Potential.
Early Life and Career Beginnings:
Born in Culver City, California, and raised in Big Bear Lake, he was exposed to the entertainment industry early. He attended the prestigious Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and later studied theater, film, and television at UCLA. He made his feature film debut as a kid in the comedy Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994).
Television & Sketch Comedy:
Killam became a prominent fixture in sketch comedy through multiple major television networks:
MADtv: At age 19, he became the youngest cast member on Fox's MADtv during its seventh season (2001–2002).
Nickelodeon: He gained early fans through appearances on All That and The Amanda Show (notably in the recurring "Moody's Point" sketches).
Saturday Night Live: Joining SNL in 2010, he became a breakout star known for his celebrity impressions (including Eminem, Christoph Waltz, and Ted Cruz) and original characters, most notably "Jebidiah Atkinson". He exited the show in 2016.
Beyond Sketch Comedy:
Expanding into primetime television, Broadway, and voice acting, Killam’s diverse roles include:
Television: Starring as Will Cooper in ABC's Single Parents (2018–2020) and co-starring as Ludo Radovic in the hit ABC series High Potential.
Broadway: Made his Broadway debut as King George III in the smash-hit musical Hamilton in 2017. He also starred as Lancelot in Spamalot (2023–2024).
Voice Acting: He is the voice of the title character in the PBS Kids animated series Nature Cat.
Film: Appeared in feature films such as 12 Years a Slave (2013), The Heat (2013), and wrote/starred in the Arnold Schwarzenegger action-comedy Killing Gunther (2017).