Rick Moranis facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rick Moranis
Moranis and his wife Ann in 1990
Born	Frederick Allan Moranis (1953-04-18) April 18, 1953 (age 72) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Actor comedian musician producer songwriter writer
Years active	1976–present
Spouse(s)	Ann Belsky ​ ​ (m. 1986; died 1991)​
Children	2

Frederick Allan Moranis (born April 18, 1953) is a Canadian actor, comedian, and musician. He is also a producer, songwriter, and writer.

Moranis became famous in the 1980s on the TV show Second City Television (SCTV). He then starred in many popular Hollywood movies. These include Strange Brew (1983), Ghostbusters (1984), and Ghostbusters II (1989). He also appeared in Little Shop of Horrors (1986) and Spaceballs (1987).

One of his most well-known roles is Wayne Szalinski in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989). He also starred in its sequels in 1992 and 1997. Other films include Parenthood (1989), My Blue Heaven (1990), and The Flintstones (1994).

In 1997, Moranis took a long break from acting in live-action movies. He wanted to spend more time with his two children after his wife passed away. He did some voice acting for animated films, like Disney's Brother Bear (2003). He also released comedy music albums.

In 2020, Moranis planned to return to acting as Wayne Szalinski in a new Honey, I Shrunk the Kids movie called Shrunk. However, this project was put on hold. He is also set to return as Dark Helmet in a sequel to Spaceballs, which is planned for 2027.

Early Life and Start in Entertainment

Moranis was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on April 18, 1953. He grew up in a Jewish family. He went to elementary school with Geddy Lee, who is the lead singer of the rock band Rush.

Radio Days

Moranis started his career as a radio disc jockey in the mid-1970s. He used the name "Rick Allan" on Toronto radio stations.

In the mid-1970s, Moranis also performed comedy with his partner Rob Cowan. They did a funny spoof of Hockey Night in Canada on CBC-TV. This act was very popular.

Early TV Comedy

In 1977, he worked with writer and performer Ken Finkleman. They created live comedy shows for CBC's 90 Minutes Live. They also made comedy radio specials and TV pilots. These shows featured funny sketches. One sketch showed Moranis as a Canadian movie producer. Another had funny voiceovers for old war criminals.

Joining SCTV

In 1980, Moranis joined the cast of Second City Television (SCTV). His friend and SCTV writer Dave Thomas encouraged him. Moranis was the only cast member who had not come from a Second City stage group.

He became known for his impressions of famous people. These included Woody Allen, Merv Griffin, and David Brinkley.

The Great White North

When SCTV moved to CBC in 1980, Moranis and Thomas needed to add more Canadian content. They created a sketch called The Great White North. It featured two funny Canadian characters, Bob and Doug McKenzie.

Bob and Doug became very popular. They even had a best-selling album called Great White North. This led to their 1983 movie, Strange Brew, which was Moranis's first big film role. He then appeared in the 1984 movie Streets of Fire.

Another famous character Moranis played on SCTV was Gerry Todd. He was a disc jockey who showed music videos on TV. This sketch aired before MTV even started in the United States. Many people say Moranis helped create the idea of a video jockey.

Rick Moranis in Movies

The handprints of Rick Moranis in front of the Chinese Theatre at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World

After his work on SCTV and his first movies, Moranis had a very busy career in films. This lasted for over ten years.

Famous Film Roles

Some of his most notable movies include:

• Ghostbusters (1984) and its sequel, Ghostbusters II (1989).
• Brewster's Millions (1985).
• Little Shop of Horrors (1986).
• Spaceballs (1987), where he played Dark Helmet.
• Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) and its sequels in 1992 and 1997.
• Parenthood (1989).
• My Blue Heaven (1990).
• He also played Barney Rubble in The Flintstones (1994).

Moranis also did voice work for a short-lived cartoon series on NBC called Gravedale High (1990).

Behind the Scenes of Films

Moranis was supposed to be in the 1985 John Hughes film The Breakfast Club. He was cast as the janitor. However, after about a week of filming, he left the movie. He felt his funny, over-the-top character did not fit the serious tone of the film.

He was also first cast as Phil Berquist in the 1991 film City Slickers. But he later left the movie because his wife was ill.

Moranis's last live-action film roles before his break were Little Giants (1994) and Big Bully (1996). In 1993, he appeared in a music video for "Tomorrow's Girls" by Donald Fagen.

The last film in the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids series was the 1997 direct-to-video movie Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves. Moranis was the only original cast member left in this film. A TV series, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, also started in 1997 without Moranis.

He worked with Disney two more times. He voiced Rutt the moose in the 2003 animated film Brother Bear and its 2006 sequel.

In a 2004 interview, Moranis shared what he liked about making movies:

On the last couple of movies I made—big-budget Hollywood movies—I really missed being able to create my own material. In the early movies I did, I was brought in to basically rewrite my stuff, whether it was Ghostbusters or Spaceballs. By the time I got to the point where I was "starring" in movies, and I had executives telling me what lines to say, that wasn't for me. I'm really not an actor. I'm a guy who comes out of comedy, and my impetus was always to rewrite the line to make it funnier, not to try to make somebody's precious words work.

Taking a Break from Acting

In 1997, Moranis decided to take a break from working in the film industry. He later explained his decision. "I'm a single parent," he said. "I just found that it was too difficult to manage to raise my kids and to do the traveling involved in making movies."

He added that the "little bit of a break turned into a longer break." He then realized he did not miss acting as much as he thought he would.

In 2016, he was asked to appear in the Ghostbusters movie. He said no. He explained that he had not retired from acting, but he was very careful about which roles he would take.

Later Work and Music

In 2001, Moranis provided voice work for the animated film Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys. This was his first film credit since 1997.

As of 2004, Moranis was on the Advisory Committee for the comedy program at Humber College.

Comedy Albums

In 2005, Moranis released a country music album called The Agoraphobic Cowboy. The songs had funny lyrics. He said they were in the style of funny songwriters like Roger Miller. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2006 for Best Comedy Album.

On December 8, 2005, The Agoraphobic Cowboy was nominated for the 2006 Grammy for Best Comedy Album. On February 3, 2006, Moranis performed a song on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He also talked about his music career.

In November 2007, Moranis reunited with Dave Thomas for a special about Bob and Doug McKenzie. It was called Bob and Doug McKenzie's 2–4 Anniversary. They filmed new scenes for this special. Thomas later created a new animated Bob and Doug McKenzie series. Moranis did not voice Bob in the new series, but he was an executive producer.

On June 18, 2013, Moranis released another comedy album. It was called My Mother's Brisket & Other Love Songs. This was his first album in eight years. Moranis said these songs were "Too Jewish!" for mainstream shows. He grew up listening to similar funny Jewish albums in the 1960s.

Possible Returns to Acting

In a June 2013 interview, Moranis talked about playing Louis Tully again in a third Ghostbusters film. He said he would consider it if the script was good. He felt the second movie was not as good. In 2015, he decided not to appear in the 2016 Ghostbusters film. He said it "didn't appeal to me."

In July 2017, Moranis and Dave Thomas played their Bob and Doug characters again. This was at a benefit concert in Toronto. The money raised helped care for Dave's nephew, who had a spinal cord injury.

On May 9, 2018, Moranis returned as Pannakin Crybaby / Lord Dark Helmet from Spaceballs. He voiced the character in an episode of The Goldbergs. He also appeared in an episode of Prop Culture to discuss the film.

Moranis is also in a documentary about Second City TV called An Afternoon with SCTV. This film, directed by Martin Scorsese, premiered on Netflix.

In 2020, Moranis signed on to play Wayne Szalinski again in Shrunk. This new movie is a sequel in the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids series. If completed, it would be his return to live-action films after over two decades. However, the project was put on hold. Later in 2020, he appeared in a commercial for Mint Mobile with Ryan Reynolds. In June 2025, Moranis signed on to play Dark Helmet again in the sequel to Spaceballs, which is set for release in 2027.

Personal Life

Moranis married make-up designer Ann Belsky in 1986. They had two children, a son and a daughter. Ann Belsky passed away from cancer in February 1991. After this, Moranis slowly stepped away from public life. He wanted to be a full-time single father to his children.

On October 1, 2020, Moranis was involved in an incident in New York City. He suffered minor injuries. The New York Police Department investigated the incident. An arrest was made on November 14, 2020.

Filmography

Film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	1980	Various roles	Television pilot
1980–1981	SCTV		25 episodes
1981–1982	SCTV Network		26 episodes
1982	Twilight Theater		Television film
1983, 1989	Saturday Night Live	Himself	2 episodes
1984	Hockey Night	Coach	Television film
1985	The Last Polka	Linsk Minyk
1988	The Best of SCTV	Various roles	Television special; also writer
1989	The Rocket Boy	Automatic Safety System	Television film
1990	Gravedale High	Max Schneider (voice)	13 episodes
	The Earth Day Special	Vic's Buddy	Television special
1992	Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories	Narrator	Episode: "Little Toot & the Loch Ness Monster/ Choo Choo"
1997	Muppets Tonight	Himself	Guest; 1 Episode
2003	Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids	Holley (voice)	Television special
2007	Bob & Doug McKenzie's Two-Four Anniversary	Bob McKenzie
2009	Bob & Doug		Co-creator and executive producer
2018	The Goldbergs	Pannakin Crybaby / Lord Dark Helmet (voice)	Episode: "Spaceballs"
2020	Prop Culture	Himself	Episode: "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids"
TBA	An Afternoon with SCTV		Television special; filmed in 2018

Video games

Discography

Albums

• 1989: You, Me, the Music and Me
• 2005: The Agoraphobic Cowboy
• 2013: My Mother's Brisket & Other Love Songs

Bob and Doug McKenzie

• 1981: The Great White North
• 1983: Strange Brew soundtrack

Other soundtrack appearances

Audio/video

• 1973: "Rock Radio Scrapbook" (as Rick Allan)

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Rick Moranis para niños