David William Thomas (born May 20, 1949 in St. Catharines, Ontario) is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, producer, and director.
The son of a philosopher and a church organist, Dave Thomas is most famous for being part of the original cast on the famed Canadian sketch comedy show SCTV. There, he played a wide variety of characters, but his most iconic one was the stereotypical Canadian hoser Doug McKenzie, who appeared on the show's "Great White North" segment during its run on CBC, co-starring alongside Rick Moranis, who played Bob McKenzie. Thanks to the massive popularity of their characters on both Canadian and American television, Thomas and Moranis enjoyed an extremely successful career appearing as Bob and Doug in everything from movies to commercials.
Outside of Bob and Doug however, Dave Thomas has had a long and successful career in Canadian and American entertainment from writing and directing for various movies and TV shows to taking guest appearances in both live-action and animated works. He also established his own animation studio Animax Entertainment, which produced an animated spinoff about Bob and Doug and has also done commissioned work for various companies, ranging from designing interactive webpages to creating animated advertising.
He was formerly married to Pam Thomas, but is now currently married to Kim Thomas. His brother Ian Thomas is a noted Canadian musician and composer.
Interesting fact: He used to be a copywriter for Coca-Cola before quitting (apparently out of self-described "boredom") to audition for the Second City comedy troupe (where he of course went on to star in SCTV).
Filmography
Film Roles
- Home To Stay as Petrie
- Riel as Cdn. Captain
- Dobule Negative as Howie
- Stripes as M.C.
- Strange Brew as Doug McKenzie (also writer and director)
- The Last Polka as Narrator/Caller #2
- Follow That Bird as Sam Sleaze
- My Man Adam as Jerry Swit
- Love At Stake as Mayor Upton
- In the Mood as Bob Hope (Uncredited Role, voice)
- Moving as Gary Marcus
- The Rocket Boy as Rocket Boy (also writer and producer)
- Public Enemy Number Two as Wynn Dalton/Dwayne Gary Steckler
- Boris and Natasha as Boris Badenov
- Cold Sweat as Larry
- Coneheads as Highmaster
- Kidz In The Wood as Tom Foster
- Picture Perfect as Ernie Barrett
- MVP Most Valuable Primate as Willy Drucker
- Rat Race as Harold Grisham
- Fancy Dancing as Uncle Billy Gemmill
- The New Beachcombers as Dave McGonigal
- A Beachcombers Christmas as Dave McGonigal
- Whos Your Daddy as Carl Hughes
- Beethovens Fifth as Freddy Kablinski
- White Coats as Dr. Omar Olson (also writer and director)
- Love On The Side as Red
- Santa's Slay as Pastor Timmons
- Rush Snakes And Arrows Live In Holland as Doug McKenzie
Live-Action TV Roles
- The David Steinberg Show as James
- King of Kensington as Harold and Rev. Penner
- SCTV as Doug McKenzie and various (also writer)
- SCTV Network as Doug McKenzie and various (also writer)
- Saturday Night Live as Doug McKenzie
- SCTV Channel as various (also writer)
- Bizarre as various
- The New Show as various (also writer)
- Manic Mansion as Hudgie DeRobertis
- Parker Lewis Can't Lose as Lionel Tower
- Grace Under Fire as Russell Norton
- The Larry Sanders Show as Dave Thomas
- The Red Green Show as Ben Franklin
- Love Boat The Next Wave as Steve
- Cosby as Tully
- Caitlin's Way as Horse Rustler Frank
- Mentors as Al Sherman
- That '70s Show as Chris
- Primetime Glick as Bob Hope
- Even Stevens as Uncle Tug
- Arrested Development as Trevor
- Weeds as Dr. Bertner
- Perception (2012) as Bill Duffy
- Comedy Bang! Bang! as Burt Aukerman
- How I Met Your Mother as Chuck Gerussi
- Bones as Dick Scarn and Andrew Jursic
- Lets Get Physical as Dr. Steve Arcyl
- The Kids Are Alright as Bob Hope Impersonator
Video Game Roles
- Brother Bear as Tuke
- The Tuttles Madcap Misadventures as The Australian (also director)
Western Animation Roles
- The Get Along Gang as Leland Lizard
- The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley as various
- Raw Toonage as various
- Animaniacs as King Arthur
- Duckman as Tad Venom
- Nightmare Ned as Pig Dad
- Pippi Longstocking as Thunder-Karlsson (movie only; succeeded in TV series by Len Carlson)
- The Simpsons as Rex Banner and Bob Hope
- CatDog as Mean Bob and The Mailman
- King of the Hill as Lane Pratley, Gretta, Ambrose, and Steve Goodman
- Uncle Gus as Flapjack
- Mission Hill as Mr. Czelanski and Dr. Eulmeyer
- The Legend of Tarzan as Hugo
- Brother Bear as Tuke
- Brother Bear 2 as Tuke
- Justice League as Ernst and Harv Hickman
- Bob And Doug as Doug McKenzie (also writer and producer)
- Popzilla as various (also writer and producer)
- Pound Puppies (2010) as Agent Todd
- The Legend of Korra as various
- Bounty Hunters as Jesco
- Fast & Furious: Spy Racers as Cleve Kelso
Writer
- The Steel Collar Man (also producer)
- Spies Like Us
- CBS Summer Playhouse
- The Dave Thomas Comedy Show (also producer and actor)
- Maniac Mansion
- The Dennis Miller Show
- Ghost Mom (also director)
- Grace Under Fire
- Girl
- Skunk Fu!
- Bones
- The Blacklist
- Matchmaker Mysteries
