Dana Thomas Carvey (born June 2, 1955) is a performer and stand-up comedian known for their work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for playing the role of Garth Algar in the Wayne's World films.
Carvey was born in Missoula, Montana, the child of Billie Dahl, a schoolteacher, and Bud Carvey, a high-school business teacher. Carvey is the sibling of Brad Carvey, the engineer/designer of the Video Toaster. The character Garth Algar is loosely based on Brad. Carvey has English, German, Irish, Norwegian, and Swedish ancestry, and was raised Lutheran. When they were three years old, their family moved to San Carlos, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. They received their first drum kit at an early age. They attended Tierra Linda Junior High in San Carlos, Carlmont High School in Belmont, California (where they were a member of the Central Coast Section champion cross country team), College of San Mateo in San Mateo, California, and received their bachelor's degree in broadcast communications from San Francisco State University.
They had a minor role in Halloween II, and co-starred on One of the Boys in 1982, a short-lived television sitcom that also starred Mickey Rooney, Nathan Lane, and Meg Ryan. In 1984, Carvey had a small role in Rob Reiner's film This Is Spinal Tap, in which they played a mime, with comedian Billy Crystal (who tells them "Mime is money!"). They also appeared in the short-lived film-based action television series Blue Thunder.
