Fred Armisen

Biography:

Fred Armisen was born on December 4, 1966, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to Hildegardt Mirabal Level, a schoolteacher, and Fereydun Herbert Armisen, an IBM employee. He moved with his family to New York shortly after his birth and spent part of his childhood in Brazil before being raised in Valley Stream, New York. There, he was a classmate of future SNL cast member Jim Breuer. Armisen briefly studied at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan before leaving to pursue music as a rock drummer, a path inspired by seeing bands like The Clash and Devo on TV.

His mother was Venezuelan, while his father was born in Germany to a German mother and Korean father. For years, Armisen believed his grandfather was Japanese, but later learned he was Korean. His grandfather, Park Yeong-in, had adopted a Japanese identity after the 1923 massacre of Koreans and went on to become a respected modern dancer before immigrating to the U.S.

Armisen began his music career in 1984 with a local band and later joined the punk band Trenchmouth after moving to Chicago in 1988. In the 1990s, he also played with Blue Man Group and later contributed drums to albums by Les Savy Fav, Matthew Sweet, and others. He became the music director and drummer for the 8G Band on Late Night with Seth Meyers starting in 2014, a role he held until the band was let go in 2024 due to NBC budget cuts. He has performed with Devo and appeared at the Newport Folk Festival in 2021.

His interests eventually shifted to acting and comedy. Armisen had memorable early television appearances on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Crank Yankers, and Adult Swim, which led to his Saturday Night Live debut in 2002. He became a repertory player in 2004 and remained on the show until 2013, making him one of its longest-tenured cast members with over 850 sketch appearances. He has returned for various cameos since leaving the show.

Armisen is known for quirky roles in films such as Eurotrip, Anchorman, and Confessions of a Shopaholic, and voiced Speedy Gonzales on The Looney Tunes Show. He co-created and starred in IFC’s Portlandia with Carrie Brownstein, earning multiple Emmy nominations. The duo also appeared together on The Simpsons and co-created the series Documentary Now! with Bill Hader and Seth Meyers.

His more recent work includes appearances in Wednesday (2022) as Uncle Fester and Our Flag Means Death (2022) as Geraldo. In 2024, he played Mike Puntz in Jerry Seinfeld’s film Unfrosted. He also served as executive producer on the 2021 documentary Charm Circle.

In his personal life, Armisen was married to musician Sally Timms and later to actress Elisabeth Moss, who described their relationship as traumatic. He has acknowledged struggles in past relationships and once described himself as a bad partner. He had a long-term relationship with actress Natasha Lyonne, which ended in 2022. He later married comedian Riki Lindhome, and they now live in Los Feliz.

Outside of acting and music, Armisen is a fan of the Red Dead video game series and extreme metal music. He has voiced characters in Red Dead Redemption and its sequel. Armisen identifies as an atheist.