Fred Armisen

Fereydun Robert Armisen was born on December 4, 1966, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to a Venezuelan mother, Hildegardt Mirabal Level, a schoolteacher born in San Fernando de Apure, and a German-based father, Fereydun Herbert Armisen, an IBM employee. His father was born in Soltau, Germany, to a German mother and a father of Korean heritage. That paternal grandfather, known professionally as Masami Kuni and by his birth name Park Yeong-in, was born in Ulsan and adopted a Japanese name and identity following the massacre of Koreans in 1923. Park studied aesthetics at Tokyo Imperial University, became a professional dancer, later moved to Germany, and eventually immigrated to the United States, where he taught dance at what is now Cal State Fullerton from 1964 to 1975. Armisen's Korean lineage can be traced back to the 1600s. Shortly after his birth, Armisen moved with his family to New York, briefly lived in Brazil during his youth, and was raised in Valley Stream, New York, where he was a classmate of fellow Saturday Night Live alumnus Jim Breuer. He attended the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan before leaving to pursue a career as a rock drummer, having been inspired to perform after watching the Clash and Devo on television.

Armisen began playing drums with local friends in Valley Stream in 1984. In 1988, he relocated to Chicago to drum for the punk rock band Trenchmouth, and during the 1990s he played background drums with Blue Man Group. His drumming work extended to session contributions, including three tracks on Les Savy Fav's 2007 album Let's Stay Friends, tracks on Matthew Sweet's 2011 album Modern Art, and tracks on Wandering Lucy's 1996 album Leap Year. In 2018, he played drums as part of Devo at John Waters' Burger Boogaloo festival in Oakland, California, and in July 2021 he performed at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island. Beginning February 24, 2014, Armisen served as music director and frequent drummer for the 8G Band, the house band for Late Night with Seth Meyers, a role he held until the band was laid off at the end of the 2023–2024 season due to NBC budget cuts. In September 2025, he released an album of sound effects titled 100 Sound Effects on the independent label Drag City, featuring contributions from Mary Lynn Rajskub, Amber Coffman, Tim Heidecker, and Riki Lindhome, and dedicated to the late Steve Albini.

Armisen's path toward television began with appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and work for Crank Yankers and Adult Swim. He joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 2002 as a featured player and was promoted to repertory cast member in 2004. Over eleven years with the show, he appeared in 856 sketches, the second-highest total of any cast member, and at the time of his 2013 departure he was the third-longest-tenured cast member, behind Seth Meyers and Darrell Hammond. He returned to host the season 41 finale on May 21, 2016, with musical guest Courtney Barnett. As part of the Saturday Night Live political satire cast, Armisen shared a Peabody Award in 2008.

Alongside Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney, Armisen co-created and co-starred in the IFC sketch comedy series Portlandia, whose first season debuted on January 21, 2011. The show earned him a second Peabody Award in 2011, as well as Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series in 2012, 2013, and 2014, and a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2014. Armisen and Brownstein also appeared together in the 2012 Simpsons episode "The Day the Earth Stood Cool," in which they played the Simpsons' new neighbors. He co-created and starred in the IFC mockumentary series Documentary Now!, which premiered in 2015 alongside Bill Hader and Seth Meyers, and co-created the Showtime comedy series Moonbase 8. From 2019 to 2022, he co-created, co-starred in, and served as writer and executive producer on the Spanish-language series Los Espookys.

Armisen's film work spans both live-action and voice roles. He appeared in comedy films including EuroTrip, Melvin Goes to Dinner, The Ex, and The Dictator, as well as Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, Deck the Halls, The Promotion, The Rocker, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, and Confessions of a Shopaholic. His voice acting credits include The Smurfs (2011), The Smurfs 2 (2013), The House of Tomorrow (2017), The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017), The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021), The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023), The Contestant (2023), Thelma the Unicorn (2024), and Fixed (2025). He voiced Speedy Gonzales on the Cartoon Network series The Looney Tunes Show from 2011 to 2014. In 2022, he appeared in Wednesday as Uncle Fester and in the first season of Our Flag Means Death as Geraldo, a barkeep in the Republic of Pirates. In 2024, he appeared as FDA representative Mike Puntz in Jerry Seinfeld's Unfrosted. He also served as executive producer on the 2021 documentary Charm Circle, directed by Nira Burstein. Armisen received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Comedy Album for Standup for Drummers in 2019.

Guest appearances across television have included 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, New Girl, Broad City, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Difficult People, The Last Man on Earth, Toast of Tinseltown, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Modern Family, and Barry. In 2024, Armisen made his Broadway debut in All In: Comedy About Love.