Colin Mochrie

Colin Mochrie
Colin Mochrie at the 2008 BANFF World Television Festival.
Birth name	Colin Andrew Mochrie
Born	(1957-11-30) November 30, 1957 (age 59) Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland
Medium	Stand-up comedy, television
Nationality	Canadian
Years active	1977–present
Genres	Improvisational comedy
Spouse	Debra McGrath (1989–present)
Notable works and roles	British and American versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway? This Hour Has 22 Minutes (2001–2003)
Website	colinmochrie.com

Colin Andrew Mochrie (/ˈmɒkri/; born November 30, 1957) is a Scottish-born Canadian actor and improvisational comedian, most famous for his appearances on the British and US versions of television improvization show Whose Line Is It Anyway?.

Colin Mochrie was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland, the oldest of three children. His father was an airline maintenance executive. He was shy as a child, stating that neighbours would have commented that he "watched way too much television." In 1964, his family moved to a French neighbourhood just outside Montreal, Quebec, and five years later moved again to Vancouver, British Columbia. Mochrie attended Killarney Secondary School, where he was a self-proclaimed loner who wanted to become a marine biologist. He was persuaded by a friend to try out for a play entitled The Death and Life of Sneaky Fitch where Mochrie played the role of the undertaker. He was hooked when he got his first laugh, which paved the way for a career in entertainment. After graduating from high school, where he was valedictorian, Mochrie attended the Studio 58 theatre school in Vancouver for four years, where he discovered the art of improvisational comedy.

Upon graduation from Studio 58, Mochrie found his first line of work as a member of the Vancouver TheatreSports League. He started working with the group in 1980. Fame was slow to start, as Mochrie "literally had to pull people out of McDonald's to come see the shows." Mochrie originally had parts in plays while working for the group, though after a time working for the TheatreSports League became a full-time job for Mochrie. He met fellow improvisor Ryan Stiles during this time. He was visiting a mutual friend in New Zealand when Stiles was doing comedy at Punchlines. After the two met, Stiles and Mochrie began working at TheatreSports together. It has been stated that the two met while members of Second City, though, according to Mochrie, this is untrue.