An Act of God's Tim Kazurinsky on His Best Friend John Belushi & Why Jim Parsons Is Nicer Than the Lord

Age: 65. “The fact that my crusty old kisser is considered a ‘fresh face’ is a minor miracle.”

Hometown: Chicago, IL

Current Role: A Broadway debut as Gabriel, the title deity’s right-hand angel, opposite Jim Parsons in David Javerbaum’s celestial comedy An Act of God.

Stage & Screen Cred: Kazurinsky’s varied career includes a three-year stint (1981-84) as performer and writer on Saturday Night Live, playing Officer Sweetchuck in three Police Academy films, screenwriting credits for About Last Night and numerous TV comedies and a year-long run as the Wizard in the national tour of Wicked.

“Working with Jim Parsons, I feel like I’m taking a master class in comedy. His timing, his intonation and his pauses are brilliant. He’s the real deal. And he’s actually nicer than God.”

“I was an ad man in my 20s. I started in 1971, which is when Mad Men ended, and it really was like the show. There was so much booze, and it was tough for women to break in. I started doing improv at Second City as a creative outlet and backed into this career.”

“David Mamet taught the only acting class I ever took. He was just a starving playwright then and worked a dishwasher at Second City. We didn’t have contact when I adapted his play Sexual Perversity in Chicago into [the movie] About Last Night, but he was always gracious about it.”

“I compare Saturday Night Live to childbirth. After it’s over, you love your child and forget how painful it was. I loved going back for the 40th anniversary. The young people on the show could not have been nicer and made us feel like part of the family.”

“John Belushi was my best friend. He and Eddie Murphy were the funniest people I ever worked with. John died at 33—he’s now been gone longer than he was alive—but he still shows up in my dreams, patting me down to look for a hidden pack of Marlboros. And I haven’t smoked in 30 years!”

“Wicked fans are really diehard. Oh my lord! They’ll ask you to sign something and say, ‘This is my 30th time seeing the show.’ I’d love to play the Wizard again. My wife [actress Marcia Lynn Watkins] made her Broadway debut in 1974 [in Good News] and it’s taken me 41 years to catch up!”