Born in February 5, 1948, Christopher Haden-Guest, more popularly known as Christopher Guest, is an American-born composer, screenwriter, director, musician and actor-comedian. He is known in most circles in Hollywood for having written and directed and even starred in a good number of mockumentary movies that usually feature ensemble casting. One of the most popular of his mockumentaries is This is Spinal Tap.
In Britain, Guest earned the coveted Baronial peerage. Over time, he has publicly expressed the desire to see changes in the House of Lords. Particularly, he wants it to be reformed as a democratically-elected House of Chamber. Despite early activities in the House of Lords, his particular royal career was interrupted by the House of Lords Act of 1999. However, whenever he wants to use his title, he is addressed as Lord Haden Guest.
A native New Yorker, Guest was the son of Peter Haden-Guest, a diplomat working for the British United Nations diplomat and the Fourth Baron Haden-Guest. His mother was Jean Pauline Hindes, who worked as casting vice president at CBS Network. The maternal of Guest were Russian-Jewish immigrants who were said to be close to him.
Christopher Guest’s paternal grandfather was Leslie, Baron Haden-Guest, a Labor Party politician who converted to Jewish faith. On the other hand, the father of his paternal grandmother was Albert Goldsmid, a British Colonel who created the Jewish Lads’ and Girls’ Brigade as well as the Maccabaeans. Later in their lives, both his parents became atheists, which meant that Christopher Guest grew up without any religious upbringing.
As a writer, Guest had a frequent partner in Eugene Levy. The two formed a close circle of other writers and actors to form a repertory group which occasionally appeared in a number of films. The circle includes Michael McKean, John Michael Higgins, Catherine O’Hara, Bob Balaban, Jennifer Coolidge, Parker Posey, Jane Lynch, Harry Shearer, Fred Willard and Ed Begley, Jr. Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy worked together, writing varied backgrounds for all of the characters as well as note cards meant for specific scenes. Such cards outline the plot and leave the improvising for the actors to do. The result is an unbelievably natural series of conversations unlike what happens during the usual scripted dialogue.
All of Christopher Guest’s movies share a characteristic plot development, where the story often leads to a high degree of anticipated performance, with the outcome of performances always dramatic. This might be the result of Guest’s theater background. His work is often regarded as like a meta-commentary, one that is improved during the performance. It should be noted that all performers who appear in such movies receive the same amount of fee and share the profits in equal amounts.
In spite of creating various mockumentaries, Christopher Guest himself does not like the term given to his work. He would not admit that his intention is to make a mockery of anyone. His goal for making films is to explore obscure communities in the hope of experiencing enlightenment from them. In 2003 however, while being interviewed by Charlie Rose, he said there simply is no word to use as a substitute for the term mockumentary.
