Austin Powers (character)


Sir Austin Danger Powers, KBE is a fictional character from the Austin Powers series of films, and is created and portrayed by Mike Myers. He is the protagonist of , The Spy Who Shagged Me and Austin Powers in Goldmember.
He is a womanizing, hard partying British spy embodying the Swinging London mod culture and hippie culture of the 1960s who, with his nemesis Dr. Evil, was frozen in a cryonics experiment. The series' humor follows his attempts to adjust to the modern world as he continues to try to save it from terrorism.

Personality

Austin Powers was a character seen as a parody of James Bond, and being influenced by Harry Palmer, characters played by Michael Caine, and also being inspired by the flamboyant dress sense of Jason King.
The character of Austin Powers represents an archetype of 1960s Swinging London, with his advocacy for free love, his use of obscure expressions and his clothing style.

Development

Myers, Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs formed the faux British 1960s band Ming Tea after Myers' Saturday Night Live stint in the early 1990s. The band members all performed under pseudonyms with 1960s personas. Myers adopted the pseudonym and character of Austin Powers.
This group made a number of live club and television performances in character. Myers' then wife, Robin Ruzan, encouraged him to write a film based on Austin Powers. Obituaries of Simon Dee, the radio and television presenter, stated that his "Sixties grooviness" made him the inspiration for the character.
Mike Myers has claimed his father was the inspiration behind Austin Powers.

Other media

In November 2010, he was voted #23 in Entertainment Weeklys list "The 100 Greatest Characters of The Last 20 Years."