Brian McConnachie

Brian John McConnachie (December 23, 1942 – January 5, 2024) was an American actor, comedy writer, and children's book author.

McConnachie was born in Manhattan, New York, on December 23, 1942, and was raised in Forest Hills, Queens.

He attended University College Dublin and also served in the U.S. Army.

During the early 1970s, McConnachie was one of the main writers for National Lampoon, where he authored and co-authored many articles.

In 1977, McConnachie left the Lampoon, and joined the writing staff of Saturday Night Live, joining Bill Murray and John Belushi, two friends from The National Lampoon Radio Hour.

In 1981, after his time on SCTV, McConnachie launched The American Bystander, a magazine he variously described as "a hip New Yorker" or "The National Lampoon for grown-ups".

Though the Bystander had contributions from many of McConnachie’s friends from the Lampoon, and was initially backed by Belushi, Dan Ackroyd, Lorne Michaels and others, it was unable to find the money to be printed.

The 1981 Pilot Issue was reprinted in full in Bystander #25 (May 2023).

As an actor, McConnachie appeared in seven films directed by Woody Allen: Husbands and Wives, Bullets Over Broadway, Don't Drink the Water, Deconstructing Harry, Celebrity, Small Time Crooks, and The Curse of the Jade Scorpion.

He played a supporting role in Caddyshack as Drew Scott.

McConnachie was married to the former Ann Crilly for 56 years, and they had one daughter.

He died in Venice, Florida, on January 5, 2024, of complications from Parkinson's disease.

He was 81.

This is a list of films that McConnachie has appeared in, and the roles he played in those films.

McConnachie and Belushi remained particularly close until Belushi’s death in 1982, and Murray and McConnachie remained friends as well, with McConnachie acting in several Murray movies.

McConnachie’s absurdist sketches for SNL included “Cochise at Oxford” and “Name The Bats.”

In 1982, McConnachie won an Emmy Award as part of the writing team for SCTV Network, and in 1979 he was nominated for an Emmy as part of the writing team for Saturday Night Live.

In addition to SCTV Network and Saturday Night Live, McConnachie also wrote fifteen episodes of Noddy and eighteen of Shining Time Station.

He wrote an episode of The Simpsons, "The Fabulous Faker Boy", for the show's twenty-fourth season.

He left the magazine after four years, but as Rick Meyerowitz commented in the book Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead in 2010, "...[McConnachie's Lampoon work] is well loved, here on Earth, and on his home planet."

In 2015, Mcconnachie partnered with Michael Gerber and Alan Goldberg to relaunch the magazine.