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 Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002). 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 and characters played by Peter Sellers. The character of Austin Powers represents an archetype of 1960s Swinging London, with his advocacy for free love, his use of obscure impressions and his clothing style (including crushed velvet suits and Beatle boots).

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 (1935–2009), 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
Video Games: Austin Powers, Austin Powers Pinball, Austin Powers: Welcome to my Underground Lair, Austin Powers: Oh Behave!, and Austin Powers: Operation Trivia.
 * HBO purchased the rights to produce a cartoon series based on the Austin Powers films in 1999. Despite announcing plans for a thirteen episode season, HBO ultimately shelved the project.
 * Austin Powers has been used for advertising numerous products and endorsements, such as Pepsi Cola.
 * He also appears in the music videos for Madonna's "Beautiful Stranger", Beyoncé's "Work It Out" and Britney Spears' "Boys".

In popular culture
In 2010, he was voted #23 in Entertainment Weekly's list "The 100 greatest characters of the last 20 years."