| “ | So I sure as shit ain't afraid to burn here on Earth. | „ |
| ~ Wes Mantooth, before he is accidentally killed by Brick Tamland. |
Wes Mantooth is Ron Burgundy's chief rival and the lead anchor of KQHS Channel 9 Evening News Team, as well as the secondary antagonist in the film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and a minor character in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.
He was portrayed by Vince Vaughn. who also portrayed Reese Feldman in Starsky & Hutch, the Blissfield Butcher in Freaky, Rick Barnes in Domestic Disturbance, and Norman Bates in the 1998 remake of Psycho,
Biography[]
It is revealed early on that Mantooth is extremely sensitive about insults directed towards his mother, Dorothy Mantooth, whom he regards as a "saint".
Mantooth is consistently irritated by his being second in the ratings, causing him and his news team to ultimately initiate an anchorman battle against Burgundy and three other news teams in a street brawl using a knife.
The anchorman battle was interrupted and forcing everyone to ditch the fight. Later in the movie he pulls Burgundy from a ladder out of the bear pit, explaining that while he hates him, he nonetheless respects him as a journalist.
He returns in the sequel where he sacrifices himself to save Ron from Jack Lime by spilling oil around the evil anchorman and his crew before lighting it with a match, killing both of them and allowing Ron to make it to his son's recital in time.
Trivia[]
- The character is loosely based on the CBC news anchor Peter Mansbridge.