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Stephen Merchant

Born November 24, 1974 (1974-11-24) (age 33)
Bristol, England

Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English Emmy, Golden Globe, British Comedy Award and BAFTA-award winning writer, director, and comic actor. Events 380 - Theodosius I makes his adventus, or formal Year 1974 ( MCMLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. Bristol ( ˈbrɪstəl is a city, Unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Events 380 - Theodosius I makes his adventus, or formal Year 1974 ( MCMLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and Television programs given out each year during a formal dinner The British Comedy Awards is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA is a British charity that hosts annual awards shows for film television television craft video games and forms of animation He is best known for his work with his friend Ricky Gervais in the popular British sitcoms The Office and Extras, as well as The Ricky Gervais Show in its radio and podcast forms. Ricky Dene Gervais (dʒɜːˈveɪz born 25 June 1961 is an English Actor, Comedian, Writer, director, Producer and former A British sitcom is a Situation comedy (sitcom produced in the United Kingdom. This article is about the original version of The Office For the US version see The Office (US TV series, and for a comparison of the various versions from around the Extras is a British television sitcom about extras working on Film sets and in Theatre. This article is about the audio programme for the tv programme see Meet Ricky Gervais The Ricky Gervais Show is a comedy audio

Contents

Background

Merchant was born in Bristol, England, the son of Jane Elaine (Hibbs), a nursery nurse, and Ronald John Merchant, an insurance representative and attended Hanham High School[1] As he has described in Xfm London shows and podcasts, Merchant was a very shy child, tending to focus more on school work as opposed to sport. Bristol ( ˈbrɪstəl is a city, Unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Xfm London is a commercial Radio station in the United Kingdom. His school yearbook predicted that he would enjoy success. Merchant has also described his relatively normal childhood, which is often contrasted with that of his associate Karl Pilkington. Karl Pilkington (born on 23 September 1972 is a Sony Award -winning Radio producer, podcaster and author best known for producing and co-presenting Stephen once appeared on Blockbusters and began his career as a stand up comedian at Bristol's Comedy Box; "The first week I did really well,’ he remembers. Blockbusters is a Television Game show in which contestants answered trivia questions to complete a path across or down a game board of Hexagons ‘The second week I died on my arse. I realised that stand-up was not that easy after all’". He got to be a finalist at the 1998 Daily Telegraph Open Mic awards before joining Radio Caroline as a breakfast DJ.

Merchant is a graduate of the University of Warwick and a former film reviewer on the student radio station, Radio Warwick where he began his broadcasting career. The University of Warwick is a British Campus university located on the outskirts of Coventry, West Midlands, England and is Radio Warwick or RaW is the Student radio station at the University of Warwick and winner of the 2000 and 2003 BBC Radio 1 Student The station's 1995/96 yearbook tipped him for great things:

“ Merchant, Steve: The man behind the funniest show on W963, the "Steve Show", highlights of which included an inspired take-off of the IRN news ('we spoke to Gerry Adams. Gerry Adams, MLA, MP (Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh born 6 October 1948 is an Irish Republican politician and abstentionist Westminster . . '), an advert for Coventry Library ('Coventry Library makes no claims to be infinite'), attempting to give away an Aerosmith video to people on the toilet in Rootes [hall of residence], telephoning the library bridge security post to ask if they had seen a lost ball, as well as a series of snippets entitled 'At home with Rose and Fred West'. Aerosmith is an American Hard rock band sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston " and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band" Rosemary Pauline ("Rose" West née Letts (born 29 November 1953 in Barnstaple) is an English Serial killer, now an inmate Frederick Walter Stephen West (29 September 1941 – 1 January 1995 better known as Fred West, was an English Serial killer. This show stood out from the crowd, as it was actually genuinely good. It's only a matter of time before Steve and his posse follow in the footsteps of Newman and Baddiel. Newman and Baddiel was a Comedy partnership of the 1990s consisting of British stand-up comics Robert Newman and David Baddiel. ”

Members of Steve's posse included film critic James King, Dan Warren, and Geraint the Welshman. James King is a British movie critic who appears regularly on BBC Radio 1 and many television shows He graduated with a 1st class degree in Film and Literature in 1996.

Steve has a long term girlfriend, digital advertising producer Claire Jones

Professional career

Early days

Stephen Merchant, along with long-time collaborator and friend Ricky Gervais, made Golden Years, a Comedy Lab pilot for Channel 4 about a manager with a mid-life crisis who decides to go on Stars In Your Eyes as David Bowie, a hero of Gervais’s. Channel 4 is a public-service Television and Radio broadcaster in the United Kingdom centred around a television channel of the same name which began David Bowie (ˈboʊiː born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947 is an English Musician, actor producer, and arranger. The show wasn't a hit, but with the benefit of hindsight the seeds for The Office were apparently sown here. Nonetheless, it was enough to bring Gervais a slot on the Eleven O’Clock Show. The 11 O'Clock Show was a satirical late-night British Television comedy series on Channel 4, which featured topical sketches In 1997, Merchant was hired by London radio station Xfm to work with the "Head of Speech", Gervais. In 1998, Merchant left Xfm to start a production course at the BBC before Xfm was bought out by the Capital Radio Group. GCap Media was a British commercial radio company formed from the merger of the Capital Radio Group and GWR Group

The Office and Extras

In mid-2001, the first series of The Office was broadcast on BBC 2. Also in 2001, Merchant and Gervais were rehired by Xfm and discovered Karl Pilkington. Karl Pilkington (born on 23 September 1972 is a Sony Award -winning Radio producer, podcaster and author best known for producing and co-presenting

Merchant made a cameo appearance as Oggy (also known as "The Oggmonster", although his real name is Nathan), a friend of Gareth Keenan, in the second series of The Office in 2002. Gareth Keenan is a fictional paper salesman on BBC 's Comedy The Office. His father, Ron Merchant, also appears as a character named "Gordon", an office handyman who becomes transfixed by the pseudo-documentary cameras whenever he walks into shot.

Merchant is also an executive producer for the American version of The Office. Motion Pictures An executive producer of a Motion picture is typically a producer who is sometimes involved in creative or technical aspects of production On February 6, 2006, it was announced that Merchant and Gervais were returning to The Office to write an episode for the third season of the American version of the programme. [2] Entitled "The Convict", it premiered on November 30, 2006. "The Convict" is the eleventh filmed and ninth aired episode of the third season of The Office (U Events 1700 - Battle of Narva — A Swedish army of 8500 men under Charles XII defeats Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

The most recent Merchant-Gervais sitcom, Extras, premiered on BBC2 on July 21, 2005. Extras is a British television sitcom about extras working on Film sets and in Theatre. Events 356 BC - Herostratus sets fire to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Merchant stars as Darren Lamb, the incompetent agent of Andy Millman (Gervais), a role for which he won a British Comedy Award in 2006 for Best TV Actor. The British Comedy Awards is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year [3]

Other roles

In 2002 Merchant directed a one-off comedy called The Last Chancers for Channel 4's Comedy Lab strand. The year 2002 in television involved some significant eventsBelow is a list of Television -related events in 2002. Channel 4 is a public-service Television and Radio broadcaster in the United Kingdom centred around a television channel of the same name which began In 2003, he had a recurring role in Garth Marenghi's Darkplace as a chef. The year 2003 in television involved some significant eventsBelow is a list of Television -related events in 2003. Garth Marenghi's Darkplace is a Comedy series made for Channel 4 by Matthew Holness and Richard Ayoade. In 2004, he worked as a Script Associate on the Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker sitcom Nathan Barley, and had a cameo in Green Wing. The year 2004 in television involved some significant eventsBelow is a list of Television -related events in 2004. Christopher Morris (born 5 September 1965 in Bristol) is an English Comedian, Writer, director, producer, Charlton Brooker, commonly known as Charlie Brooker, (born 3 March 1971 Reading, Berkshire) is a British Comedy writer, Cartoonist Nathan Barley is a Channel 4 sitcom written by Charlie Brooker and Chris Morris, starring Nicholas Burns, Julian Barratt Green Wing is an award-winning British television Comedy set in the fictional East Hampton Hospital Trust. In 2005 Merchant starred as a radio football sports commentator in the sitcom No Skillz. In winter 2006, Merchant had a cameo role in the Fox series 24. 24 is an Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning American action Drama Television series. He had a non-speaking 4-second role as an analyst sitting at a computer in the sixth season opener.

He also had small roles in 2007 films Hot Fuzz as Peter Ian Staker (P. Hot Fuzz is a 2007 British action Comedy film written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright and starring Simon I. Staker - Piss taker), a man who loses his swan and in Run Fat Boy Run as a man with a broken leg. Run Fat Boy Run is a 2007 Romantic comedy directed by David Schwimmer, written by Michael Ian Black and Simon Pegg

Podcasts

In 2006, Merchant and long-time comedy partner Ricky Gervais recorded a series of episodes of their podcasts, assisted by Karl Pilkington. Karl Pilkington (born on 23 September 1972 is a Sony Award -winning Radio producer, podcaster and author best known for producing and co-presenting The podcasts were a follow-up to their award-winning radio shows on Xfm, and were rated the #1 most downloaded podcast of all time. Following the success of the first 12 shows, offered for free, the trio went on to produce two more series. At the end of the third series, Gervais announced that they would be taking a break from podcasts, only to return weeks later, announcing three more free podcasts. Those aired at Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas 2006.

Merchant also interviewed Jimmy Fallon and Chevy Chase for the Amnesty International Secret Policeman's Ball podcasts in October 2006. James Thomas "Jimmy" Fallon Jr (born September 19, 1974) is an American Comedian, Actor, and Musician known for his work Cornelius Crane “Chevy” Chase (born October 8 1943 is an American Emmy Award-winning Comedian, Writer, and television and film Amnesty International (commonly known as Amnesty or AI) is a Western based international Non-governmental organization which defines its mission as "to [4]

6 Music show

Starting 14 January 2007, Merchant began a radio show on BBC 6 music, running Sundays from 3-5pm. [5] The show focuses not on comedy but on music and particularly on "new music," which Steve defines as "Music you've not heard before. " Steve also regularly plays classic hip-hop, which he refers to as "hippity hop". Hip hop is a cultural movement which developed in New York City in the 1970s primarily among African Americans and Latinos. Presenters and listeners suggest songs to play which Merchant then may add to his playlist for future shows. Currently featured on the show are long-time friends of Steve's, including his former housemate Dan Warren (a friend since university), Harry (a friend from youth in Bristol), and posh actor Rufus Gerrard-Wright (who appeared in an episode of Extras). Extras is a British television sitcom about extras working on Film sets and in Theatre. After a spring search process, Merchant and his mates selected former Byker Grove actor Sammy T. Byker Grove is a British television series which aired between 1989 and 2006 and was created by Adele Rose. Dobson[6] to join them on air as their "She-J".

Appearance

Merchant's considerable height (6ft 7ins or 2. 01 m tall) [7]has been a source of humour and teasing throughout his career. He even made a cameo appearance in The Office, playing a character called the "Ogg-Monster", who David Brent called "a lanky goggle-eyed freak" because of his size. This article is about the original version of The Office For the US version see The Office (US TV series, and for a comparison of the various versions from around the David Brent is a fictional White-collar office middle-manager and one of the principal characters from the BBC television comedy The Office [8] His height, and also dance moves, have attracted comments from several sources. The Daily Mail newspaper described him as a "giant albatross hopping on stilts",[9] as he danced in a London pub (although Merchant refuted this claim during an episode of the Ricky Gervais Show, stating that he did not take to the dance floor on that occasion). The Daily Mail is a British newspaper currently published in a tabloid format Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large Seabirds allied to the procellariids, Storm-petrels and Diving-petrels Stiltwalker parade 2004jpg|thumb|A stiltwalker participates in a parade dressed as a Court jester]] Stilts are poles posts or pillars used to allow a person or structure to Friend and collaborator Ricky Gervais has likened him to an "upright lizard being given electro-shock treatment"[10] a "stick insect with glasses"[11] or "Beaker" from the muppets. Ricky Dene Gervais (dʒɜːˈveɪz born 25 June 1961 is an English Actor, Comedian, Writer, director, Producer and former Lizards are a large and widespread group of Reptiles of the order Squamata, with nearly 5000 species and ranging across all continents except "Phasmid" redirects here For the cloning vector used in genetics see Phagemid. [12] Radio producer and co-host of Merchant, Karl Pilkington, has described his moves as a "bit of weird art"[13] in the past, while British comic and broadcaster Russell Brand has likened him to a "graceful grasshopper". Karl Pilkington (born on 23 September 1972 is a Sony Award -winning Radio producer, podcaster and author best known for producing and co-presenting Russell Edward Brand (born June 4 1975 is a British Comedian, Actor, Columnist and a Presenter of Radio and Grasshoppers are Insects of the suborder Caelifera in the order Orthoptera. [14] Merchant has commented that he prefers to liken himself to fellow tall man and English football player, Peter Crouch[15] who is also six foot seven inches. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered Peter James Crouch (born 30 January 1981 is an English international football player Merchant impersonated Crouch in a bit done with Gervais before the 2006 World Cup.

References

  1. ^ Family detective: Stephen Merchant - Telegraph
  2. ^ Gervais to write US office episode
  3. ^ Tate and Merchant win comedy awards | Media | The Guardian
  4. ^ Latest balls, Amnesty International, accessed 10 January 2008
  5. ^ Stephen Merchant presents new show for BBC 6 Music
  6. ^ http://www.tv.com/sammy-dobson/person/95277/appearances.html
  7. ^ http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article2390887.ece Stephen Merchant: A giant of comedy], The Independent, 25 March 2007, accessed 26 December 2007
  8. ^ The Office - Series 2/Episode5
  9. ^ The Ricky Gervais Show - Series 3/Part 2
  10. ^ The Ricky Gervais Show - Series 3/Part 2
  11. ^ The Ricky Gervais Show - Series 3/Part 2
  12. ^ The Ricky Gervais Show - The Early Years/Part 3
  13. ^ The Ricky Gervais Show - Series 3/Part 2
  14. ^ BBC Podcast - The Russell Brand Show
  15. ^ The Ricky Gervais Show - Series 3/Part 2

External links

Events 1220 - Sweden is defeated by Estonian tribes in the Battle of Lihula. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Observer is a British Newspaper published on Sundays In about the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Events 1499 - Publication of the Catholicon in Treguier ( Brittany) Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
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