Ricky Gervais

Ricky Gervais
Gervais in 2021
Birth nameRicky Dene Gervais
Born (1961-06-25) 25 June 1961 (age 63)
Reading, Berkshire, England
Medium
  • Stand-up
  • television
  • film
  • music
  • books
Alma materUniversity College London (BA)
Years active1982–present
Genres
Subject(s)
Partner(s)Jane Fallon (1982–present)
Websiterickygervais.com
Ricky Gervais's voice
Recorded June 2007 from the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs

Ricky Dene Gervais (/dʒərˈveɪz/ jər-VAYZ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, producer, director and musician. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms The Office (2001–2003), Extras (2005–2007), and Life's Too Short (2011–2013) with Stephen Merchant. He also created, wrote and starred in Derek (2012–2014) and After Life (2019–2022).[1]

He has won seven BAFTA Awards, five British Comedy Awards, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and the Rose d'Or twice (2006 and 2019). In 2003, The Observer named Gervais one of the 50 funniest performers in British comedy.[2] In 2007, he was placed at No. 11 on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups,[3] and at No. 3 in their 2010 list.[4] In 2010, he was included in the Time 100 list of World's Most Influential People.[5]

Gervais initially worked in the music industry. He attempted a career as a pop star in the 1980s as the singer of the new-wave act Seona Dancing, and managed the then-unknown band Suede before turning to comedy. The band did find success in the Philippines after the song "More to Lose" found tremendous success.[6] He appeared on The 11 O'Clock Show on Channel 4 between 1998 and 2000, garnering a reputation as an outspoken and sharp-witted social provocateur. In 2000, he was given a Channel 4 spoof talk show, Meet Ricky Gervais. He achieved greater mainstream fame the following year with his BBC television mock documentary series The Office, followed by Extras in 2005. He also wrote the Flanimals book series.

Gervais began his stand-up career in the late 1990s. He has performed five multi-national stand-up comedy tours. Gervais, Merchant and Karl Pilkington created the podcast The Ricky Gervais Show, which has spawned various spin-offs including An Idiot Abroad (2010–2012), starring Pilkington and produced by Gervais and Merchant.[7] In 2016, he wrote, directed and starred in the comedy film David Brent: Life on the Road.[8] Gervais has also starred in the Hollywood films For Your Consideration (2006), the Night at the Museum film series trilogy (2006–2014), Ghost Town (2008), and Muppets Most Wanted (2014). He wrote, directed, and starred in the 2009 romantic comedy film The Invention of Lying and the 2016 Netflix-released comedy film Special Correspondents. He hosted the Golden Globe Awards five times, in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, and 2020.

  1. ^ "Ricky Gervais | Biography, TV Series, Movies, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  2. ^ "The A-Z of laughter (part one)". The Observer. 7 December 2003. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Episode 1.1 The 100 Greatest Stand-Ups 2007". Comedy.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  4. ^ "Episode 1.2 The 100 Greatest Stand-Ups 2010". Comedy.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 January 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  5. ^ "Ricky Gervais The 2010 Time 100 Poll". Time. 4 April 2011. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  6. ^ Jenkins, Nash (1 February 2017). "A Brief History of Ricky Gervais as an 1980s Pop Sensation". TIME. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  7. ^ Plunkett, John (6 February 2006). "Gervais podcast in the record books". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 6 September 2008. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  8. ^ "The king of deadpan". Irish News. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2019.