Hugh Dennis
| Hugh Dennis | |
|---|---|
 Hugh Dennis on The Now Show |
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| Birth name | Peter Hugh Dennis |
| Born | February 13, 1962 [1] Kettering, Northamptonshire, England |
| Medium | Stand up, Television, Radio |
| Nationality | English |
| Years active | 1980s – present |
| Genres | Political satire, Improvisational comedy |
| Subject(s) | Politics, Family |
| Spouse | Miranda Carroll (1987-1993) Kate Abbot-Anderson (1996-present) |
| Notable works and roles | The Mary Whitehouse Experience Mock The Week Outnumbered The Now Show |
Peter Hugh Dennis (born 13 February 1962) is an English actor, comedian, writer, impressionist and voice-over artist, best known for being one half of Punt and Dennis with comedy partner Steve Punt and their long-running radio satire show The Now Show and his position as a permanent panellist on the TV satirical comedy show Mock The Week. He uses his middle name Hugh as his stage name because Equity already had a Peter Dennis when he first started.[2]
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[edit] Early life
Dennis, the younger of two boys, was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire and grew up in Mill Hill in North London as his father was appointed a parish vicar in London soon after his birth. His father, John Dennis later became the Bishop of Knaresborough and then of Saint Edmundsbury and Ipswich.[3] He was educated at University College School in London. During his time at UCS, he played rugby with Will Self and was head boy in his final year.[4] Subsequently, he was offered an exhibition at St John's College, Cambridge and read Geography. He also joined the Footlights, where he first met Punt and club president Nick Hancock and the trio collaborated on a number of projects besides the annual revue.[5] After graduating with a first[3], he worked for Unilever for six years in the marketing department while performing comedy with Punt at venues including The Comedy Store on the weekends.[6][7] He and Punt then formed half of the team of The Mary Whitehouse Experience on BBC Radio 1. When it the BBC commissioned the show to be into a series for BBC Two, he took a sabbatical to as the rehearsal days changed to weekdays and eventually went into comedy full-time.[8]
While in his final year of university he was approached by a member of the intelligence services and was invited to London for interview at which time he decided he did not want to take the matter further.[8]
[edit] Radio and television career
While an impressionist, Dennis did voices for Spitting Image[9] and appeared with Punt as resident support comics on two TV series hosted on the BBC by Jasper Carrott.[10][11]
His radio work with Punt includes over a decade of performing Punt and Dennis, It's Been a Bad Week, The Party Line and the currently running satirical radio comedy show, The Now Show. On The Now Show he is in a line-up including Punt, Mitch Benn, Laura Shavin, Jon Holmes and Marcus Brigstocke. He is friends with Chris Morris and has had cameos on Brass Eye. He has also done the narration for the CBBC show Sam and Mark's Guide To Dodging Disasters.
In December 2009, Dennis joined Oz Clarke in presenting the 60 minute Christmas special Oz and Hugh Drink to Christmas broadcast on BBC Two.[12] In December 2010 the pair returned for a four-part series called Oz and Hugh Raise the Bar, which puts them in a competition to create a bar featuring only local British food and drinks.[13]
Dennis has starred in a number of sitcoms, including My Hero in which he played obnoxious GP Piers Crispin. Since August 2007, he has starred in Outnumbered, a semi-improvised sitcom based around family life[14] and won a BAFTA nomination in the comedy category for the 2009 Christmas special.[15]
Besides his regular television work, Dennis is a panellist on Mock The Week and has appeared in every episode since its inception. He is a regular guest on various BBC-broadcasted comedy panel game shows such as They Think It's All Over, Would I Lie To You?, QI and has guest hosted Have I Got News For You. In 2011, he hosted the short-lived improvisational comedy series Fast and Loose.
Dennis and Julia Bradbury host four-part BBC One documentary series The Great British Countryside, which began airing on 16 February 2012.[8]
[edit] Personal life
Dennis lives in Chichester, West Sussex[16] with his second wife, Catherine ("Kate") Abbot-Anderson whom he married in 1996. They have a son, Freddie (born 1997) and a daughter Meg (born 1999).[17][3]
On 10 July 2008, Dennis received an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Northampton.[18]
Dennis took part in the 2007 L'Étape du Tour, cycling an open stage of the Tour de France for amateurs which was held in the mountains 2 weeks before the main event. This was discussed in the fifth series of Mock the Week and also QI series six, episode 5 'France'. He started in 2,400th place of 8,000 entrants, finishing in 3,400th from 4,000 who completed it, 5 hours behind the winner. On 30 October 2011, Dennis completed the Great South Run in Portsmouth for the Alzheimers Society.
[edit] References
- ^ {England and Wales Birth Index 1916-2005}
- ^ Hardwick, Viv (7 April 2007). "A headline act". The Northern Echo (Newsquest North East): p. 26.
- ^ a b c "Hugh Dennis on working with the kids of Outnumbered". Daily Record. 26 December 2009. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-interviews/2009/12/26/hugh-dennis-on-working-with-the-kids-of-outnumbered-86908-21923416/.
- ^ Have I Got News For You, Series 13 episode 2
- ^ "In a taxi with...Hugh Dennis". dailymail.co.uk. 10 July 2010. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1292798/In-taxi--Hugh-Dennis.html.
- ^ "Why Footlights is a breeding ground for double acts". BBC. 6 December 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11927226.
- ^ "In your funnybone rather than your face: Punt and Dennis". The Independent. 3 July 1994. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/show-people-in-your-funnybone-rather-than-your-face-punt-and-dennis-1411396.html.
- ^ a b c "Hugh Dennis: I'm a happy rambler". Radio Times. 16 February 2012. http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2012-02-16/hugh-dennis-i%27m-a-happy-rambler.
- ^ Deans, Jason (2004-05-17). "Spitting Image plans TV comeback". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2004/may/17/broadcasting.uknews. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
- ^ Rampton, James (1994-07-03). "Show people: In your funnybone rather than your face: Punt and Dennis". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/show-people-in-your-funnybone-rather-than-your-face-punt-and-dennis-1411396.html.
- ^ "Impressions are back in fashion: The great pretenders". guardian.co.uk. 30 September 2003. http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2003/sep/30/comedy?INTCMP=SRCH.
- ^ "Oz And Hugh Drink To Christmas". BBC. 2009-12-20. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pk6gy. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
- ^ The BBC (2010-12-21). "Oz and Hugh Raise the Bar". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00x334f. Retrieved 2010-12-26.
- ^ "Outnumbered Press Pack". BBC. 2007-08-17. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/08_august/17/outnumbered.shtml. Retrieved 2009-12-22.
- ^ BAFTA Awards 2009
- ^ Look Hugh's going to be on the stage
- ^ Marriages England and Wales 1984-2005
- ^ Hugh Dennis welcomed to The University of Northampton Northampton.ac.uk
[edit] External links
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