Alan Davies
| Alan Davies | |
|---|---|
| File:QI Davies.jpg | |
| Born | March 6, 1966 Loughton, Essex, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Spouse | Kate Maskell |
| Notable works and roles | Jonathan Creek in Jonathan Creek Himself in QI |
Alan Davies (born 6 March 1966) is an English comedian and actor best known for starring as Jonathan Creek on the popular TV mystery series of the same name. More recently he has been a permanent panellist on the TV quiz show QI.
Biography
Davies was born 6 March, 1966 in Chingford, England. His childhood years were spent in Chingford and Loughton, attending Bancroft's School in Woodford Green and Loughton College of Further Education where he met Theatre Studies teacher Piers Gladhill who was instrumental in encouraging him to act and try comedy. He graduated (in Drama, BA (hons) 2:1)from the University of Kent in 1988 and was awarded a Honorary Doctorate by the University in 2003 - none of his Kent Drama lecturers attended the ceremony..
Comedy and acting career
Davies won the Time Out award for Best Young Comic in 1991, and the Edinburgh Festival Critics Award for Comedy in 1994. He hosted Alan's Big 1FM for 3 series on Radio 1 before appearing in Channel 4's spoof travel show One for the Road (made by Channel X in 1994/5).
He later played Jonathan Creek, a trick-deviser for a stage magician with a side interest in solving crimes, between 1996 and 2003. Jonathan Creek won a BAFTA for Best Drama. Davies co-wrote and starred in his own radio sitcom The Alan Davies Show in 1998. He played Russell Boyd in the BBC comedy, A Many Splintered Thing, also in 1998 & 2000.[1] In 2001 he played Robert Gossage in Bob and Rose, a comedy drama about a gay man falling for a woman. He won the Best Actor award at the Monte Carlo TV Festival for "Bob".
QI
Davies currently appears as a permanent panellist on the BBC quiz game QI hosted by Stephen Fry. He also wrote in the QI book, called The Book of General Ignorance. However he was only asked to contribute four words (which appear after Stephen Fry's foreword), "Will this do, Stephen?". His initial response "Stephen Fry is a ___(reader to fill in blank)" was rejected
BBC's Great Britons
He was invited to champion the case for John Lennon to be the greatest Briton of all time on the BBC's Great Britons series in 2002. In 2007, Alan starred in the second episode of ITV1's You Don't Know You're Born.
Personal life
- Davies married literary agent Kate Maskell in January 2007[2]. Previous girlfriends have included Catherine Porter, actress Julia Sawalha, and presenter Kirsten O'Brien
- He is a Pesco vegetarian. His vegetarianism has been mentioned on several editions of QI but on You Don't Know You're Born it was revealed that he does eat fish.
- Davies is recorded as being a regular scuba diver, a fact also mentioned on several editions of QI, and also sometimes wears a recognisable Seiko Orange Monster divers watch.
- He's a renowned Arsenal fan. He wrote a weekly football column for The Times for two years, and has been occasionally featured in vignettes for Match of the Day 2.
- He is good friends with Bill Bailey. He chose him to be his best man at his wedding in January 2007. He commented that his speech was very funny.