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Ricky Gervais
Gervais at the 2007 BAFTAs
Birth nameRicky Dene Gervais
Born (1961-06-25) 25 June 1961 (age 62)
Reading, England
MediumStand-up, television, film, music, books, radio, podcast
NationalityBritish
Years active1983–present
GenresObservational comedy, Improvisational comedy, Cringe humor
Subject(s)British culture, American culture, everyday life, self-deprecation, obesity, body image, race relations, relationships, current events, religion
Partner(s)Jane Fallon
(1982–present)
Notable works and rolesDavid Brent in The Office
Andy Millman in Extras
Himself in The Ricky Gervais Show
Dr. Bertram Pincus in Ghost Town
Dr. McPhee in Night at the Museum
Websitehttp://www.rickygervais.com/

Ricky Dene Gervais (/dʒərˈveɪz/;[1] born 25 June 1961) is a British comedian, actor, director, producer, musician and writer. Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and frequent collaborator Stephen Merchant. Besides writing and directing the shows, Gervais played the lead roles of David Brent in The Office and Andy Millman in Extras. Gervais has starred in a number of Hollywood films, assuming leading roles in Ghost Town and The Invention of Lying. Gervais has performed on four sell-out stand-up comedy tours, written the best-selling Flanimals book series and starred with Merchant and Karl Pilkington in the most downloaded podcast in the world as of March 2009,[2] The Ricky Gervais Show.

He has won a multitude of awards and honours, including seven BAFTA Awards, two British Comedy Awards, two Emmy Awards, one Golden Globe Award and the 2006 Rose d'Or, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. In 2007 he was voted the 11th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups and again in the updated 2010 list as the 3rd greatest stand-up comic. In 2010, he was named on the Time 100 list of the world's most influential people.[3] Gervais hosted both the 2010 and 2011 Golden Globe Awards.

Early life

Gervais, along with siblings Larry (born 1945), Marsha (born 1948), and Bob (born 1950),[4] was born and raised in the suburb of Whitley in Reading, Berkshire. Gervais's father, Lawrence Raymond 'Jerry' Gervais (1919–2002), a Franco-Ontarian, emigrated while on foreign duty during the Second World War from London, Ontario, Canada. Jerry met Gervais's mother, Eva Sophia M. (née House; 1925–2000),[5][6] during a blackout,[7] and they settled in Whitley. She died aged 74 of lung cancer.[8]

During Xfm London's The Ricky Gervais Show and in further newspaper interviews with The Independent, Gervais noted that he believes his birth was unplanned due to the age difference between his youngest sibling and himself. During one interview with The Independent, Gervais tells the author that even his mother admitted his birth was unplanned.[9] He has claimed that his father was "drunk when he filled in the birth certificate", leading to the unusual spelling of his middle name.[10]

Gervais has stated that his upbringing and childhood were stable and trauma-free, with a high level of honesty and openness between his family members. He claims that his family, "much like The Waltons", made fun of each other regularly.[11]

Gervais attended Whitley Park Infants and Junior Schools and received his secondary education at Ashmead Comprehensive School, before moving on to University College London in 1979. He arrived to study biology but changed to philosophy after only two weeks[12] and earned upper second-class honours degree in the subject.[13] It was also during his time at UCL that he met Jane Fallon, with whom he has been in a relationship since 1982.[14]

Career

Music

In his final year as a student at UCL (University College London), in 1983, Gervais and his friend Bill Macrae formed a pop duo, Seona Dancing. They were signed by London Records, which released two of their singles—"More to Lose" and "Bitter Heart". The singles failed to break the top 40—with "More to Lose" charting at number 117 and "Bitter Heart" peaking at 70 in the UK singles charts.[15]

According to the 20 December 2003 Ricky Gervais Show, Gervais later had a band called the Sacred Hearts, which Ian Camfield described as Gervais's Bon Jovi phase.

Radio

Gervais later worked as an events manager for the University of London Union (ULU),[16] where he continued working until he took a similar job as "head of speech" at Xfm London.[17]

Needing an assistant, Gervais interviewed the first person whose curriculum vitae he saw. The CV belonged to Stephen Merchant. During the interview at a local pub, Merchant agreed to do "all the boring stuff" because of his experience in media studies while Gervais "mess[ed] around".[18] In 1998, Gervais was made redundant when the station was taken over by the Capital Radio group.

Gervais was music adviser for the BBC drama This Life, which was being produced by his girlfriend, Jane Fallon. He and Merchant also contributed sketches to BBC Radio 1's The Breezeblock in 1999 and 2000.

After the first series of The Office, Gervais and Merchant returned to Xfm in November 2001 for a Saturday radio show. The show ran intermittently until January 2004 with breaks of 1–3 months between new shows. This was their first time working with Karl Pilkington, who produced the shows and later collaborated with them on their series of podcasts.

Podcast

Main article: The Ricky Gervais Show
See also: List of The Ricky Gervais Show episodes

On 5 December 2005 Guardian Unlimited began offering free weekly podcasts featuring Gervais, Merchant, and Pilkington. Throughout January and February 2006, the podcast was consistently ranked the number-one podcast in the world; it appeared in the 2007 Guinness World Record for the world's most-downloaded podcast, having gained an average of 261,670 downloads per episode during its first month.[2] On 20 February 2006, after the conclusion of the twelve-podcast series, it was announced that all future episodes would be available from Audible.com at a "nominal fee" (later, these had to be called audiobooks in accordance with iTunes policy). Two more series—-each with six podcasts—-were released between February and September 2006.

In late 2006 three more free podcasts were released. Together called "The Podfather Trilogy", they debuted individually at Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. These three were known by Ricky and Steve as "The Fourth season". In October 2007 another free full-length podcast was released through iTunes; this podcast was originally given out for free during a performance of Gervais's Fame tour in London. On 25 November 2007 Gervais, Merchant, and Pilkington released another free full-length podcast, which lasted just over an hour.

In August 2008 Gervais, Merchant, and Pilkington recorded their fifth season of audiobooks, totalling 4 chapters, which were released on 16 September 2008.

Television

Gervais has contributed to the BAFTA-winning The Sketch Show (ITV), penning several sketches. His mainstream-TV debut came in September 1998 as part of Channel 4's "Comedy Lab" series of pilots. His one-off show Golden Years focused on a David Bowie–obsessed character called Clive Meadows. Gervais then came to much wider national attention with an obnoxious, cutting persona featured in a topical slot that replaced Ali G's segments on the satirical Channel 4 comedy programme The 11 O'Clock Show in early 1999, in which his character used as many expletives as was possible and produced an inordinate amount of politically incorrect statements. Among the other regular featured comedians on the show was Mackenzie Crook, later a co-star of The Office. Two years later, Gervais went on to present his own comedy chat show for Channel 4 called Meet Ricky Gervais; it was poorly received and has since been mocked by Gervais himself. The Independent newspaper has described Gervais as "obsessed by his own celebrity", but adds, "Who wouldn't want to be Peter Lawford in a comedy Rat Pack?" in reference to Ricky Gervais Meets...; the article, however, also describes him as "a very funny man" who "created one of the great sitcoms".[19] The Guardian's Chris Tryhorn explained the "few gripes" he had with Extras, "particularly in the second series". "You can forgive Gervais a certain arrogance after the success of The Office, but..." He remarks on the confused tone of the series, taking in the clash between the broad comedy of characters Barry (Shaun Williamson) and Darren (Stephen Merchant), and the apparent parody of this style with When The Whistle Blows, and "given their total indulgence of Gervais, the BBC is portrayed as interfering, its comedy department run by a rather crudely stereotyped gay couple".[20]

Throughout this time, Gervais also wrote for the BBC sketch show Bruiser and The Jim Tavare Show, and he had cameo roles in Channel 4's sitcom Spaced; it is speculated that the cameo is indeed The Office character David Brent[citation needed]. However, both series of Spaced finished airing before The Office premiered. Gervais also appeared in a few of Channel 4's 'Top 100...' list programmes, and he voiced the character of Penguin in Robbie the Reindeer's Legend of the Lost Tribe. His voice was redubbed for the US market.

On 5 January 2006, he interviewed Larry David in a one off special, Ricky Gervais Meets... Larry David. On 25 and 26 December of the same year Channel 4 aired similar specials in which he interviewed the actor/comedian Christopher Guest and comedian Garry Shandling. There are no plans for further episodes of "Meets...", although editions with John Cleese and Matt Groening were recorded in 2006, for broadcast in 2007. A source claimed, "The Shandling experience put him off for good".[21]

Gervais guest-starred in an episode of The Simpsons entitled "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife", which aired on 26 March 2006 in the United States, on 23 April 2006 in the United Kingdom, and on 18 July 2006 in Australia. He is the only British comic to write and star in a Simpsons episode. The episode was the highest rated in Sky One's history, arguably because of its extensive promotion, which revolved around the angle that Gervais was the episode's sole writer (and the first guest star on the show to also receive a writing credit for the episode of his appearance). Gervais clarified the extent of his input in a joint interview (with Christopher Guest) for Dazed and Confused magazine (January 2006): "No, all I did was put down a load of observations on an email and they made it look like a Simpsons script. I'm going to get the credit, but I think everyone in the industry knows it was a joint effort". Asked in a separate interview about how his idea for the episode (in which Homer swaps Marge on a game show) came about, Gervais replied:

I've always been fascinated with reality game shows but I think it was my girlfriend's idea. We watch Celebrity Big Brother at the moment, we watch I'm a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here... we watch all those reality TV shows — The Office came out of those docu-soaps".[22]

Gervais, a longstanding Simpsons fan, presented a segment to mark the show's 20th anniversary on BBC Two's The Culture Show on 16 June 2007.

Gervais has also guest-starred on Alias (appearing in the third-season episode "Façade") as Daniel Ryan, a former Royal Navy bomb-disposal specialist turned rogue Irish Republican Army bomb-maker. He has said about the appearance, "I did an episode of Alias, and I can't watch it. Me being serious. I can't watch it".

Gervais made a cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live in a Digital Short during which he claims that The Office was adapted from a Japanese program of the same name (with Steve Carell reprising his role as Michael Scott). The sketch re-creates scenes from the American and British pilot episode with Japanese elements (although in an exaggerated way). "It's funny", Gervais laughs at the end, "because it's racist".

In January 2009, Gervais was interviewed by James Lipton for Season 15 of BravoTV's Inside the Actors Studio.

In January 2010, Gervais hosted the 67th Golden Globe Awards, making him the first master of ceremonies since 1995. He stated:

"I have resisted many other offers like this, but there are just some things you don't turn down."[23]

His performance as host received a mixed response with positive reviews from the New York Daily News and The Associated Press, but also some negative comments from industry bible, The Hollywood Reporter.[24][25]

Gervais was a guest judge/panelist on Jerry Seinfeld's NBC show The Marriage Ref alongside Larry David and Madonna.[26] On 1 April 2010, Gervais made his first appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC.

As of December 2010, he has made 17 guest appearances on The Late Show With David Letterman on the CBS network.

In April 2010 it was announced that Gervais and Stephen Merchant will be writing a new show, called Life's Too Short, which they described as, "A cross between Extras and Curb your Enthusiasm and One Foot in the Grave but with a dwarf. That is out and out funny.”[27] The show will star actor Warwick Davis as himself, as well as Gervais and Merchant.[28]

In June 2010 it was announced that Gervais had been cast in the upcoming Season 8 of Curb Your Enthusiasm playing himself.[29]

The Office

Main article: The Office (UK TV series)

In August 1999, while on a BBC production course, Stephen Merchant had to make his own short film. He chose to make a docu-soap parody, set in an office. This sketch later formed the basis of the interview episode.[30] With help from Ash Atalla, Merchant passed this tape on to the BBC's Head of Entertainment Paul Jackson at the Edinburgh Fringe, who then passed it on to Head of Comedy Jon Plowman, who eventually commissioned a full-pilot script from Merchant and Gervais.

The first six-episode series of The Office aired in the UK in July and August 2001 to little fanfare or attention.[31] Word-of-mouth, repeats, and DVDs helped spread the word, building up huge momentum and anticipation for the second series, also comprising six episodes, in September 2002.[32] The second series topped the BBC Two ratings, and the show then switched to BBC One in December 2003 for its final two special episodes.

The Office has since been remade for audiences in France, Germany, Quebec, Brazil, and the United States. Gervais and Merchant are producers of the American version, and they also co-wrote the episode "The Convict" for the show's third season. The show is currently airing on Adult Swim on Fridays, and prior to the show's airing, Gervais appears as himself talking about the episode that will air in moments. In one of those segments, Gervais claimed the episode "Training" to be his favourite.

Extras

Main article: Extras (TV series)

Extras had its debut on the BBC on 21 July 2005; it received its premiere on HBO in the United States in September 2005. Written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the sitcom ran for twelve episodes and starred Gervais as Andy Millman, a background artist. Millman is more self-aware and intentionally humorous than Gervais's The Office character David Brent.

Guest stars on the first series of Extras include Ross Kemp, Les Dennis, Patrick Stewart, Vinnie Jones, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Stiller, Kate Winslet, and Francesca Martinez. A second series began on 14 September 2006 in the UK and featured appearances by Daniel Radcliffe, Dame Diana Rigg, Orlando Bloom, Sir Ian McKellen, Chris Martin, Keith Chegwin, Robert Lindsay, Warwick Davis, Ronnie Corbett, Stephen Fry, Richard Briers, Patricia Potter, Sophia Myles, Moira Stuart, David Bowie, Kate Winslet, Robert De Niro, and Jonathan Ross.

Gervais (right) with friend Jonathan Ross at Live 8 in July 2005.

A Christmas special of Extras aired on 27 December 2007 in the UK and on 16 December 2007 in the US, featuring guest appearances by George Michael, Clive Owen, Gordon Ramsay, Jonathan Ross, and David Tennant.

On 10 June 2006, Gervais and Merchant were seen in a specially filmed promotional sketch for Extras 2 in the middle of BBC One's World Cup football coverage. This time, Gervais did not perform his famous dance. Instead, Merchant did a take-off of the Crouch Dance, recently popularised by England striker Peter Crouch.

Some have suggested that Gervais is influenced by Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Larry Sanders Show in making Extras, particularly in the format of celebrities making fools of themselves or subverting their public personas,[20] and in the Gervais joke of someone making inappropriate remarks in front of a member of a minority. He has interviewed both Larry David and Garry Shandling, creators of these shows, on Ricky Gervais Meets... .

Extras was awarded the Golden Globe award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy on 14 January 2008.

In February 2007, British ventriloquist Keith Harris refused an invitation to appear on the second series of Extras, claiming that Gervais "wanted me to be a racist bigot" and describing the script as "pure filth".[33] When asked about Harris's refusal on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Gervais claimed that Harris simply "didn't get it".[34] Keith Chegwin, who assumed the role offered to Harris, said "the people who didn't get it probably think Johnny Depp really is a pirate."[35]

The Ricky Gervais Show (HBO / Channel 4 Animated Series)

Main article: The Ricky Gervais Show

The Ricky Gervais Show is an animated TV show that debuted on US cable network HBO on 19 February 2010.[36][37] In the UK, the first season began airing on 23 April 2010 on Channel Four. The show was developed using original podcast recordings from The Ricky Gervais Show starring Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington. After receiving a loyal and enthusiastic following in the US, Cable channel HBO recommissioned the show for a second season, due to air in 2011.[38]

The original audio show was broadcast in November 2001 on radio station Xfm, and aired in weekly periods for months at a time throughout 2002, 2003, 2004, and mid-2005. In November 2005, Guardian Unlimited offered the show as a podcast series of 12 shows.[39] Throughout January and February 2006, the podcast was consistently ranked the number one podcast in the world; it appeared in the 2007 Guinness World Record for the world's most downloaded podcast, having gained an average of 261,670 downloads per episode during its first month.[20][40] According to the BBC, by September 2006, the podcasts of the series had been downloaded "nearly 8 million" times.[41]

Stand-up comedy

Gervais made a few attempts at stand-up in the late 1990s, but his first successful show took place at the Cafe Royal, as part of the 2001 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Titled Rubbernecker, the show also featured Jimmy Carr, Robin Ince, and Stephen Merchant.

Gervais later toured the UK in 2003 with his stand-up show Animals. The Politics tour followed a year later. Both of these shows were recorded for release on DVD and television broadcast. The third part of the themed live trilogy, Fame, took place in 2007. It started in Glasgow in January and ended in Sheffield in April. Blackpool reported selling out of tickets within 45 minutes of them going on sale.[42] More dates were added.

Gervais performing in 2007

Newsnight Review's panel saw Animals during its Bloomsbury run and covered it in January 2003. They were not favourable, with Private Eye editor Ian Hislop being the most explicit in his criticism.[43] After this, Gervais closed each show by calling Hislop an "ugly little pug-faced cunt". Further coverage on Newsnight Review has been overwhelmingly favourable, with the panelists playing themselves in promos for the second series of Extras. Panel regulars Germaine Greer, Mark Kermode, and Mark Lawson also appeared as themselves reviewing When The Whistle Blows in a series episode. Critic Mark Lawson is a great admirer of Gervais and Merchant, having interviewed them extensively for television, print Front Row, and the Edinburgh International Television Festival.

Fame was the subject of some controversy in January 2007, when Gervais told a story, ostensibly about how people will do anything to become famous, to a Scottish audience.[44] The story referred to a question asked of Gervais five years earlier by a reporter: what could someone do to become famous like you? To which he replied, "Go out and kill a prostitute". He followed up with the punchline, "I won't do that bit in Ipswich", referring to the December 2006 murders of five prostitutes in Ipswich. The joke drew criticism from the father of victim Tania Nicol: "These days, they want to make a joke out of anything. I feel he’s just being uncaring, quite honestly". Gervais defended himself: "I do want people to know that that happened five years ago and is not related to anything now. That is the problem with comedy, a joke that is funny today can be a terrible faux pas tomorrow".

He has performed stand-up in the U.S. three times—he performed two warm-up shows at the TriBeCa Performing Arts Center and headlined David Bowie's High Line Festival in May 2007.[45]

Gervais's latest show is entitled Science, with an eleven date tour that commenced in August 2009 at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow.[46] The DVD for this show was released on 15 November 2010.[47] In November 2009, he headlined the sixth annual New York Comedy Festival at Carnegie Hall, New York.[48]

On the This Morning show Gervais revealed that he had already began writing his fifth stand up routine and is titled People.

DVD releases

Title Released Notes
Animals 17 November 2003 Live at London's Bloomsbury Theatre
Politics 15 November 2004
Fame 12 November 2007
Science 22 November 2010 Live at London's HMV Hammersmith Apollo

Books

Flanimals

Gervais released a children's book in 2004, Flanimals (illustrated by his friend Rob Steen), which depicted nonsense animals. After the success of this book, he released its sequel More Flanimals in 2005, with Flanimals of the Deep coming the next year. A new Flanimals book, Day of the Bletching, was released in October 2007. Flanimals: Pop Up is to be published later this year.

There is a wide range of Flanimals merchandise available, including dolls and gift cards. A six-part Flanimals TV series has been commissioned by ITV,[49] although Gervais had previously claimed signing a Hollywood movie deal[50] so that a franchise could be developed. "That way it stands a chance of being the next Dr. Seuss or Mr. Men".[51]

Other books

The Office scripts have been released in book form, with Series 1 issued in 2002, and the remaining episodes following in 2003.

In late 2006, the Extras script book was released, as well as The World of Karl Pilkington presented by Gervais and Merchant. These were essentially transcripts of Xfm/podcast routines performed by the three.

Film

Gervais's film career has included small roles as the voice of a pigeon in 2005's Valiant, as a studio executive in 2006's For Your Consideration, as museum director Dr. McPhee in 2006's Night at the Museum and its sequel Night at the Museum 2, and as "Ferdy the Fence" in the 2007 film Stardust. His role in Night at the Museum has proven to be one of Gervais's most popular roles[citation needed], with the movie grossing $570 million worldwide.[52][53]

Gervais starred in Ghost Town, which was released on 19 September 2008, and was in Lowell, Massachusetts during May 2008 filming his next project, The Invention of Lying, starring himself, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, and Jason Bateman, with appearances by Louis C.K., Tina Fey, Jeffrey Tambor, Roz Ryan, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Edward Norton. The comedy, released in 2009, was co-written and co-directed by Gervais and Matt Robinson.[54]

Gervais and co-writer Stephen Merchant made a film called Cemetery Junction, set in 1970s England, about class, love and fulfillment.[55] The film was released in April 2010.

Other appearances

On 2 July 2005, Gervais appeared at the Live 8 event held in Hyde Park, London, where he performed his famous dance. He produced a series of short films for the cause, linked acts from the studio with Jonathan Ross, and also introduced the group R.E.M..

Gervais also has a role in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV, as himself, appearing in his role as a comedian in a comedy club, and as an interviewee on radio station We Know The Truth. For this, a special 3-minute act was written, recorded and fully motion-captured.[56]

Ricky Gervais hosted the 2011 Golden Globes.

Boxing

In 2002, Gervais took part in a charity boxing match against entrepreneur Grant Bovey — known largely by the public due to his relationship with TV personality Anthea Turner. On his Saturday afternoon radio show on Xfm London Gervais and partners Merchant and Pilkington had discussions on both Gervais's attitude towards boxing and training in general, as well as his likelihood of victory against Bovey. Initially, Merchant had questions as to why Gervais was participating in the event, due to his dislike of slight pain and his inexperience with fitness in general.

In the weeks before the event was scheduled to take place both Merchant and Pilkington voiced their doubts as to his fitness due to illness which he had suffered weeks before the event, humorously, by stating that both they and Gervais's family had written up a petition to the BBC stating "Please do not let this man box."[citation needed]

Gervais was trained for the three-round contest by famous boxing trainer brothers Frank and Eugene Maloney, at their Fight Factory gymnasium. It was the second televised charity boxing match, the first being Bob Mortimer against Les Dennis, for Comic Relief. The fight was televised by the BBC, and Gervais came out on top by a split decision verdict. Gervais later said that the experience was the 'most difficult thing' he had ever done. He donated his £5,000 prize money to the training of a Macmillan nurse.

Concert for Diana and Live Earth

On 1 July 2007, Gervais performed at the Concert for Diana in Wembley Stadium, a music event celebrating the life of the late Princess of Wales. Towards the end of the event — after a pre-recorded introduction from Ben Stiller - Gervais appeared along with fellow Office star Mackenzie Crook. They performed Freelove Freeway, a song previously heard in the fourth episode of series one of The Office. Due to a technical problem, Gervais then had to fill time until he was able to re-introduce Elton John to close the show, so he did the David Brent dance again, as well as singing the "Little Fat Man" song as performed by David Bowie in episode two of the second series of Extras.

On 7 July 2007, Gervais appeared at the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium, London. Gervais introduced Rob Reiner appearing in the guise of spoof film director Marty Di Bergi, who in turn introduced Spinal Tap. At the start of the concert, Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles, who was acting as compère for part of the event, announced that Gervais would be appearing and performing an 'extended 25-minute set', which ultimately failed to happen. It is unclear whether this was meant as a joke, perhaps referring to the time Gervais had to fill at the Concert for Diana the previous Sunday, or if it was simply cut because of time constraints, but in an off-stage segment later Moyles actually expressed disappointment that it had not occurred. Gervais himself however did reference his appearance at the Diana concert the previous week, saying, 'Now listen, we're running late, so I'm gonna be off this stage in 30 seconds, whether Elton John is fucking ready or not,' making him one of a number of people to swear on live TV at the event.

In July 2007, following Gervais's appearance at the memorial concert for Diana, Princess of Wales, The Guardian ran a column by Daily Mirror television critic Jim Shelley entitled "Call Me Crazy... But Has Ricky Gervais Lost It?"[57] The following week, The Guardian noted that Gervais had responded with "an exhilaratingly foul-mouthed tirade" on his website, concluding with the words, "Yes I am resting on my fucking laurels you cunt!" In this video Gervais mocked Jim Shelley typing the words "Resting on his laurels" as Gervais jokingly lashed out by stating he was resting on his laurels and that he was not going to make another show for television, quipping "What's the point? What is there to beat?".[58]

Personal life

Gervais currently lives in Hampstead, having moved from Bloomsbury, with his girlfriend of 28 years, producer and screenwriter Jane Fallon. He says they chose not to legally marry because "there’s no point in us having an actual ceremony before the eyes of God because there is no God" or have children because they "didn’t fancy dedicating 16 years of our lives. And there are too many children, of course".[59] In August 2008, they bought a second home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City.[60]

Gervais is a fervent supporter of animal rights, and has been a fan of wildlife documentaries since he was a child.[61] He has spoken out against fox hunting and bull fighting, and has even written to Gordon Brown urging him to stop the use of black bear fur as caps for the Foot Guards.[62][63]

He told Kirsty Young that he is an atheist during a 2007 interview for Desert Island Discs,[64][65] later stating he lost his faith at age eight,[66] and in June 2008 he became an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society. In December 2010, he wrote an editorial for the Wall Street Journal defending his lack of faith. He is also a close friend of American comedian Jon Stewart[67] and is a frequent guest on his programme, The Daily Show.

On January 16 2011, Gervais hosted the Golden Globe Awards and ended the event by proclaiming "...thank you to God for making me an atheist".

His main friends are fellow The Office and Extras co-writer and co-director and podcaster, Stephen Merchant; fellow The Ricky Gervais Show star, Karl Pilkington; Flanimals' illustrator Rob Steen; and comedian and warm-up act, Robin Ince.[68]

Accolades

Gervais has received many awards for his work on The Office, most notably two Golden Globes (one for acting, one for the show itself), as well as numerous British Academy Television Awards and British Comedy Awards, amongst others.

Gervais received an honorary award at the annual Rose d'Or ceremony in Switzerland on 29 April 2006. The award is given to "an individual who has made an exceptional contribution to the global entertainment business".[69]

On 16 September 2007, Gervais won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his role of Andy Millman on Extras.[70]

Awards

Awarding Body/Event Awarded
Writers Guild of America
  • 2007 Best Comedy Series "The Office" (U.S.)
Rose d'Or
  • 2006 Honorary Rose for Exceptional Contribution to the Global Entertainment Business
Emmy Awards
  • 2007 Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series "Extras"
  • 2006 Emmy Outstanding Comedy Series "The Office" (U.S.)
Golden Globe
  • 2008 Best Television Comedy or Musical (TV) Extras
  • 2003 Best Actor — Musical or Comedy (TV) The Office (UK)
  • 2003 Best Television Comedy The Office (UK)
Peabody Awards
  • 2004 Peabody Award “The Office” (UK)
BAFTA Awards
  • 2007 Best Comedy Performance
  • 2004 Best Comedy Performance
  • 2004 Best Situation Comedy “The Office” (UK)
  • 2003 Best Comedy Performance
  • 2003 Situation Comedy Award “The Office” (UK)
  • 2002 Best Comedy Performance
  • 2002 Situation Comedy Award “The Office” (UK)
Royal Television Society
  • 2003 Best Comedy Performance for: "The Office" (UK)
British Comedy Award
  • 2008 Best TV Comedy Actor
  • 2004 Writer of the Year Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant
  • 2002 Best Comedy Actor
  • 2002 Best Television Comedy “The Office” (UK)
  • 2001 Best New Television Comedy “The Office” (UK)
Broadcasting Press Guild Awards
  • 2003 Writer's Award for: "The Office" (UK)
  • 2002 Writer's Award for: "The Office" (UK)
Satellite Awards
  • 2008 Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical "Ghost Town"
Television Critics Association
  • 2004 Individual Achievement in Comedy "The Office" (UK)

Filmography

Film

Year Film Role Notes
2001 Dog Eat Dog Bouncer Cameo
2005 Valiant Bugsy Voice role
2006 For Your Consideration Martin Gibb
Night at the Museum Dr. McPhee
2007 Stardust Ferdy the Fence
2008 Ghost Town Dr. Bertram Pincus
2009 Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Dr. McPhee
The Invention of Lying Mark Bellison Also co-writer and co-director[54]
SpongeBob's Truth or Square Narrator
2010 "Cemetery Junction" Len Taylor Also co-writer and co-director, working with Stephen Merchant
2011 Flanimals Voice in pre-production
The Muppets TBC Cameo

Television

Year Program Role Notes
1998 The 11 O'Clock Show Various Unknown episodes
1999 Comedy Lab Clive Meadows Episode: "Golden Years"
2000 Bruiser Recurring 6 episodes
Meet Ricky Gervais Himself 6 episodes
2001 The Sketch Show Various (Unknown episodes)
The Office David Brent 2001–2003, (14 episodes including 2 Christmas specials)
2004 Alias Daniel Ryan Episode: "Façade"
2005 Kelsey Grammer Presents: The Sketch Show Various (Unknown episodes)
Extras Andy Millman 2005–2007, (13 episodes)
2006 The Simpsons Charles Heathbar Also Writer, Episode: "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife"
2008 Ricky Gervais: Out of England-The Stand-Up Special Himself (written by)
2009 Comic Relief 2009 Himself (segment)

PhoneShop

2010 The Ricky Gervais Show Himself with Karl Pilkington & Stephen Merchant[71]
Louie Dr. Ben guest star (episode "Dr. Ben/Nick" & "Gym")
An Idiot Abroad Himself with Karl Pilkington & Stephen Merchant
Conan Himself "Ricky-Leaks"
2011 Life's Too Short Himself with Stephen Merchant & Warwick Davis

References

  1. ^ Ricky Gervais meets Larry David (part 1 of 6, YouTube
  2. ^ a b Plunkett, John (2006-02-06). "Gervais podcast in the record books". The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-03-27. {{cite news}}: Text "Guardian, The (London)" ignored (help)
  3. ^ "The 2010 Time 100". Time. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  4. ^ Hanks, Robert (2002-12-21). "Ricky Gervais: A lucky man lurks behind David Brent - but just who is he?". London: Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
  5. ^ "Deaths England and Wales 1984-2006". Findmypast.com. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
  6. ^ "Megan Smolenyak: You Asked for It, Ricky Gervais!". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
  7. ^ The Independent (2005) -- "His father, Jerry, was a French-Canadian ... soldier stationed here during the war. He met Eva, the comedian's mother, during a blackout and they settled in Reading."
  8. ^ "Ricky Gervais in his most 'postmodern' interview ever". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
  9. ^ The Independent (2005) -- "Ricky Gervais was born 44 years ago, a mistake. "My mum told me that," he says. "She went 'You was an accident'. I went 'Cheers!' Ha ha! A lot of honesty in my family"
  10. ^ "The joke's on Ricky Gervais as he reveals his father 'may have been drunk' when he filled in his birth certificate. Also, Gervais recently admitted in an interview that he had "a very honest family" and the only lie his mother ever told him was that God existed. - Mail Online". London: Daily Mail. 2009-01-27. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
  11. ^ Independent (2005). -- "The youngest, by some way, of four brothers, his childhood was trauma-free. Like The Waltons, he says, "If the Waltons took the piss out of each other. You had to be able to answer back." The first time he did, he got a laugh and, his family reasoned, "He'll be alright.""
  12. ^ Michael Heatley (2006). Ricky Gervais — The Story So Far... Michael O'Mara Books. ISBN 1-84317-237-2.
  13. ^ Hanks, Robert (2002-12-21). "Ricky Gervais: A lucky man lurks behind David Brent — but just who is he?". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2010-03-27.
  14. ^ "Ricky Gervais: Grumpy middle-aged man", The Daily Telegraph
  15. ^ The Independent (2005). -- "Aged 21, he was in a band himself, new romantics Seona Dancing. Their singles reached 117 and 70. The video for one, "Bitter Heart", was set in a blacksmith's."
  16. ^ The Observer (2005) "'Not at all,' he says. 'When I was working at ULU I never thought, "This is shit" or "The money is bad." I thought: "This is quite a good job." I suppose if all this had not come along I might now have been a 43-year-old entertainments manager. But that never worried me at the time."
  17. ^ The Observer (2005) "Instead of a stand-up career, Gervais moved from ULU to a job as head of speech at the alternative radio station Xfm."
  18. ^ The Observer (2006). "Merchant was his deputy. Instead of worrying too much about being heads of speech, they mostly worked on little routines. Merchant was sometimes obliged to wheel his boss around the office in his executive chair. 'I remember going out for a drink with Steve early on,' Gervais says. 'I said to him, "You've done media studies, you can do all the boring stuff, all the filing, I'll mess around." He said: "OK." And that was that."
  19. ^ "Ricky Gervais: Step into my office — People, News — Independent.co.uk". London: News.independent.co.uk. 2007-01-14. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
  20. ^ a b c Logged in as click here to log out (2006-09-22). "Extras work needed, Ricky? | Organgrinder | Guardian Unlimited". London: Blogs.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-11-21. Cite error: The named reference "autogenerated1" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  21. ^ Deedes, Henry. (2007). "PANDORA: By George, we salute you for your indefatigability", Independent News and Media Limited. Retrieved on 22 July 2007.
  22. ^ "Interview at UKULA".
  23. ^ Gina DiNunno. "Ricky Gervais to Host Golden Globes". TVGuide.com.
  24. ^ "Ricky Gervais gets mixed response at the Golden Globes". BBC News. 2010-01-18. Retrieved 2010-02-03.
  25. ^ Logan, Brian (2010-01-19). "Did Ricky Gervais shine at the Golden Globes?". Guardian. London. Retrieved 2010-02-03.
  26. ^ Tucker, Ken. "Madonna, Larry David, Ricky Gervais on 'The Marriage Ref': 'This is the weirdest show I've ever been on". Entertainment Weekly. New York. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
  27. ^ "Gervais's Life's Too Short". Tv.sky.com. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
  28. ^ "'Life's Too Short' BBC Pilot | Warwick Davis Official Website". Warwickdavis.co.uk. 2010-04-22. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
  29. ^ "Ricky Gervais Joins Curb Your Enthusiasm". TVGuide.com.
  30. ^ Edinburgh Festival 2001: More than The Office comedian Independent, The (London) | Find Articles at BNET.com[dead link]
  31. ^ Thompson, Ben (2002-09-18). "- The big cheese, The Telegraph, 18/09/2002". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2010-03-27.
  32. ^ "FUNNY BUSINESS".
  33. ^ "Ricky gervais — ventriloquist shocked by ricky's 'racist' script". 1 February 2007. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
  34. ^ "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross". 2009-09-08. BBC One. {{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |episodelink=, |seriesno=, and |serieslink= (help); Missing or empty |series= (help)
  35. ^ Shennan, Paddy (15 September 2006). "Cheggers: I'm not really that foul-mouthed bigot". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
  36. ^ Stanhope, Kate (December 22, 2009). "Ricky Gervais Gets Animated for New HBO Series". TV GUIDE.
  37. ^ Press, Joy (January 14, 2010). "TCA press tour: Ricky Gervais finds comedy gold in a round-headed minion". Los Angeles Times.
  38. ^ "Ricky Gervais Show gets second HBO series". The Guardian. London. March 24, 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  39. ^ "Entertainment | Gervais radio show to be podcast". BBC News. 2005-11-28. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
  40. ^ Plunkett, John (February 6, 2006). "Gervais podcast in the record books". MediaGuardian. London.
  41. ^ "Entertainment | Gervais puts a stop to podcasts". BBC News. 2006-09-22. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
  42. ^ "What a sell-out, Huge demand for Gervais tour".
  43. ^ "BBC News, 13 January 2003". 2003-01-13. Retrieved 2010-03-27.
  44. ^ "Entertainment Wise".
  45. ^ E! News - Bowie Takes the High Line - David Bowie Ricky Gervais[dead link]
  46. ^ "Ricky Gervais... Obviously". Plumplard.com. Rickygervais.com. August 2004. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
  47. ^ "Ricky Gervais Live 4: Science" Play.com. Retrieved 2010-04-05.
  48. ^ "Gervais to headline 6th NY Comedy Festival".
  49. ^ "Bot generated title ->". Flanimals<!. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
  50. ^ "News: Gervais signs Hollywood deal". Old.chortle.co.uk. 2004-11-17. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
  51. ^ "Ricky Gervais: My life as a superstar — People, News — Independent.co.uk". London: News.independent.co.uk. 2005-10-23. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
  52. ^ Green, Graeme. (2007). "60 SECONDS: Ricky Gervais" Retrieved on 22 July 2007 from http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/interviews/article.html?in_article_id=35340&in_page_id=11 METRO Newspaper
  53. ^ Green, Graeme. (2007)., -- "Green: After having your own Simpsons episode and working with Robert De Niro, are there any other big ambitions left to fulfil? ... [Gervais:] I get offered 50 diversions a day. I could be the guest on every panel show or the butler in loads of films. But when The Simpsons calls or Robert De Niro calls, you say ‘yes’ to them and ‘no’ to the other 49."
  54. ^ a b Michael Fleming (2007-09-12). "Ricky Gervais to star in 'Truth'". Variety. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
  55. ^ "Ricky Gervais... Obviously". Plumplard.com. Rickygervais.com. August 2004. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
  56. ^ "British Office Star Ricky Gervais Appears In GTA IV".
  57. ^ Logged in as click here to log out (2007-07-11). "Guardian Unlimited: Arts blog — TV & radio: Call me crazy ... but has Ricky Gervais lost it?". London: Blogs.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
  58. ^ Logged in as click here to log out (2007-07-19). "Guardian Unlimited: Arts blog — TV & radio: Ricky Gervais: 'Resting on my laurels? Yes!'". London: Blogs.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
  59. ^ Long, Camilla (2010-01-31). "Ricky Gervais: Bad parents should be sterilised. Fact". London: www.timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
  60. ^ Adams, Cindy (2008-11-10). "Comedian gives great impression". NY Post. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
  61. ^ Green, Graeme (2007-01-30). "60 SECONDS: Ricky Gervais | Metro.co.uk". Metro.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
  62. ^ "Ricky Gervais: Bearskin Caps Are Not a Laughing Matter". PETA. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
  63. ^ Owen, Jonathan (2008-12-14). "Bearskin caps are no laughing matter, says Gervais". London: The Independent. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
  64. ^ Gervais: I had to say sorry to vicar for joking at my mother's funeral by James Tapper, Daily Mail (UK). 25 June 2007
  65. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Factual — Desert Island Discs — Ricky Gervais".
  66. ^ Appleyard, Bryan (2009-02-22). "Will Hollywood wipe the smile off Ricky Gervais's face?". London: The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
  67. ^ "Honda — Comedy Central — The Daily Show with Jon Stewart — Ricky Gervais Pt. 1 - SPIKE Powered By IFILM". Ifilm.com. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
  68. ^ [1] Ricky's friends.
  69. ^ "Entertainment | Rose d'Or honour for TV's Gervais". BBC News. 2006-03-15. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
  70. ^ "2007 Emmy Winners". BBC News Online. 2007-09-17. Retrieved 2007-09-17.
  71. ^ "The Ricky Gervais Show - Channel 4". www.channel4.com. Retrieved 2010-04-28.

Interviews

  • Time Magazine (2008). Renaissance Man: Ricky Gervais by Joel Stein
  • The Independent, et al. (2005). Ricky Gervais: My life as a superstar Electronic Version Independent News Media: United Kingdom
  • The Guardian Newspaper, et al. (2005). "Second Coming" Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007: United Kingdom

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Ricky Gervais Show.

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