Leigh Francis
 |
| This article possibly contains original research. (April 2008) |
| Leigh Francis | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Leigh Francis |
| Born | 30 May 1974 Batley, West Yorkshire, England |
| Medium | Television |
| Nationality | British |
| Years active | 1999-present |
| Genres | Character comedy Impressions Parody Sketch |
| Subject(s) | Celebrity |
| Spouse | Jill Carter (2003-present) |
| Notable works and roles | Bo' Selecta (2002-2006) A Bear's Tail (2005) Keith Lemon's Very Brilliant World Tour (2008) Celebrity Juice (2008-) |
Leigh Francis (born 30 May 1974) is an English comedy performer best known in the United Kingdom for his portrayal of foreign celebrity obsessed character Avid Merrion in Channel 4 comedy show Bo' Selecta!, as well as northern businessman Keith Lemon in Keith Lemon's Very Brilliant World Tour and Celebrity Juice. As Keith Lemon, he has also made many appearances on Big Brother UK's companion shows Big Brother's Little Brother and Big Brother's Big Mouth.
Early life and career
Keith Lemon Is Cool! Francis was born in Batley, West Yorkshire, and brought up on a council estate in Old Farnley, Leeds. His father died, aged 47, of cancer;[1] his mother and sister live in Spain.[2]
Francis attended Harrington High School (latterly Farnley Park High, then later renamed to Farnley Park Maths and Computing College) in Leeds. Before making his television breakthrough, he studied at the Leeds College of Art and became a graphic designer. Discovered and encouraged by southern television presenter Davina McCall, one of his first roles on TV was in the guise of a character, Bobby Stark, who gave tips with the ladies on 'Dom and Kirk's Nite O Plenty', airing on Paramount TV from January to July 1996 (Bobby claimed to seduce female celebrities using Scotch and Bru, the combination of Irn-Bru and Scotch eggs). Francis also appeared in character guise as Barry Gibson in the early series of Channel 4's Popworld.
Francis conducts nearly every interview and arrives at every celebrity function in one of his character guises, either Avid Merrion or Keith Lemon. In an interview given in an episode of Comedy Map of Britain, Francis confirmed that Avid Merrion's name, accent and dialects were inspired by his former teacher at the Leeds College of Art, Laimonis Mierins. He also pointed out that Merrion is a mis-spelling of Mierins and is nothing to do with the Merrion Centre in Leeds as many people assume.
He is rarely seen out of character, and many have trouble understanding that Merrion and Lemon are fictional creations, and consequently Francis' name means very little to the general public. He did conduct an interview as himself for The Frank Skinner Show and also appeared as himself on Celebrity Big Brother's Big Mouth with Russell Brand on Channel 4.
Francis also played many other celebrities in his series Bo' Selecta!, which ran for 3 series and a one off special. Sha' Mone MoFo Selecta is a spoof tribute to Michael Jackson, which was aired on E4 and released on DVD in 2009. He used comical masks and inappropriate accents to portray celebrities such as Mel B, Craig David, Michael Jackson and many more. His focus changed to a character called "The Bear" (a rude puppet bear) as part of his series A Bear's Tail. Based on Ronnie Corbett's solo jokes part on the Two Ronnies, this follows the first use of Francis' real name at the end of the titles for the 2004 Christmas special.
He has now focused his comedy on another of his alter-egos, failed northern businessman Keith Lemon. Keith Lemon's Very Brilliant World Tour and Keith Lemon's Celebrity Juice.
Characters
Avid Merrion
In Bo'Selecta, Francis' main character was Avid Merrion, an eccentric hailing from the fictional country of "Aracnipuss" who stalks celebrities. Initially, Merrion buttonholed unsuspecting celebrities in-character at public events such as book signings; the breaching experiment humour sprang from their bemused response to his apparently deranged fan behaviour. As with Ali G, once the character became too well-known to fool celebrities, Francis began interviewing co-operative celebrities in character. Francis has appeared in character as Merrion as a guest on other programmes.
Rubber masks
Francis also portrayed many celebrities using rubber masks to do impressions of them. These impressions were often intentionally far from accurate to that of the real celebrities. The masks featured in all series of Bo Selecta! and A Bear's Tail. The reason why the masks featured in A Bear's Tail was so they did not seem to be ignoring the original Bo Selecta fan base. The most popular and long running masks are of Michael Jackson, Mel B and Craig David. All the masks featured an old pair of glasses; These were used to bridge the gap in the masks between Francis's eyes and forehead. As the masks had large faces, the glasses also enlarged Francis' eyes in order to appear in proportion with the rest of the face.
The Bear
The Bear is another of Francis' creations. The character originated from Bo' Selecta! and adopts a voice similar to that of Ronnie Corbett. The Bear then went on to have his own show called "A Bear's Tail" in 2006, which came from a Christmas pilot aired in 2004. In his own spin-off show the Bear was adopted by the Hennersons, after they ran him over in their car at Christmas. The mother of the family was played by Patsy Kensit who adored the Bear. The father though, who was played by Sean Pertwee, hated the Bear after he thought the Bear was stealing his wife. The series only lasted for one year as Leigh Francis decided to bring back Bo' Selecta, but in America. After A Bear's Tail the Bear featured in Bo! in the USA.
The Bear's personality is rather rude he often flirts with women who guest star on the show. In most instances when interviewing attractive women (and sometimes men), the bear will get an erection to which he will exclaim "Oh no, my tail popped out!". He gets it to "go away" by repeatedly saying "Gail Tilsley from Coronation Street", "Sonia from EastEnders" or "Christine Hamilton" to himself. When Hamilton guest-starred in an episode he said it in his mind.
Keith Lemon
Keith Ian Lemon is a recurring character in Bo' Selecta! and guest starred in the spin-off series A Bear's Tail. He hosts his own shows on ITV2, Keith Lemon's Very Brilliant World Tour and Celebrity Juice and co-presents ITV1 celebrity game show Sing If You Can. He currently makes regular appearances on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! extra show I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here Now! His quotes include "bang tidy!" and "Holly Willoughbooby!"
Lemon is loosely based on Francis' best friend.[3] The character has a camp demeanour,[4] with an exaggerated Yorkshire accent, bleached mullet, ginger moustache and tan. Lemon is a failed businessman who was most successful in 1993 according to an episode of A Bear's Tail. Lemon was awarded the prestigious Businessman of the Year award 1993 for his innovative creation, securi-pole".[5]
Lemon appeared as a judge on Let's Dance for Comic Relief on 26 February 2011. He also works as an agony uncle on This Morning.
Lemon is currently promoting Tacheback, the Everyman campaign to raise awareness for male cancers.[6]
Keith Lemon uses the word "potato" frequently when referring to Jedward, his "little Irish helpers"
Lemon presents Sing If You Can with Stacey Soloman on ITV1, Saturdays
Personal life
Francis lives in Camden Town, London. On 31 October 2003 at Allerton Castle, North Yorkshire, he married Jill Carter,[7] a beauty therapist. Their daughter, Matilda, was born in February 2009.[2]
References
- ^ We grin and he bears it
- ^ a b Leigh Francis: 'I'm just not very good at being me'
- ^ 'We're just mucking about'
- ^ "Lemon Gets Fruity with Louie". The Sun. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
- ^ http://www.keithlemon.co.uk
- ^ http://www.tacheback.com
- ^ Marriages England and Wales 1984-2005
External links