Rufus Hound
Rufus Hound | |
|---|---|
 Rufus Hound in 2011 | |
| Born | Robert James Blair Simpson 6 March 1979 |
| Occupation(s) | Comedian, Television presenter |
| Website | http://www.vivienneclore.com/artist-details/rufus-hound/ |
Rufus Hound (born Robert James Blair Simpson[1] on 6 March 1979)[2] is an English comedian, actor and presenter.[3]
Career
Hound hosted Destination Three, the coverage of the Glastonbury festival and Top of the Pops in 2005 and 2006 alongside Fearne Cotton. He presented the idiosyncratic reality show Grime Scene Investigation on BBC Three with staff and students from Aston University, and narrated BBC Two's broadcasts of Mythbusters. He has also appeared in many comedy shows and quizzes such as Street Cred Sudoku and Celebrity Juice, where he was a regular panellist. He narrated the 2009 series Rocket Science and has appeared on The Apprentice: You're Fired! and Richard & Judy. He also presented Outtake TV on BBC1, replacing Anne Robinson.
In early 2008, Hound appeared twice on ITV's Thank God You're Here in the UK, after initially working as the warm-up act. In late summer 2008, Hound joined the panel show Argumental as the Blue Team Captain. Hound was the narrator for the gaming series Playr and presents What Do Kids Know? on UKTV-owned channel Watch. In 2010, he appeared in his own sitcom on CBBC called Hounded, where he plays a TV presenter who must save the universe from an evil doctor.[4] Hound took part in Let's Dance for Sport Relief, dancing to Cheryl Cole's "Fight for This Love" and won the final of the series on 13 March 2010. He also hosted the year 2000 edition of new show "My Funniest Year", a look at a past year of British television, which was broadcast on Channel 4 in September 2010.
Hound has been a guest on Richard Bacon's Beer & Pizza Club He was a regular panelist on Celebrity Juice, hosted by Keith Lemon but has not appeared since 2012 and is believed to have left the show, and has appeared at Bright Club a number of times.[5] He has also appeared as a panellist on the BBC One series Would I Lie to You? as well as the Channel 4 series You Have Been Watching. In January 2011, Hound participated in the former Channel 4 reality series Famous and Fearless. He came third for the boys' team, and was referred to as "The Ruthless Hound".
On 5 and 6 March 2011, Hound appeared on Comic Relief's 24 Hour Panel People during Argumental and Celebrity Juice. At approximately 00:13 on Sunday morning, the audience started singing Happy Birthday to You, in celebration of Hound's birthday. During the broadcast and during an in-between interview, he and Marcus Brigstocke publicly speculated whether they had been dropped from the line-up of Argumental, were the show to continue.
Also in 2011, he appeared as a contestant in a celebrity edition of The Chase, "flirting" with the chaser, Anne Hegerty.
In 2012, Hound was a team captain for Mad Mad World, and a contestant on All Star Mr & Mrs, both on ITV.
Since 2012, he has presented a programme on BBC Radio Four called My Teenage Diary, in which celebrities talk about the diary that they kept in their teenage years.
Partnered with Flavia Cacace, Hound won the 2013 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special.
On 25 January 2015, Hound took part in celebrity talent show Get Your Act Together.
On 12 February 2015, he appeared in the Channel 4 series Cucumber where he played an eccentric character called Rupert.
For the week commencing 23 February 2015 he was the dictionary corner guest on Countdown [6] and enthusiastically told poems and stories based on the show that he had written.
Acting
Hound made his acting debut in the Direct-to-DVD film Big Fat Gypsy Gangster which was directed by Ricky Grover. He also stars in the 2012 film The Wedding Video. From October 2012 through February 2013, Hound played the lead role of Francis Henshall in the National Theatre's second touring production of One Man, Two Guvnors. Following the end of the tour, he took over the role in the West End production from 4 February 2013.
Hound also played himself in the CBBC TV Series Hounded as the main hero. In the series Hound is a normal television presenter who must constantly foil the plans of Dr Muhahaha who plans on taking over the world.
On 1 November 2013, it was announced Hound will play the role of Freddie in the West End production of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels", opening in March 2014.[7]
Personal life
Hound was educated at Hoe Bridge School, Frensham Heights and Godalming College, where he was elected as a Student Representative and built the college radio station.
In April 2007, Hound was married at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada to Beth Johnson, whom he had met at the Reading Festival the year before.[3] They have two children together; a son, Alby (3 January 2008), and a daughter, Hilda (24 July 2011).[8]
Politics
Hound campaigned for the Liberal Democrats at the 2010 UK General Election. He has subsequently declared his support for the National Health Action Party. In an episode of The Jonathan Ross Show, which aired on 25 January 2014, Hound announced plans to run as a Member of the European Parliament for the party in the London constituency,.[9] Hound ultimately failed in his bid, the party coming ninth, receiving 23,253 votes, or 1.06 per cent of the vote.[10]
Stand-up DVDs
- Being Rude (7 November 2011)
References
- ^ "Marriage License, County of Clark, Nevada". Retrieved 5 September 2010. [dead link]
- ^ Tomas Jivanda (10 February 2013). "Rufus Hound: One man, two monikers". The Independent. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
- ^ a b "Rufus Hound". Dave (TV channel). 21 September 2008. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
- ^ "Hounded - CBBC Sitcom - British Comedy Guide". Comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
- ^ Steve Bennett (15 May 2010). "Bright Club at the 2010 Brighton Fringe". Chortle. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
- ^ http://wiki.apterous.org/Rufus_Hound
- ^ "Robert Lindsay signs up for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels musical". bbc.co.uk/news. BBC News. 1 November 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
- ^ "Rufus Hound reveals wife is pregnant with scan picture on Twitter". The Sun. 14 January 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2013. (subscription required)
- ^ "Rufus Hound in Euro elections NHS bid". BBC News. 26 January 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
- ^ "Vote 2014 Results: London". BBC News. 25 May 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
External links
- Rufus Hound at IMDb
- Play London interview with Rufus Hound (video)
- Rufus Hound on Twitter