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Reece Shearsmith

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Reece Shearsmith
Shearsmith in October 2003
Born
Reeson Wayne Shearsmith

(1969-08-27) 27 August 1969 (age 54)
Hull, Yorkshire, England
Occupations
  • Actor
  • writer
  • comedian
  • producer
  • director
  • magician
Years active1995–present
Spouse
Jane Shearsmith
​
(m. 2001)​
Children2

Reeson Wayne "Reece" Shearsmith (born 27 August 1969) is an English actor, writer, comedian, producer, director, and magician. He created, wrote, and acted in the sitcom/sketch show The League of Gentlemen, along with fellow performers Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. He played over 30 characters. He and Pemberton also created, wrote, and acted in another award-winning series, Psychoville.

Early life

Shearsmith was born in Hull, Yorkshire. He studied drama at Bretton Hall College, which was merged with the University of Leeds before being sold in 2007. It was at Bretton Hall that he met his League of Gentlemen collaborators.

Career

The League of Gentlemen initially began as a stage act in 1995, transferred to BBC Radio 4 as On the Town with The League of Gentlemen in 1995 and then arrived on television on BBC Two in 1999. The latter saw Shearsmith and his colleagues awarded a British Academy Television Award, a Royal Television Society Award and the prestigious Golden Rose of Montreux.

He has appeared in other comedy projects including Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere as well as playing the insane villain Tony in the Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer comedy Catterick. He also appeared in two episodes of the award-winning pop-culture comedy Spaced as robot-wars obsessed TA soldier Dexter, and played neurotic doctor Flynn in the BBC Two sitcom TLC which was written by The Weakest Link creator Fintan Coyle. His ability for talking 'gibberish' lends itself to playing his more macabre characters like Papa Lazarou.[1]

From March 2006 to January 2007, he appeared in the West End as Leo Bloom in The Producers.[2]

In the 2008 English language DVD release of the cult 2006 Norwegian animated film Free Jimmy, Shearsmith voiced the character of "Ante", a heavy-set, bizarrely-dressed biker member of the "Lappish Mafia". In this his voice is used along with the other actors of League of Gentlemen such as Steve Pemberton and Mark Gatiss. The dialogue was written by Simon Pegg and other actors.[3]

Psychoville aired June 2009 and marked his return to BBC2. It was co-written by Shearsmith and his League of Gentlemen cohort Steve Pemberton. Both Shearsmith and Pemberton star in the series and play numerous characters. In 2010 Shearsmith appeared in John Landis' black comedy Burke and Hare.[4]

In 2010 Shearsmith played the lead character in Ghost Stories, written and directed by Jeremy Dyson and magician Andy Nyman.

In 2011, Cameron Mackintosh's new musical Betty Blue Eyes opened in the west end, in which he played downtrodden husband Gilbert Chilvers (a chiropodist) alongside Sarah Lancashire. In May of that year, Psychoville returned to TV with a second series, where once again he starred beside Pemberton and numerous other names including Imelda Staunton.

In 2012, he starred in Bad Sugar, a comedy series written by Sam Bain & Jesse Armstrong, along with Olivia Colman and Julia Davis.

In November 2013, he played Patrick Troughton in An Adventure in Space and Time, a docu-drama about the conception and making of Doctor Who, which was written by Mark Gatiss. He met with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer again for the final episode in the first series of House of Fools as a ghost called 'Martin'.

In 2014, Shearsmith stars as Malcolm Webster in the ITV drama series The Widower. In June of that year, it was announced that Shearsmith would play Nathan Steele in Ben Wheatley's upcoming film High-Rise.[5] Also in 2014, Shearsmith starred as Detective Sergeant Stone in Chasing Shadows, an ITV drama series about missing persons.[6]

In February 2015, Shearsmith was interviewed by Adam Buxton on BBC Radio 4's Chain Reaction. 17th July 2015 cast announcement: Shearsmith cast in Hangmen By Martin McDonagh, Directed by Matthew Dunster at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs from Thursday 10 September to Saturday 10 October 2015.[7] In August 2015, it was announced Shearsmith will appear in series 9 of Doctor Who.[8]

Personal life

Shearsmith and his wife, Jane, have two children together.

Filmography

References

  1. ^ Chortle
  2. ^ Telegraph article December 2007
  3. ^ Interview with Reece Shearsmith on bbc.co.uk
  4. ^ Burke and Hare Transform Edinburgh
  5. ^ Leo Barraclough. "Luke Evans, Elisabeth Moss Join Ben Wheatley's 'High-Rise'". Variety. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  6. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-29027772
  7. ^ "Reece Shearsmith cast in Hangmen at Royal Court Theatre'". LondonTheatre1.com. 17 July 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Reece Shearsmith Joins Doctor Who as a Star Guest'". bbc.com. 5 August 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2015.

External links


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