Richard Osman
Richard Osman | |
|---|---|
| Born | Richard Thomas Osman 28 November 1970 |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
| Occupation(s) | Creative director, presenter, producer and director |
| Years active | early 1990s–present |
| Employer | Endemol UK |
| Television | Pointless Two Tribes Insert Name Here |
| Height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)[1] |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Mat Osman (brother) |
Richard Thomas Osman (born 28 November 1970) is an English television presenter, producer and director. He is the co-presenter and creator of the BBC One television quiz show Pointless.[2] He also presents the BBC Two quiz show Two Tribes and is a team captain on the comedy panel show Insert Name Here.
Osman worked at Hat Trick Productions before becoming creative director of the television production company Endemol UK, executive producing shows such as Prize Island for ITV.
Early life
Osman was born in Billericay, Essex, and grew up in Haywards Heath, West Sussex. His mother is a teacher. Osman attended Warden Park School in Cuckfield and studied Politics and Sociology at Trinity College, Cambridge from 1989 until 1992, where he was a contemporary of Pointless co-presenter Alexander Armstrong, who read English Literature.[3][4]
Career
Television
Since 2009, Osman has co-presented the BBC One teatime quiz show Pointless with host Alexander Armstrong, where he is jokingly known as Armstrong's "pointless friend". Having previously worked exclusively in behind-the-camera roles, Osman got the job as co-presenter/assistant when he pitched the idea for the show to a panel of BBC daytime heads, taking the role of the assistant in the demonstration.[5] Bosses were impressed and decided to offer Osman the job.[6]
Osman has also worked as executive producer on numerous other shows, including Deal or No Deal, Channel 4 comedy panel game 8 out of 10 Cats and satirical comedy 10 O'Clock Live. He created the short-lived 2013 ITV gameshow Prize Island.[7] Osman's other credits include Whose Line is it Anyway?, Total Wipeout and the game show 24 Hour Quiz. He has appeared five times on Have I Got News for You as a guest in December 2012, April 2013, April 2014 and October 2015 and also as host in October 2013.[6][8][9]
Osman has also appeared multiple times on Would I Lie to You? and Let's Play Darts for Comic Relief.
In 2014, Osman began presenting a new BBC Two quiz show called Two Tribes. A second series began airing in February 2015.[10]
In October 2014, April 2015 and January 2016, Osman guest presented The One Show with Alex Jones. 2016 sees Osman as a team captain on the BBC Two comedy panel show Insert Name Here, hosted by Sue Perkins.
In February 2016, Osman presented Dragons' Den: Pitches to Riches, a one-off special which looked back over the past thirteen series of Dragons' Den on BBC Two. From 2016, Osman will present the fourth series of Child Genius on Channel 4.[11]
Writing
Osman acts as script editor for BBC One's Total Wipeout and in 1999, created and wrote the Channel 4 sitcom Boyz Unlimited with David Walliams and Matt Lucas. In 2005, Osman co-created and co-wrote the animated Channel 4 sitcom Bromwell High.[12][13][14]
The 100 Most Pointless Things in the World was published in the UK by Coronet, an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton, in October 2012.
Personal life
Osman is a season ticket holder at Fulham F.C.[15] and has two children from a previous relationship; a daughter (born 1998) and a son (born 2000). His older brother Mat is a founding member and bassist in the band Suede and produced music for 8 Out of 10 Cats and You Have Been Watching! On 6 December 2011, Osman became an "unlikely heartthrob" after winning Heat's Weirdest Crush Award.[16] Osman has impaired vision caused by nystagmus, a condition which causes uncontrolled movement of the eyes.[17]
Filmography
- Television
| Year | Title | Role | Channel | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009— | Pointless | Co-presenter | BBC One (2011—) BBC Two (2009–11) |
14 series |
| 2011— | Pointless Celebrities | Co-presenter | BBC One | 7 series |
| 2013 | Prize Island | Creator | ITV | 1 series |
| 2012— | Have I Got News For You | Guest presenter/guest panellist | BBC One | Numerous episodes |
| 2014— | The One Show | Guest presenter | 3 episodes | |
| 2014— | Two Tribes | Presenter | BBC Two | 2 series |
| 2014 | Not Going Out | Himself/cameo role | BBC One | 1 episode: "Pointless" |
| 2015 | Let's Play Darts for Comic Relief | Participant | BBC Two | Charity series |
| Danger Mouse | Professor Strontium Jellyfishowitz | CBBC | Voice only | |
| 2016 | Insert Name Here | Team captain | BBC Two | 1 series |
| Let's Play Darts for Sport Relief | Commentator | Charity series | ||
| Dragons' Den: Pitches to Riches | Presenter | One-off programme | ||
| 2016— | Child Genius | Presenter | Channel 4 | Series 4 onwards |
References
- ^ Graham, Alison (10 June 2013). "Pointless star Richard Osman on the show that made him a TV heart-throb". Radio Times. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
- ^ People | Richard Osman endemoluk.com.
- ^ Gilbert, Gerard (10 March 2012). "Pedigree chum: Is Alexander Armstrong the poshest man in comedy?". The Independent. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
- ^ "Richard Osman: Alexander Armstrong is cleverer than me but he's a bit posh". Metro. 23 October 2012.
- ^ Meltzer, Tom (4 June 2013). "Pointless: Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman on TV's favourite quiz". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
- ^ a b Osman, Richard (6 July 2011). "Pointless: How I became the co-host". BBC.
- ^ Eames, Tom (25 June 2013). "Emma Willis show 'Prize Island' to be axed by ITV?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
- ^ "BBC Daytime re-commissions Pointless". BBC Press Office. 6 October 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
- ^ "Richard Osman". IMDb. 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
- ^ Wightman, Catriona (23 April 2014). "Pointless star Richard Osman to host new BBC quiz show Two Tribes". Digital Spy. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
- ^ http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/news/a785338/richard-osman-is-hosting-the-new-series-of-channel-4s-child-genius/
- ^ "'Total Wipeout' (2009) Overview". IMDb. 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
- ^ "Boyz Unlimited (TV Series 1999–) Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
- ^ "Bromwell High (TV Series 2005–)". IMDb. 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
- ^ Lawrenson, Mark (17 March 2013). "Mark Lawrenson's Premier League predictions". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
- ^ "'Pointless' Co-Presenter Richard Osman Named 2011's Top Weird Crush". Huffington Post. 6 December 2011.
- "Interview: Alexander Armstrong on bringing variety back to Saturday night TV". The Scotsman. 26 July 2011.
- Pointless, 16 March 2011.
- "The Heat Weird Crush 2011". heatworld.com.
- ^ Osman, Richard (11 May 2014). "Richard Osman: 'Television is utterly democratic'". The Observer. Retrieved 12 May 2014.