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Richard Osman

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Richard Osman
Born
Richard Thomas Osman

(1970-11-28) 28 November 1970 (age 53)
Billericay, Essex, England
NationalityBritish
Alma materTrinity College, Cambridge
Occupation(s)Creative director, presenter, producer and director
Years activeearly 1990s–present
EmployerEndemol UK
TelevisionPointless
Two Tribes
Insert Name Here
Height6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)[1]
Children2
RelativesMat Osman (brother)

Richard Thomas Osman (born 28 November 1970) is an English television presenter, producer and director. He is the creator and co-presenter 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, He created the show 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][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]

Since October 2014, Osman guest presented numerous episodes of The One Show with Alex Jones. Since 2016, Osman has been a team captain on the BBC Two comedy panel show Insert Name Here, hosted by Sue Perkins. A second series has been commissioned.

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, Ruby (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]

Filmography

Television
Year Title Role Channel Notes
1998–1999 If I Ruled the World Creator, producer BBC Two 2 series
2009– Pointless Co-presenter BBC One (2011—)
BBC Two (2009–11) 		15 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 4 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
Eurovision Song Contest 2016 Spokesperson of the United Kingdom BBC One, EBU Annual programme
2016– Child Genius Presenter Channel 4 Series 4 onwards
2016 Taskmaster Contestant Dave Series 2

References

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "Endemol UK – Pointless". Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  3. ^ Gilbert, Gerard (10 March 2012). "Pedigree chum: Is Alexander Armstrong the poshest man in comedy?". The Independent. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  4. ^ "Richard Osman: Alexander Armstrong is cleverer than me but he's a bit posh". Metro. 23 October 2012.
  5. ^ Meltzer, Tom (4 June 2013). "Pointless: Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman on TV's favourite quiz". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  6. ^ a b Osman, Richard (6 July 2011). "Pointless: How I became the co-host". BBC.
  7. ^ Eames, Tom (25 June 2013). "Emma Willis show 'Prize Island' to be axed by ITV?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  8. ^ "BBC Daytime re-commissions Pointless". BBC Press Office. 6 October 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  9. ^ "Richard Osman". IMDb. 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  10. ^ Wightman, Catriona (23 April 2014). "Pointless star Richard Osman to host new BBC quiz show Two Tribes". Digital Spy. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  11. ^ Sam Warner (1 March 2016). "Richard Osman is hosting the new series of Channel 4's Child Genius". Digital Spy.
  12. ^ "'Total Wipeout' (2009) Overview". IMDb. 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  13. ^ "Boyz Unlimited (TV Series 1999–) Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  14. ^ "Bromwell High (TV Series 2005–)". IMDb. 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  15. ^ Lawrenson, Mark (17 March 2013). "Mark Lawrenson's Premier League predictions". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  16. ^ "'Pointless' Co-Presenter Richard Osman Named 2011's Top Weird Crush". Huffington Post. 6 December 2011.
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