Rob Brydon
| Rob Brydon | |
|---|---|
| Born | 3 May 1965 Swansea, Wales, UK |
| Spouse | Claire Holland |
| Website | RobBrydon.com |
Rob Brydon (born Robert Brydon Jones, 3 May, 1965, Swansea[1]) is a Welsh actor, comedian and impressionist most famous for his role as Keith Barret in the BBC comedy Marion and Geoff and its spin-off The Keith Barret Show, as well as the host of panel quiz Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive.
Brydon is famous for bizarre or unsettling black comedy, and has worked with a number of comedians and actors with a similar taste, perhaps most notably Steve Coogan, who has dubbed Brydon as something of a protege.
In 2003, he was listed by The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.
Early life
His mother was a school teacher, and his father was a car dealer. Brydon grew up in Baglan, near Port Talbot,[2] and was educated at the private Dumbarton House School in Swansea until the age of 14, then at Porthcawl Comprehensive School on Park Avenue in Porthcawl, in Bridgend County where he became a member of the school's youth theatre group.
He attended the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff, but left to join Radio Wales at the age of 20 without graduating from the college. Brydon's career began with radio - his early broadcasts included DJing on BBC Radio Wales, when his Saturday morning shows included contributions from Welsh stand up comedian Pete Park-Walker. Also on Radio Wales - where he stayed for six years, he was the main presenter of Rave, one of BBC Radio 5's youth magazine and music programmes, between 1992 and 1994. He is a non-Welsh speaker, which was not an asset at the station, especially in correct pronunciation of Welsh place names. Following this, in 1994 and 1995, he appeared in numerous episodes of the original Radio Wales version of the cult comedy show Satellite City with Boyd Clack.
Though he stayed with radio as a comedy performer on BBC Radio Five Live's The Treatment, he was initially known mainly as a voice artist. He provided several voices for the Discworld computer games and continuity announcements for BBC 1.
In the early 1990s he spent a brief stint presenting for the Home Shopping Network, and began to find small roles in several successful films and television series. He finally made his mark in television comedy in 2000 with Julia Davis when the pair wrote and starred in Human Remains for the BBC.
Current acting career
He is also known for his voice-over work on numerous television advertising campaigns, including those for Renault, Tango, The Times, Tesco, Abbey National, McDonald's, Toilet Duck, Cahoot, Mint Card, Pot Noodle, Crunchy Nut Cornflakes and The Observer. Additionally, he voiced the main character, Lewton, in the Discworld computer game Discworld Noir.
In 2006, he first appeared on the BBC Radio 4 comedy panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, in which he showed off an unusually good singing voice (especially by the programme's standards), during a rendition of Tom Jones's Delilah in the Pick-up Song round, where his remarkably accurate performance earned him one of the longest rounds of applause in the show's considerable history. He has since returned to the show several times, and has become its unofficial Tom Jones specialist with renditions of Sex Bomb and She's a Lady, and recently performed a particularly good rendition of Who Do You Think You Are Kidding Mr Hitler?, to the tune of the Carpenters' Yesterday Once More, which was also featured on the 2007 Highlights broadcast. His voice has even earned previously unknown accolade of being described by host Humphrey Lyttelton as "Not bad". He also hosted a show recorded on 22 April 2008 at the Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre, when Lyttelton was in hospital to repair an aortic aneurysm. A message was played to the audience in which Humph commented on his absence with his usual humour. Three days later, Humphrey Lyttelton died in hospital, following his surgery.
Brydon has also presented an episode of Have I Got News for You, and appears occasionally on BBC Radio 4's panel game Just A Minute. He also appeared in the first and second series of popular BBC comedy, Gavin & Stacey.
Brydon also narrated the 2 part radio programme on BBC Radio 4, 'The Pain of Laughter: The Last Days of Kenneth Williams.' It explored the latter part of Williams' life, feauturing many of Williams' friends and contemporaries.
Personal life
On 6 October 2006 Brydon married Claire Holland,[3] a former producer on the South Bank Show, at Windsor church. They live in Strawberry Hill in the London borough of Richmond. He drives an Audi A4. He has two daughters, born c.1994 and c.1999 and a son born c.1996 from his first marriage.
Brydon is a life long Swansea City Fan and is even an ambassador for their youth set-up the 1912 Foundation.
Filmography and television/radio appearances
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1992-4 | Rave | |
| 1992 | The Healer | |
| 1994 | Satellite City | Radio show |
| 1995 | The Treatment | |
| Eleven Men Against Eleven | ||
| First Knight | ||
| 1996 | Lord of Misrule | |
| Cold Lazarus | Karl | |
| 1998 | Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence | |
| Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels | Traffic warden | |
| 2000 | Human Remains | |
| Marion and Geoff | Keith Barret | |
| 2001 | A Small Summer Party | |
| The Way We Live Now | Mr Alf | |
| 2002 | 24 Hour Party People | Ryan Letts |
| Legend of the Lost Tribe | ||
| I'm Alan Partridge | ||
| Cruise of the Gods | ||
| 2004 | Shaun of the Dead | |
| 2005 | MirrorMask | |
| Supernova | ||
| Little Britain | ||
| Flight of the Conchords (radio series) | Presenter | |
| 2006 | A Cock and Bull Story | |
| 2007 | Gavin and Stacey | Bryn West |
Other Appearances
- QI (2003, 2005, 2007)
- Just a Minute (2004, 2005)
- The Keith Barret Show (2004-2005)
- Director's Commentary (2004)
- The Big Fat Quiz of the Year (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)
- Kenneth Tynan: In Praise of Hardcore (2005)
- Jack Dee Live at the Apollo (2005)
- Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive (2006)
- I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (2006-2007)
- Have I Got News for You (2006)
- 100 Greatest Funny Moments (2006)
- Heroes and Villains: Napoleon (November 2007)
- Rob Brydon's Identity Crisis (March 2008)
- Would I Lie To You? (July 2008)
Trivia
In his first appearance on the quiz show, QI (A series, episode 5), Brydon displays impressions of Alec Guinness, James Dean and Michael J. Fox.
References
External links
- Official Rob Brydon site
- KeithBarret.com - a fan site
- Rob Brydon biography and credits at the BFI's Screenonline
- Rob Brydon at IMDb