Funny People
by hairdoharrison | created - 13 Feb 2012 | updated - 25 Feb 2012 | PublicComedians, actors, actresses and generally jolly people
1. Ronnie Barker
Actor | The Two Ronnies
Ronnie Barker's remarkable versatility as a performer can be traced back to his time in repertory theatre, where he was able to play a wide range of roles and develop his talent for accents, voices and verbal dexterity. It was during this time that he met Glenn Melvyn, who taught him how to stammer ...
2. Benny Hill
Soundtrack | The Benny Hill Show
He was born Alfred Hawthorn Hill. It was his grandfather who introduced him to Burlesque Shows and the theatre from where the young Benny Hill was to draw much of his comic inspiration. After his national service with the army during WW2, Benny came to London, adopted the stage name Benny Hill (in ...
3. Les Dawson
Actor | Demob
Les Dawson was born on February 2, 1931 in Manchester, England, UK. He was a writer and actor, known for Demob (1993), The Loner (1975) and Sounds Like Les Dawson (1974). He was married to Tracy Dawson and Meg Dawson. He died on June 10, 1993 in Manchester, England, UK.
4. Roy Barraclough
Actor | Funland
Roy Barraclough began his career as a draughtsman, taking time off to work as an entertainer in a holiday camp on the Isle of Wight. Combining his day job with local amateur theatre for several years, he was eventually offered a full-time acting contract by repertory theatre producer Nita Valerie ...
5. Sidney James
Actor | Carry on Cleo
The star of the Carry On series of films, Sid James originally came to prominence as sidekick to the ground breaking British comedy actor Tony Hancock, on both radio and then television. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa and named Solomon Joel Cohen, James arrived in England in 1946, second wife ...
6. Brian Blessed
Actor | Flash Gordon
Boisterous British actor Brian Blessed is known for his hearty, king-sized portrayals on film and television. A giant of a man accompanied by an eloquent wit and booming, operatic voice, Brian was born in 1936 and grew up in the mining village of Goldthorpe in South Yorkshire. His father was a ...
7. Liz Smith
Actress | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Liz Smith found fame as an actress at an age when most people are considering retirement. It was a long road to eventual stardom, during which she struggled to raise a family after a broken marriage. She became best known for her roles in The Vicar of Dibley (1994) and The Royle Family but her ...
8. Paul O'Grady
Producer | The Paul O'Grady Show
Paul James O'Grady was born on 14 June 1955 in Birkenhead, England. He attended St Anselm's Christian Brothers School. After his graduation, he worked as a clerk in a magistrate's court.
During that time he met a woman named Diane Jansen with whom he had a brief affair. Their daughter, Sharyn, was ...
9. Dawn French
Actress | French and Saunders
Dawn was educated at a weekly boarding school in Plymouth and spent the weekends with her grandparents who lived nearby She never felt at home at the school as it was too posh. She met Jennifer Saunders while training to be a teacher at the Central School of Speech and Drama and became flat mates ...
10. Jennifer Saunders
Actress | Absolutely Fabulous
Jennifer Saunders was born July 6, 1958 in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, to Jane, a biology teacher, and Robert Thomas Saunders, an RAF pilot. She attended Central School of Speech and Drama where she met her comedy partner Dawn French. Like many of the early 80s groundbreaking "alternative" comedians ...
11. Joanna Lumley
Actress | Absolutely Fabulous
Joanna Lumley was born on 1 May, 1946 in Kashmir, India, to British parents, Thya Beatrice Rose (Weir) and James Rutherford Lumley. Her father was a major in the Gurkha Rifles, and she spent most of her early childhood in the Far East where her father was posted.
An aspiring actress, she first came ...
12. Dara O Briain
Self | Mock the Week
Dara O Briain was born on February 4, 1972 in Wicklow, Ireland. He is a producer and writer, known for Mock the Week (2005), The Panel (2003) and Dara O Briain: Crowd Tickler (2015). He has been married to Susan since 2006. They have two children.
13. Catherine Tate
Actress | The Catherine Tate Show
Catherine Tate is an English actress and comedian, primarily known for the role of Donna Noble in the "Doctor Who" franchise.
Tate was born as "Catherine Ford" during 1969, in Bloomsbury. Bloomsbury is a district of the London Borough of Camden, known as the home of several of London's museums, ...
14. Peter Kay
Actor | Phoenix Nights
He was taught metal work at school by the actor Steve Coogan's dad, and like Coogan he was an altar boy. He proposed to his wife Susan on one knee outside 'Andy's Records', because it was the first place where they kissed. He's worked everywhere, in a factory packing toilet rolls, in a supermarket,...
15. Paddy McGuinness
Actor | Max & Paddy's Road to Nowhere
Paddy McGuinness was born on August 14, 1973 in Bolton, Lancashire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Max & Paddy's Road to Nowhere (2004), Phoenix Nights (2001) and The Keith and Paddy Picture Show (2017). He has been married to Christine McGuinness since June 4, 2011. They ...
16. Alan Carr
Writer | Changing Ends
Alan Carr was born on June 14, 1976 in Weymouth, England, UK. He is a writer and actor, known for Changing Ends (2023), Alan Carr: Chatty Man (2009) and The Friday Night Project (2005).
17. Matt Lucas
Actor | Little Britain
Matthew Richard Lucas is a British-German actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He is perhaps best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain (2003-2006, 2020) and Come Fly With Me (2010-2011). Lucas portrayed the role of Nardole in the BBC ...
18. Jack Whitehall
Actor | Jungle Cruise
Jack Whitehall was a child actor in various television dramas, but decided to pursue stand-up comedy after leaving school. He was a finalist in the So You Think You're Funny talent hunt at last year's Edinburgh Fringe, and was nominated for best newcomer at this year's Chortle Awards. In December ...
19. Kevin Bridges
Writer | Kevin Bridges: A Whole Different Story
Kevin Bridges was born on November 13, 1986 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He is a writer and actor, known for Kevin Bridges: A Whole Different Story (2015), Kevin Bridges: The Overdue Catch-Up (2023) and Kevin Bridges: What's the Story? (2012).
20. Stephen Fry
Actor | Gosford Park
Writer, actor, comedian, doer of good works, excellent good friend to the famous and not, Fry lives in his London SW1 flat and his Norfolk house when not traveling. Famous for his public declaration of celibacy in the "Tatler" back in the 1980s, Emma Thompson has characterised her friend as "90 ...
21. Andy Hamilton
Writer | Drop the Dead Donkey
Andy Hamilton was born in 1954 in Fulham, London, England, UK. He is a writer and producer, known for Drop the Dead Donkey (1990), Outnumbered (2007) and What We Did on Our Holiday (2014). He has been married to Libby Asher since 1988. They have three children.
22. Sandi Toksvig
Writer | No 73
The Danish-British star, a long-term member of the union, is a well-known broadcaster, actor, comedian, novelist and producer, familiar to audiences fronting shows including QI, The Great British Bake Off and 15 to 1. Her writing credits span theatre, TV, radio, and she has written more than 20 ...
23. Eddie Izzard
Actor | Ocean's Thirteen
Best-known for her surreal and digressive stand-up, British comedian and actor Eddie Izzard was born on February 7, 1962, in Aden, Yemen, where her English parents -- Dorothy Ella, a nurse and midwife, and Harold John Izzard, an accountant -- worked for British Petroleum.
Izzard worked as a street ...
24. Omid Djalili
Actor | The Mummy
An actor and stand up comedian, born in London to Iranian parents of the Baha'i faith. He studied English and Theatre Studies. He recently starred in the Netflix Global drama The Letter for the King (2020) as Sir Fantumar and the HBO/BBC series His Dark Materials (2019). A Perrier Award nominee in ...
25. Rowan Atkinson
Actor | Johnny English
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson was born on 6 January, 1955, in Consett, Co. Durham, UK, to Ella May (Bainbridge) and Eric Atkinson. His father owned a farm, where Rowan grew up with his two older brothers, Rupert and Rodney. He attended Newcastle University and Oxford University where he earned degrees ...
26. Jack Dee
Actor | Lead Balloon
Jack Dee was born on September 24, 1961 in Petts Wood, Kent, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Lead Balloon (2006), Bad Move (2017) and The Grimleys (1997). He has been married to Jane Dee since 1989. They have four children.
27. Ronni Ancona
Actress | Penelope
Ronni Ancona was born on July 4, 1966 in Louth, Lincolnshire, England, UK. She is an actress and writer, known for Penelope (2006), Big Impression (1999) and The Trip to Italy (2014). She has been married to Gerard Hall since 2004. They have three children.
28. Spike Milligan
Actor | The Bed Sitting Room
Spike was born an 'Army Brat', the son of an Irish Captain in the British Raj in India. Educated in a series of Roman Catholic schools in India and at Lewisham Polytechnic in England, he spent his formative years playing the fool and playing the trumpet in local jazz bands.
He joined the British ...
29. Frank Carson
Actor | Wild About Harry
Frank Carson was born on June 11, 1926 in Belfast, County Down, Northern Ireland, UK. He was an actor, known for Wild About Harry (2000), Dick Dickman P.I. (2008) and Under and Over (1971). He was married to Ruth Carson. He died on February 22, 2012 in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, UK.
Tell Your Friends