Frank Skinner
Christopher Graham Collins MBE (born 28 January 1957), known professionally as Frank Skinner, is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. At the 2001 British Comedy Awards, he was named Best Comedy Entertainment Personality.[1] His television work includes Fantasy Football League from 1994 to 2004, The Frank Skinner Show from 1995 to 2005, Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned from 2000 to 2005, and Room 101 from 2012 to 2018. From 2009 to 2024 he hosted The Frank Skinner Show on Absolute Radio, broadcast live on Saturday mornings and later released as a weekly podcast.
For other people named Frank Skinner, see Frank Skinner (disambiguation).
Frank Skinner
MBE
Along with David Baddiel, he provided vocals and wrote the lyrics for "Three Lions", the official song in collaboration with Liverpudlian indie band the Lightning Seeds, to mark the England national football team's participation in the 1996 European Championship (which was hosted in England); he also reprised his role to release two subsequent versions of the song for the England team's involvement in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and 2010 World Cup. The 1996 version is the only song ever to have four separate stints at number one in the UK singles chart with the same artists, the most recent coming in July 2018 following England reaching the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup.[2]
Early life[edit]
Skinner was born on 28 January 1957 in West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England, and grew up in a council house in neighbouring Oldbury.[3] He was the youngest of four children born to John Collins (1918–1990) and his wife Doris (1919–1989).
Skinner wrote in his autobiography that his father, who was born in West Cornforth, County Durham, played for Spennymoor United before the Second World War, and met his mother in a local pub after Spennymoor had played West Bromwich Albion in an FA Cup game in 1937. Club officials and historians could not find his father in their records.[4]
Skinner attended Moat Farm Infant School from 1961 to 1964, St Hubert's Roman Catholic Junior School from 1964 to 1968, and then Oldbury Technical Secondary School from 1968 to 1973. He passed two O-levels in summer 1973 and took A-levels in English language and art, along with several O-level resits, at Oldbury Technical School Sixth Form. He subsequently took four A-levels (including English language and literature) at Warley College of Technology and graduated from Birmingham Polytechnic (now Birmingham City University) in 1981 with a degree in English. This was followed by a master's degree in English literature at the University of Warwick in Coventry the following year.[5]
Despite his given first name of Christopher, his parents called him by his middle name Graham;[6] all his friends referred to him, and some still do, as Chris.[7] Skinner once explained that whenever someone called at his house to ask if "Chris" was there, his mother would say yes, only to then turn around and shout for "Graham".[6] He adopted the stage name Frank Skinner when the actors' union Equity told him there was already a singer from Burnley on their books called Chris Collins.[6][8] He took the name from a member of his late father's dominoes team.[9]
Personal life[edit]
Skinner married in 1990,[34][35] but the marriage was annulled shortly after. He and his longtime partner, Cath Mason, have a son, Buzz Cody, who was born in 2012.[36][37]
Raised Roman Catholic, Skinner reconnected with the faith in his 20s, and remains a practising Roman Catholic. He is also a supporter of West Bromwich Albion, and regularly attends games.[38]
Skinner was a victim of the credit crunch in the late 2000s after investing in AIG, losing millions of pounds as a result.[39] He eventually got most of the money back.[40]
Skinner stopped drinking alcohol at age 29, having become concerned when he changed from having sherry for breakfast to pernod.[41] He started performing stand-up comedy shortly afterwards.[42] He has said that he has never been able to replace the "white heat of joy" he got from alcohol and that his social life has never recovered from stopping drinking.[43]
In July 2019, Skinner told The Times that he had always voted for the Labour Party, but said he would probably vote for the Green Party at the next election (which was held in December that year).[44]
Publications[edit]
Books[edit]
In October 2001, Skinner's autobiography, Frank Skinner by Frank Skinner, was published.[45] In August 2009, he released a book centred on his return to stand-up after ten years – Frank Skinner on the Road: Love, Stand-up Comedy and the Queen of the Night.[46] In September 2011, The Collected Wisdom of Frank Skinner; Dispatches from the Sofa was published.[47] It consists of his weekly columns for The Times, written from 2009 to 2011. In September 2020, he released a book, How to Enjoy Poetry. In it, he uses one poem ("Pad, Pad" by Stevie Smith) to explore the art of poetry. Skinner, who is a practising Christian, released a book of prayers, A Comedian's Prayer Book, in 2021.[48]