Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervais (/dʒərˈveɪz/ jər-VAYZ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, producer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms The Office (2001–2003), Extras (2005–2007), and Life's Too Short (2011–2013) with Stephen Merchant. He also created, wrote and starred in Derek (2012–2014) and After Life (2019–2022).[1]
Ricky Gervais
He has won seven BAFTA Awards, five British Comedy Awards, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and the Rose d'Or twice (2006 and 2019). In 2003, The Observer named Gervais one of the 50 funniest performers in British comedy.[2] In 2007, he was placed at No. 11 on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups,[3] and at No. 3 in their 2010 list.[4] In 2010, he was included in the Time 100 list of World's Most Influential People.[5]
Gervais initially worked in the music industry. He attempted a career as a pop star in the 1980s as the singer of the new-wave act Seona Dancing, and managed the then-unknown band Suede before turning to comedy. He appeared on The 11 O'Clock Show on Channel 4 between 1998 and 2000, garnering a reputation as an outspoken and sharp-witted social provocateur. In 2000, he was given a Channel 4 spoof talk show, Meet Ricky Gervais. He achieved greater mainstream fame the following year with his BBC television mock documentary series The Office, followed by Extras in 2005. He also wrote the Flanimals book series.
Gervais began his stand-up career in the late 1990s. He has performed five multi-national stand-up comedy tours. Gervais, Merchant, and Karl Pilkington created the podcast The Ricky Gervais Show, which has spawned various spin-offs including An Idiot Abroad (2010–2012), starring Pilkington and produced by Gervais and Merchant.[6] In 2016, he wrote, directed and starred in the comedy film David Brent: Life on the Road.[7] Gervais has also starred in the Hollywood films For Your Consideration (2006), the Night at the Museum film series trilogy (2006–2014), Ghost Town (2008), and Muppets Most Wanted (2014). He wrote, directed, and starred in the 2009 romantic comedy film The Invention of Lying and the 2016 Netflix-released comedy film Special Correspondents. He hosted the Golden Globe Awards five times, in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, and 2020.
Early life[edit]
Gervais was born on 25 June 1961[8] at Battle Hospital in Reading, Berkshire.[9] Gervais's father, Lawrence Raymond "Jerry" Gervais (1919–2002), a Franco-Ontarian of French Canadian and Iroquois descent raised on a farm in Pain Court, Ontario, near Chatham, Ontario, emigrated to the UK whilst on foreign duty during the Second World War.[10] He worked as a labourer and hod carrier[11] before he met Gervais's English mother, Eva Sophia (née House; 1925–2000).[12] They met during a blackout and settled in Whitley in Reading, having four children over a sixteen-year period. Eva died at age 74 of lung cancer.[13] Ricky was the youngest child; his siblings are: schoolteacher Larry (1945–2019), Marsha, a teacher for special needs children (1948–), and painter–decorator Bob (1950–).[10][14] Prompted by Bob, Gervais began to question the existence of God from about age eight.[15]
Gervais has mentioned in interviews that, as an 11-year-old, he asked why his siblings were so much older than he was; his mother bluntly told him that he "was a mistake".[14] Gervais has spoken of his appreciation for his family's extreme sense of humour. He told BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs that he and his brother Bob spent most of their mother's funeral "crying with laughter". They had been asked by the vicar to tell him something about their mother prior to the service, with Gervais saying, "My brother, just winding up the vicar, said, 'She was a keen racist.' And the vicar said, 'I can't say that!' So Bob went, 'Oh, OK then... she liked gardening.'"[10]
Gervais attended Whitley Park Infants and Junior Schools and received his secondary education at Ashmead Comprehensive School. After a gap year which he spent working as a gardener at the University of Reading, he attended University College London (UCL) in 1980.[16][17] He intended to study biology but changed to philosophy after two weeks, and was awarded an upper second-class honours degree in the subject from University College London in 1983.[18] During his time there, he met Jane Fallon, with whom he has been in a relationship since 1982.[19]
Career[edit]
Music[edit]
In 1983, during his final year as a student at University College London, Gervais and his best friend Bill Macrae formed the new wave pop duo Seona Dancing. They were signed by London Records, which released two of their singles—"More to Lose" and "Bitter Heart". The songs failed to make the UK Singles Chart.[20] Despite not being successful in the UK, Seona Dancing did manage to score a hit in the Philippines with "More to Lose".[21] Gervais also worked as the manager for Suede before they became successful in the 1990s.[22]
In 2013, Gervais performed a live tour as David Brent along with his band Foregone Conclusion, Brent's fictional band in The Office.[23] He and the band performed songs written under the Brent character, including "Equality Street" and "Free Love Freeway".[24] Gervais also produced a series of YouTube videos, 'Learn Guitar with David Brent', featuring acoustic guitar versions of nine songs.
In 2016, as part of the Life on the Road film promotion, Gervais published the David Brent Songbook[25] of 15 songs, which he also recorded for the album Life on the Road as David Brent and Foregone Conclusion.
Radio[edit]
Gervais worked as an assistant events manager for the University of London Union (ULU), then was head of speech at the alternative radio station Xfm.[26] Needing an assistant, he interviewed the first person whose curriculum vitae he read: Stephen Merchant.[27] In 1998 Gervais's position was made redundant when the station was taken over by the Capital Radio group.[28] Around this time he was also a regular contributor to Mary Anne Hobbs's Radio 1 show, performing vox pop interviews in unlikely locations.[29]
After the first series of The Office, Gervais and Merchant returned to Xfm in November 2001 for a Saturday radio show, where they began working with Karl Pilkington, who produced the shows and later collaborated with them on their series of podcasts.[30]
In October 2017, Gervais began hosting the weekly radio show Ricky Gervais Is Deadly Sirius on Sirius XM,[31] which ran until 2019.[32]
Influences[edit]
Gervais has cited Laurel & Hardy, Groucho Marx, Peter Cook, and Christopher Guest as significant influences.[198][199][200] The decision of John Cleese to stop making his acclaimed 1970s comedy sitcom Fawlty Towers after 12 episodes—when it was at its creative height—inspired Gervais in keeping his own sitcoms (The Office, Extras and Derek) to 12 episodes each.[201][202] His comedy is observational and satirises everyday life.[203][204][205]