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Steve Coogan

Stephen John Coogan (/ˈkɡən/; born 14 October 1965) is an English-Irish comedian, actor and screenwriter. He is most known for creating original characters such as Alan Partridge, a socially inept and politically incorrect media personality, which he developed while working with Armando Iannucci on On the Hour and The Day Today. Partridge has featured in several television series and the 2013 film Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa. In 1999, he co-founded the production company Baby Cow Productions with Henry Normal. For his work he has garnered numerous accolades including four BAFTA Awards and three British Comedy Awards as well as nominations for an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award.

Steve Coogan

Stephen John Coogan

(1965-10-14) 14 October 1965
Middleton, England
  • Comedian
  • actor
  • writer

1988–present

Caroline Hickman
(m. 2002; div. 2005)

Anna Cole
(1992–1996)

1

Brendan Coogan (brother)
Martin Coogan (brother)

Coogan began his career in the 1980s as a voice actor on the satirical puppet show Spitting Image and providing voice-overs for television advertisements. Coogan grew in prominence in the film industry in 2002, after starring in The Parole Officer and 24 Hour Party People. He continued to appear in films such as Around the World in 80 Days (2004), Tropic Thunder (2008), Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), Our Idiot Brother (2011), Ruby Sparks (2012), Irreplaceable You (2018), and Greed (2019). He co-starred as himself with Rob Brydon in A Cock and Bull Story (2005), and the BBC series The Trip (2010), The Trip to Italy (2014), The Trip to Spain (2017), and The Trip to Greece (2020), all of which were condensed into films.


In 2013, he co-wrote, produced, and starred in the film Philomena, which earned him nominations at the Golden Globes and BAFTAs, and at the Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture. Coogan has also played dramatic roles, including Marie Antoinette (2006), What Maisie Knew (2012), The Look of Love (2013) and The Dinner (2017). For his portrayal of Stan Laurel in Stan & Ollie (2018), he earned a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role nomination. For his portrayal of Jimmy Savile in the BBC drama The Reckoning (2023), he received a nomination for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor.

Early life and education[edit]

Stephen John Coogan[2] was born on 14 October 1965 in Middleton, Lancashire,[3][4] the son of housewife Kathleen (née Coonan) and IBM engineer Anthony "Tony" Coogan.[5][6] He has four brothers and one sister,[7] and was raised Roman Catholic in what he described as a "lower-middle or upper-working class" family which emphasised the values of education.[8] His younger brother Brendan was, for a few months, a presenter of Top Gear, while his elder brother Martin became the lead singer of rock band the Mock Turtles.


Coogan's mother is Irish and hails from County Mayo, while his father is also of Irish descent, his paternal grandparents – Margaret (from County Kilkenny) and Thomas Coogan (a tailor from County Cork) – having settled in Manchester shortly before the First World War.[9][10] During the 1950s, his paternal grandfather established a dance hall for Irish immigrants.[8] Coogan attended St. Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School and Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School.[11][12] He has stated that he had a happy childhood, and his parents fostered children on a short-term basis.[13] He lived on Manchester New Road in Alkrington. His father stood for the Lib-SDP in the May 1983 council elections in the South ward.[14] and in May 1984.[15] His father was chairman of the catholic grammar school's parents association, and protested against the proposal by the Salford Roman Catholic Diocesan Schools Commission to close the sixth form, which would not happen.[16]


He passed two O-levels in 1983, which were likely re-take exams, when aged 17.[17] In 1984 he gained 4 A-levels: English Literature, British Government and Politics, Art, and General Studies.[18][19] In the same year his brother Kevin acquired nine O-levels at the same school,[20] and took part in local and regional sports competitions, notably in basketball and cross country running. [21] His eldest sister trained to be a teacher at the nearby Hopwood Hall College.


As a family, it was assumed that all the children would become teachers.[8] Coogan had a talent for impersonation and wanted to go to drama school, despite being advised by a teacher that it could lead to a precarious profession.[13] After five failed applications to various drama schools in London, he received a place at the New Music theatre company before gaining a place at the Manchester Polytechnic School of Drama,[13] where he met future collaborator John Thomson.

Personal life[edit]

In 1993 he lived in Didsbury, Greater Manchester.[90] Until 2017, Coogan resided in Ovingdean Grange in Ovingdean, East Sussex.[91]


Coogan married Caroline Hickman in 2002; they divorced in 2005.[92] He entered rehab for personal issues. He dated model China Chow for three years.[93] In March 2011, Coogan was guest editor for lads mag Loaded, where he met and began dating glamour model Loretta "Elle" Basey.[94] They were together until 2014.[95] He has a daughter from a previous four-year relationship with solicitor Anna Cole.[96][97][98]


Although raised Catholic, Coogan is now an atheist.[99] A motoring enthusiast, he has owned a number of Ferraris, but ceased after calculating that the overall costs exceeded those of running a private plane.[100] In February 2016, he was fined £670 and banned from driving for 28 days after being caught speeding in Brighton.[101] In August 2019, he escaped the usual six-month ban for a further speeding offence by saying that his next TV series depended on his ability to drive; he was given a two-month ban and a £750 fine.[102] He has been open about his struggle with depression and has said "I will always be a recovering addict".[103]


Coogan's autobiography, Easily Distracted, was published in October 2015.[104]


In March 2023 Coogan completed the process of applying for Irish citizenship.[105]

Political views[edit]

Coogan has supported both the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats.[106] He believes that the Conservative Party think "people are plebs" and that "they like to pat people on the head".[107] He voiced his support for abolishing the British monarchy in 2013.[108]


In August 2014, Coogan was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.[109]


In June 2017, Coogan endorsed Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in the 2017 general election. He hosted a rally for Corbyn in Birmingham, opening by saying: "The Tory tactic was to try to make this a choice between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn, but this has backfired as people – and I readily admit to being one of them – have started to listen to what Jeremy Corbyn says rather than what other people have been saying about him."[110]


In November 2019, along with other public figures, Coogan signed a letter defending Corbyn, describing him as "a beacon of hope in the struggle against emergent far-right nationalism, xenophobia and racism in much of the democratic world" and endorsed him in the 2019 general election.[111] In December 2019, along with 42 other leading cultural figures, he signed a letter endorsing the Labour Party under Corbyn's leadership in the 2019 general election. The letter stated that "Labour's election manifesto under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership offers a transformative plan that prioritises the needs of people and the planet over private profit and the vested interests of a few".[112][113]


In September 2023, Coogan addressed the Liberal Democrat Conference by video link, expressing that he would tactically vote for the Liberal Democrats over the Labour Party in the next general election, as "the candidate best placed to kick the Tories out is the Lib Dem candidate".[114]


In October 2023, Coogan, Tilda Swinton, Miriam Margolyes, Charles Dance, Maxine Peake, and Peter Mullan were among more than 2,000 cultural figures to have signed a letter calling for a Gaza ceasefire and accused the UK government of "not only tolerating war crimes but aiding and abetting them" in the wake of the 2023 Israel-Hamas war.[115] Following criticism of the letter for its failure to acknowledge or condemn the atrocities carried out by Hamas on 7 October, Coogan subsequently clarified that "it goes without saying that what Hamas did is evil beyond imagination - it was horrific and brutal".[116]

at IMDb

Steve Coogan

at the BFI's Screenonline

Steve Coogan

collected news and commentary at The Guardian

Steve Coogan

Coming to a cinema near you ... Alan Partridge as Our Man in Tashkent

Fresh Air interview by Terry Gross

Steve Coogan: From a Partridge to 'Cock and Bull

Steve Coogan on BBC Radio Desert Island Discs

Profile on Chortle