Jump to content

Stephen Fry: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Line 164: Line 164:
|}
|}


* As well as having competed on ''[[University Challenge]]'' whilst at Cambridge, he also appeared in ''[[The Young Ones (television series)|The Young Ones]]'' as "Lord Snot", one of the "[[Footlights]] College" team against whom The Young Ones are competing in a [[Bambi (Young Ones episode)|fictitious edition of University Challenge]]. He later appeared in a [[Comic Relief]] edition of ''University Challenge'' as part of the "Gownies" team of University-graduate comedians, against the (victorious) team of "Townies"; and in another Comic Relief special two years later as part of the South team who beat the North.
* As well as having competed on ''[[University Challenge]]'' whilst at Cambridge, he also appeared in ''[[The Young Ones (television series)|The Young Ones]]'' as "Lord Snot", one of the "[[Footlights]] College" team (alongside long-time friend Laurie as well as [[Emma Thompson]]) against whom The Young Ones are competing in a [[Bambi (Young Ones episode)|fictitious edition of University Challenge]]. He later appeared in a [[Comic Relief]] edition of ''University Challenge'' as part of the "Gownies" team of University-graduate comedians, against the (victorious) team of "Townies"; and in another Comic Relief special two years later as part of the South team who beat the North.


* He appeared several times as a panelist on ''[[Have I Got News For You]]'' during the 1990s, but now refuses to appear on the show as a protest against the sacking of [[Angus Deayton]] in 2002.
* He appeared several times as a panelist on ''[[Have I Got News For You]]'' during the 1990s, but now refuses to appear on the show as a protest against the sacking of [[Angus Deayton]] in 2002.

Revision as of 08:43, 9 July 2006

Stephen Fry on the cover of his autobiography (US Edition)

Stephen John Fry (born 24 August, 1957) is an English comedian, author, actor and filmmaker. He is an erstwhile comedy collaborator of Hugh Laurie. He was described as being "a man with a brain the size of Kent" in an interview with Michael Parkinson.

In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted amongst the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

In recent years, Fry has more or less assumed the role of a national treasure in the UK. He is sometimes perceived as a tweedy, old-fashioned figure despite being what could be considered an unorthodox individual: a homosexual of Jewish descent with a troubled youth and frequently unconventional views.

Childhood and education

Fry was born in Hampstead, London, the son of Alan Fry, an English scientist, and Marianne Neumann, an Austrian of Jewish descent. When he was young the family moved to the country and he grew up in Norfolk, briefly attending Gresham's School, Holt, before going on to Stout's Hill Preparatory School, Uppingham School, Rutland, during which time Fry absconded with a stolen credit card and subsequently spent three months in Pucklechurch Prison for fraud. He then returned to his education at Norwich City College — persuading the college authorities, by sheer force of will, to take him on in order to study for the Cambridge Entrance Exams, and passed well enough to gain a scholarship before going on to Queens' College, Cambridge, where he gained a 2:1 in English. During his time at Cambridge he met his longstanding friend and collaborator, Hugh Laurie, joined the Cambridge Footlights, and appeared on University Challenge.

Career highlights

Highlights of Fry's career include:

Fry has often expressed great admiration for three authors in particular: Anthony Buckeridge, his friend Douglas Adams, and P.G. Wodehouse, all of whom have strongly influenced his own writing. He has also appropriately appeared in dramatic adaptations of all three men's works: as Jeeves (alongside Hugh Laurie's Bertie Wooster) in the Granada television adaptations of Wodehouse's short stories, as the voice of The Guide in the film adaptation of Adams' novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and narrating a BBC radio reading of Buckeridge's Jennings stories.

Fry is also currently hosting the hit question and answer programme QI with contestants such as Alan Davies, Bill Bailey, Phill Jupitus and Jo Brand. He won the 2006 Rose d'Or award for Best Game Show Host for his work on the series.

Fry also voices or appears in many television advertisements in the UK. He is currently the spokesman for Twinings tea.

Personal life

Fry has spoken about his struggle to keep his homosexuality secret during his teenage years at public school, and famously practised a celibate lifestyle for 16 years. He once famously commented, "I suppose it all began when I came out of the womb. I looked back up at my mother and thought to myself, 'That's the last time I'm going up one of those.'" (Fry admits in his autobiography, Moab is My Washpot, that he "borrowed" the line from a friend at university.) Fry currently lives in London with his long-time partner, Daniel Cohen. Fry met Cohen after piecing his life together following a breakdown in 1995 due to bad reviews for his performance in the play Cell Mates. He walked out of the production, provoking its early closure, and incurring the disgust of his fellow actor, Rik Mayall. He also has a second home in West Bilney near King's Lynn, Norfolk.

Fry has since spoken publicly about his experience of bipolar disorder, and has made a documentary about other people's experiences of the condition. [1],[2]

Fry was an active supporter of the British Labour Party for many years. However he admitted to not voting in the 2005 General Election, since both the Labour and Conservative parties supported the Iraq War. He has since been increasingly critical of Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Third Way.

Quotations

  • May 2006, essay for the BBC programme This Week:

"As someone who worked hard for a Labour victory in the 90s, do I regret it? Not really. It was bound to happen. And it'll happen with the next government, and the one after it. Because all governments serve us. They serve the filth." [1]

List of works

Written works

Performances

File:Jeeves.jpg
Fry as P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves in the ITV series Jeeves and Wooster
File:Frywlisa.jpg
Fry and Peter Cook in Whose Line is it Anyway? in 1988
  • Miscellaneous

Stephen Fry also narrates the UK audio versions of the Harry Potter books. He also made a guest appearance in a special webcast version of Doctor Who in a story called Death Comes to Time, in which he plays a Time Lord, the Minister of Chance.

Directorial filmography

Trivia

  • The Stars' Tennis Balls' major characters all have names that are anagrams or other simple mutations of their counterparts in The Count of Monte Cristo (Fry claimed that he had almost completed writing the book when he realised that his plot was essentially the same as Dumas'. He thus changed the characters' names, so that his novel would appear to be a conscious homage to Dumas.):
Monte Cristo Stars' Tennis Balls Notes
Edmond Dantes Ned Maddstone anagram
Mercedes Portia pun: Mercedes-Benz → Porsche
de Villefort Oliver Delft anagram
the Abbe (Faria) the Babe (Fraser) partial anagram
Fernand Mondego Gordon Fendeman anagram
Noirtier Blackrow translated literally (calque)
Capt. Leclere Paddy Leclare homonym
Caderousse Rufus Cade translation: rousse = red = Rufus
Baron Danglars Barson-Garland anagram
Monte Cristo Simon Cotter anagram
  • As well as having competed on University Challenge whilst at Cambridge, he also appeared in The Young Ones as "Lord Snot", one of the "Footlights College" team (alongside long-time friend Laurie as well as Emma Thompson) against whom The Young Ones are competing in a fictitious edition of University Challenge. He later appeared in a Comic Relief edition of University Challenge as part of the "Gownies" team of University-graduate comedians, against the (victorious) team of "Townies"; and in another Comic Relief special two years later as part of the South team who beat the North.
  • He appeared several times as a panelist on Have I Got News For You during the 1990s, but now refuses to appear on the show as a protest against the sacking of Angus Deayton in 2002.
  • In 2003, he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.
  • Very early in his West End debut (Simon Gray's play Cell Mates), Fry suffered an attack of stage fright so serious that he ran away, leaving only an apology, and turning up some days later in Belgium.
  • In 2005, Fry was made an honorary fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge, from which he graduated. He has also served a term as Lord Rector of the University of Dundee, which named their main Students' Association bar after one of his novels ('The Liar Bar').
  • Fry was the last ever person awarded the title of Pipe Smoker of the Year before the award's discontinuation for legal reasons.
  • A humorous book has been published that purports to teach people how to speak like Stephen Fry. It is called Tish and Pish: How to be of a Speakingness Like Stephen Fry (ISBN 1840244666). However, this book is not endorsed by Fry himself.
  • He is allergic to champagne, as stated in his panel quiz show QI, series 3, episode 10.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/this_week/4996976.stm

Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Stephen_Fry&oldid=62854321"