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Stephen Fry

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Stephen Fry
Born
Stephen John Fry
WebsiteStephenFry.com

Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English comedian, writer, actor, humourist, novelist, columnist, filmmaker, television personality and digital technology geek. As one half of the Fry and Laurie double act with his comedy partner Hugh Laurie, he has appeared in A Bit of Fry and Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster; famous also for his roles in Blackadder and Wilde, and as the host of QI. In addition to writing for stage, screen, television and radio he has contributed columns and articles for numerous newspapers and magazines, also having written four successful novels and an autobiography, Moab is My Washpot.

Biography

Fry was born in Hampstead, London, the son of Alan Fry[1], an English physicist, and Marianne Newman, who is of Austrian-Jewish parentage. His mother's aunt and cousins were killed in Auschwitz concentration camp[1]. Fry grew up in the village of Booton near Reepham, Norfolk, having moved from Chesham when very young.

Fry briefly attended Cawston Primary School, Cawston, Norfolk, described later in his 1997 book Moab is my Washpot[2] before going on to Stouts Hill Preparatory School, and then to Uppingham School, Rutland, where he joined Fircroft house. He was expelled from Uppingham when he was fifteen, and subsequently from the Paston School. At seventeen, following his failure at Norfolk College of Arts and Technology, Fry absconded with a credit card stolen from a family friend, and as a result spent three months in Pucklechurch Prison on grounds of fraud. Following his release he resumed education at Norwich City College, promising administrators that he would study rigorously to sit the Cambridge entrance exams. He passed well enough to gain a scholarship to Queens' College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, Fry gained a degree in English literature, joined the Cambridge Footlights, and appeared on University Challenge.[3] As a member of the Footlights he also met his future comedy collaborator, Hugh Laurie.

Personal life

Fry struggled to keep his homosexuality secret during his teenage years at public school, and was celibate for 16 years. When asked about when he knew he was homosexual he quotes an old friend and says, "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 currently lives in London with his partner, Daniel Cohen, whom he met in 1995. He famously drives a former 1988 London black cab. He also has a second home in West Bilney, near King's Lynn, Norfolk.

Fry suffered a nervous breakdown in 1995 while appearing in a West End play called Cell Mates. Fry was also suffering from clinical depression and cyclothymia,[4] a form of bipolar disorder. He subsequently walked out of the production, prompting its early closure and incurring the displeasure of co-star Rik Mayall and playwright Simon Gray. Fry went missing for several days while contemplating suicide. He abandoned the idea and left the United Kingdom by ferry, eventually resurfacing in Belgium.[5]

Fry has spoken publicly about his experience with bipolar disorder and has presented his documentary about it, Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic-Depressive.[6] In the documentary he interviewed sufferers of the illness including celebrities Carrie Fisher, Richard Dreyfuss, and Tony Slattery. Also interviewed were chef Rick Stein, whose father committed suicide, Robbie Williams, who talks of his experience with unipolar depression, and comedienne/former psychiatric nurse Jo Brand. The two-part series was broadcast on BBC Two in September 2006, repeated in March 2007 as part of the BBC's programming in aid of Comic Relief, and repeated in August 2007 as a celebration of Fry's 50th birthday.

Fry was an active supporter of the British Labour Party for many years, and appeared in a party political broadcast on its behalf with Hugh Laurie and Michelle Collins in November 1993. Despite this, he did not vote in the 2005 General Election because of the stance of both the Labour and Conservative parties with regard to the Iraq War. Despite his praising of the current government for social reform, Fry has been critical of the Labour Party's "Third Way" concept. He is on cordial terms with Prince Charles (despite satirising him heavily as King Charles I in the comedy programme Blackadder: The Cavalier Years), through his work with the Prince's Trust. He attended the wedding of the Prince of Wales to Camilla Parker-Bowles in 2005.

Fry is a friend of British comedian and actor Rowan Atkinson and was best man at Atkinson's wedding to Sunetra Sastry at the Russian Tea Room in New York City. He was also a friend of British actor John Mills.[7] He was best man at the wedding of Hugh Laurie and is godfather to all three of Laurie's children.

A great fan of cricket (he is related to legendary England cricketer and polymath C.B. Fry),[8] he was recently interviewed for the Ashes Fever DVD, reporting on England's victory against Australia in the 2005 Ashes series. In football he is a supporter of Norwich City (as mentioned in Ashes Fever).

He has been described as "deeply dippy for all things digital", claims to have owned the second Macintosh sold in the UK and to have never encountered a smartphone that he has not bought.[9]

Career

Television

Fry's career in television began with the 1982 broadcasting of The Cellar Tapes, the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue written by himself, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Tony Slattery. The revue caught the attention of Granada Television, who, keen to replicate the success of the BBC's Not the Nine O'Clock News, hired Fry, Laurie and Thompson to star alongside Ben Elton in There's Nothing To Worry About! A second series, re-titled Alfresco, was broadcast in 1983; a third in 1984. Alfresco established Fry and Laurie's reputation as a comedy double act. In 1983 the BBC offered them their own show, which became The Crystal Cube, a mixture of science fiction and mock documentary that was axed after the first episode. Undeterred, Fry and Laurie appeared in an episode of The Young Ones in 1984, and Fry in Ben Elton's 1985 series, Happy Families.

Forgiving Fry and Laurie for The Crystal Cube, the BBC commissioned a sketch show in 1986 that was to become A Bit of Fry and Laurie. The programme ran for 26 episodes spanning four series between 1986 and 1995, and was greatly successful. At the same time Fry was starring in Blackadder II, as Lord Melchett, Blackadder the Third, as the Duke of Wellington, and notably in Blackadder Goes Forth, as General Melchett. In 1988 he became a regular contestant on the popular improvisational comedy programme Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Between 1990 and 1993, Fry starred as Jeeves (alongside Hugh Laurie's Bertie Wooster) in Jeeves and Wooster, 23 hour-long adaptations of P.G. Wodehouse's novels and short stories.

In 2003 he began hosting QI, an intellectual panel game that has become one of the most-watched entertainment programmes on British television.[10] In 2006 he won the Rose d'Or award for Best Game Show Host for his work on the series.[11]

A recent foray into documentary-making has seen Fry fronting The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive, an Emmy Award winning 2006 programme about bipolar disorder (from which he suffers), and this year a documentary on the subject of HIV and AIDS, HIV and Me. He is currently filming a six-part travel series entitled Stephen Fry in America.[12] In 2006 he appeared on the genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?, tracing his family tree to discover his Slovakian Jewish ancestry.

Fry is currently appearing in, and is executive producer for, the second series of legal drama Kingdom. He has also taken up a recurring guest role as psychiatrist "Dr. Gordon Wyatt" in the popular American drama Bones. Whilst filming in Brazil for the series Last Chance to See, Fry broke his right arm.[13]

Film

Having made his film debut in the 1985 movie The Good Father, Fry had a brief appearance in A Fish Called Wanda and then appeared in the lead role for Kenneth Branagh's Peter's Friends in 1992. Portraying Oscar Wilde (a man of whom he had been a fan since the age of 13) in the 1997 film Wilde, he fulfilled to critical acclaim a role that he has said he was "born to play". In 2001 he played the detective in Robert Altman's period costume drama, Gosford Park.

In 2003, Fry made his directorial debut with Bright Young Things, adapted himself from Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies. In 2001 he began hosting the BAFTA Film Awards, a role from which he stepped down in 2006.[14] Later that same year he wrote the English libretto and dialogue for Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of The Magic Flute.

Fry continues to make regular film appearances, notably in treatments of literary cult classics. He served as narrator in a celluloid version of the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy book series; and in 2005 he appeared in both A Cock and Bull Story, based on Tristam Shandy, and V for Vendetta.[15] In 2006 he played the role of gadget-master Smithers in Stormbreaker, and in 2007 he appeared as himself hosting a quiz in St Trinian's.

Radio

Fry became famous to radio listeners with the creation of his supposed alter-ego - Donald Trefusis - whose "wireless essays" were broadcast on the Radio 4 programme Loose Ends. In 1988 Fry wrote and presented a renowned six-part comedy series entitled Saturday Night Fry, following which frequent radio appearances have ensued (notably on radio panel games Just a Minute and I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue). In 2000 he began starring as Charles Prentiss in the Radio 4 comedy Absolute Power, reprising the role for three further series on radio and two on television.

This year he has hosted Current Puns, an exploration into wordplay, and Radio 4: This Is Your Life, to celebrate the radio station's 40th anniversary. He has also interviewed Tony Blair as part of a series of podcasts released by 10 Downing Street.[16]

Theatre

Fry wrote a play - Latin! (or Tobacco and Boys) - for the 1980 Edinburgh Festival, at which it won the "Fringe First" prize. The Cellar Tapes, the Footlights Revue of the following year, won the Perrier Comedy Award. In 1984 Fry adapted the hugely successful 1930s musical Me and My Girl for the West End, where it ran for eight years. He also famously starred in Simon Gray's 1995 play Cell Mates, from which he left three days into the West End run, pleading stage fright. He later recalled the incident as a hypomanic episode in his documentary on bipolar disorder. In 2007 Fry wrote a Christmas pantomime, Cinderella, which ran at London's Old Vic Theatre.[17]

Literature

Since the publication of his first novel, The Liar, Fry has written three further novels, several non-fiction works and an autobiography, all of which have been much acclaimed by critics. Making History is arguably Fry's most controversial book. Set in an alternative universe, inspired by Daniel Goldhagen's theses, it advances the thesis that the Holocaust would have happened even if Hitler had not been born.

Fry's most recent book, The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking The Poet Within, is a guide to writing poetry. In the United Kingdom he is a well-known narrator of audiobooks, notably the Harry Potter series.[18] He has recorded audio versions of works by Roald Dahl, Michael Bond, A. A. Milne, Anthony Buckeridge and Douglas Adams, as well as several of his own books.

When writing a book review for the Tatler, Fry wrote under an alias, Williver Hendry, editor of A Most Peculiar Friendship: The Correspondence of Lord Alfred Douglas and Jack Dempsey, a field close to Fry's heart as an Oscar Wilde enthusiast. Once a columnist in The Listener and The Daily Telegraph, he now writes a weekly technology column in the Saturday Guardian. His blog attracted over 300,000 visitors in its first two weeks of existence.[19]

Acclaim

  • In 1995, Fry was presented with an honorary doctorate from the University of Dundee, which named their main Students' Association bar after one of his novels (The Liar Bar). Fry is patron of its Lip Theatre Company.[20] He served two consecutive terms (1992-1995 and 1995-1998) as the student-elected Rector of the University (only the second rector of the university to be elected twice, the first being Clement Freud); coincidentally, this post is currently held by his secondary school classmate, controversial former diplomat Craig Murray.
  • In 2005, Fry was made honorary president of the Cambridge University Quiz Society and honorary fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge.
  • In a 2005 poll to find The Comedians' Comedian, Fry was voted amongst the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and business insiders, and, in September 2006, number 9 in a poll of TV's Greatest Stars as voted for by the general public.
  • In December 2006 he was ranked 6th for the BBC's Top Living Icon Award,[21] was featured on The Culture Show, and was voted most intelligent man on television by readers of Radio Times.
  • 23rd on the previous year's list, the Independent on Sunday Pink List named Fry the second most influential gay person in Britain in May 2007.[22]
  • Later the same month he was announced as the 2007 BT Mind Champion of the Year[23] in recognition of the awareness raised by his documentary on bipolar disorder, and was also nominated for Best Entertainment Performance (QI) and Best Factual Series (Secret Life of the Manic Depressive) at the 2007 British Academy Television Awards.
  • BBC Four dedicated two nights of programming to Fry on the 17th and 18th August 2007, in celebration of his 50th birthday. The first night, comprising programmes featuring Fry, began with a 60-minute documentary entitled Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out. The second night was composed of programmes selected by Fry, as well as a 60-minute interview with Mark Lawson and half-hour special, Stephen Fry: Guilty Pleasures. Stephen Fry Weekend proved such a ratings hit for BBC Four that it was repeated on BBC Two for the 16th and 17th September.
  • He currently holds the UK record for saying fuck the most times on a live television broadcast.
  • Fry was the last person to be named Pipe Smoker of the Year before the award was discontinued for legal reasons.
  • He is a Patron of the Norwich Playhouse theatre and a Vice President of the Noël Coward Society.[24]
  • He was granted a lifetime achievement award at the British Comedy Awards on December 5, 2007.[25]
  • In 2007 Broadcast magazine listed Fry at #4 in its "Hot 100" list of influential on-screen performers, describing him as a polymath and a "national treasure".[26]

Health

  • In Episode C.10 of QI he revealed he is allergic to champagne. [27]
  • He broke his arm while filming in Brazil. [28]

List of works

Written works

Performances

Directorial filmography

References

  1. ^ a b ""Who Do You Think You Are?", Series Two: Celebrity Gallery".
  2. ^ Cawston Parish in Norfolk
  3. ^ "University Challenge page at UK Game Shows".
  4. ^ BBC Health: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive
  5. ^ BBC News: Comedian Fry reveals suicide bid
  6. ^ Cardiff University: Genetic research into mood disorders
  7. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/4476875.stm
  8. ^ "Series A, Episode 8". QI. Season A. Episode 8. 2003-10-30.
  9. ^ Dork talk
  10. ^ "QI Audience Statistics".
  11. ^ IMDB: Stephen Fry — Awards
  12. ^ "StephenFry.com - Blog Entry - I Give Up".
  13. ^ "Fry breaks arm filming in Brazil". BBC. 2008-01-18. Retrieved 2008-01-18.
  14. ^ BBC: "Fry quits as host of film Baftas"
  15. ^ [http://imdb.com/name/nm0000410/
  16. ^ "Stephen Fry interviews Tony Blair".
  17. ^ "Old Vic Theatre - Cinderella".
  18. ^ "News: Rowling & Stephen Fry attend British Comedy Awards". www.hpana.com. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
  19. ^ "StephenFry.com - Blog Entry - I Give Up".
  20. ^ Lip Theatre: History
  21. ^ BBC: Living Icons
  22. ^ Independent on Sunday Pink List 2007
  23. ^ Mind - Press Release
  24. ^ http://www.noelcoward.net/html/committee2007.html
  25. ^ Hemley, Matthew (2007-12-06). "Gavin and Stacey sweeps British Comedy Awards". The Stage. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
  26. ^ "Hot 100: Talent" (free registration required). Broadcast. 2007-12-18. Retrieved 2007-12-22. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  27. ^ QI Series C/3, Episode 10
  28. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7196783.stm
  29. ^ Branagh to make Mozart opera film
  30. ^ Douglas Adams Continuum Forum: webchat

See also

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