Stephen Merchant

Stephen Merchant

Merchant in November 2009
Born (1974-11-24) 24 November 1974
Bristol, England, UK
Residence Los Angeles, California, US
Occupation Actor, director, writer, television presenter, comedian
Years active 1998–present
Height 6 ft 7 in (201 cm)[1]

Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English writer, director, radio presenter, comedian, and actor. He is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais and Karl Pilkington, as the co-writer and co-director of the popular British sitcom The Office; co-writer and co-star of Extras; and co-host of The Ricky Gervais Show in its radio, podcast, audiobook, and television show forms. The Ricky Gervais Show in radio form won a bronze Sony Award.

Merchant appeared as himself in the BBC series Life's Too Short, which he co-wrote and co-directed. He also voiced the character Wheatley and he also appeared the episode "The Girl Code" of the Simpsons as the computer program ConRad, co-developed the Sky1 travel series An Idiot Abroad, and performs as a stand-up comedian. He has won three BAFTA Awards, four British Comedy Awards and an Emmy Award. He recently starred in a role on a show he created, wrote, and directed, called Hello Ladies. His most recent project is starring in his first play by English playwright Richard Bean, The Mentalists, which was in London at Wyndham's Theatre in July and August 2015.

Early life

Merchant was born in the Hanham neighbourhood of Bristol, the son of Jane Elaine (née Hibbs), a nursery nurse, and Ronald John Merchant, an insurance representative.[2] He attended Hanham High School and later the University of Warwick in Coventry from 1993 to 1996, where he received a 2:1 Bachelor of Arts degree in Film and Literature.[3]

Merchant was a former film reviewer on the student radio station Radio Warwick, where he began his broadcasting career.[4] The station's 1995/1996 yearbook tipped him for great things:

“ The man behind the funniest show on W963, The Steve Show, highlights of which included an inspired take-off of the IRN news ("we spoke to Gerry Adams..."), an advert for Coventry Library ("Coventry Library makes no claims to be infinite"), attempting to give away an Aerosmith video to people on the toilet in Rootes [hall of residence], telephoning the library bridge security post to ask if they had seen a lost ball, as well as a series of snippets entitled At Home with Rose and Fred West. He once suckled milk from a cow's udder. This show stood out, as it was actually genuinely good. It's only a matter of time before Steve and his posse follow in the footsteps of Newman and Baddiel. ”

Members of Merchant's "posse" included film critic James King, Dan Warren, Neil the Maskell and Geraint the Welshman. Recently, a number of tapes of "The Steve Show", recorded at the time, have been rediscovered and are being distributed on various Merchant fansites.[5]

Career

Pre–2001

Merchant began his career performing stand-up comedy at Bristol's Comedy Box,[6] where, he recalls, "The first week I did really well. The second week I died on my arse. I realised that stand-up was not that easy after all." He also appeared as a contestant on a 1997 episode of the TV game show Blockbusters[7] and worked for a short time as a DJ for Radio Caroline.[8]

Merchant met Ricky Gervais for the first time in 1997, when Gervais (then in the position of "Head of Speech" at the London radio station XFM London) hired Merchant as his assistant.[9] (Gervais said later that he had called Merchant for an interview simply because it was the first CV handed to him.) Merchant and Gervais hosted a Saturday afternoon radio show together from January through to August 1998, when both of them left XFM as it was bought by the Capital Radio Group. In the same year, Merchant was a finalist at the Daily Telegraph Open Mic Awards.[10]

Merchant worked for seven years at XFM 104.9. The Saturday show never had a large audience; Gervais says "It's a tin pot radio station... It's not even the biggest radio station in the building." He created the features 'Hip Hop Hooray', 'Make Ricky Gervais Laugh' and 'Song for the Ladies'. After leaving XFM, Merchant began a production course at the BBC. As part of his coursework, he enlisted Gervais to perform in a 30-minute short film, "Seedy Boss," which became the earliest inspiration for their sitcom The Office.[11] They collaborated on a sitcom pilot called Golden Years featuring a manager suffering a mid-life crisis; the pilot aired on Channel 4's Comedy Lab series in September 1998,[12] but failed to find further success.

2001–03 (The Office and return to XFM)

In mid-2001, BBC Two aired the first series of The Office, co-written and co-directed by Merchant and Gervais and starring the latter as paper sales office manager David Brent; the show initially received low ratings. Beginning in September 2001, Merchant and Gervais returned to XFM as co-hosts of The Ricky Gervais Show, another Saturday afternoon programme, which led to their fruitful relationship with producer Karl Pilkington.[9]

They took a break from the radio show in mid-2002 in order to film the second series of The Office, which aired that year; in addition to writing and directing the show, Merchant made a cameo performance in the episode "Charity" as a friend of Gareth Keenan's character known by the name Oggy or Oggmonster. (Merchant's father also appears in multiple episodes as an office handyman named Gordon.) Merchant also directed a sitcom pilot called The Last Chancers, which aired on Comedy Lab in November 2002 and became a five-part series broadcast in December on E4.[13]

Merchant and Gervais continued to host The Ricky Gervais Show through 2003, taking another break to film the Office Christmas special, which aired that December. The radio show went off the air indefinitely in January 2004. During 2004, Merchant appeared in a recurring role as a chef on Garth Marenghi's Darkplace and in a cameo on Green Wing, and served as a script associate on the Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker sitcom Nathan Barley. The same year, The Office aired in the U.S to critical acclaim. It went on to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy which both Merchant and Gervais accepted.[14] This was followed in 2005 by a 4th series of the radio show, consisting of six episodes.

U.S. series of The Office

In March 2005, the American version of The Office premiered, with Merchant and Gervais credited as executive producers. They would later co-write the third-season episode "The Convict", and Merchant would go on to direct the fifth-season episode "Customer Survey".[15]

Podcast series

In December 2005, with sponsorship by The Guardian, Merchant, Gervais and Pilkington began recording a weekly podcast (also called The Ricky Gervais Show).[16] Throughout its first series (through 20 February 2006), the podcast was consistently ranked the most popular in the world, and was certified as the most-downloaded of all time by Guinness World Records. Two more series and three special installments (the "Podfather Trilogy") were recorded in 2006, with the final episode released on Christmas Eve. In late 2008, they recorded four more podcasts and began a series of audiobooks examining Pilkington's perspective on various subjects.[17]

Extras

In July 2005, following a brief return of the XFM radio show (filling in for Adam and Joe), Gervais and Merchant's new sitcom Extras premiered on BBC2. The series features Merchant in a supporting role as Darren Lamb, the incompetent agent to struggling actor Andy Millman, played by Gervais. Series 2 of Extras aired in late 2006, followed by a Christmas special in December 2007; all three instalments aired on HBO in the United States. Merchant won a 2006 British Comedy Award for Best TV Actor for his performance as Lamb.[18]

The Steve Show

Merchant in January 2011

In January 2007, Merchant began hosting his own radio show on BBC 6 Music, airing weekly on Sunday afternoons.[19] Instead of comedy, The Steve Show focused on music and particularly "new music", defined by Merchant as "music you've not heard before." Many of the songs on the show were suggested by listeners or co-presenters. The show also featured several of his friends, including his housemate, his childhood friend, as well as actor Rufus Gerrard-Wright (who also appeared in an episode of Extras). A spring search for a "she-J" resulted in the addition of former Byker Grove actor Sammy T. Dobson[20] joining the ensemble. "The Steve Show" aired for four seasons and concluded in May 2009.

Stand-up

Merchant began performing stand-up comedy in the late 1990s to critical success, though he decided to focus more on his work with writing partner Ricky Gervais after the success of The Office. Merchant returned to stand-up with a nationwide tour of the United Kingdom in September 2011, under the title Hello Ladies. The tour, which ended in New York,[21] was later released on DVD. In late 2012, the tour continued in Australia and New Zealand. Merchant performed his first-ever stand-up tour of Scandinavia in October 2014, performing in 11 different cities as part of a European festival circuit.[22]

Hello Ladies

Merchant's sitcom Hello Ladies premiered on 29 September 2013 on HBO, in which he played Stuart Pritchard, a website designer in Los Angeles who unsuccessfully chases beautiful women. It was adapted from his stand-up show of the same name. Merchant's frequent partner, Ricky Gervais was not involved in any part of the show which was instead written by Merchant, Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky. After its initial run of eight episodes, HBO did not renew the show for a second season[23] but aired a special movie on 22 November, 2014 that served as the series' last episode.[24]

Other work

Merchant has played small roles in the films Hot Fuzz (2007), Run Fatboy Run (2007), and The Invention of Lying (2009), the latter starring Gervais. He has a supporting role in the 2010 film Tooth Fairy. On television, Merchant made a cameo appearance in a non-speaking role on the sixth season premiere of 24; he also starred as a sports commentator in the unaired pilot No Skillz. In 2009, Merchant and Gervais collaborated on the film Cemetery Junction, set in working class England in the 1970s, which received mixed to positive reviews on its release in 2010.

Later in 2010, Gervais and Merchant wrote, and had cameo roles in, Life's Too Short, a television show starring Warwick Davis.[25] For television, Merchant and Gervais also produced An Idiot Abroad. In 2011, he lent his voice to the CGI film Gnomeo and Juliet and had a role in the Farrelly brothers' comedy Hall Pass. In 2013 he starred in I Give It a Year as the best man.[26]

On 18 October 2013 he hosted an episode of the panel show Have I Got News for You[27] and was featured in Short Poppies.[28] In 2014 he made an appearance in Modern Family's "Las Vegas" episode.[29]

In January 2011 Merchant appeared alongside many other comedians at the 'Free Fringe Benefit' at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London, in a show of stand-up to benefit the Free Fringe at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival.[30]

Merchant is the voice of Wheatley in Valve's 2011 video game Portal 2,[31] a role which earned him widespread acclaim among reviewers.[32] He has stated that the project was "exhausting", he is also "very pleased by the response people have had to it. What I was really pleased by how people seemed to respond to it in the way they do with a movie they've enjoyed, or a TV show they've enjoyed."[33] In 2013, he reprised this role as the voice of the Ap-Sap in Team Fortress 2, a weapon based on the Wheatley core.

Merchant has provided the voice-over since 2009 of advertisements for Barclays and Waterstones. In 2014, he starred in two commercials for Newcastle Brown Ale[34][35] and for the Cadillac 2015 ATS Coupe.[36]

He is an executive producer for the Spike show Lip Sync Battle and in July 2015 Merchant opened his first play The Mentalists by Richard Bean alongside Steffan Rhodri in London's West End.[37]

He appeared in three episodes of The Big Bang Theory as Amy's date.

In April 2016, Merchant was cast in an unspecified role in The Wolverine sequel.[38]

Personal life

Merchant lives in Los Angeles, California, in a home once owned by Ellen DeGeneres.[39] He has a second home in London.[40] Merchant is a self-described atheist.[41]

Merchant has used his unsuccessful experiences in dating for his comedy act.[42] Since late 2014, he has been in a relationship with American model/actress Christine Marzano.[43]

Merchant's height is 6 ft 7in (2.01 m).[44] Gervais likened him to an "upright lizard being given electro-shock treatment"[45] on the dance floor and a "stick insect with glasses"[45] or Beaker from The Muppet Show.[46] Karl Pilkington has described his dancing as like a "bit of weird art"[47] in the past but has since "got used to him", while British comic and broadcaster Russell Brand likened him to a "graceful grasshopper".[48] Merchant has commented that he prefers to liken himself to fellow tall man and English football player, Peter Crouch[49] who, like Merchant, is 6 feet 7 inches (201 cm) tall. Merchant impersonated Crouch in a BBC sketch broadcast as part of the pre-match build-up to England's opening game at the 2006 World Cup. [50]

Before the 2010 general election, Merchant was one of 48 celebrities who signed a letter warning against Conservative Party policy toward the BBC.[51]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2007 Hot Fuzz Peter Ian Staker
2007 Run Fatboy Run Man with Broken Leg
2009 The Invention of Lying Man at the Door
2010 Tooth Fairy Tracy
2010 Cemetery Junction Dougie Boden Writer, Director.
2010 Jackboots on Whitehall Tom Voice
2010 Burke and Hare Holyrood Footman
2011 Hall Pass Gary
2011 Gnomeo and Juliet Paris Voice
2013 Movie 43 Donald Segment: "Truth or Dare"
2013 I Give It a Year Dan
2016 Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie Barron Hilton
2016 Table 19
2017 Wolverine 3 TBA

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2000 Meet Ricky Gervais Studio Employee
2001–2003 The Office The Ogg Monster Co-creator, writer, director
2004 Garth Marenghi's Darkplace Chef Episode 2 and 6
2004 Green Wing Lab Technician Episode 6
2005 Bromwell High Mr. Phillips Voice
2005–2007 Extras Darren Lamb Co-creator, writer, director
2007 24 CTU Technician
2010 An Idiot Abroad Himself Co-creator, executive producer
2010–2012 The Ricky Gervais Show Himself Voice
2011–2013 Life's Too Short Version of Himself Co-creator, writer, director
2011 Ronnie Corbett's Comedy Britain Himself Executive producer
2011 An Idiot Abroad 2: The Bucket List Himself Executive producer
2013 Hello Ladies Stuart Pritchard Co-creator, co-writer, director
2013–2015 Drunk History Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Episode: "Washington D.C.", "Philadelphia", and "New Jersey"
2014 Modern Family Higgins Episode: "Las Vegas"
2014 Robot Chicken Alfred Pennyworth / 210 Up Narrator / Kirk Fogg Voice; Episode: "Stone Cold Steve Cold Stone"
2014 Hello Ladies: The Movie Stuart Pritchard TV movie
2014 Short Poppies Insurance Broker Episode 1
2015 Lip Sync Battle Himself Executive producer
2015 Comedy Bang! Bang! Himself Episode: "Stephen Merchant Wears a Checkered Shirt and Rolled Up Jeans"
2015 The Big Bang Theory Dave Gibbs Guest starring
2016 The Simpsons Conrad Voice; Episode: "The Girl Code"
2016 American Dad! Scientist Voice; Episode: "The 200"
Uncredited

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2011 Portal 2 Wheatley Voice
2013 Team Fortress 2 Wheatley (as the AP-SAP) Voice
Uncredited
2015 Lego Dimensions Wheatley Voice

Awards

Awarding Body/Event Awarded
BAFTA Awards
British Comedy Award
  • 2001 Best New Television Comedy The Office (UK)
  • 2002 Best Television Comedy The Office (UK)
  • 2004 Writer of the Year Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant
  • 2006 Best TV Comedy Actor Extras
Broadcasting Press Guild
Emmy
  • 2006 Emmy Outstanding Comedy Series The Office (U.S.)
WGA Award
Peabody Awards
  • 2004 Peabody Award The Office (UK)
Television Critics Association
  • 2004 Individual Achievement in Comedy The Office (UK)
Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences
Spike Video Game Awards

References

  1. ↑ "Petite Olivia Munn is dwarfed by lanky Stephen Merchant as pair meet for drinks at Groucho club". dailymail.co.uk (Associated Newspapers Ltd). 16 November 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  2. ↑ Family detective: Stephen Merchant, Telegraph.co.uk; accessed 8 March 2015.
  3. ↑ Stevenson, Holly (8 June 2011). "10 Questions: Stephen Merchant". The Tab.
  4. ↑ "Funny you asked". University of Warwick website.
  5. ↑ "The Steve Show". Steveshow.wordpress.com. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  6. ↑ "Stephen Merchant: Mum told me off over Walk of Fame mix-up". Bristol Post. 22 April 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "I'll have a TV career please, Bob: four famous Blockbusters contestants". Radio Times. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "Stephen Merchant". Chortle. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  9. 1 2 Harvey, Chris (27 June 2015). "Stephen Merchant interview: 'I'll probably get in trouble for saying this...'". Telegraph. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  10. ↑ "Stephen Merchant Stands Up". Londonist. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  11. ↑ Jeffries, Stuart (30 January 2004). "The Guardian profile: Ricky Gervais". Guardian. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  12. ↑ "Comedy Lab: Season 2, Episode 6 Golden Years". IMDB. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  13. ↑ "The Last Chancers". Curtis Brown. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  14. ↑ "The Office celebrates two Golden Globe triumphs". BBC. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  15. ↑ "The Office: Season 5, Episode 6 Customer Survey". IMDB. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  16. ↑ Plumplard.com August 2004. "Ricky Gervais... Obviously". Rickygervais.com. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
  17. ↑ "Stephen Merchant Talks". I Am Rogue. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  18. ↑ Owen Gibson, media correspondent (14 December 2006). "Tate and Merchant win comedy awards". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 17 March 2010.
  19. ↑ "Stephen Merchant presents new show for BBC 6 Music". BBC. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
  20. ↑ "Sammy Dobson". Tv.com. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
  21. ↑ Profile, nytimes.com; accessed 8 March 2015.
  22. ↑ Profile, comedyfesteurope.com; accessed 8 March 2015.
  23. ↑ Hello Ladies not renewed by HBO, tvseriesfinale.com; accessed 8 March 2015.
  24. ↑ Stephen Merchant official website; accessed 8 March 2015.
  25. ↑ "Warwick Davis official website". Warwickdavis.co.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  26. ↑ "I give it a year next year". www.stephenmerchant.com. 22 November 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  27. ↑ Merchant on twitter, twitter.com; accessed 8 March 2015.
  28. ↑ Merchant on YouTube (1), youtube.com; accessed 8 March 2015.
  29. ↑ Merchant on YouTube (2), youtube.com; accessed 8 March 2015.
  30. ↑ "Free Fringe Benefit 2011". Official London Theatre. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  31. ↑ Kollar, Phil (18 August 2010). "Portal 2 Has A Release Date and a New Voice Actor". Game Informer Magazine. GameStop Corporation. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  32. ↑ Young, John (20 April 2011). "'Portal 2' Videogame Review: Physics is Phunny". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  33. ↑ Plunkett, Luke (13 May 2011). "Portal 2's Wheatley Found it all "Exhausting"". Kotaku.com. Gawker Media. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  34. ↑ Merchant on YouTube (3), youtube.com; accessed 8 March 2015.
  35. ↑ Merchant on YouTube (4), youtube.com; accessed 8 March 2015.
  36. ↑ Merchant on YouTube (5), youtube.com; accessed 8 March 2015.
  37. ↑ "The Mentalists Play". The Mentalists Official Site.
  38. ↑ Hipes, Patrick (April 28, 2016). "Stephen Merchant To Star With Hugh Jackman In ‘Wolverine 3’". Deadline.com. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  39. ↑ Stephen Merchant snags L.A. home, variety.com; accessed 8 March 2015.
  40. ↑ Merchant interview about his new movie, missing London, and life in L.A., soundcloud.com; accessed 8 March 2015.
  41. ↑ The Ricky Gervais Show. Episode No. 2, season 1.
  42. ↑ Profile, metro.co.uk; accessed 8 March 2015.
  43. ↑ Simon Keegan (28 June 2015). "Who is Stephen Merchant's stunning new girlfriend Christine Marzano?". mirror.
  44. ↑ "Stephen Merchant: A giant of comedy". The Independent (UK). 25 March 2007. Retrieved 26 December 2007.
  45. 1 2 "Part 4". The Ricky Gervais Show. Season 3. Episode 2. 22 August 2006.
  46. ↑ The Ricky Gervais Show – The Early Years/Part 3
  47. ↑ The Ricky Gervais Show. Episode No. 4, season 3.
  48. ↑ BBC Podcast – The Russell Brand Show
  49. ↑ "Part 2". The Ricky Gervais Show. Season 3. Episode 2. 22 August 2006.
  50. ↑ Ricky Gervais meets Crouch and Rooney. 1 July 2006 – via YouTube.
  51. ↑ "General Election 2010: leading stars oppose Tory BBC plans". The Daily Telegraph (London). 25 April 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2010.

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