Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with Stephen Merchant. In addition to writing and directing the shows, Gervais played the lead roles of David Brent in The Office and Andy Millman in Extras. Gervais has also starred in Hollywood films, Ghost Town and The Invention of Lying. He has performed on four sell-out stand-up comedy tours, written the best-selling Flanimals book series and starred with Merchant and Karl Pilkington in the most downloaded podcast in the world as of March 2009,[2] The Ricky Gervais Show.
He has won seven BAFTA Awards, five British Comedy Awards, two Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and the 2006 Rose d'Or, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. In 2007 he was voted the 11th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups and again in the updated 2010 list as the 3rd greatest stand-up comic.[3] In 2010 he was named on the TIME 100 list of the world's most influential people.[4]
In 2010 Gervais became the first British person to host the Golden Globe Awards in 14 years; he returned to host in 2011 and again in 2012.[5]
Early life
Gervais, along with siblings Larry (born 1945), Marsha (born 1948) and Bob (born 1950),[6] was born and brought up in Whitley, Berkshire on June 25, 1961. His father, Lawrence Raymond "Jerry" Gervais (1919–2002), a Franco-Ontarian, emigrated while on foreign duty during the Second World War from London, Ontario, Canada. Jerry Gervais met Eva Sophia House (1925–2000),[7][8] during a blackout,[9] and they settled in Whitley. She died, aged 74, in 2000, of lung cancer.[10]During Xfm London's The Ricky Gervais Show and in further newspaper interviews with The Independent, Gervais noted that he believes his birth was unplanned due to the age difference between his oldest sibling and himself. During one interview with The Independent, Gervais tells the author that even his mother admitted his birth was unplanned.[11] He has claimed that his father was "drunk when he filled in the birth certificate", leading to the unusual spelling of his middle name.[12] Gervais has stated that his upbringing and childhood were stable and trauma-free, with a high level of honesty and openness between his family members. He claims that his family, "much like The Waltons", made fun of each other regularly.[13]
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| Jane Fallon |
Music
In 1983, during his final year as a student at UCL (University College London), Gervais and 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 singles failed to break the top 40, with "More to Lose" charting at No.117 and "Bitter Heart" peaking at No.70 on the UK Singles Chart.[18] Despite not being successful in the UK, Seona Dancing did manage to score a hit in the Philippines with "More to Lose". According to the 20 December 2003 broadcast of the Ricky Gervais Show, Gervais later had a band called the Sacred Hearts, which Ian Camfield described as Gervais's "Bon Jovi phase".[citation needed]
Radio
Gervais later worked as an assistant events manager for the University of London Union (ULU),[19] where he continued working until he took a similar job as "head of speech" at Xfm London.[20]Needing an assistant, Gervais interviewed the first person whose curriculum vitae he saw. The CV belonged to Stephen Merchant. During the interview at a local pub, Merchant agreed to do "all the boring stuff" because of his experience in media studies while Gervais "mess[ed] around".[21] In 1998 Gervais was made redundant[citation needed] when the station was taken over by the Capital Radio group.
Gervais was music adviser for the BBC drama This Life, which was being produced by his girlfriend, Jane Fallon. He and Merchant also contributed sketches to BBC Radio 1's The Breezeblock in 1999 and 2000.
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| Gervais on The Office |
Podcast
In August 2008 Gervais, Merchant and Pilkington recorded their fifth season of audiobooks, totalling 4 chapters, which were released on 16 September 2008. These audiobooks were described as the 'guide to...' series, covering several topics. As of May 2011, there are 12 "Guides" in total: Medicine, Natural History, Arts, Philosophy, The English, Society, Law & Order, The Future, The Human Body, The Earth, The World Cup 2010 & Comic Relief. The conversations typically begin on topic, but constantly stray away from the topic at hand.
Television
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| Gervais on The Office |
Throughout this time, Gervais also wrote for the BBC sketch show Bruiser and The Jim Tavare Show, and he had a cameo role in Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes's sitcom, Spaced, as Dave. Pegg later joked that Dave was a younger David Brent and that he and Hynes were the real minds behind The Office. Gervais also appeared in a few of Channel 4's 'Top 100...' list programmes, and he voiced the character of Penguin in Robbie the Reindeer's Legend of the Lost Tribe. His voice was redubbed for the US market.
On 5 January 2006 he interviewed Larry David in a one-off special, Ricky Gervais Meets... Larry David. On 25 and 26 December of the same year Channel 4 aired similar specials in which he interviewed the actor/comedian Christopher Guest and comedian Garry Shandling. There are no plans for further episodes of Meets..., although editions with John Cleese and Matt Groening were recorded in 2006 for broadcast in 2007. A source claimed, "The Shandling experience put him off for good".[24]
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| Gervais on The Simpsons |
I've always been fascinated with reality game shows but I think it was my girlfriend's idea. We watch Celebrity Big Brother at the moment, we watch I'm a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here... we watch all those reality TV shows — The Office came out of those docu-soaps".[25]Gervais, a longstanding Simpsons fan, presented a segment to mark the show's 20th anniversary on BBC Two's The Culture Show on 16 June 2007. Gervais has also guest-starred on Alias (appearing in the third-season episode "Façade") as Daniel Ryan, a former Royal Navy bomb-disposal specialist turned rogue Irish Republican Army bomb-maker. He has said about the appearance, "I did an episode of Alias, and I can't watch it. Me being serious. I can't watch it".
Gervais made a cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live in a Digital Short during which he claims that The Office was adapted from a Japanese programme of the same name (with Steve Carell reprising his role as Michael Scott). The sketch re-creates scenes from the American and British pilot episode with Japanese elements (although in an exaggerated way). "It's funny", Gervais laughs at the end, "because it's racist".
In January 2009, Gervais was interviewed by James Lipton for Season 15 of BravoTV's Inside the Actors Studio.
In January 2010, he hosted the 67th Golden Globe Awards, making him the first master of ceremonies since 1995. He stated:
"I have resisted many other offers like this, but there are just some things you don't turn down."[26]His performance as host received a mixed response with positive reviews from the New York Daily News and the Associated Press, but also some negative comments from industry bible, and The Hollywood Reporter.[27][28] He returned to host the show again in 2011 and 2012, and his performance was more warmly received by critics.
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| Gervais on Curb Your Enthusiam |
In June 2010, it was announced that Gervais had been cast in the upcoming Season 8 of Curb Your Enthusiasm playing himself.[30]
As of April 2011, he has made 18 guest appearances on Late Show with David Letterman on the CBS network.
The Office
The first six-episode series of The Office aired in the UK in July and August 2001 to little fanfare or attention.[32] Word-of-mouth, repeats, and DVDs helped spread the word, building up huge momentum and anticipation for the second series, also comprising six episodes, in September 2002.[33] The second series topped the BBC Two ratings, and the show then switched to BBC One in December 2003 for its final two special episodes.
The Office has since been remade for audiences in Sweden, France, Germany, Quebec, Brazil and the United States. Gervais and Merchant are producers of the American version, and they also co-wrote the episode "The Convict" for the show's third season. The original UK version is currently airing on Adult Swim on Fridays, and prior to the show's airing, Gervais appears as himself talking about the episode that will air. In one of those segments Gervais claimed the episode "Training" to be his favourite.
Extras
Guest stars on the first series of Extras include Ross Kemp, Les Dennis, Patrick Stewart, Vinnie Jones, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Stiller, Kate Winslet and Francesca Martinez. A second series began on 14 September 2006 in the UK and featured appearances by Daniel Radcliffe, Dame Diana Rigg, Orlando Bloom, Sir Ian McKellen, Chris Martin, Keith Chegwin, Robert Lindsay, Warwick Davis, Ronnie Corbett, Stephen Fry, Richard Briers, Patricia Potter, Sophia Myles, Moira Stuart, David Bowie, Kate Winslet, Robert De Niro and Jonathan Ross.
Some have suggested that Gervais is influenced by Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Larry Sanders Show in making Extras, particularly in the format of celebrities making fools of themselves or subverting their public personas,[23] and in the Gervais joke of someone making inappropriate remarks in front of a member of a minority. He has interviewed both Larry David and Garry Shandling, creators of these shows, on Ricky Gervais Meets....
Extras was awarded the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy on 14 January 2008. Gervais also won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.
In February 2007, ventriloquist Keith Harris refused an invitation to appear on the second series of Extras, claiming that Gervais "wanted me to be a racist bigot" and describing the script as "pure filth".[34] When asked about Harris's refusal on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Gervais claimed that Harris simply "didn't get it".[35] Keith Chegwin, who assumed the role offered to Harris, said "the people who didn't get it probably think Johnny Depp really is a pirate."[36]
The Ricky Gervais Show (animated series)
The original audio show was broadcast in November 2001 on radio station Xfm, and aired in weekly periods for months at a time throughout 2002, 2003, 2004 and mid-2005. In November 2005 Guardian Unlimited offered the show as a podcast series of 12 shows.[40] Throughout January and February 2006 the podcast was consistently ranked the number one podcast in the world; it appeared in the 2007 Guinness World Record for the world's most downloaded podcast, having gained an average of 261,670 downloads per episode during its first month.[41][42] By September 2006, according to the BBC, the podcasts of the series had been downloaded "nearly 8 million" times.[43]
Life's Too Short
The show stars actor Warwick Davis playing a fictionalised version of himself, as well as Gervais and Merchant in cameo roles as themselves.[45][46] The show began airing on BBC Two on 10 November 2011.[47][48] Premium cable channel HBO, who co-produced the series with the BBC, have the US rights and began airing the series on 19 February 2012.[49][50]
Derek
In November 2011, Gervais filmed in London a 35-minute pilot episode for a potential comedy-drama series called Derek, which aired on Channel 4 on 12 April 2012.[51][52] The pilot is solely written and directed by Gervais and features him in the title role of Derek Noakes, a 49-year-old retirement home worker, who "loves animals, Rolf Harris, Jesus, Deal or No Deal, Million Pound Drop and Britain's Got Talent - but his main hobby is autograph hunting". The character first appeared as an aspiring comedian who loves animals and still lives with his mother in a 2001 Edinburgh Festival Fringe sketch.[53][54] Gervais says Derek was "an excuse to see the world differently."[55] Gervais's co-host Karl Pilkington makes his acting debut as Derek's friend and caretaker Dougie who also works in the retirement home. British comedian Kerry Godliman plays Derek's best friend Hannah and David Earl plays Kev. The episode is produced by Charlie Hanson.[56]
The pilot caused controversy even before its broadcast as some critics felt that Gervais was mocking disabled people. Gervais responded: "I’ve never thought of him as disabled. He’s not that bright but neither are Kev or Dougie. He’s cleverer than Baldrick and Father Dougal and he certainly hasn’t got as big a problem as Mr. Bean. When portraying someone with disabilities I usually get someone with that disability to play them."[55] On 9 May 2012, Channel 4 announced that it had commissioned a full series of Derek to air in early 2013.[59]
Stand-up comedy
Gervais later toured the UK in 2003 with his stand-up show Animals. The Politics tour followed a year later. Both of these shows were recorded for release on DVD and television broadcast. The third part of the themed live trilogy, Fame, took place in 2007. It started in Glasgow in January and ended in Sheffield in April. Blackpool reported selling out of tickets within 45 minutes of them going on sale.[60] More dates were added.
Fame was the subject of some controversy in January 2007 when Gervais told a story, ostensibly about how people will do anything to become famous, to a Scottish audience.[62] The story referred to a question asked of Gervais five years earlier by a reporter: what could someone do to become famous like you? To which he replied, "Go out and kill a prostitute". He followed up with the punch line, "I won't do that bit in Ipswich", referring to the December 2006 murders of five prostitutes in Ipswich. The joke drew criticism from the father of victim Tania Nicol: "These days, they want to make a joke out of anything. I feel he's just being uncaring, quite honestly". Gervais defended himself: "I do want people to know that that happened five years ago and is not related to anything now. That is the problem with comedy, a joke that is funny today can be a terrible faux pas tomorrow".
Gervais's fourth show was entitled Science, and commenced with an eleven date tour in August 2009 at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow.[63] The show opened to little critical praise.[64] Writing for The Independent, Julian Hall gave Science two stars out of five, stating that it was Gervais's "most disappointing" offering yet.[65] The DVD for Science was released on 15 November 2010.[66] In November 2009 he headlined the sixth annual New York Comedy Festival at Carnegie Hall, New York.[67]
Gervais has begun writing his fifth stand-up routine, to be titled Humanity.[68]
Grand Theft Auto IV
DVD releases
| Title | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Animals | 17 November 2003 | Live at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London |
| Politics | 15 November 2004 | Live at the Palace Theatre, London |
| Fame | 12 November 2007 | Live at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo, London |
| Science | 22 November 2010 | Live at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo, London |
Books
Flanimals
There is a wide range of Flanimals merchandise available, including dolls and gift cards. A six-part Flanimals TV series has been commissioned by ITV,[70] although Gervais had previously claimed signing a Hollywood film deal[71] so that a franchise could be developed. "That way it stands a chance of being the next Dr. Seuss or Mr. Men".[72]
Other books
The Office scripts have been released in book form, with Series 1 issued in 2002, and the remaining episodes following in 2003.In late 2006 the Extras script book was released, as well as The World of Karl Pilkington presented by Gervais and Merchant. These were essentially transcripts of Xfm/podcast routines performed by the three.
Film
Gervais's film career has included small roles as the voice of a pigeon in 2005's Valiant, as a studio executive in 2006's For Your Consideration, as museum director Dr. McPhee in 2006's Night at the Museum and its sequel Night at the Museum 2, and as "Ferdy the Fence" in the 2007 film Stardust. His role in Night at the Museum has proven to be one of Gervais's most popular roles, with the film grossing $570 million worldwide.[73][74]
Gervais and co-writer Stephen Merchant made a film called Cemetery Junction, set in 1970s Britain, about class, love and fulfillment.[76] The film was released in April 2010.
Gervais was the voice of Argonaut in Spy Kids: All the Time in the World, released in 2011. He has also been cast as Mole in the 2012 adaption of The Wind in the Willows, featuring effects by Weta Workshop in New Zealand.[77]
Other appearances
On 2 July 2005 Gervais appeared at the Live 8 event held in London's Hyde Park, where he performed his famous dance. He produced a series of short films for the cause, linked acts from the studio with Jonathan Ross, and also introduced the group R.E.M..Gervais also has a role in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV, as himself, appearing in his role as a comedian in a comedy club, and as an interviewee on radio station We Know The Truth. For this, a special 3-minute act was written, recorded and fully motion-captured.[78]
Gervais has also hosted the 2010, 2011, and 2012 Golden Globe Awards. His 2011 hosting of the awards was controversial for his edgy jokes that were at the expense of many of the nominees, similar to the New York Friars Club roast style jokes.[79] His jibes were described as setting "a corrosive tone" by one critic, though some celebrities were seen crying from laughter, leaving the overall reaction to be 'mixed'.[80][81]
Boxing
Gervais was trained for the three-round contest by famous boxing trainer brothers Frank and Eugene Maloney, at their Fight Factory gymnasium. It was the second televised charity boxing match, the first being Bob Mortimer against Les Dennis, for Comic Relief. The fight was televised by the BBC, and Gervais came out on top by a split decision verdict. Gervais later said that the experience was the 'most difficult thing' he had ever done. He donated his £5,000 prize money to the training of a Macmillan nurse.
Concert for Diana and Live Earth
On 1 July 2007 Gervais performed at the Concert for Diana in Wembley Stadium, a music event celebrating the life of the Princess of Wales. Towards the end of the event — after a pre-recorded introduction from Ben Stiller — Gervais appeared along with fellow Office star Mackenzie Crook. They performed Free Love Freeway, a song previously heard in the fourth episode of series one of The Office. Due to a technical problem, Gervais then had to fill time until he was able to re-introduce Elton John to close the show, so he did the David Brent dance again, as well as singing the "Little Fat Man" song as performed by David Bowie in episode two of the second series of Extras.
In July 2007, following Gervais's appearance at the memorial concert for the Princess of Wales, The Guardian ran a column by Daily Mirror television critic Jim Shelley entitled "Call Me Crazy... But Has Ricky Gervais Lost It?", where he described Gervais as a "tiresome embarrassment".[82] The following week, The Guardian noted that Gervais had responded with "an exhilaratingly foul-mouthed tirade" on his website, concluding with the words, "Yes I am resting on my fucking laurels you cunt!" In this video Gervais mocked Jim Shelley typing the words "Resting on his laurels" as Gervais jokingly lashed out by stating he was resting on his laurels and that he was not going to make another show for television, quipping "What's the point? What is there to beat?"[83]
On 18 October 2011, Gervais attracted criticism for his repeated use of the word "mong" (short for "mongoloid"), a historically derogatory term for mentally disabled people, most commonly used against those with Downs syndrome.[84] Gervais claimed the word no longer represented this meaning.[85]
Although other comedians and support groups for the disabled pointed out that verbal and physical abuse of the disabled was on the increase,[86] Gervais initially remained defiant over his use of the word.[87] He later apologised, saying that he found it hard to believe that "idiots" still used the word to refer to people with Down Syndrome.[88]
Personal life
Gervais currently lives in Hampstead,[89] having moved from Bloomsbury, with his girlfriend of 30 years, producer and screenwriter Jane Fallon. He says they chose not to marry because "there's no point in us having an actual ceremony before the eyes of God because there is no God" or have children because they "didn't fancy dedicating 16 years of our lives. And there are too many children, of course".[90] In August 2008, they bought a second home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City.[91]Gervais is a fervent supporter of animal rights, and has been a fan of wildlife documentaries since he was a child.[92] He has spoken out against fox hunting and bullfighting, and wrote to Gordon Brown urging him to stop the use of black bear fur as caps for the Foot Guards.[93][94]
He told Kirsty Young that he is an atheist during a 2007 interview for Desert Island Discs,[95][96] later stating he lost his faith at the age of eight,[97] and in June 2008 he became an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society. In December 2010 he wrote an editorial for The Wall Street Journal defending his lack of faith.[98]
Accolades and awards
Gervais has received many awards for his work on The Office, most notably two Golden Globes (one for acting, one for the show itself), as well as numerous British Academy Television Awards and British Comedy Awards, amongst others.Gervais received an honorary award at the annual Rose d'Or ceremony in Switzerland on 29 April 2006. The award is given to "an individual who has made an exceptional contribution to the global entertainment business".[99]
On 16 September 2007, Gervais won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his role of Andy Millman on Extras.[100]
| Awarding Body/Event | Awarded |
|---|---|
| BAFTA Awards |
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| British Comedy Award |
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| Broadcasting Press Guild Awards |
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| Emmy Awards |
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| Golden Globe |
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| Peabody Awards |
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| Rose d'Or |
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| Royal Television Society |
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| Satellite Awards |
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| Television Critics Association |
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| Writers Guild of America |
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Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Dog Eat Dog | Bouncer | |
| 2005 | Valiant | Bugsy | Voice only |
| 2006 | For Your Consideration | Martin Gibb | |
| Night at the Museum | Dr. McPhee | ||
| 2007 | Stardust | Ferdy the Fence | |
| 2008 | Ghost Town | Dr. Bertram Pincus | Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture |
| 2009 | Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian | Dr. McPhee | |
| The Invention of Lying | Mark Bellison | Writer, director, producer[75] | |
| 2010 | Cemetery Junction | Len Taylor | Writer, director, executive producer (with Stephen Merchant) |
| 2011 | Spy Kids: All the Time in the World | Argonaut | Voice only |
| The Muppets | Cameo | Scene cut from final film | |
| 2012 | The Wind in the Willows | Mole | Voice only Pre-production |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | The 11 O'Clock Show | Various | Unknown episodes |
| 1999 | The Jim Tavaré Show | Various | 7 episodes Writer - 12 episodes |
| Comedy Lab | Clive Meadows | Episode: "Golden Years" (Also writer) | |
| 2000 | Bruiser | Recurring | 6 episodes |
| Meet Ricky Gervais | Himself | ||
| 2001 | The Sketch Show | Various | Unknown episodes |
| Spaced | Dave | 1 episode | |
| 2001–2003 | The Office (UK) | David Brent | 14 episodes including 2 Christmas specials Writer, director |
| 2002 | Robbie the Reindeer in Legend of the Lost Tribe | Penguin | Voice |
| 2004 | Alias | Daniel Ryan | Episode: "Façade" |
| 2005 | Kelsey Grammer Presents: The Sketch Show | Various | Unknown episodes |
| 2005–2007 | Extras | Andy Millman | 13 episodes Writer, director, executive producer |
| 2006 | The Simpsons | Charles Heathbar | Writer Episode: "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife" |
| 2008 | Ricky Gervais: Out of England – The Stand-Up Special | Himself | |
| 2009 | Sesame Street | 3 episodes | |
| 2010 | The Ricky Gervais Show | With Karl Pilkington and Stephen Merchant[101] | |
| An Idiot Abroad | With Karl Pilkington and Stephen Merchant | ||
| Louie | Dr. Ben | 2 episodes | |
| 2011 | Life's Too Short | Himself | With Stephen Merchant and Warwick Davis |
| The Office (US) | David Brent | Episodes: "The Seminar" and "Search Committee" | |
| The Simpsons | Himself | Episode: "Angry Dad: The Movie" | |
| Curb Your Enthusiasm | Episode: "The Hero" | ||
| Talking Funny | With Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, and Louis C.K. | ||
| An Idiot Abroad 2: The Bucket List | With Karl Pilkington and Stephen Merchant | ||
| 2012 | Afterlife | God | With Clyde Phillips |
| Family Guy | Billy Finn | Episode: "Be Careful What You Fish For" | |
| Derek | Derek Noakes | Channel 4 pilot Writer, director and executive producer. |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Grand Theft Auto IV | Himself |
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