- Rory Bremner
Infobox Comedian
name = Rory Bremner
image_size =
caption =
birth_date = birth date and age|1961|4|6|df=y
birth_place =Edinburgh ,Scotland
death_date =
death_place =
genre = Impressions and politicalsatire
spouse = Tessa Campbell Fraser|Rory Keith Ogilvy Bremner FKC (born
6 April 1961 ,Edinburgh ) is a Scottish Impressionist andcomedian , noted for his work inpolitical satire .Early life
Educated at
Clifton Hall School and Wellington College, Bremner then studied Modern Languages atKing's College London and he was awarded Honorary Life Membership ofKing's College London Students' Union in the early 2000s. In 2005 he accepted an HonoraryFellow ship at King's.Rory first came into the limelight in 1985, when his single, "N-N-Nineteen Not Out" (released under the name, "The Commentators") was a big hit in the British charts. It was a parody of
Paul Hardcastle 's number one hit, "19", with Bremner impersonating cricket commentators, includingRichie Benaud andBrian Johnston , and replacing references to theVietnam War with references to the England cricket team's disastrous 1984 home series against the West Indies.Career
Bremner soon had his own BBC2 show, and later moved to
Channel 4 , where his output became more satirical and the sporting commentators gradually came to represent a smaller proportion of his repertoire. Having teamed up with veterans, John Bird andJohn Fortune , he now hosts "Bremner, Bird and Fortune ", which (along with its predecessor "Rory Bremner, Who Else?") has won numerous awards. Occasional one-off specials are also shown, with Bremner impersonatingTony Blair and various other government figures. In the 1990s he became a semi-regular cameo turn on the Channel 4 improvisation show "Whose Line Is It Anyway? " and in 2005 he was a team captain on the BBC2 improvisational satire show "Mock The Week ". Bremner now regularly performs onSunday AM , impersonating politicians, with a review of recent political events.Bremner has translated operas and a Brecht play from French and German into English. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20060706/ai_n16516303 Bremner makes an impression with translation of Brecht | Independent, The (London) | Find Articles at BNET.com ] ]
Personal life
Rory's first marriage was to Susan Shackleton, a teacher, in 1987, the couple divorcing in 1995. On 11th September, 1999 Rory married to Tessa Campbell Fraser and has two children with her. Rory Bremner also supported
Reg Keys in the 2005 election when he stood against Tony Blair as an anti-war candidate.He was placed at 49 on
ITV 's list of "TV's 50 Greatest Stars ", and in 2008 received theJames Joyce Award of theLiterary and Historical Society .Rory speaks French and German. [ [http://www.kcl.ac.uk/alumni/news/rory.html An Evening with Rory Bremner :News :King's College London ] ]
Prank call to Margaret Beckett
In February 2007 he entered the news after it emerged that he had managed to get through to
Margaret Beckett whilst impersonatingGordon Brown , with her revealing "embarrassing indiscretions". [citeweb|url=http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/display.var.1219113.0.beckett_tricked_by_bremner_on_phone.php|title=Beckett tricked by Bremner on phone|date=2007-02-26|accessdate=2007-03-06|publisher=Evening Times]On May 3 2005, Bremner dressed up as
Michael Howard in the marginal seat of Wellingborough and walked along the campaign trail and eventually caught up with Howard himself."The Big Brecht Fest"
In April 2007, he was also involved in "The Big Brecht Fest" at the
Young Vic Theatre in London celebrating the work of German dramatistBertolt Brecht , where a series of newly-translated versions of some of his short plays were performed. One of the plays that was staged, the short comedy of manners "A Respectable Wedding", was retranslated by Rory Bremner, who also penned the title to the series. His translation had a positive reception from critics, although it did draw the ire of some for the removal of any class-conflict edge to the play, directed byJoe Hill Gibbins as a squirming farce that relies heavily on the comic value of embarrassment.References
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=s5m-IksFXGA
External links
* [http://www.musicomh.com/comment/rory-bremner.htm Rory Bremner interview]
*imdb name|id=0107115|name=Rory Bremner
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