- Paul Whitehouse
Infobox actor
name = Paul Whitehouse
caption =
birthdate = birth date and age|1958|5|17|df=yes
birthplace = Stanleytown,Glamorgan ,Wales [http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/wales-news/2007/10/28/comic-paul-tells-of-talent-change-91466-20018480/ Comic Paul tells of talent change] Wales on Sunday - 28 October 2007]Paul Whitehouse (born 17 May 1958) is a British
comedian and actor. He became known for his work withHarry Enfield and as one of the stars of the popular BBCsketch show , "The Fast Show ". In a 2005 poll to find "The Comedian's Comedian", he was in the top 50 comedy acts voted for by comedians and comedy insiders.Early life
Whitehouse was born in Stanleytown in the
Rhondda Valley,Glamorgan ,Wales . His father worked for theNational Coal Board and his mother was a singer with theWelsh National Opera . [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southeast/halloffame/showbiz/paul_whitehouse.shtml BBC - South East Wales Showbiz - Paul Whitehouse ] ] The family moved toEssex , England when he was four years old, which led to him discovering his talent formimicry :"At school I didn’t say a word for the first four weeks - I called it my Silent Month. I think it was because everyone was speaking so differently from how it had been in Wales. Then, after four weeks, I came home one day and said, ‘Muumm, I wanna go to Sarfend!’ For her that was the end because I had lost my lovely Welsh lilt. So I became very conscious of speech and the effects it can have. But when I went back to Wales I would start talking all Welsh, ‘lyke that you see’ before going all
Alf Garnett while coming back the other way.”Early Career
Whitehouse attended the
University of East Anglia inNorwich from Autumn 1977, where he made friends withCharlie Higson . [http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/profiles/paul_whitehouse.shtml Bio:Paul Whitehouse] BBC Comedy] The pair spent little of their first year studying, instead playing guitar and performing with theirpunk rock combo, the "Right Handed Lovers."Whitehouse dropped out and lived with other drop-outs in a council flat in
Hackney , East London and occasionally worked as aplasterer . After Higson graduated in 1980, he moved in with Whitehouse, working by day as adecorator and performing at night and the weekends with his new punk-funk group "The Higsons." [http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/driving/features/article2975305.ece On the move: Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson] The Times - 2 December 2007]The pair began working as tradesmen on a house shared by comedians
Hugh Laurie andStephen Fry , which inspired them to start writing comedy. They moved to an estate where in a pub they metHarry Enfield , a neighbour with a stage act, and after he gained a place onChannel 4 's "Saturday Live," the pair were invited to write for him. Whitehouse created Enfield's character "Stavros" a London-based Greekkebab shop owner, and then "Loadsamoney " an archetypal Essex boy made good inMargaret Thatcher 's 1980s; he also appeared as Enfield's sidekick Lance on "Saturday Live."This success turned Whitehouse and Higson's career, and they started writing for "Vic Reeves' Big Night Out" and extensively for the
BBC , firstly for "A Bit of Fry and Laurie " and "The Paul Merton Show", then as performer on shows such as "Harry Enfield's Television Programme ", where he developed numerous characters includingDJ Mike Smash ofSmashie and Nicey alongsideHarry Enfield as Nicey.TV Career
The Fast Show
While watching a preview tape of highlights from Enfield's show, Whitehouse and Higson were inspired to create a rapid-fire delivery comedy show, "
The Fast Show ." Whitehouse's characters included:
* Rowley Birkin QC
*The 13th Duke of Wymbourne
* Archie ("hardest game in the world")
* Chris Jackson
*Unlucky Alf
*Arthur Atkinson
* 'Brilliant'
*Ron Manager
* Ken, one of the "Suit You" tailors
* Lindsey, one of the Offroaders
* Poutremos Poutra-Poutremos, anchor of the foreign TV stationChanel 9 sketchDue to his array of comedy characters,
Johnny Depp has said Whitehouse is one of the best actors he has seen. Depp is a fan of the "The Fast Show " and made a guest appearance on the programme.Happiness
In 2001 and 2002 Whitehouse wrote and performed in two series of the BBC comedy drama "Happiness", in which he played a voice-over actor with a
mid-life crisis .Help
Whitehouse wrote, produced and appeared with
Chris Langham in the 2005 comedy drama "Help", also for the BBC. In this show he took 25 roles, all patients of Langham'spsychotherapist (except one, who is Langham's psychotherapist's psychotherapist). The pair's collaboration resulted in Whitehouse taking the witness stand on 24 July 2007 in the trial of Langham, in regard to the charge of holding explicit images and videos of minors. Langham claimed he downloaded this material as research for a character in the second series of "Help", but Whitehouse's testimony did not corroborate this explanation. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/6913530.stm BBC NEWS | England | Kent | Co-star 'did not know about porn' ] ]Harry and Paul
Whitehouse is appearing in the BBC sketch show "
Harry and Paul " (formerly "Ruddy Hell! It's Harry and Paul"), starring alongside Harry Enfield. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/harryandpaul/ BBC - Comedy - Harry and Paul - Homepage ] ]Future projects
It has been confirmed that he is working again with Higson on a television project with a working title of "Bellamy’s Kingdom," designed to be a spoof of celebrity travel programmes. [cite news|last=Byrne|first=Ciar|url=http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article3013244.ece|title=Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson: Making (radio) waves|publisher=The Independent|date=2007-10-01|accessdate=2007-10-01]
Radio
Whitehouse and
Charlie Higson produced and appeared in a spoof phone-in show "Down the Line " onBBC Radio 4 . The first series was broadcast May-June 2006. A second series was broadcast 16 January - 20 February 2007, during which they won aSony Radio Academy Award . [ [http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article3013244.ece Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson: Making (radio) waves] The Independent - 1 October 2007] A third series was broadcast in January 2008.Advertising
In Summer 2007, Whitehouse followed
Victoria Wood in the latestASDA advertising campaign.Personal Life
Whitehouse, who lives in
Islington and drives anAudi A3 , is a supporter ofEnglish Premiership football teamTottenham Hotspur and has appeared on fellow comedianPhil Cornwell 's Spurs Show podcast. [http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=261350282&s=143444&i=19613319]Inspiration
Whitehouse's main early influences were the sketches of
Peter Cook andDudley Moore , and theMonty Python crew.Tommy Cooper made him laugh, as didMorecambe and Wise and the television show "Dad's Army ." He cites his modern influences as Harry Enfield (who he says without meeting he would not have been doing what he does now), and the approach ofReeves and Mortimer who he thinks are "far and away the best comedians that we have had in this country for a long while." [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/forum/1225156.stm BBC Forum: Comedian Paul Whitehouse quizzed] BBC Forum]Filmography
Whitehouse has had a number of small roles in film, principally:
* "Kevin and Perry Go Large " - 'Bouncer', with Harry Enfield
* "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" - 'Sir Cadogan'.
* "Finding Neverland " - 'Stage Manager' (with his friend and admirerJohnny Depp ; Whitehouse's daughters Molly and Sophie have non-speaking roles as orphans in the film)
* "Corpse Bride " - 'William Van Dort' (again, withJohnny Depp )References
External links
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southeast/halloffame/showbiz/paul_whitehouse.shtml BBC - South East Wales - Hall of Fame - Paul Whitehouse]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/talent/w/whitehouse_paul.shtml BBC Comedy Guide]
*Imdb name|id=0925768|name=Paul WhitehousePersondata|NAME= Whitehouse, Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Britishcomedian and actor
DATE OF BIRTH= 17 May 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH= Stanleytown,Glamorgan ,Wales
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=
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