Ricky Gervais

Ricky Dene Gervais (English pronunciation: /dʒəˈveɪz/; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, director, producer, musician and writer.

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 friend and frequent collaborator Stephen Merchant. In addition to writing and directing the shows, Gervais also played the lead roles of David Brent in The Office and Andy Millman in Extras. Gervais has also starred in a number of Hollywood films, assuming leading roles in 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, The Ricky Gervais Show.

He has won a multitude of awards and honours, including 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. In 2010 he was named on the TIME 100 list of the world's most influential people. Gervais hosted both the 2010 and 2011 Golden Globe Awards.

Golden Globes 2011 - Ricky Gervais Opening Monologue


Ricky Gervais takes his Emmy back



Early life

Gervais, along with siblings Larry (born 1945), Marsha (born 1948), and Bob (born 1950),[4] was born and raised in the suburb of Whitley in Reading, Berkshire. Gervais's 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 met Gervais's mother, Eva Sophia M. (née House; 1925–2000),[5][6] during a blackout,[7] and they settled in Whitley. She died aged 74 of lung cancer.[8]

As of 17 April 2009, children of Canadian-born parents generally received Canadian citizenship, meaning that Gervais is, in addition to being British, a Canadian citizen.[9]

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 youngest sibling and himself. During one interview with The Independent, Gervais tells the author that even his mother admitted his birth was unplanned.[10] He has claimed that his father was "drunk when he filled in the birth certificate", leading to the unusual spelling of his middle name.[11]

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.[12]

Gervais attended Whitley Park Infants and Junior Schools and received his secondary education at Ashmead Comprehensive School, before moving on to University College London in 1979. He arrived to study biology but changed to philosophy after only two weeks[13] and earned an upper second-class honours degree in the subject.[14] During his time at UCL, he met Jane Fallon, with whom he has been in a relationship since 1982.[15]
[edit] Music

In 1983, during his final year as a student at UCL (University College London), Gervais and his friend Bill Macrae formed a 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 number 117 and "Bitter Heart" peaking at 70 in the UK singles charts.[16] 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.
[edit] Radio

Gervais later worked as an events manager for the University of London Union (ULU),[17] where he continued working until he took a similar job as "head of speech" at Xfm London.[18]

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".[19] 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.

After the first series of The Office, Gervais and Merchant returned to Xfm in November 2001 for a Saturday radio show. The show ran intermittently until January 2004 with breaks of 1–3 months between new shows. This was when the pair first worked with Karl Pilkington, who produced the shows and later collaborated with them on their series of podcasts.
[edit] Podcast
Main article: The Ricky Gervais Show
See also: List of The Ricky Gervais Show episodes

On 5 December 2005 Guardian Unlimited began offering free weekly podcasts featuring Gervais, Merchant, and Pilkington. 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.[2] On 20 February 2006, after the conclusion of the twelve-podcast series, it was announced that all future episodes would be available from Audible.com at a "nominal fee" (later, these had to be called audiobooks in accordance with iTunes policy). Two more series—-each with six podcasts—-were released between February and September 2006. Adam Carolla has been actively asking fans to bring the Guinness record to the United States via the Adam Carolla podcast.

In late 2006 three more free podcasts were released. Together called "The Podfather Trilogy", they debuted individually at Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. These three were known by Ricky and Steve as "The Fourth season". In October 2007 another free full-length podcast was released through iTunes; this podcast was originally given out for free during a performance of Gervais's Fame tour in London. On 25 November 2007 Gervais, Merchant, and Pilkington released another free full-length podcast, which lasted just over an hour.

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.
[edit] Television

Gervais has contributed to the BAFTA-winning The Sketch Show (ITV), penning several sketches. His mainstream-TV debut came in September 1998 as part of Channel 4's "Comedy Lab" series of pilots. His one-off show Golden Years focused on a David Bowie–obsessed character called Clive Meadows. Gervais then came to much wider national attention with an obnoxious, cutting persona featured in a topical slot that replaced Ali G's segments on the satirical Channel 4 comedy programme The 11 O'Clock Show in early 1999, in which his character used as many expletives as was possible and produced an inordinate amount of politically incorrect statements. Among the other regular featured comedians on the show was Mackenzie Crook, later a co-star of The Office. Two years later, Gervais went on to present his own comedy chat show for Channel 4 called Meet Ricky Gervais; it was poorly received and has since been mocked by Gervais himself. The Independent newspaper has described Gervais as "obsessed by his own celebrity", but adds, "Who wouldn't want to be Peter Lawford in a comedy Rat Pack?" in reference to Ricky Gervais Meets...; the article, however, also describes him as "a very funny man" who "created one of the great sitcoms".[20] The Guardian's Chris Tryhorn explained the "few gripes" he had with Extras, "particularly in the second series". "You can forgive Gervais a certain arrogance after the success of The Office, but..." He remarks on the confused tone of the series, taking in the clash between the broad comedy of characters Barry (Shaun Williamson) and Darren (Stephen Merchant), and the apparent parody of this style with When The Whistle Blows, and "given their total indulgence of Gervais, the BBC is portrayed as interfering, its comedy department run by a rather crudely stereotyped gay couple".[21]

Throughout this time, Gervais also wrote for the BBC sketch show Bruiser and The Jim Tavare Show, and he had cameo roles in Channel 4's sitcom Spaced; it is speculated that the cameo is indeed The Office character David Brent[citation needed]. However, both series of Spaced finished airing before The Office premiered. 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".[22]

Gervais guest-starred in an episode of The Simpsons entitled "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife", which aired on 26 March 2006 in the United States, on 23 April 2006 on satellite station Sky One in the United Kingdom (first appearing on terrestrial television in 2010), and on 18 July 2006 in Australia. He is the only British comic to write and star in a Simpsons episode. The episode was the highest rated in Sky One's history, arguably because of its extensive promotion, which revolved around the angle that Gervais was the episode's sole writer (and the first guest star on the show to also receive a writing credit for the episode of his appearance). Gervais clarified the extent of his input in a joint interview (with Christopher Guest) for Dazed and Confused magazine (January 2006): "No, all I did was put down a load of observations on an email and they made it look like a Simpsons script. I'm going to get the credit, but I think everyone in the industry knows it was a joint effort". Asked in a separate interview about how his idea for the episode (in which Homer swaps Marge on a game show) came about, Gervais replied:

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".[23]

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. Recently on Gervais's blog it was announced that he will be returning to The Simpsons and will feature him doing a skit based on his recent controversial performance at the 2011 Golden Globes. It is unknown if he will be writing the episode this time around.

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 program 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."[24]

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, The Hollywood Reporter.[25][26]

Gervais was a guest judge/panelist on Jerry Seinfeld's NBC show The Marriage Ref alongside Larry David and Madonna.[27] On 1 April 2010 Gervais made his first appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC.

As of April 2011 he has made 18 guest appearances on The Late Show With David Letterman on the CBS network.

In April 2010 it was announced that Gervais and Stephen Merchant will be writing a new show, called Life's Too Short, which they described as, "A cross between Extras and Curb your Enthusiasm and One Foot in the Grave but with a dwarf. That is out and out funny."[28] The show will star actor Warwick Davis as himself, as well as Gervais and Merchant.[29]

In June 2010 it was announced that Gervais had been cast in the upcoming Season 8 of Curb Your Enthusiasm playing himself.[30]
[edit] The Office
Main article: The Office (UK TV series)

In August 1999, while on a BBC production course, Stephen Merchant had to make his own short film. He chose to make a docu-soap parody, set in an office. This sketch later formed the basis of the interview episode.[31] With help from Ash Atalla, Merchant passed this tape on to the BBC's Head of Entertainment Paul Jackson at the Edinburgh Fringe, who then passed it on to Head of Comedy Jon Plowman, who eventually commissioned a full-pilot script from Merchant and Gervais.

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 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.
[edit] Extras
Main article: Extras (TV series)

Extras had its debut on the BBC on 21 July 2005; it received its premiere on HBO in the United States in September 2005. Written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the sitcom ran for twelve episodes and starred Gervais as Andy Millman, a background artist. Millman is more self-aware and intentionally humorous than Gervais's The Office character David Brent.

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.
Gervais (right) with friend Jonathan Ross at Live 8 in July 2005.

A Christmas special of Extras aired on 27 December 2007 in the UK and on 16 December 2007 in the US, featuring guest appearances by George Michael, Clive Owen, Gordon Ramsay, Jonathan Ross, and David Tennant.

On 10 June 2006 Gervais and Merchant were seen in a specially-filmed promotional sketch for the second series, in the middle of BBC One's World Cup football coverage. This time Gervais did not perform his famous dance. Instead, Merchant did a take-off of the Crouch Dance, recently popularised by England striker Peter Crouch.

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,[21] 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 British 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]
[edit] The Ricky Gervais Show (HBO / Channel 4 animated series)
Main article: The Ricky Gervais Show (animated series)

The Ricky Gervais Show is an animated TV show that debuted on US cable network HBO on 19 February 2010.[37][38] In the UK, the first season began airing on 23 April 2010 on Channel Four. The show was developed using original podcast recordings from The Ricky Gervais Show starring Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington. After receiving a loyal and enthusiastic following in the US, Cable channel HBO recommissioned the show for a second season, due to air in 2011.[39]

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.[21][41] By September 2006, according to the BBC, the podcasts of the series had been downloaded "nearly 8 million" times.[42]
[edit] Stand-up comedy
Mergefrom.svg
It has been suggested that Animals (comedy), Politics (comedy) and Fame (comedy) be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since October 2009.

Gervais made some attempts at stand-up in the late 1990s, but his first successful show took place at the Cafe Royal, as part of the 2001 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Titled Rubbernecker, the show also featured Jimmy Carr, Robin Ince, and Stephen Merchant.

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.[43] More dates were added.
Gervais performing in 2007

Newsnight Review's panel saw Animals during its Bloomsbury run and covered it in January 2003. They were not favourable, with Private Eye editor Ian Hislop being the most explicit in his criticism.[44] After this, Gervais closed each show by calling Hislop an "ugly little pug-faced cunt". Further coverage on Newsnight Review has been overwhelmingly favourable, with the panelists playing themselves in promos for the second series of Extras. Panel regulars Germaine Greer, Mark Kermode, and Mark Lawson also appeared as themselves reviewing When The Whistle Blows in a series episode. Critic Mark Lawson is a great admirer of Gervais and Merchant, having interviewed them extensively for television, print Front Row, and the Edinburgh International Television Festival.

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.[45] 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 latest show is entitled Science, with an eleven date tour that commenced in August 2009 at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow.[46] The DVD for this show was released on 15 November 2010.[47] In November 2009 he headlined the sixth annual New York Comedy Festival at Carnegie Hall, New York.[48]

On the This Morning show Gervais revealed that he had already began writing his fifth stand-up routine and is titled People.[49]
[edit] 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
People TBA
[edit] Books
[edit] Flanimals

Gervais released a children's book in 2004, Flanimals (illustrated by his friend Rob Steen), which depicted nonsense animals. After the success of this book, he released its sequel More Flanimals in 2005, with Flanimals of the Deep coming the next year. A new Flanimals book, Day of the Bletching, was released in October 2007. Flanimals: Pop Up is also due to be published.

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,[50] although Gervais had previously claimed signing a Hollywood movie deal[51] so that a franchise could be developed. "That way it stands a chance of being the next Dr. Seuss or Mr. Men".[52]
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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[citation needed], with the movie grossing $570 million worldwide.[53][54]

Gervais starred in Ghost Town, which was released on 19 September 2008, and was in Lowell, Massachusetts during May 2008 filming his next project, The Invention of Lying, starring himself, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, and Jason Bateman, with appearances by Louis C.K., Tina Fey, Jeffrey Tambor, Roz Ryan, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Edward Norton. The comedy, released in 2009, was co-written and co-directed by Gervais and Matt Robinson.[55]

Gervais and co-writer Stephen Merchant made a film called Cemetery Junction, set in 1970s England, about class, love and fulfillment.[56] The film was released in April 2010.
[edit] Other appearances
Ricky Gervais performing at Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 2007

On 2 July 2005 Gervais appeared at the Live 8 event held in Hyde Park, London, 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.[57]

He appeared on an episode of Sesame Street in which Elmo is looking to get to sleep and he's the celebrity from "Celebrity Lullibies" who sings about the letter "N" to help. He uses soft words like "Put your nightcap on" but when he gets to the chorus it's the rock song version of "Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na" which wakes Elmo up with each chorus.

Gervais has also hosted the 2010 and 2011 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.[58] 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'.[59][60]
[edit] Boxing

In 2002 Gervais took part in a charity boxing match against entrepreneur Grant Bovey — known largely by the public due to his relationship with TV personality Anthea Turner. On his Saturday afternoon radio show on Xfm London Gervais and partners Merchant and Pilkington had discussions on both Gervais's attitude towards boxing and training in general, as well as his likelihood of victory against Bovey. Initially, Merchant had questions as to why Gervais was participating in the event, due to his dislike of slight pain and his inexperience with fitness in general.

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.
[edit] 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 Freelove 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.

On 7 July 2007 Gervais appeared at the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium, London. Gervais introduced Rob Reiner appearing in the guise of spoof film director Marty Di Bergi, who in turn introduced Spinal Tap.

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?"[61] 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?".[62]
[edit] Personal life

Gervais currently lives in Hampstead,[63] having moved from Bloomsbury, with his girlfriend of 29 years, producer and screenwriter Jane Fallon. He says they chose not to legally 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".[64] In August 2008, they bought a second home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City.[65]

Gervais is a fervent supporter of animal rights, and has been a fan of wildlife documentaries since he was a child.[66] He has spoken out against fox hunting and bull fighting, and wrote to Gordon Brown urging him to stop the use of black bear fur as caps for the Foot Guards.[67][68]

He told Kirsty Young that he is an atheist during a 2007 interview for Desert Island Discs,[69][70] later stating he lost his faith at age eight,[71] 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.

His main friends are fellow The Office and Extras co-writer and co-director and podcaster, Stephen Merchant; fellow The Ricky Gervais Show star, Karl Pilkington; Flanimals illustrator Rob Steen; and comedian and warm-up act, Robin Ince.[72] He is also a close friend of American comedian Jon Stewart[73] and is a frequent guest on his programme, The Daily Show.
[edit] Accolades and awards
Gervais at the 2007 BAFTAs

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".[74]

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.[75]
Awarding Body/Event Awarded
Writers Guild of America

2007 Best Comedy Series The Office (U.S.)

Rose d'Or

2006 Honorary Rose for Exceptional Contribution to the Global Entertainment Business

Emmy Awards

2007 Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Extras
2006 Emmy Outstanding Comedy Series The Office (U.S.)

Golden Globe

2008 Best Television Comedy or Musical (TV) Extras
2003 Best Actor — Musical or Comedy (TV) The Office (UK)
2003 Best Television Comedy The Office (UK)

Peabody Awards

2004 Peabody Award The Office (UK)

BAFTA Awards

2007 Best Comedy Performance
2004 Best Comedy Performance
2004 Best Situation Comedy The Office (UK)
2003 Best Comedy Performance
2003 Situation Comedy Award The Office (UK)
2002 Best Comedy Performance
2002 Situation Comedy Award The Office (UK)

Royal Television Society

2003 Best Comedy Performance for: The Office (UK)

British Comedy Award

2008 Best TV Comedy Actor
2004 Writer of the Year Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant
2002 Best Comedy Actor
2002 Best Television Comedy The Office (UK)
2001 Best New Television Comedy The Office (UK)

Broadcasting Press Guild Awards

2003 Writer's Award for: The Office (UK)
2002 Writer's Award for: The Office (UK)

Satellite Awards

2008 Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical Ghost Town

Television Critics Association

2004 Individual Achievement in Comedy The Office (UK)

[edit] Filmography
[edit] Film
Year Film Role Notes
2001 Dog Eat Dog Bouncer
2005 Valiant Bugsy Voice role
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 Musical or Comedy
2009 Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Dr. McPhee
The Invention of Lying Mark Bellison Also Writer/Producer/Director[55]
2010 Cemetery Junction Len Taylor Also Writer/Executive Producer/Director (with Stephen Merchant)
2011 Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World Argonut Voice Only
The Muppets Cameo post-production
2012 The Wind in the Willows Mole Voice Only
pre-production
[edit] Television
Year Programme Role Notes
1998 The 11 O'Clock Show Various Unknown episodes
1999 Comedy Lab Clive Meadows Episode: "Golden Years"
2000 Bruiser Recurring 6 episodes
Meet Ricky Gervais Himself 6 episodes
2001 The Sketch Show Various (Unknown episodes)
The Office David Brent 2001–2003, (14 episodes including 2 Christmas specials) Also writer, director
2004 Alias Daniel Ryan Episode: "Façade"
2005 Kelsey Grammer Presents: The Sketch Show Various (Unknown episodes)
Extras Andy Millman 2005–2007, (13 episodes) Also writer, director, executive producer
2006 The Simpsons Charles Heathbar Also Writer, Episode: "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife"
2008 Ricky Gervais: Out of England-The Stand-Up Special Himself (written by)
2009 Sesame Street Himself
2010– The Ricky Gervais Show Himself with Karl Pilkington & Stephen Merchant[76]
An Idiot Abroad Himself with Karl Pilkington & Stephen Merchant
2010 Louie Dr. Ben guest star (episodes "Dr. Ben/Nick" & "Gym")
2011 Life's Too Short Himself with Stephen Merchant & Warwick Davis
The Office David Brent Episode: The Seminar & Search Committee
The Simpsons Himself Episode: "Angry Dad: The Movie"
Talking Funny Himself With Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock and Louis C.K.
[edit] Video games
Year Title Role Notes
2008 Grand Theft Auto IV Himself
References from Wikipedia.com