Michael James Dominic Sweeney, known as
Jim Sweeney (born in
BournemouthBournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the Borough of Bournemouth, England. The town has a population of 163,444 according to the 2001 Census, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is the largest town on the south coast and the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
,
HampshireHampshire , sometimes historically Southamptonshire, Hamptonshire, , or the County of Southampton, is a county on the south coast of England. The county borders , Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
, on 7 February 1955) is an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and
comedianA comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain members of an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, best known for his improvisation partnership with
Steve SteenSteve Steen is a British actor and comedian best known for his improvisation partnership with Jim Sweeney.The pair met at school in London and joined a theatre club in 1972. The two then wrote and starred in a show which parodied much of the other shows being held in London that year...
.
When Sweeney was 11 years old, he moved to
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
with his parents, along with two brothers and a sister. He became interested in theatre and improvisation while attending
Clapham CollegeClapham College was a Roman Catholic secondary school for boys in South London. It opened in 1897 and closed in 1989. Its history falls into three phases: for half a century it was a private school, for three decades it was a publicly supported grammar school and for more than a decade it was a...
, an all-boys Roman Catholic school.
Sweeney spent the 1970s in
theatreTheatre is a branch of the performing arts. While any performance may be considered theatre, as a performing art, it focuses almost exclusively on live performers creating a self contained drama. A performance qualifies as dramatic by creating a representational illusion...
productions, creating and touring shows with Steen, who was a friend from school.
Michael James Dominic Sweeney, known as
Jim Sweeney (born in
BournemouthBournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the Borough of Bournemouth, England. The town has a population of 163,444 according to the 2001 Census, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is the largest town on the south coast and the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
,
HampshireHampshire , sometimes historically Southamptonshire, Hamptonshire, , or the County of Southampton, is a county on the south coast of England. The county borders , Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
, on 7 February 1955) is an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and
comedianA comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain members of an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, best known for his improvisation partnership with
Steve SteenSteve Steen is a British actor and comedian best known for his improvisation partnership with Jim Sweeney.The pair met at school in London and joined a theatre club in 1972. The two then wrote and starred in a show which parodied much of the other shows being held in London that year...
.
When Sweeney was 11 years old, he moved to
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
with his parents, along with two brothers and a sister. He became interested in theatre and improvisation while attending
Clapham CollegeClapham College was a Roman Catholic secondary school for boys in South London. It opened in 1897 and closed in 1989. Its history falls into three phases: for half a century it was a private school, for three decades it was a publicly supported grammar school and for more than a decade it was a...
, an all-boys Roman Catholic school.
Sweeney spent the 1970s in
theatreTheatre is a branch of the performing arts. While any performance may be considered theatre, as a performing art, it focuses almost exclusively on live performers creating a self contained drama. A performance qualifies as dramatic by creating a representational illusion...
productions, creating and touring shows with Steen, who was a friend from school. The pairing's first television work as a duo came on the
ITVITV is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK...
children's show
CBTV, followed by the
Channel 4Channel 4 is a UK public-service television broadcaster which began working on November 2, 1982. Although commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station owned now and operated by the Channel Four Television...
comedy
Little ArmadillosLittle Armadillos was an alternative comedy sketch show in sitcom format that aired on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom in 1984. Set in a nightclub run by the psychotic brothers Wayne and Donny Armadillo, the show ran for seven 30-minute episodes from 13 September to 25 October 1984 and has never...
and resident support comic slots on
Rory BremnerRoderick "Rory" Keith Ogilvy Bremner FKC is a Scottish impressionist, playwright and comedian, noted for his work in political satire.-Early life:...
's first sketch show for the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
.
In 1987, Sweeney played
Samuel Taylor ColeridgeSamuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was one of the founders of the Romantic Movement in England and one of the Lake Poets...
in an episode of
Blackadder the ThirdBlackadder the Third is the third series of the BBC situation comedy Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 17 September to 22 October 1987....
, with Steve Steen alongside him as
Lord ByronGeorge Gordon Byron, later Noel, 6th Baron Byron, of Rochdale, FRS, and commonly known today as Lord Byron was an English poet and a leading figure in Romanticism...
. He then appeared in commercials and radio comedies before acquiring a semi-regular slot as a contestant on the Channel 4 improvisation show
Whose Line Is It Anyway?Whose Line Is It Anyway? is a short-form improvisational comedy TV show. Originally a British radio programme, it moved to television in 1988 as a series made for the UK's Channel 4...
from 1991 to 1993. Comedy partner Steen would later join him frequently in these appearances.
Sweeney has been in a number of radio plays and sitcoms, including a lead role in Any Bloke alongside
Caroline QuentinCaroline Jones , known by her stage name Caroline Quentin, is an English actress, most frequently associated with broadly comic roles.-Career:...
and
Steve SteenSteve Steen is a British actor and comedian best known for his improvisation partnership with Jim Sweeney.The pair met at school in London and joined a theatre club in 1972. The two then wrote and starred in a show which parodied much of the other shows being held in London that year...
. He adapted his award-winning play Danny's Wake into a radio series
All The Young DudesAll the Young Dudes is an album by Mott the Hoople, released in 1972. Their initial album for the Columbia Records label, it was a turning point for the then-struggling British band. They were about to break up when David Bowie stepped in and gave them the song "All the Young Dudes"...
in which he (and Steen) co-starred. Sweeney has authored a number of plays in addition to Danny's Wake, namely Sick Transit,
Cabin FeverCabin fever is an idiomatic term for a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a person or group is isolated and/or shut in, in a small space, with nothing to do, for an extended period...
, and My MS and Me.
Sweeney has been involved with the
Comedy StoreThe Comedy Store is a comedy club located in Soho, London, England that was opened in 1979 by Don Ward and Peter Rosengard.It was named after The Comedy Store club in the United States, which Rosengard visited the previous year...
's
Comedy Store PlayersThe Comedy Store Players is a group of improvising comedy performers known for their performances at The Comedy Store in London.The group first came into being in October 1985...
team since 1992, performing with
Paul MertonPaul Merton is an English comedian, writer and actor. He is well known for his regular appearances as a team captain on the popular BBC panel game Have I Got News for You, as a regular panellist on Radio 4's Just a Minute and as one of Comedy Store's Comedy Store Players...
,
Josie LawrenceJosie Lawrence is a British comedienne and actress best known for her work with the Comedy Store Players improvisational troupe, the television series Whose Line Is It Anyway? and more recently her role as Manda Best in EastEnders....
,
Neil MullarkeyNeil Mullarkey is an English actor, writer and comedian.At Cambridge, Mullarkey was Junior Treasurer to Footlights in the academic year 1981 to 1982 and was president in that ending 1983...
, Lee Simpson,
Andy SmartAndy Smart is an English comedian, actor, and TV panel show participant.Andy has been performing as a guest with The Comedy Store Players for 13 years now and a permanent member since 1995. Before joining the Players he was one half of the Vicious Boys with Angelo Abela...
and
Richard VranchRichard Leslie Vranch is a British comedian, actor and musician.Vranch improvises comedy on stage with the Comedy Store Players every Wednesday and Sunday at The Comedy Store in London. He has voiced British Airways TV and radio commercials since 2003, and he narrates TV documentaries...
. He has also appeared in numerous radio series', including the improvised faux drama show,
The Masterson InheritanceThe Masterson Inheritance was an improvised comedy series broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from 1993 to 1995 billed as "an improvised historical saga of a family at war with itself." There were three series and two Christmas specials...
and
BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a domestic UK radio station that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967.-Outline:...
's
Just a MinuteJust a Minute is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game chaired by Nicholas Parsons. It was first transmitted on 22 December 1967, three months after the launch of Radio 4. The programme won a Gold Sony Radio Academy Award in 2003....
. He made guest appearances in sitcoms
Kiss Me Kate and
One Foot In The GraveOne Foot in the Grave is a BBC television situation comedy series written by David Renwick. The show ran for six series, with several specials over a ten year period, from 1990 to 2000. The series features the exploits of Victor Meldrew, played by Richard Wilson, and his long-suffering wife,...
(the latter as a
computerA computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set of instructions.Although mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century . These were the size of a large room, consuming as...
salesman memorably humiliated by
Victor MeldrewVictor Meldrew was a fictional character in the popular BBC One sitcom One Foot in the Grave. Created by David Renwick and played by Richard Wilson, the character was the archetypal grumpy old man...
).
Since 1985, Sweeney has suffered from
multiple sclerosisMultiple sclerosis is an idiopathic disease of suspected autoimmune cause, in which the body's immune response attacks a person's central nervous system , leading to demyelination. Disease onset usually occurs in young adults, and it is more common in females...
, something which has required use of a
walking stickA walking stick is a device used by many people to facilitate balancing whilst walking. It may be used as a defensive or offensive weapon, and may conceal a knife or sword as in a swordstick...
and, from 2005, a
wheelchairA wheelchair is a wheeled mobility device in which the user sits. The device is propelled either manually or via various automated systems. Wheelchairs are used by people for whom walking is difficult or impossible due to illness , injury, or disability...
. Sweeney wrote about his experiences of multiple sclerosis in
My MS and Me, a play he performed for BBC Radio 4 after a successful
Edinburgh FestivalEdinburgh Festival is a collective term for several simultaneous arts and cultural festivals that take place during August each year in Edinburgh, Scotland...
run. In 2008, the disease meant he gave up appearing on stage, although he continues to be listed as a member of the Comedy Store Players.
In 2007, Jim made two series of BBC Radio 4's improvised sketch show "The Lawrence Sweeney Mix" with
Josie LawrenceJosie Lawrence is a British comedienne and actress best known for her work with the Comedy Store Players improvisational troupe, the television series Whose Line Is It Anyway? and more recently her role as Manda Best in EastEnders....
.
Sweeney lives in
WimbledonWimbledon is a suburb in south west London, part of the London Borough of Merton and located from Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
with his girlfriend and two daughters. He has an optic nerve condition leading to
blurred vision-Causes:There are many causes of blurred vision, including use of atropine. or other anticholinergics&Presbyopia -- difficulty focusing on objects that are close. Common in the elderly ....
.
External links