Jimmy Mulville
Encyclopedia
James Thomas "Jimmy" Mulville (born 5 January 1955, Liverpool
) is an English
comedian
, comedy writer, producer and television presenter. Jimmy Mulville is best known for co-founding in 1986 the British
independent television
production company Hat Trick Productions
with Denise O'Donoghue and Rory McGrath
(who left in 1992). In 2003, Mulville and O'Donoghue, as co-founders of Hat Trick, were listed in The Observer
as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.
, Liverpool, Mulville went to Alsop High School
. He began his career as an actor and writer for the Cambridge Footlights
, whilst reading French and Classics at Jesus College
. At Cambridge he met Rory McGrath
with whom he both performed and wrote. He became president of Cambridge Footlights in 1977 and after graduating, went on to work for BBC Radio comedy for four years, before moving to television in 1984 as script editor and producer of Alas Smith and Jones
.
(1984). He starred in the ITV
sitcom That's Love
in the 1980s, along with Diana Hardcastle
and Tony Slattery
.
He co-wrote and starred with Rory McGrath
in the two series of Chelmsford 123
, a comedy set in Roman Britain, broadcast on Channel 4
in 1988 and 1990. They also co-wrote the Radio Comedy Glompus Van Der Hloed's Tales From The Crypt, which starred Andrew Sachs
, Mel Smith
and Griff Rhys Jones
, which aired on Capital Radio in the early 1980s and subsequently released in an abridged version as an album.
He featured on the radio version, as well as the television pilot, of UK improvisation show, Whose Line Is It Anyway, alongside Stephen Fry
and Nonny Williams.
On radio, he appears in the BBC Radio 4
comedy series Old Harry's Game
(1995-date) as Thomas Quentin Crimp. He and Andy Hamilton
are old friends, having met at Cambridge, where they were at university with Rory McGrath, Clive Anderson
and Griff Rhys Jones
.
in July 2003, he said he had three children from his current marriage- aged three, four and 13 (a stepdaughter), "and another on the way". His second marriage was to O'Donoghue, with whom he continued to work after they divorced. In 1999 Mulville and O'Donoghue jointly received the BAFTA Alan Clarke Award
for their creative contribution to television. He is an Everton F.C.
supporter. In 2004 he was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Liverpool
. Mulville was described in that interview as "an alcoholic and an enthusiastic user of cocaine" during the 1980s; he went into rehab in December 1988, and has been teetotal and drug-free ever since. He has been credited by Craig Ferguson
as being a major influence in his own battle with alcoholism and addiction.
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
) is an English
England
England 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, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain 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...
, comedy writer, producer and television presenter. Jimmy Mulville is best known for co-founding in 1986 the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
independent television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
production company Hat Trick Productions
Hat Trick Productions
Hat Trick Productions is a British independent production company that produces television programmes, mainly specialising in comedy.-History:...
with Denise O'Donoghue and Rory McGrath
Rory McGrath
Patrick Rory McGrath is an English comedian and writer. He is best known for roles in Who Dares Wins, Chelmsford 123, Three Men in a Boat and its successors. He was also a regular panellist on They Think It's All Over....
(who left in 1992). In 2003, Mulville and O'Donoghue, as co-founders of Hat Trick, were listed in The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.
Early career
Brought up in WaltonWalton, Merseyside
Walton, originally known as Walton-on-the-Hill, in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, is an area situated to the north of Anfield and the east of Bootle and Orrell Park. It is largely residential, with a diverse population.-History:...
, Liverpool, Mulville went to Alsop High School
Alsop High School
Alsop High School is a community secondary school in Walton, Liverpool, L4 6SH, England. It holds specialist certification in both Technology and Applied Learning .It also has a Lifestyles gym close by where the school can use it's resources....
. He began his career as an actor and writer for the Cambridge Footlights
Footlights
Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University....
, whilst reading French and Classics at Jesus College
Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The College was founded in 1496 on the site of a Benedictine nunnery by John Alcock, then Bishop of Ely...
. At Cambridge he met Rory McGrath
Rory McGrath
Patrick Rory McGrath is an English comedian and writer. He is best known for roles in Who Dares Wins, Chelmsford 123, Three Men in a Boat and its successors. He was also a regular panellist on They Think It's All Over....
with whom he both performed and wrote. He became president of Cambridge Footlights in 1977 and after graduating, went on to work for BBC Radio comedy for four years, before moving to television in 1984 as script editor and producer of Alas Smith and Jones
Alas Smith and Jones
Alas Smith and Jones is a British comedy sketch television series featuring Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. It was broadcast on the BBC from 1984 to 1998...
.
TV and radio appearances
He appeared in and co-wrote the cult TV show Who Dares Wins (1983–88). He was one of the cast of the British comedy series The Steam Video CompanyThe Steam Video Company
The Steam Video Company was a 1984 comedy series produced by Thames Television for ITV written by Andrew Marshall and David Renwick.The six episode series was a low budget spoof of the horror genre, intermingled with spoofs on contemporary television programmes, such as Nationwide. The programmes...
(1984). He starred in the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
sitcom That's Love
That's Love
That's Love is a British television sitcom about the domestic problems of a young married couple, lawyer Donald and designer Patsy .-Plot:...
in the 1980s, along with Diana Hardcastle
Diana Hardcastle
Diana Hardcastle is a British actress who has appeared largely in television roles. She appeared in episodes of Midsomer Murders, Inspector Lynley and Taggart. She played recurring roles in the series First Among Equals and Fortunes of War....
and Tony Slattery
Tony Slattery
Anthony Declan James "Tony" Slattery is an English actor and comedian who has appeared on British television regularly since the mid 1980s, most notably as a regular on the Channel 4 improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway? As a film actor, both comedic and serious, his credits include The...
.
He co-wrote and starred with Rory McGrath
Rory McGrath
Patrick Rory McGrath is an English comedian and writer. He is best known for roles in Who Dares Wins, Chelmsford 123, Three Men in a Boat and its successors. He was also a regular panellist on They Think It's All Over....
in the two series of Chelmsford 123
Chelmsford 123
Chelmsford 123 is a British television situation comedy produced for Channel 4 by Hat Trick Productions. It ran for two series, of six and seven episodes, in 1988 and 1990....
, a comedy set in Roman Britain, broadcast on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in 1988 and 1990. They also co-wrote the Radio Comedy Glompus Van Der Hloed's Tales From The Crypt, which starred Andrew Sachs
Andrew Sachs
Andrew Sachs is a German-born British actor. He made his name on British television and is best known for his portrayals of Manuel in Fawlty Towers, a role for which he was BAFTA-nominated, and Ramsay Clegg in Coronation Street.-Early life:Sachs was born in Berlin, Germany, the son of Katharina , a...
, Mel Smith
Mel Smith
Melvin Kenneth "Mel" Smith is an English comedian, writer, film director, producer, and actor. He is most famous for his work on the sketch comedy shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Griff Rhys Jones.- Early life :Smith's father, Kenneth, was born...
and Griff Rhys Jones
Griff Rhys Jones
Griffith "Griff" Rhys Jones is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor, television presenter and personality. Jones came to national attention in the early 1980s for his work in the BBC television comedy sketch shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Mel Smith...
, which aired on Capital Radio in the early 1980s and subsequently released in an abridged version as an album.
He featured on the radio version, as well as the television pilot, of UK improvisation show, Whose Line Is It Anyway, alongside Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
and Nonny Williams.
On radio, he appears in the BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
comedy series Old Harry's Game
Old Harry's Game
Old Harry's Game is a UK radio comedy written and directed by Andy Hamilton, who also plays the cynical, world-weary Satan. "Old Harry" is one of many names for the devil...
(1995-date) as Thomas Quentin Crimp. He and Andy Hamilton
Andy Hamilton
Andrew Neil Hamilton is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter and radio dramatist.-Early life:...
are old friends, having met at Cambridge, where they were at university with Rory McGrath, Clive Anderson
Clive Anderson
Clive Anderson is a British former barrister, best known for being a comedy writer as well as a radio and television presenter in the United Kingdom...
and Griff Rhys Jones
Griff Rhys Jones
Griffith "Griff" Rhys Jones is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor, television presenter and personality. Jones came to national attention in the early 1980s for his work in the BBC television comedy sketch shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Mel Smith...
.
Personal life
He has been married three times, with the first two marriages ending in divorce. In an interview with The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
in July 2003, he said he had three children from his current marriage- aged three, four and 13 (a stepdaughter), "and another on the way". His second marriage was to O'Donoghue, with whom he continued to work after they divorced. In 1999 Mulville and O'Donoghue jointly received the BAFTA Alan Clarke Award
British Academy Television Awards 1999
The 1999 British Academy Television Awards were held on 9 May at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane, London.-Winners:*Best Actor**Winner: Tom Courtenay — A Rather English Marriage...
for their creative contribution to television. He is an Everton F.C.
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
supporter. In 2004 he was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Liverpool
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...
. Mulville was described in that interview as "an alcoholic and an enthusiastic user of cocaine" during the 1980s; he went into rehab in December 1988, and has been teetotal and drug-free ever since. He has been credited by Craig Ferguson
Craig Ferguson
Craig Ferguson is a Scottish American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, and producer. He is the host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, an Emmy Award-nominated, Peabody Award-winning late-night talk show that airs on CBS...
as being a major influence in his own battle with alcoholism and addiction.