Stephen John "Steve" Coogan
(born 14 October 1965) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and producer. His best known character in the United Kingdom is Alan Partridge, the grotesque sports reporter-turned-television chat show host-turned-regional radio presenter who featured in several television series, such as The Day Today
, Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge
and I'm Alan Partridge
. Outside the UK, Coogan is better known for his film roles.
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STEVE COOGAN TICKETS
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Early life
Coogan is one of six children born to an
IBM engineer father and a homemaker mother.
[1] He was born and raised in
Alkrington,
[2] a suburb of
Middleton, Greater Manchester, in a large
Irish Catholic family.
[3] Coogan started out as a comic and mimic in
Ipswich, as well as doing voice-over work for adverts and impressions on
Spitting Image
. In 1988, he did impressions of Prince Charles which featured on the Urban label release "
Don't Believe the Hype" by
Acid House artist Mista E. The impressions were also used as jingles in 1988/89 on the
BBC Radio 1 FM Friday night dance music show
Jeff Young's Big Beat
.
Alan Partridge
He teamed up with
Chris Morris and
Armando Iannucci, amongst others, on the
Radio 4 comedy show
On the Hour
, where he helped give birth to his most famous creation
Alan Partridge. Alan went on to have his own radio show and also appeared on TV in
The Day Today
and his own chat show,
Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge
. In 1997 he returned with the sitcom
I'm Alan Partridge
, which was followed by a second series in 2002.
Partridge is part of Coogan's 2008 stand-up tour, and an Alan Partridge movie is in production.
[4]
Other TV roles
Paul Calf
has appeared in two video diaries, an episode of
Coogan's Run
, and in various stand-up performances. He is an unemployed
Mancunian wastrel with a particular hatred of students. His catchphrase is "Bag of
shite."
Paul lives in a
council house in the fictional town of Ottle with his mother and his sister, Pauline Calf (also played by Coogan). His father died some time before the first video diary was made. For a long time he was obsessed with getting back together with his ex-girlfriend, Julie. Paul's best friend is "Fat" Bob (played by
John Thomson), a car mechanic who eventually married Pauline. Paul supports
Manchester City and is very partial to
Wagon Wheels.
He wears
Burton suits, sports a bleached
mullet and drives a
Ford Cortina.
Other Coogan creations include
Tommy Saxondale
,
Duncan Thicket
, and Portuguese Eurovision winner
Tony Ferrino
. Duncan Thicket has appeared on a tour of live shows. Other TV shows he has starred in include
Coogan's Run
,
Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible
,
Monkey Trousers
and
Saxondale
. Coogan has provided voices for the animated series
I Am Not an Animal
, the one-off BBC2 comedy about sheep
Combat Sheep
, two Christmas specials starring
Robbie the Reindeer
, and an episode of the BBC Radio Four spoof sci-fi series
Nebulous
.
He starred in BBC2's
The Private Life of Samuel Pepys
in 2003, and
Cruise of the Gods
in 2002. In 2006, he had a cameo in the
Little Britain
Christmas special as a pilot taking Lou and Andy to Disneyland. In 2007, Coogan played a psychiatrist on
HBO's
Curb Your Enthusiasm
and in 2008 starred in the BBC1 drama
Sunshine
.
He provided the voices of Philip Masterson-Bowie (a horse) and Mark Andrews (a sparrow) from animated comedy series
I Am Not an Animal.
[5]
Film roles
Notable film roles include
Factory Records boss
Tony Wilson in the film
24 Hour Party People
, Mole in
Terry Jones'
The Wind in the Willows
,
Phileas Fogg in a remake of
Jules Verne's
Around the World in 80 Days
with
Jackie Chan,
Ambassador Mercy in
Marie Antoinette
, Bruce Tick in
Sweet Revenge
, and
Octavius, the first
Roman Emperor and nephew to
Julius Caesar, in
Night at the Museum
. He has also played himself twice on screen. First, in one of the vignettes of Jim Jarmusch's 2003 film
Coffee and Cigarettes
, alongside
Alfred Molina. Second, in 2006 Coogan starred with
Rob Brydon in
Michael Winterbottom's A Cock and Bull Story
, a self-referential film of the "unfilmable" self-referential novel
Tristram Shandy
by
Laurence Sterne. In the film, Coogan plays a fictional, womanizing version of himself.
The first film he co-wrote with Henry Normal was
The Parole Officer
. He also acted in this alongside Ben Miller and
Lena Headey. Coogan has an uncredited cameo in
Hot Fuzz
, scripted by
Shaun of the Dead
writers
Simon Pegg and
Edgar Wright.
He stars as a failed actor turned high school drama teacher in the 2008 film
Hamlet 2
and had a role in
Tropic Thunder
. It was announced on 8 August 2007, that he is also to star in a film adaptation of the life of
Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards,
[6]which is still in pre-production.
[7]
He was also recently in
Finding Amanda
alongside
Brittany Snow and
Matthew Broderick. He returned as Octavius in
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
, out on 22 May 2009 - Memorial Day. He will also play
Hades in the upcoming
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
out February 12, 2010.
Filmography
| Year
| Film
| Role
| Notes
|
| 1989
| Resurrected
| Youth 2
|
|
| 1995
| The Indian in the Cupboard
| Tommy Atkins
|
|
| 1996
| The Wind in the Willows
| Mole
|
|
| 1998
| Sweet Revenge
| Bruce Tick
|
|
| 2001
| The Parole Officer
| Simon Garden
| Writer
|
| 2002
| 24 Hour Party People
| Tony Wilson
|
|
| 2003
| Coffee and Cigarettes
| Steve
| Segment: Cousins?
|
| 2004
| Ella Enchanted
| Heston the snake
| Voice Only
|
| Around the World in 80 Days
| Phileas Fogg
|
|
| 2005
| Happy Endings
| Charley
|
|
| A Cock and Bull Story
| Tristram Shandy/ Walter Shandy/ Steve Coogan
|
|
| 2006
| The Alibi
| Ray Elliot
|
|
| Night at the Museum
| Octavius
|
|
| Marie Antoinette
| Ambassador Mercy
|
|
| 2007
| For The Love Of God
| Graham
|
|
| Hot Fuzz
| Metropolitan Police Inspector
| Uncredited
|
| 2008
| Finding Amanda
| Michael Henry
|
|
| Tales of the Riverbank
| Roderick
| Voice Only
|
| Tropic Thunder
| Damien Cockburn
|
|
| Hamlet 2
| Dana Marschz
|
|
| 2009
| What Goes Up
| Campbell Babbitt
| Producer
|
| In the Loop
| Paul Michaelson
|
|
| Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
| Octavius
|
|
| 2010
| Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
| Hades
| Completed
|
Achievements
He has won numerous awards for his work in TV including
British Comedy Awards,
BAFTAs, and
The South Bank Show award for
comedy. In 2003, he was listed in
The Observer
as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. In 2005, a poll to find
The Comedians' Comedian
saw him being voted amongst the top 20 greatest comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.
Return to stand-up
In March 2008, it was confirmed that Coogan would return to doing stand-up comedy as part of his first stand-up tour in ten years. The tour, named "Steve Coogan is Alan Partridge and other less successful characters", saw the return of some of his old characters including Paul Calf and Alan Partridge.
Reviews of the opening night were mixed
[8] and such reviews continued as the tour progressed.
[9] [10]
Production company
Coogan, along with writing partner
Henry Normal, founded
Baby Cow Productions in 1999. Together they are the executive producers for such shows as
The Mighty Boosh
, starring
Noel Fielding and
Julian Barratt,
Nighty Night
, starring
Julia Davis,
Marion and Geoff
, starring
Rob Brydon, and
Human Remains
, starring Davis and Brydon.
Baby Cow Productions latest venture is
Where Are the Joneses
, an online sitcom which uses
wiki technology to allow the audience to upload scripts and storyline ideas.
[11]
Personal life
One of his brothers,
Brendan, is a former
Top Gear
presenter, and another, Martin, was the lead singer of the early 1990s band
The Mock Turtles. All the brothers attended the
Cardinal Langley RC High School.
A favourite of the British tabloids, Coogan's personal life has made headlines since the early 1990s. In August 2005, the
News of the World
stated that rock star
Courtney Love had claimed to be pregnant with Coogan's child, following a two-week long fling the pair allegedly had while staying at the same hotel, although this claim has been dismissed by both parties.
[12] The news came a month after Coogan had divorced his wife, Caroline Hickman,
[13] whom he married in 2002, on the grounds that the marriage had irretrievably broken down. He lives in
Brighton to be close to his daughter, Clare, from a previous relationship with Anna Cole.
[14]
On the commentary for Season 2 of
I'm Alan Partridge
, Coogan states that he is a
socialist who enjoys paying taxes, whilst discussing the eponymous character's investigation by the Inland Revenue.
A well noted car enthusiast, he has had a succession of
Ferraris, but stopped buying them after realising that the depreciation and running costs were greater than hiring a private plane.
[15] Coogan currently drives one of the final air-cooled
Porsche 911 Carrera 4s.
Owen Wilson controversy
In August 2007, the
New York Post wrote that Coogan was being "blamed" in a story following
Owen Wilson's suicide attempts for allegedly supplying the actor with hard drugs.
Courtney Love said after Wilson's failed attempts, "I was just out of rehab, and he was right there with the drugs. I tried to warn Owen. I tried to warn his friends. I hope from the bottom of my heart that Owen stays the hell away from that guy." Steve Coogan responded through Access Hollywood, denying Love's accusations and offering support to Wilson. "My thoughts are with my friend Owen at this difficult time, but I do want to set the record straight and say that the allegations...are completely and utterly false," he said.
[16]
References
- Steve Coogan in persons
- Soccer star parents in robbery terror - News - Middleton Guardian
- BBC Comedy
- First live dates in a decade
- "I Am Not an Animal" (2004)
- Coogan to play Eddie 'The Eagle'
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1083452/
- Steve Coogan fails to sparkle
- Nothing to laugh at for Steve Coogan's angry fans
- Alan Partridge's less successful show
- Where are the Joneses?
- Love and Coogan deny baby claim
- Coogan's wife is granted divorce
- The way I live: Steve Coogan
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2005/oct/21/londonfilmfestival2005.londonfilmfestival
- Coogan denies supplying drugs to Owen Wilson - Access Hollywood - MSNBC.com